It is possible to include certain files and exclude others from backup using include/exclude rules. This article covers including files. We have a similar article on how to exclude files from backup.

The default include/exclude rules are intended to make sure that ALL your significant files are backed up. As a result, you may find that more files are being backed up than you feel is warranted. But be cautious! Customizing the include/exclude rules introduces the risk of eliminating critical data that should have a backup. Also, excluding files from backup may rule out the possibility of using TSM to restore the full contents of a volume in the event of a disk failure.

It is important to first understand how these rules are processed in TSM. Before proceeding, please read How EZ-Backup Processes Includes & Excludes.

When the customizations are complete, please double-check the include/exclude rules to be sure that all critical data will be included in the backups. (See Checking Include/Exclude Rules).

To include only certain files/directories from backup, you will edit the dsm.opt file. You can edit it manually with any text editor (such as Notepad), or via the TSM Backup Archive GUI as shown below. The method documented here begins by excluding everything (step 6 - don’t panic), then including only those files and directories you want.

1. Open the TSM Backup Client (Start - (All) Programs - Tivoli Storage Manager - Backup Archive GUI).
2. From the Edit menu, select Preferences.
3. Click the Include-Exclude tab.
4. Under Category, choose Backup.
5. Under Type, choose Exclude. (yes, we really mean “Exclude.”)
6. In the File or Pattern field, type this line: "*:\...\*" (To be clear, that’s double-quotes, asterisk, colon, backslash, period, period, period, backslash, asterisk, double-quotes.)  
7. Click Add. The new rule will be added to the bottom of your include/exclude list. When TSM creates a backup, it reads your include/exclude list from the bottom up, so this rule will go first.
8. Under Type, choose Include.
9. Under File or Pattern, click Browse and navigate your directory structure until you find the file(s) you want to include. (Note: You may also manually type in an include rule, but please be careful! When using wildcards, be sure to check that the includes/excludes rules are not excluding something you want backed up. For example, if you want to include the files in any folder named Projects and the underlying subdirectories, type the following in the File or Pattern field: "*:\...\Projects\...\*"  
10. Click Add. The new rule will be added to the bottom of your include/exclude list. When TSM creates a backup, it reads your include/exclude list from the bottom up, so this rule will go first (and the great big exclude rule you created a minute ago will go second, and so on).
11. If there are other directories you want to include, repeat steps 8-10 as many times as needed. Exclude statements above this include statement in the list will not exclude files that have been included with this statement.
12. Click OK, and OK again when prompted to restart.
13. Close the Tivoli Storage Manager.
14. If you’re using the TSM Scheduler service, it must be restarted as well.

For more information on includes and excludes, check the TSM Installation and Users’ Guide. (See Chapter 2: Configuring Storage Manager — Subtopic: Creating an Include-Exclude List.)