Can i make a Time Machine over network?

i have 2 macbook pro i want to make a time machine backup and save it in the other macbook pro because i have no space left to save it in the same HDD.
I dont know something like sending AirDrop while it is written. or connect the macbook pro HDD trough firewire to the other.

Yes, you might be able to do that, although it's unlikely to work satisfactorily.
It's much better to use an external HD or Time Capsule.
To use the "other" Mac's internal HD,  you'll have to make a second partition on it for the backups.  That needs to be 2-3 times the size of the data on the "source" Mac, so you'll likely have a space problem.
See #3 in Using Disk Utility to add the partition, then  Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #22 for setup instructions.

Similar Messages

  • Time Machine over network: can't see hard drive

    I've connected an external firewire 800 drive to our server and then chosen it in Server Preference as a drive that users can backup to, however when I try to select it in the user's Time Machine prefs I can't see the drive. Any ideas?

    Is no one else having this problem?

  • How can I make my Time Machine backup copy-able again?

    Because one of my Time Machine hard drives failed catastrophically, I bought a replaceemnt disk and tried to copy the Backups from my second TM hard drive as a starting point for the new drive.
    The copy failed: "A075BE7D-541F-4AA8-80D6-E5E42DD9B198"cannot be converted. Please install newer version of iWork.
    The 2nd error message was The operation can't be completed because an unexpected error occurred (error code -8062).
    The 3rd error message was: The operation can't be completed because you don't have permisssion to access some of the items.
    These last two messages were repeated a few times.
    Finally, this error message appeared: The operation can't be completed because an unexpected error occurred (error code -8003).
    The copy then terminated.
    Some additional points are:
    There is only one user on this computer.
    My copy of iWork is 4.3, which is the latest on the App store (certainly for Pages).
    I am running OS X 10.8.4
    I gave up trying to retain the Time Machine history on my new TM drive and used it as a new empty TM backup. So, at this stage I have one old 1TB backup drive with reasonable history and one brand new 3 TB backup. A week later I purchased another 3TB drive. Knowing that I couldn't copy from the old 1TB drive, I tried from the newer 3TB drive. It failed the same way. So the problem is not one of an old corrupted backup; it's new and repeatable.
    Using terminal, I searched my TM backup for the file named above (using "sudo ls -aR | grep A075BE7D"). Here's my output:
    big-screen:2013-06-11-002736 shenandoah$ sudo ls -aR | grep A075BE7D
    Password:
    A075BE7D-541F-4AA8-80D6-E5E42DD9B198.pages-tef
    ./Macintosh HD/.DocumentRevisions-V100/PerUID/501/23/com.apple.documentVersions/A075BE7D-54 1F-4AA8-80D6-E5E42DD9B198.pages-tef:
    ./Macintosh HD/.DocumentRevisions-V100/PerUID/501/23/com.apple.documentVersions/A075BE7D-54 1F-4AA8-80D6-E5E42DD9B198.pages-tef/Previews:
    ./Macintosh HD/.DocumentRevisions-V100/PerUID/501/23/com.apple.documentVersions/A075BE7D-54 1F-4AA8-80D6-E5E42DD9B198.pages-tef/index.pages:
    ./Macintosh HD/.DocumentRevisions-V100/PerUID/501/23/com.apple.documentVersions/A075BE7D-54 1F-4AA8-80D6-E5E42DD9B198.pages-tef/index.pages/Contents:
    ./Macintosh HD/.DocumentRevisions-V100/PerUID/501/23/com.apple.documentVersions/A075BE7D-54 1F-4AA8-80D6-E5E42DD9B198.pages-tef/index.pages/QuickLook:
    big-screen:2013-06-11-002736 shenandoah$
    Some web searching leads me to understand that these files are created under some (or all?) circumstances for Pages documents stored in iCloud. The names of the files above tell me this is part of Mountain Lion's version management system.
    My question is: how can I safely get rid of the files above or in some other way make my TM backup copyable? I am also concerned that if I can't copy the backup, I may not be able to use it as a backup or as a way to migrate to a new machine.
    Any help will be greatly appreciated.
    Thanks!

