So glad you found the .spacemacs file.
That just leaves one more mystery. Why does rclone not find /DATA/scripts/** ?
I suspected it may have something to do with /DATA being a separate partition, mounted to root.
Filter rules file:
$ cat /DATA/Documents/test_filter_rules
+ /DATA/scripts/**
- *
/DATA/scripts/ contains several files:
$ ls /DATA/scripts/
clean_vim_swap data_backup_for_linux_install.sh gitstat switch_sound_notes.org switch_sound.sh symlink_to_DATA.sh
The rclone command does not find /DATA/scripts/:
$ rclone sync / local:/run/media/wolfv/big_stick/wolfv_backup/last_snapshot --filter-from=/DATA/Documents/test_filter_rules --one-file-system --log-level=DEBUG --dry-run
2018/06/27 13:15:29 DEBUG : rclone: Version "v1.41" starting with parameters ["rclone" "sync" "/" "local:/run/media/wolfv/big_stick/wolfv_backup/last_snapshot" "--filter-from=/DATA/Documents/test_filter_rules" "--one-file-system" "--log-level=DEBUG" "--dry-run"]
2018/06/27 13:15:29 DEBUG : Using config file from "/home/wolfv/.config/rclone/rclone.conf"
2018/06/27 13:15:29 INFO : Local file system at /run/media/wolfv/big_stick/wolfv_backup/last_snapshot: Modify window is 1ns
2018/06/27 13:15:29 NOTICE: sbin: Can't follow symlink without -L/--copy-links
2018/06/27 13:15:29 NOTICE: bin: Can't follow symlink without -L/--copy-links
2018/06/27 13:15:29 NOTICE: lib64: Can't follow symlink without -L/--copy-links
2018/06/27 13:15:29 NOTICE: lib: Can't follow symlink without -L/--copy-links
2018/06/27 13:15:29 DEBUG : home: Excluded from sync (and deletion)
2018/06/27 13:15:29 DEBUG : root: Excluded from sync (and deletion)
2018/06/27 13:15:29 DEBUG : usr: Excluded from sync (and deletion)
2018/06/27 13:15:29 DEBUG : lost+found: Excluded from sync (and deletion)
2018/06/27 13:15:29 DEBUG : srv: Excluded from sync (and deletion)
2018/06/27 13:15:29 DEBUG : mnt: Excluded from sync (and deletion)
2018/06/27 13:15:29 DEBUG : boot: Excluded from sync (and deletion)
2018/06/27 13:15:29 DEBUG : var: Excluded from sync (and deletion)
2018/06/27 13:15:29 DEBUG : opt: Excluded from sync (and deletion)
2018/06/27 13:15:29 DEBUG : etc: Excluded from sync (and deletion)
2018/06/27 13:15:29 INFO : Local file system at /run/media/wolfv/big_stick/wolfv_backup/last_snapshot: Waiting for checks to finish
2018/06/27 13:15:29 INFO : Local file system at /run/media/wolfv/big_stick/wolfv_backup/last_snapshot: Waiting for transfers to finish
2018/06/27 13:15:29 INFO : Waiting for deletions to finish
2018/06/27 13:15:29 INFO :
Transferred: 0 Bytes (0 Bytes/s)
Errors: 0
Checks: 0
Transferred: 0
Elapsed time: 0s
2018/06/27 13:15:29 DEBUG : 3 go routines active
2018/06/27 13:15:29 DEBUG : rclone: Version "v1.41" finishing with parameters ["rclone" "sync" "/" "local:/run/media/wolfv/big_stick/wolfv_backup/last_snapshot" "--filter-from=/DATA/Documents/test_filter_rules" "--one-file-system" "--log-level=DEBUG" "--dry-run"]