Backup iTunes using Automator

I have been searching for a tutorial or an explanation of how to program an Automator workflow or application to back up my iTunes library to multiple drives. I have a large amount of media associated with iTunes which puts me over the limit for iTunes Match. Plus my movies that I have gotten from digital downloads will not be synced through iTunes Match. Since I have so much I want as much redundancy as possible, preferably to backup each subfolder piecemeal onto multiple drives as well as Time Machine and a full backup of just iTunes on a large drive. With the amount I have it is also cumbersome to order everything by hand and not have to be overwriting every time.
I have read up on rsync and a handful of Automator tutorials trying to figure something out. I can't get rsync to install, or if it is, run. I also have not found out how to make a cascade in Automator to sync only changed files, weather they are new or deleted.
I'm hoping someone can help me create the correct cascade to make this happen. I know Automator can do this I just don't know how.
Below are two links to pages from which I was pulling aid.
http://blog.midnightchannel.net/2011/04/itunes-library-backup-automator-mac.html
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3324518?start=0&tstart=0
Thank you.

Hi Tyler,
You'll really need to use rsync for this I reckon, rsync should already be part of the Mac OS.
I found this post on LifeHacker which is an extract from this MacRumours forum post, which works perfectly for me to keep an exact copy of my iTunes Music folder on my network drive, which is now accessible for any computer on my network.

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Help Needed: Backup iTunes Using Virtual DVD Media (Image)

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My iTunes library is stored on external drive and managed by my G4 Mac mini.
I'd like to backup my library using the internal backup functionality in iTunes so I can do incremental backup. The problem is that I only have CD-R drive inside the Mac mini and not DVD-R so it will take me dozens of CDs to backup the whole library. I do have a DVD-R drive on another PC so I wondered if there is a way to use a virtual DVD-R media (like DVD image file) to perform the iTunes backup and then copy that virtual media to the other PC and burn it. I already tried it using Disk Utility and Toast but iTunes didn't recognize the DVD image that were created using these applications.
Does anyone know if there is a solution for my problem besides installing a DVD-R drive on my Mac mini (which of course is a bad investment on such an old machine).
Thanks,
Tal

Hi Tyler,
You'll really need to use rsync for this I reckon, rsync should already be part of the Mac OS.
I found this post on LifeHacker which is an extract from this MacRumours forum post, which works perfectly for me to keep an exact copy of my iTunes Music folder on my network drive, which is now accessible for any computer on my network.

Using Automator... iTunes inports

I was wondering if it is possible to automate CD's to inport into a new playlist in iTunes, using the automator, so it creates a new playlist an inports all the music in one go without me having to do any work, just wondering.
or is that not what the automator is meant for ?!
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oh well...

HT1923 I backed up my iPad on my laptop with iTunes. I want to remove and re-install iTunes. How do I preserve the backup for use after I re-install iTunes?

I backed up my iPad on my laptop with iTunes. I want to remove and re-install iTunes. How do I preserve the backup for use after I re-install iTunes?

The device backups and iTunes library should be unaffected by uninstalling and reinstalling iTunes.
See Troubleshooting issues with iTunes for Windows updates for more...
tt2

When I tried to backup itunes music folder- 15.1gig- to ext. hrd drive using drag

When I tried to backup itunes music folder - 15.1gig - to ext. hard drive using drag & drop, only 5.9gig transferred to the new folder. Tried again with same result. Any ideas?

Fast backup for iTunes library (Windows)
Grab SyncToy 2.1, a free tool from MS. This can be used to copy your entire iTunes library (& other important data folders) onto another hard drive or network share. You can then use SyncToy periodically to synchronise or echo your library to the backup. A preview will show which files need to be updated giving you a chance to spot unexpected changes and during the run only the new or updated files will be copied saving lots of time.
Unlike Windows copying routine, SyncToy won't need to copy files that have already been copied successfully again and if it has problems reading any specific files these will be listed as failures, but the rest of the files will get backed up rather than the process grinding to a halt.
If your media is all organised below the main iTunes folder then you should also be able to open the backup library on any system running the same version of iTunes, regardless of the drive letter or path it appears on.
tt2

Opening iTunes using an Automator script

I'd been using Automator in conjunction with iCal to open streaming audio in iTunes v 9.x. Since upgrading to iTunes v 10, the Automator script won't work. I get the error message "The action "Get Specified iTunes Items' could not be loaded because the application iTunes is the wrong version. Try upgrading the application to version 4.6 or later" Anyone have a clue as to what's wrong, and how to fix it?

