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I'm looking for the file that contains all the Time Machine exclusions entered in its Options dialogue. I know that (some of?) the scheduling related settings are stored in the com.apple.backupd-*.plist files at /System/Library/LaunchDaemons but I haven't been able to find the exclusions.

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possible duplicate of On Lion, what files are excluded by rule from a Time Machine backup? - The time machine exclusions are implemented in a way slightly more complicated than one list. – bmike♦ Dec 12 '11 at 15:07
No, it isn't a dupe as "Time Machine exclusions entered in its Options dialogue" refers to the exclusions entered by the user. Helpful link nonetheless... – Marcel Stör Dec 12 '11 at 18:57

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It is in the root directory of the actual backup e.g. /Volumes/Back3/Backups.backupdb/flat/Latest/.exclusions.plist for a machine called flat but that only shows what happened.

More usefully - if you want to edit things see /Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist

I got the informatiuon from this blog

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Cool question and answer. Have you tried to edit that file, and if so, what happened? – David DelMonte Dec 12 '11 at 12:50
On a fresh OS X Lion installation: moved com.apple.TimeMachine.plist and com.apple.TimeMachine.plist.lockfile then copied com.apple.TimeMachine.plist from a system backup (Snow Leopard). Then enabled and configured TimeMachine. Bingo! – Marcel Stör Dec 12 '11 at 19:36
@David DelMonte, me I didn't dare to edit the file. – Marcel Stör Dec 12 '11 at 19:37
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The list of folders in System Preferences is stored in /Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist.

/System/Library/CoreServices/backupd.bundle/Contents/Resources/StdExclusions.plist contains folders that are excluded by default.

sudo mdfind com_apple_backup_excludeItem==com.apple.backupd searches for files with a com.apple.metadata:com_apple_backup_excludeItem extended attribute.

tmutil addexclusion adds an extended attribute. sudo tmutil addexclusion -p adds the path to /Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist.

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