    David Bean wrote:
    So copying from a one-week-old TM volume was failing
    Have you run Repair Disk on it?
    I now realize that the folder in which the problem file(s) are stored on the backup,.DocumentRevisions-V100, is the folder in which OS X stores its versioning data for all users. I am now trying to work out whether I can safely delete these files from the backup
    That does get damaged on occasion.  I haven't seen it in quite a while, so it's pretty rare.
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    First, open the Terminal app (in your Applications/Utilities folder). Be very careful with this app.  It's a direct link into UNIX, the underpinnings of OSX, but without the protections of OSX.
    In Terminal, the prompt looks like this:  <Computer Name>:~ <your name>$
    (where <your name> is your short user name).  It's followed by a non-blinking block cursor.
    Copy, do not type, the following after the prompt:
    defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles 1
    and press Return.
    You should just see the prompt again.
    Then see Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #12 to delete all the backups of it.
    and from the live system filestore so they don't get copied out to a backup again.
    Yes. You will, of course, lose all previous versions, but since the file is corrupted, you may have lost some, most, or all of them already.
    When done, run the same command to hide the invisible items, but replace the "1" with a zero.

  • ITunes Library and Time Machine over network

    Hello everyone,
    I've got a 2008 unibody MacBook running Mountain Lion, I've been using Time Machine on a SeaGate external HDD, in addition to storing my iTunes Media on the drive.  This external drive was always plugged into my computer via USB.  Well the drive crashed so I've been looking into alternatives.  I bought an Extreme Base Station and was hoping I'd be able to plug a similar external drive and achieve the same results wirelessly.  After some research, it seems this is very unreliable.  I've also come across a WD MyBookLive (NAS) which has a lot of software built in to act as an iTunes server and work with Time Machine (which sounds perfect), however I haven't gotten either of those functions to work.  I'm guessing this might be a firmware issue on the MyBookLive, but it's also not letting me update it.  What can you guys suggest?  What would be the best way to make this work?  Thanks in advance!

    I could see this being a real issue for me. Is there any news on this front?
    Here's my background/intention with TM:
    1. I purchased a brand new MacBook for a family member, it's her first Mac experience
    2. My wife and I have have MacBooks which we adore (Plus 3 iPhones in the family, Apple TV, AirTunes, the works -- Don't brand me as a "Mac Hater" which these forums love to do as soon as you point out an oversight. let's stay on topic, please!!)
    3. We have a 500GB USB drive on my Wife's system for TM use
    4. I have a 150GB USB drive for my own TM use.
    5. In an effort minimize the amount of USB devices needed, I want to share my wife's 500GB drive for all of us to use TM with it. Seems logical, no?
    6. Well, it's a MacBook it is mounted on so it will go to sleep at times, even go on the road.
    Now, before people get excited (which they love to do here when you point out a potential issue with our beloved Macs) I fully understand the drive will not always be available. This is already the case as my TM drive is at home and I am at work with my MacBook as I type this. TM is not freaking out and will work happily when I mount the TM drive.
    However, will my stepdaughter have a corrupted backup if she has the remote TM drive mounted when my wife puts it to sleep? Even if no backup is running?? My SD is rather sharp, she understands that to do a backup she needs to mount the share and click "back up now" on TM. But should she forget to unmount when she's done is in for disaster??? That wouldn't make sense but from I'm reading here it sounds like the case?

  • OS X 10.5.3 update... Does Time Machine over network still work

    Anyone updated to the new 10.5.3 and know if Time Machine still works over the network via AEBS?

    I was hoping 10.5.3 would fix things for time machine/time capsule, I had issues with it hijacking my laptop and the network doing fsck_hfs. So I looked forward to fixes, had been doing only back up now, since having to reset everything. I tried it, it took an our to get past preparing, then had 15 meg out of 2 gig backing up, stuck there for hours. I finally killed it by dismounting the disk. When my disappointment reduces I may try a fresh start. I am sure they worked very had on it.

  • HT201250 How can I make sure time machine backed up my photos and music?

    I recently got a new MacBook Pro, and I sucsessfully transferred all of my information onto my new computer from my old MacBook. I also bought a new external hard drive. I used Time Machine to back it all up. It says that it transferred everything, but all I can see are the Applications. I want to be sure that I have it backed up in two places before I erase my old hard drive and sell my old computer.
    Thanks for the help.

