How to compare archive with local filesystem, but don't compare file contents?

[mariomadproductions]

The FAQ says you can use bort-export tar with tar --compare to compare an archive with the local filesystem, but from what I understand, this compares the file contents too. What's the correct way to a quicker check just based on file metadata (even just filepaths)? I just want to do a double check on the exclusions I chose for my backup command.

[ThomasWaldmann]

A good way to check excludes is to use borg create --list --dry-run ... while working on them or (for already in-production backups) the same without --dry-run.

[mariomadproductions]

Thanks. For existing backups, is there a better way than using borg list and then recreating the format in a find command, run that on the local filesystem, and compare the outputs?

[ThomasWaldmann]

You can use --format with borg list to create the format you want (limited by what borg offers as placeholder). Guess you might also need 2x sort command if you want to compare to find output.

[mariomadproductions]

Ah good point, I can also/instead change borg's format. I'll try that out.