On Linux, how do I recursively copy files while ignoring certain names?

Question

I need to recursively copy a directory tree, ignoring any subdirectories named 'CVS'. Is there a simple way to do this?

Answer 1

tar -cpf - --exclude=CVS directory | sh -c 'cd /wherever/it/goes && tar -xpf -'

Modify the right-hand tar's options to -xvpf if you'd like to see what's going on.

Answer 2

Why not approach it from a slightly different angle and check out the files from CVS using the export command.

This'll give you the directories without any of the CVS artifacts.

Answer 3

rsync -av --exclude=CVS <src> <dst>