[PLUG] Image-based partial backup?

[Rich Freeman <r-plug@thefreemanclan.net>]

Does anybody know the best way to do an image-based backup which
excludes files?  I'm thinking about something like clonezilla.

I realize that an image-based solution might have fundamental
limitations.  I'm perfectly fine with a restored backup containing the
excluded files but with zeroed-out content.  I can clean that up
easily enough after restore.  I just want something that is going to
restore the OS without my having to reinstall everything.

Oh, and I'd like to be able to do this on NTFS and not just
traditional linux filesystems.  The backup process should not modify
the hard drives.

I already looked at clonezilla to see if I could extend the existing
logic that excludes swap files.  The thing is, that logic actually
DELETES the swapfile from the drive to be backed up (which is a bit
messed up if you ask me).  Obviously I can't use that as a general
exclude function.

Is there anything out there that does this out of the box, including
for NTFS?  Ideally it should support running on clients via PXE boot,
and be flexible about storing to a networked location (nfs, ssh, etc).

--
Rich
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