How to fix owncloudcmd error: Cannot load system exclude list or list supplied via --exclude

Problem:

While running owncloudcmd, you see an error message like

Set proxy configuration to use system configuration
Cannot load system exclude list or list supplied via --exclude
Aborted

Solution

Just create an empty exclude.lst file

touch exclude.lst

and tell owncloudcmd to use it using

--exclude exclude.lst

If the error persists, ensure that owncloudcmd can read the file (i.e. permisions) and also try an absolute path.