Both of these links seem to lead back to the question I asked.
Okay. And both of those links acknowledges there is a problem and offer at least a temporary solution.
Knowing that the conflict is between Automator and iTunes 10, the question becomes: Doesn't Apple test new versions of its software with ITS OWN other apps before release?
I imagine they do but it's kinda irrelevant. If it doesn't work correctly, it doesn't work correctly.
Send suggestions to Apple here ->
-> Apple Feedback - Automator
-> Apple Feedback - iTunes

Using Automator to Schedule my Backup Software to Work

Hi There
Excuse the ignoance. Have seached on this and can't seem to find the solution.
I have SuperDuper (back-up software for my HD) for Tiger.
(ii) I have a saved script (app) which SuperDuper produces by whch I can click to automatically back-up my hardrive to the predefined settings saved.
(iii) I want to use Automator to schedule the script (app) to execute every day at a certan time.
Can anyone please help.
Thank you so much....... this is driving me mad.
Mark

You mean you want iCal to do this?
Setup an event to repeat everyday and set the alarm to run the script.
Comeback if you need more detail.

Using Automator to AutomaConnect iMac on Network for Backup to Time Capsule

My wife uses her new 2.66 GHz iMac (10.5.2) for e-mail via dial-up. She has airport capability in iMac and we have an Airport network that I use. I am ready to add Time Capsule this weekend. I want to be able to have Time Machine back up her computer to TC at night when she is not using it. I plan to use it to back up my MB Pro also.
Here's what I would like to do. Automatically disconnect her modem connection at, say 2 AM, then turn Airport on (in her iMac), let Time Machine back up to TC. After a couple of hours, shut down Airport and reconnect her dial-up connection. Is this possible with TC and Time machine using Automator?

Thanks, Guru, but the problem is that the dial-up e-mail on the iMac will not work with airport on. So, my wife leaves airport off most of the time. I believe the e-mail client tries to connect to the dial-up isp through airport and gets no connection when airport is on.

ITunes uses so much internet to backup?

Why does iTunes use so much internet? Less than a minute, it used 100MB just by backing up. I only downloaded 2 apps which were both under 20MB each. It's so annoying, here in NZ - we have limits for our internet. :L

I have the same problem.
I think it dipends from the library that is too much wide.
I have a 150GB library and the pc sometimes freezes, expecially closing the program.
If you want to be sure that is the same problem, rescan the mp3 directory but add only 5 or 6 GB of music.
Could someone help us?