    When you enter Time Machine and navigate to a snapshot, you see only applications? Nothing in your home folder, for example?

  • Time Machine over the Network: Terribly Slow

    Hello,
    I've been using Time Machine for over 3 years now with no issues over the network; the destination being a 2TB external Seagate connected to another iMac connected through gigabit ethernet. Everything has been working flawlessly: Every hour Time Machine would MOUNT the sparseimage it created on the disk, BACKUP the data and UNMOUNT the disk image when finished.
    Until I upgraded to Lion. The above process is still working per se, however it is PAINFULLY slow! A 50MB backup can take up to AN HOUR! Searching around on the net, advised that there could be an issue with Spotlight as well, however this is not the case for me, since Spotlight finished a new index in under 30 mins. Followed every tutorial I could find on the issue, to no avail..
    I then upgraded to Mountain Lion with the hope that the issue will clear itself. Cleared my old backups, resetted Time Machine by erasing its .plist file, restarted my iMac just to make sure and connected Time Machine to the network share anew, creating a "sharing only" account on the host iMac, i.e. the one that has the external HD connected through USB. Still no luck.
    I painfully realize that I still have the same issue. While backing up, network traffic is under 100KB, and activity monitor does not show any backupd or mds or any similar processes taking anything over 3% of CPU time.
    What could be wrong?

    Hello again,
    Tries on the other iMac (also running 10.8.2) and things are exactly the same: Image creation takes almost half an hour, and copying crawls at under 1MB/min. While time machine image is mounted and Time Machine is "backing up", accessing ANY disk on the host Mac is VERY slow. Seems like something hogs up appleshare when Time Machine is in use. Mind you, there is insignificant network traffic as seen by Activity Monitor, as well as insignificant CPU usage while backing up.
    Stopping backup and using tmutil to set the Time Machine destination to the mounted image as mounted by Finder, solves the issue again, revving up Time Machine throughput to over 20MB/sec! There is also no issues acessing the other Mac as well, under this scenario.
    Up to this point, the only way I have managed to use Time Machine over a networked external HD is through the NAS server. Both configurations where I am using a Mac running 10.8.2 as a server of the external disk have failed with very low throughput while backing up. Something must be wrong in 10.8.2's afp when Time Machine is mounting the image by itself.
    I may need to remind you that I have been successfully backing up to the external HD for 4 years now; something broke a few months after the client iMac was upgraded to Lion and at the time when the host iMac was upgraded to Mountain Lion. Will try to locate a Mac running some later OS X version to do some more testing.
    Also reminding that I have used two distinctive iMacs and two external HD drives for my tests so far. The client iMac has remained the same, however 10.8.2 has been reinstalled on it a couple of times. Have also used an afp-enabled NAS server which worked fine with Time Machine.

  • Time machine over a network volume

    So since Snow Leopard (and I think Leopard), when you use Time machine to back up over a network share (for example, a USB drive attached to a mini server), the OSX creates a sparsebundle image where all time machine files are stored.
    In Lion, If I encrypt my hard drive, and I keep on backing up using time machine over this network share.. will the sparsebundle image be encrypted or not?

    I don't see much difference between using a sparsebundle image or an encrypted sparsebundle image.
    I've sent this feedback to Apple see if they enable this in subsequent updates.

