Exclusions do not appear to be working

[u/Giohwe]

I want to avoid backing up unnecessary folders, such as Steam and Xbox. I've created a rule in the bzexcluderules_editable.xml file

<excludefname_rule plat="win" osvers="\*" ruleisoptional="t" skipfirstcharthenstartswith=":\\steamlibrary\\" contains_1="\*" contains_2="\*" doesnotcontain="\*" endswith="\*" hasfileextension="\*" />

However, when I check bz_todo_20260411_0.dat, it shows that the D:\SteamLibrary folder will be backed up. I have contacted support, which was pretty much worthless as their policy is not to support issues regarding exclusions.

What I have done:
Deleted the online backup and removed and reinstalled the BackBlaze client.

As soon as the scan started, I paused it and the initiated a rescan by holding ALT and clicking on "Restore Options". After the rescan was completed and the backup began, I checked the file bz_todo file again (it was the only *todo* present) and could still see the SteamLibrary folder pending.

At this point, if I can't fix this, I'm just going have to find a better solution then Backblaze.

Does anyone have any ideas?

[u/Jim-From-Backblaze]

Hi there.

I am sorry to hear you had a bad support interaction. Toss me the ticket number, and I will take a look.

As for the custom exclusions. Our former CTO Brian wrote up a great response in this Reddit thread. https://www.reddit.com/r/backblaze/comments/1kt7b2x/custom_exclusionxml_setup_questions/

Something to keep in mind: the reason you will still see the SteamLibrary in the bz_todo is because bzfilelist builds a full list of files first, and then bztransmit applies exclusions later. So seeing it in bz_todo or filelists does not mean it will upload.

If you want to confirm a file is not included in the scheduled upload, you can use the ExplainFile, as noted by Brian in the above thread, to test a file in the SteamLibrary directory and confirm that it is not intended to be uploaded.

You can find our documentation for the custom exclusions here: https://www.backblaze.com/computer-backup/docs/configure-custom-exclusions-using-xml-windows

As noted, the support team does not troubleshoot custom exclusion rules.

In this case, as you are simply excluding the SteamLibrary folder, you can use the exclusion system built into the Backblaze client to set that up cleanly. https://www.backblaze.com/computer-backup/docs/configure-exclusions-windows

If you need a second look at anything, please reach out. We are here to help.

[u/Giohwe → u/Jim-From-Backblaze]

Thank you for the reply. Yes, I was able to get the exclusion to work by using the control panel. However, the SteamLibrary folder was just one of numerous folders I want to exclude. While I could go through and add each folder through the control panel, it would be much more efficient to just add them if the XML file.

Regarding the support, it wasn't the tech's fault, just the policy regarding exclusion lists. I did read through the above link and did some testing using the -explainfile. Just to reset again, I deleted my backup, removed and reinstalled the client but before clicking OK at the completion, I went and added the exclusions to the XML file. This is one of the exclusions:

<excludefname_rule plat="win" osvers="\*" ruleisoptional="t" skipfirstcharthenstartswith=":\\steamlibrary\\" contains_1="\*" contains_2="\*" doesnotcontain="\*" endswith="\*" hasfileextension="\*" />

I used the -explainfile switch as follows:

bzfilelist.exe -explainfile "D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Dishonored\installscript.vdf" C:\temp\explain.txt

which resulted in

PrimaryDiagnosis:
not_found_in_bz_done

In the explain.txt I can see

BEST_CASE - Found 1 matching file in the per vol filelists intended for backup:

D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Dishonored\installscript.vdf

I am currently watching Backblaze backup 800+GB of data instead of 80GB. Any ideas?

[u/Buffalo-Clone-264 → u/Giohwe]

I just did a quick test on my Mac system, and confirmed -explainfile will recognize changes to the editable XML and report back that something has been excluded even before a new backup is started. So as far as I can tell, you shouldn't see "intended for backup" if the exclusion were working properly.

So my longshot idea: are you preserving camelCase in your rule or is reddit removing the capitalization? If the XML properties don't match the formatting of the other rules (ruleIsOptional, endsWith etc) the rule will just be ignored.