Using Automator to Batch Create PDFs

I've been trying to find a way to make an Automator workflow that will take the name of a folder and combine it's files into a PDF with as little manual input as possible and have finally figured out how to do so. I've seen others ask how to do this for a while so I wanted to share how I did it.
Why would you want to create PDFs? If you have scanned books, photos, documents or anything else on your Mac, you can create PDFs out of them. You can then store these in iTunes and either read them using Preview on your Mac or iBooks on your iOS device.
What this workflow will do:
Take a folder with images, get the folder's name, and create a PDF of the images with it's name.
On the next pass of the workflow, it will send the previous folder to the trash.
Create/have a backup of your files!
Create a folder somewhere that you can drop your folders in. Name it Automator Dropbox. You can create one wherever you want, but this workflow was created with Automator Dropbox in mind so you'll need to change it as necessary.
Open Automator and create a new workflow.
Find Finder Items
- Search Automator Dropbox
- [All] of the following are true:
- [Label] is [Red]
This will search for any folders that were done before.
Move Finder Items to Trash
This will move the previous folder/files to the trash.
Ask for Finder Items
- Prompt: [Choose a Folder]
- Start at: Automator Dropbox
- Type: [Folders]
This will ask you to choose the next item to convert to PDF.
Set Value of Variable
- Variable: pdfvariable
This will take the name of the folder you just selected and use it to to rename your PDF.
Label Finder Items
- [Red]
This will mark the folder you're working on for deletion the next time the workflow is ran.
Get Folder Contents
This will grab all the image files within the folder so that it can create a PDF out of them.
Scale Images
- To size (pixels): 1600
This will scale the maximum dimension of your image down (or up) to 1600px. I find this to be the sweet spot for performance on the iPad 3, and it looks just fine. If the maximum dimension of your image is lower than 1600px, I'd create a duplicate workflow of this and leave out this step; otherwise you will be upscaling and your image won't look as good. You can also leave this step out if you want your original image size kept, but on the iPad 3 and below there will be a delay going from page to page.
New PDF From Images
- Save Output to: [Desktop]
- Output File Name: tempname
This will save your finalized PDF to the Desktop. You can change this to whatever you want; I would suggest the Automatically Add to iTunes folder located in [Music > iTunes > iTunes Media > Automatically Add to iTunes]. You will find your PDF in the Books category in iTunes.
Rename Finder Items
- [Replace Text]
- Find: tempname in [Full Name]. Ignore Case checked.
- Replace: [pdfvariable] (Drag pdfvariable from the variables window into the text field for "Replace". If you don't see the variables, go to "View > Variables."
You can't just drag the variable into the PDF name field in the step above, so this extra step is necessary. It will rename your PDF with the name of the folder it was created from. It will also add the full file path, which will be taken care of in the next step.
Rename Finder Items
- [Replace Text]
- Find: Users/yourname/Documents/Automator Dropbox in [Full Name]. Ignore Case checked.
- Replace: LEAVE EMPTY
This will delete the name of the path from the name of your PDF. If your working folder is not Documents/Automator Dropbox, change it to whatever that is.
If you're running this workflow on a bunch of folders, you can simply keep your cursor over the workflow's play button and press the right arrow + enter to select the next item in queue. This workflow was made for using a little human interaction as possible, so if anyone has suggestions on how to improve on it please post below.
One last thing - if you're seeing a red folder when you run the workflow to choose a folder, it's because spotlight hasn't indexed it yet and the workflow could not find it to delete it. Just go on to the next item.

Someone (not me) has created an automator workflow that does this, using a shell script that runs the "pstopdf" unix command. I just downloaded it and tested it on 10 .eps files. You will need to edit the first automator action in the workflow to find the eps files you want (by default it looks for all eps files on your computer), but once you do that, it works like a charm! Converted my eps files to pdf's. Of course, once they are pdf files, you can use automator to convert them to whatever format you want.
http://mad-sci.blogspot.com/2007/12/why-i-hate-computers.html
(link to the actual zip file containing the workflow below)
http://www.physics.mcgill.ca/~burkes/code/PDFworkflows.zip

Using automator to keep folders synced

Hi,
I'm looking for a way to use automator to copy a file / folder to a shared server drive anytime anything is added to a specific directory.
More specifically, What I'm trying to do exactly is have all my music back uped from my itunes directory to an identical server drive. I a'm a mobile DJ, and I have have a lot of music that I need to have updated backups of. I currently have a server share already set up, and I manually copied everything from my itunes folder over to it, the only problem is; every time i update of modify some music, i have to go back into my itunes folder and sort by 'date modified' and copy just those files over.
The script needs to be able to copy whenever anything is added or modified to the itune directory, and needs to be able to overwrite existing data on the server backup folder.
Thanks in advance for any help!

Hello:
I can recommend Unison - its an open source, cross-platform, file synchronization tool that's available at:
http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/unison/

I loaded iTunes on a new laptop. I copied and pasted my albums to a 4G stick and down loaded them to the new laptop. Placing them in, Libraries – Music – iTunes and than in Itunes used File – add file to library. So far so good. For what ever reason one o

I loaded iTunes on a new laptop. I copied and pasted my albums to a 4G stick and down loaded them to the new laptop. Placing them in, Libraries – Music – iTunes and than in Itunes used File – add file to library. So far so good. For what ever reason one of the CDs would not load onto the stick. I got the orginal CD and loaded directly to Itunes. Now when I look in Libraries – Music – iTunes it’s not there but it is in and plays in iTunes. What should I have done or should I be doing? Thanks.

