tar package excludes or specifies a directory

tar zcvf fd.tar.gz * --exclude=file1 --exclude=dir1

Note:

1. --exclude=file1 instead of --exclude file1

2. To exclude a directory is --exclude=dir1 instead of --exclude =dir1/ (with / is to specify a directory to package)

You can also package

tar in the parent directory zcvf fd.tar.gz pardir --exclude=pardir/file1 --exclude=pardir/dir1