  • Time Machine over AirPort to Time Capsule... maybe a solution

    Like a lot of people on this forum, apparently, I have been suffering from the inability to make reliable Time Machine backups to a Time Capsule over AirPort. Here's what I did to solve the situation.
    Here's my network setup:
    I have an ADSL wireless box with b/g network connected over ethernet to a 1-TB Time Capsule which has a 5 GHz 'n' network. Using 5 GHz 'n' network where I am means no interference. All equipment that is not capable of 'n' is on the wireless box, 'n' equipment (basically, only my MacBook Pro) gets on the Time Capsule. It doesn't make internet faster, but sure makes the Time Capsule accessible. Both networks are hidden and secured with WEP (b/g) or WPA2 (n).
    (the Time Capsule is double-NATted, unfortunately, to cut down on network chatter in the system log)
    After upgrading to 10.5.6, I think I haven't been able to make a reliable Time Machine backup over AirPort. It may have been well before that (possibly with the AirPort Extreme update) but I don't remember. Most of the time, before the wireless box arrived, I have been making far-too-irregular backups over ethernet to the Time Capsule.
    Anyway, I had been trying to get Time Machine to work over AirPort to the backup on the Time Capsule. I had made the original backup over ethernet (all 500 GB worth over a weekend). For the incremental backups, though, I would prefer AirPort because keeping a cable attached really is a pain. Of course, it didn't work right away.
    What I couldn't figure out was why. Time Machine mounted the sparsebundle volume on the Time Capsule, but after that it seemed to do nothing with it. I left it for half a day and found little by way of relevant network activity. I tried the following to no avail:
    * disabled Little Snitch (outgoing firewall) and the OS X firewall (incoming firewall)
    * disabled security on the network
    * disabled and re-enable Time Machine
    * changed the name of the sparsebundle volume (that was dumb!)
    * trash Time Machine preferences and re-select the backup disk
    * reboot, reboot, reboot
    Whatever I did, it sucked. Connecting over ethernet was excellent, and incremental backups went really quick, but AirPort just didn't fly. It would have been worse if it were slow; chances are then it'd be a hardware problem. But nothing was going over AirPort with Time Machine.
    In amongst the surfing, I found somewhere how to downgrade the firmware on the Time Capsule. Worth a try since nothing was working. I opened up the AirPort Utility and checked, but it would only give me 7.3.2 (AirPort Utility 5.3.2). I searched and found the AirPort 5.3.1 software, and using Pacifist extracted the AirPort Utility application. That would let me 'downgrade' the Time Capsule firmware to 7.3.1 (and 7.3). It downloaded the 7.3.1 for me and put it on the Time Capsule without problems.
    I then made a test run with Time Machine over ethernet, that was fine. The I tried over AirPort - and hey presto! it worked! I re-enabled my network setup (firewalls, security) and it's still working fine.
    So, if your Time Capsule is on 7.3.2 firmware and Time Machine over AirPort *****, try downgrading to 7.3.1. The AirPort 5.3.1 software, which can download and install the 7.3.1 software (5.3.2 doesn't) can be found here:
    http://support.apple.com/downloads/TimeCapsule_and_AirPort_Base_Station__802_11n__Firmware_7_31
    Note: you need Pacifist to extract the AirPort Utility application;
    do not install the software over your existing AirPort software

    This may be tough because TM isn't supported over wi-fi unless you're using a Time Capsule. There are a couple of resources available to you and I'd also recommend posting in the Snow Leopard forum because TM is part of OS X the OS X forum would be the right venue. The first thing is I'm guessing you are using a router, if so make sure the firmware on it is up-to-date. You will need to refer to the router's manual. You also should do the same with the modem too. Some written resources are:
    Time Machine FAQs
    Time Machine Troubleshooting
    Pondini Time Machine Tips
    That's about all I can help you out with.
    Good luck!

  • How can I get my time machine to allow me to recover files again? After upgrading to OS X, the time machine still backs up the files; but, I'm not able to navigate within the time machine or select any folders or files for restore.

    How can I get my time machine to allow me to recover files again?
    After upgrading MBA to OS X, the time machine still backs up the files; but, I'm not able to navigate within the time machine or select any folders or files for restore.
    I've searched and can not find a solution to the problem that's being encountered.

    Yeap that all makes sense now.
    Do you only have the current backup showing in the TM display?? Won't it fill in the rest?
    Over wireless are you waiting for the indexing to finish.. ??
    Previous backup may not show for a couple of hours.
    Long short of it.. Mavericks version of TM is a pain.
    Sometimes it is easier to completely ignore the TM backup and do the restore manually.
    I have posted the details here. See if this helps.
    Can't access old files on time capsule

  • Can I move the time machine drive from being a usb drive

    Hello
      I am not sure whether this fits best in the time capsule or in the time machine forum. I try here as this a issue thar arises only to time capsule users.
    I have a new USB drive that I want to use for time machine backups. Eventually I want it to be attached to the time capsule and make the time machine back up via wifi. However the first backup is 261 Gb and this is too long for the wi-fi. I am doing it right now via the USB and take 12 hours (estimated).
    After the USB backup will be finished, can I move the drive to the time capsule and let time machine make the backups via wifi? I mean, is time machine going to find the backup done via USB or once started with USB I am stuck with that?
    Thanks for answering and for reading
    Roberto
    PS
    maybe  was better on the time machine forum, still don't know.

