To include or exclude paths in a Windows file-and-folder backup, use the Microsoft Azure Recovery Services (MARS) agent and define OBFileSpec rules in the backup policy with PowerShell. Azure VM backup and selective disk backup are different: VM backup protects the VM and supports file-level restore under specific conditions, while selective disk backup selects whole disks—not folders or paths inside them.
Choose the right Azure Backup workflow
| Workflow | What you select or protect | When it fits |
|---|---|---|
| MARS agent | Files, folders, volumes, and system state, according to the workload. | Use this Windows workflow when you need path-level file or folder inclusion and exclusion. MARS can also run on a Windows Azure VM alongside the VM backup extension. Microsoft’s Azure Backup support matrix and VM backup support matrix describe the distinctions. |
| Azure VM backup extension | The Azure VM as a whole. | Use it for VM protection. You may restore individual files or folders from a recovery point, but this is a restore capability, not a path filter applied when the VM backup is created. See Microsoft’s file and folder recovery guide. |
| Selective disk backup | Whole data disks, selected by disk or LUN. | Use it to include or exclude entire data disks in Azure VM backup. It cannot filter folders or files within a disk. The OS disk is included by default and cannot be excluded. See Selective Disk Backup and Restore for Azure Virtual Machines. |
MARS file-and-folder backup is documented for Windows. Linux Azure VMs use the Linux VM backup workflow; MARS is not supported on Linux. Check the Azure Backup support matrix for workload-specific requirements.
Set MARS file and folder inclusion and exclusion rules
Microsoft uses an OBFileSpec object to define the paths protected by a Windows Server backup policy. Create inclusion rules, create exclusion rules with -Exclude, attach both to the policy, and apply it with Set-OBPolicy. Microsoft’s example below assumes $NewPolicy already exists and its schedule and retention settings have been configured; it demonstrates rule construction and applying the policy, not a complete policy setup.
$Inclusions = New-OBFileSpec -FileSpec @("C:", "D:")
$Exclusions = New-OBFileSpec -FileSpec @("C:windows", "C:temp") -Exclude
Add-OBFileSpec -Policy $NewPolicy -FileSpec $Inclusions
Add-OBFileSpec -Policy $NewPolicy -FileSpec $Exclusions
Set-OBPolicy -Policy $NewPolicyIn this example, the policy includes paths on C: and D:, then excludes C:windows and C:temp. The exclusions are recursive by default. Add -NonRecursive to an OBFileSpec rule when you want only top-level files in the specified folder, rather than files in its subfolders. Microsoft documents multiple inclusion and exclusion rules and the OBFileSpec workflow in Use PowerShell to back up Windows Server to Azure.
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Inspect the policy before applying changes
Confirm the server’s current policy, schedule, retention settings, and file specifications before you commit a change. To inspect file specifications associated with the policy, Microsoft documents:
Get-OBPolicy | Get-OBFileSpecDo not remove an existing policy as a routine way to change filters: Microsoft warns that removing a policy can delete backed-up data. Treat policy changes as protection changes and verify the resulting specifications after applying them.
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Understand what VM file-level restore can recover
A VM backup can offer file-level recovery without MARS path filtering, but successful restore depends on the source VM, recovery machine, storage configuration, operating system, and disk types. Microsoft lists unsupported or constrained cases that include encrypted VMs, network-restricted storage accounts, Windows Storage Spaces, and certain disk types. Linux recovery also depends on filesystem support and volume configuration. Check the current file recovery guide and VM backup support matrix for the applicable scenario.
Large or unsupported disks
Microsoft advises against running the file-restore script on the same machine if the VM has more than 16 disks or any disk larger than 4 TB, because of potential impact; use a separate VM for recovery in those cases. The VM support matrix also states limits of up to 32 data disks per Azure VM, up to 64 TB for an individual data disk, and 512 TB combined. These are product limits, not guarantees that every disk type or configuration supports file-level recovery.
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Keep path filters and disk selection separate
Azure CLI disk inclusion and exclusion settings apply to whole VM data disks, not paths within those disks. If the goal is to exclude a directory while protecting the rest of a Windows server’s files, configure the MARS policy with OBFileSpec. If the goal is to stop protecting an entire data disk in a VM backup, use selective disk backup. For command reference on disk-level protection settings, see Azure CLI az backup protection.
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