A bit more digging gives me this following stackexchange question:
https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/87090/how-to-programatically-add-folder-to-spotlight-do-not-index
<https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/87090/how-to-programatically-add-folder-to-spotlight-do-not-index>
On 12.0.1 I do confirm that the folder exclusions indicated in the System
Preferences are there:
/System/Volumes/Data/.Spotlight-V100/VolumeConfiguration.plist
On the other hand `sudo mdutil -P /` returns a different file, while `sudo
mdutil -P /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD` returns nothing.
Additionally, `sudo mdutil -L /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD` returns `Spotlight
directory not found at root: /Volumes/Macintosh HD`, while `sudo mdutil -L /`
returns:
/private/var/db/Spotlight-V100/BootVolume:
drwx------ 2 0 0 64 Aug 25 2021 16:27 Store-V2
-rw------- 1 0 0 4316 Aug 25 2021 16:28
VolumeConfiguration.plist
/private/var/db/Spotlight-V100/BootVolume/Store-V2:
That's as good as I have for now.
> On 17 Nov, 2021, at 14:16, André-John Mas <andrejohn....@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> When looking at "System Preferences -> Spotlight -> Privacy", you can
> configure exclusions by folder.
>
> I had a look at the mdutil command and no reference to folders or paths is
> mentioned, when looking from macOS 12.0.1:
>
> Usage: mdutil -pEsa -i (on|off) -d volume ...
> mdutil -t {volume-path | deviceid} fileid
> Utility to manage Spotlight indexes.
> -i (on|off) Turn indexing on or off.
> -d Disable Spotlight activity for volume (re-enable using
> -i on).
> -E Erase and rebuild index.
> -s Print indexing status.
> -a Apply command to all stores on all volumes.
> -t Resolve files from file id with an optional volume path
> or device id.
> -p Publish metadata.
> -V vol Apply command to all stores on the specified volume.
> -v Display verbose information.
> -r plugins Ask the server to reimport files for UTIs claimed by the
> listed plugin.
> -L volume-path List the directory contents of the Spotlight index on
> the specified volume.
> -P volume-path Dump the VolumeConfig.plist for the specified volume.
> -X volume-path Remove the Spotlight index directory on the specified
> volume. Does not disable indexing.
> Spotlight will reevaluate volume when it is unmounted
> and remounted, the
> machine is rebooted, or an explicit index command such
> as 'mdutil -i' or 'mdutil -E' is
> run for the volume.
> NOTE: Run as owner for network homes, otherwise run as root.
>
> I am starting to wonder if there is another command we should be using, in
> place of mdutil?
>
>
>> On 17 Nov, 2021, at 13:31, Peter Hancock <hanc...@fastmail.fm
>> <mailto:hanc...@fastmail.fm>> wrote:
>>
>> On 17/11/2021 15:46, Chris Jones wrote:
>>> Some users might find it useful, and the exact volume to exclude
>>> depends on the details of the users installation, which would be
>>> difficult to automate. So I think its fine to just leave it to be
>>> done by hand by those that wish to.
>>> On 17/11/2021 3:09 pm, André-John Mas wrote:
>>>> Just wondering whether it would make sense for MacPorts to auto
>>>> exclude that folder? Does spotlight even provide an API or command
>>>> that would allow MacPorts to do that?>>
>>
>> André-John Mas mentions folders (directories?), while Chris Jones mentions
>> volumes
>> (mounted filesystems?).
>>
>> On Catalina, for me the command "sudo mdutil -i off /opt/local/var/macports "
>> evokes:
>> [
>> Password:
>> /System/Volumes/Data/opt/local/var/macports:
>> Error: invalid operation.
>> Error: unknown indexing state.
>> ]
>>
>> Trying to drag that directory into the appropriate System Preferences
>> "privacy" pane,
>> accomplishes nothing. It doesn't appear on the list.
>>
>> My man page for mdutil seems to speak only about volumes. A bit of googling
>> suggests
>> that though there *may* have been a time when you could exclude various
>> directories
>> from spotlight indexing, by one trick or another, those days are gone.
>>
>> Am I wrong?
>>
>> I hope so. I'm getting pretty dyspeptic about how much of my computer seems
>> to be
>> taken over by Spotlight and it's various underlings/minions.
>>
>> (Eg, It/they seem(s) to spend a large chunk of resources on creating
>> tens/hundreds of thousands
>> of empty directories deep under /private/var/folders, to no apparent
>> purpose.)
>>
>>
>>
>