    Backup strategy
    Backing up a client computer to Time Capsule hardware with Time Machine software via the network provides ample time for contemplation, and rumination as to why the backup is taking so long. An initial 200Gb backup has an estimated time of "3 days" even on a wired network. Incremental backups following the initial backup are also beset with delays, with various message which can be viewed with the programmer's delight, the "Console" app. Otherwise the System Preference Time Machine interface is mute. The glacial pace of the Time Capsule backup process is exhaustively documented on the internet, but with no solutions - at least that I have found any after too many hours searching.
    The System Preferences->Time Machine interface is always used to start a backup, monitor, or stop a backup, whether the backup drive is present on the network via Time Capsule, or if the backup drive is directly connected to the client computer.
    On the positive side, Time Machine performs quickly and provides hourly backup to external drives directly attached to the client computer. The delay appears in network backups via Time Capsule.
    Another positive is that network backups to Time Capsule are reliable when the client computer is stable, always on, and never detached from the network. In this case, the mute interface offered by system preferences->Time Machine is welcome. For example, my Apple Mac Mini web server (always on) is reliably backed up to a Time Capsule.
    The negative experience is encountered when backing up a laptop when, as laptops do, the laptop wanders from the network. As stopping a backup can take 15 minutes, backups are necessarily interrupted when dashing off to work with your laptop. In the network where I have experience, there are 5 laptops and 1 stationary (Mac Mini) clients living on an all-Apple network. Failing to complete a backup via network for days on end gives no feeling of security.
    Reading from Podini's excellent website
              http://pondini.org/TM/Works.html
    and extracting a summary, files copied from a client computer using Time Machine are stored on the backup drive in one of two formats:  sparse bundle (special file type) when backing up to Time Capsule (or to a drive attached to a Time Capsule), or a folder with the client computer name when the backup drive is Firewire attached to the client. A closer examination of the sparse bundle file on the network with the Finder shows that the same folder appears with the computer name.
    So, Time Machine backups always go to a folder with the client computer name, and this folder is either inside a sparse bundle or not depending upon if the backup drive is mounted on the network via TC or directly attached to the client.
    An external drive mounted on the network via Time Capsule will create a sparse bundle file for the client or add to it if it already exists. Even if backups are present of the same machine, but not in a sparse bundle, Time Capsule will create a sparse bundle if it does not exist for the current backup client computer, and start a new backup.
    An external drive directly connected to the client has a different experience. No Time Capsule is involved. Upon turning on backups via Time Machine, the backups will go to a sparse bundle file with the client computer name, if it exists. If the sparse bundle file does not exist, a folder is created with the computer name.
    A strategy of backing up to an external drive moved between various computers and the Time Capsule might resolve some of the many delays. The strategy is simple, if delays are encountered, directly attach the backup drive to the client computer. If a backup is to be manually deleted in order to begin anew, directly attach the backup drive to the client computer before deleting the sparse bundle file.
    To begin a new backup with this strategy of "drive+TC", initiate (via TM) the backup on the network (via TC), then stop after 10 minutes (with TM), noting that a sparse bundle of zero size is created. Continue the first backup by directly connecting the external backup drive to the client then pointing Time Machine to the newly connected drive. The backups by way of direct connect will go to the existing sparse bundle. Wait three hours rather than three days for a 200Gb backup to complete. Subsequent backups will go to the sparse bundle file on the backup drive, whether the backup drive is on the network (via TC) or directly connected.
    But what of the internal drive on the TC? In this strategy, it is not used for backups unless the client computer is always attached to the network.
    With so little documentation from Apple, we are left to speculate as to the cause of TC largo. Normally, slight documentation means little to know for the user, and the user is spared the complex machinations under the hood, but when the operation is flawed the user is left without resources.
    A secure backup strategy stores a backup offsite, just in case the house burns down, or buglers make a clean sweep of computers and backup drives. Unfortunately, this means doubling the equipment, including two Time Capsules and two external drives attached to the TCs. The offsite copy is rarely mentioned in the same paragraph as the Time Capsule, likely because of the cost. It's an uncomfortable fact that a sole TC is vulnerable to local hazards, along with the local client computers.
    This is the strategy I'm testing now. I'll send an update in a few days.

