How to Exclude Files from Backup of a cPanel Server?

Backups usually include saving the data from all the web files on a server. But, if you are hosting on a cPanel server, you may need to exclude certain files from the backup.

To exclude files from user backups, you can do either of the following:

• Exclude files from all users’ backups.
• Exclude files from an individual user’s backups.

Steps to Exclude Files from the Backup

Step 1: Log in to Your cPanel Account

Log in to your cPanel account.

Step 2: Open File Manager

Click on File Manager from the Files section.

File Manager will open in a new tab. Here, you have to create a new file in the home folder of your hosting account.

Step 3: Create a New File

Select the + File button in the top-right corner.

The New File window will open.

Step 4: Enter the File Name

Enter cpbackup-exclude.conf as the new file name and choose Create New File.

The cpbackup-exclude.conf file will appear in the file list.

Step 5: Edit the File

Right-click on the cpbackup-exclude.conf file and choose Edit from the context menu.

The file will open in the text editor.

Step 6: Add the Exclusion Patterns

Copy the following code into the file:

*.jpa 
backup-*.tar.gz 
cpmove-*.tar.gz 
site-*.tar.gz 
*/com_akeeba/backup/* 
*/backupbuddy_backups/* 
public_html/cache/* 
tmp/* 
logs/* 
softaculous_backups/* 
*/wp-content/uploads/wpcf7_captcha/* 
*/wp-content/widget-cache/* 
*/wp-content/cache/* 
*/wptsc-cachedir/* 
*/wp-content/ai1wm-backups

Step 7: Save the Changes

Click Save Changes and close the file.

The backup system will exclude matching files if it supports this exclusion file and its patterns.

Conclusion

Certain files may need to be excluded from cPanel backups for security purposes or to reduce the size of backup files. Configure the appropriate exclusion patterns and verify that they work with your backup system.