It's not a unique situation - happens all the time, smaller hard drives getting filled up.
It's also easy to fix. I just moved my itunes content to a bigger hard drive.
First I made a backup of the itunes database file - iTunes Library.itl. Just in case anything went wrong.
Nothing did go wrong, but I'd have it in case anything DID go wrong. That file holds ratings, playcounts, Date Added, and other metadata.
Second, in itunes change the preferences > advanced tab to tell itunes to put everything on G:
Set the itunes folder location to something like G:Media or G:iTunes
This will affect all FUTURE additions to itunes and not do anything to the existing locations.
Make sure the checkbox for "Keep itunes organized" is NOT checked. I also left the "Copy files when adding" unchecked.
Third, to move all the files to G: without itunes losing the paths, run the File > Library > Organize > Consolidate command. This will need to run a while, so be patient as it copies all the files to the new G: location. This does NOT delete the originals. You will have to do that.
Fourth, make sure everything in itunes is OK and you can play stuff in your library. If you're really cautious you can run a script to check for missing/dead tracks.

Backup ITunes in Windows Vista

Hi,
Can someone please advise the best way to backup Itunes (10.2.2.12)? Need to backup the full thing, as i am going to windows 7 new install rather than an upgrade. Music is easy to backup in my music folder, copy over and tell ituneds to use that as my library.
However i am worried i will connect my iphone and ipad and it will sync to the blank apps list and remove all my apps from the device. So can someone please advise how i backup my applications so i can restore them back when on windows 7.
I know i can redownload them for free, but i will never remember which apps i have and that will take ages. Also doesn't itunes always think that is right so if i reinstall and have no apps in itunes and i plug in my iphone with it's apps it will sync with the empty itunes and remove all the apps off the phone? Or will i be lucky and it will sync the apps from the phone to itunes?
Any help would be great on how to backup everything in itunes (Music, apps, ipad and iphone backups) and restore to a new install in windows 7.
Would have been easy if the backup function would have backed up to an external HD instead of demanding loads of dvd's!
Many Thanks,
Craig

Try this:
Syncing to a "New" Computer or replacing a "crashed" Hard Drive: Apple Support Communities
This will move the contents of the iPod to your computer. and sync the iPod to the computer.
It appears to me that something is wrong/corrupt with your music backup.

ITunes used to have a bar that showed me what content on my iPad was taking up the memory. The bar is gone. How do I get it back?

Have to say, I've been messing with this for 30 minutes just trying to figure out how to post a question. Very frustrated.
How do I get back the bar that iTunes used to have which showed me what content on my iPad was eating up memory? The iPad itself doesn't seem to show that, I had to hook to iTunes to see it. Now that's gone.

I suspect unless he had some items in iCloud backup then they are gone. Connecting an iPhone to a different library from that to which it was previously connected will result in the device asking if you want to erase it.

Can't update iPad since iTunes uses drive C. Solutions?

Can't update iPad since iTunes uses drive C. Solutions?
Yeah, I've seen this topic:
http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/27446/i-do-not-have-enough-free-space-o n-the-c-drive-of-my-windows-computer-to-run-t
But which one is 100% working solution?
Thanks.

Relocate iOS device backups
Assuming you're running Windows Vista or later you can use the following steps:
Open a command prompt by hitting the start button and typing CMD<Enter> in the search box that opens up.
To move the current backup folder from C: to D: type in this command (on one line) and press <Enter>
Move "C:\Users\<User>\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" "D:\Backup"
Where <User> is your Windows user name.
To make iTunes look for the data in the new location type in this command (on one line) and press <Enter>
MkLink /J "C:\Users\<User>\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" "D:\Backup"
If your target drive has a different letter or you already have a folder called "Backup" then edit "D:\Backup" accordingly in both commands.
In some cases (perhaps depending on what builds of iTunes were installed in the past) it seems the folder is in the \Local\ branch of AppData rather than \Roaming\ in which case edit to suit.
If you're still running Windows XP you can use Junction (cmd line tool) or NTFSLink (shell ext). In both cases you move the existing folder to a new location, create an empty folder where the old one used to be, then use the tools to get the operating system to link the two together and silently redirect any file operation on the old location through to the new one.
Note that while this method works for iOS device backups it cannot be used to redirect sections of the media library.
If your iTunes library is on the C:\ drive with the media folder held elsewhere then see also make a split library portable.
tt2

Backup iTunes using Automator

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