  • I have 2 macbooks each with an account for me and one for my wife. I use one Macbook logged in with my account and my wife uses the other Macbook only loged in on her account. We both make regular time-machine back-ups each on a separate external disk

    I have 2 Macbooks each with an account for me and one for my wife. I use one Macbook logged in with my account and my wife uses the other Macbook only logged in on her account. We both make regular time-machine back-ups each on a separate external disk. Is it possible to update her account on my macbook using her external disk without overwriting my stuff on the same Macbook and vice versa?

    Time Machine does not do individual accounts. It records the complete drive. So if you were to use her TM backup on your Mac it would make your Mac just like hers. Both yours and her account on your MAC.
    Just copy the missing files over from her Mac to yours. If there are differennt programs on each then they would need to be installed on both.

  • I'm suddenly getting the kernel panic message and constant restarts when connected to the time machine wireless network. if is switch to the BT network, all fine. no help found so far as to what's wrong or how to correct, anyone have any thoughts...

    Recently upgraded to mountain lion in order to buy the new tall tower for time machine backups. had to get technical support to help with set up as it wouldn't play ball with two computers. all working fine up until last week when the iMac started getting backup error messages. then system restarts independently when using time machine on the time machine wireless network. only stops restarting when I switch the wireless network back to he bt one, which is a pain obviously as can't back up to time machine then.  it has to be a problem with airport utility or something wireless but all says all up to date with software etc. all still works fine backing up from laptop on the wireless network, just the iMac is not happy. any help or thoughts very much appreciated.

    Hi, many thanks Bob, what you say is not unthinkable at all, although it does answer the question
    "what could I do *instead* of ..." rather than the one I actually asked, but seriously ...
    Shutting down might be an answer, although it would clear out my tmp directory - which I might not want to have to sort through looking for things I want to save every time I go to work, and also, now that nvram doesn't seem to work for disabling the boot chime, it can get a bit embarassing booting up in a busy meeting if I have forgotten to mute before I shut down. There are all sorts of other issues, such as editing documents, loading web pages and so on that I would have to set up again.
    Your suggestion of letting Apple know is a good one - thank you for the link.
    Take care,
    Mark

  • After a clean install, how can I continue using Time Machine?

    After a clean install, how can I continue using Time Machine?
    I booted from my recovery partition, erased my HD, installed the same OS, (Lion, 10.7.5) then restored from my TM.
    If it asks if i want to use TM, I say yes. When I chose the drive, it seems to want to start all over, instead of just picking up where I left off.
    Is there any way of picking up where I left off?

    Hi Frank,
    You are sure you looking in your Library in /Users/YOUR_USERNAME/Library and not /Library at the top level of your harddrive?
    When you open iCal what do you see?  Are the calendars the two default Home and Work ones?
    I really appreciate the responses -- especially if you are in the UK as opposed to Ontario.
    Why, do you have something against London Ontario?
    John M

  • Can I have several Time Machines in Mavericks?

    I have several boot partitions over several disks. Am I allowed to have more than one Time Machine partition - each backing up different drives?
    The same question was ever asked against Snow Leopard here, and the answer was no, "You can't have more than one Time Machine destination disk active at any one time."
    Is it still the same limit today for Mavericks?
    I have 1 x SSD and 3 x HDD, I just want to use one 1TB HD to back up the 500GB SSD, and the 4TB HD to back up the 2TB HD.
    Possible please?
    Thanks heaps in advance.

    Called Apple Care Support and confirmed that only one Time Machine backup can be active, in other words, only one destination drive can used to perform Time Machine backup automatically.
    Therefore I had to hoose the largest internal HD (4 TB) to back up all other drives (total 2.5 TB).
    Barney-15E wrote:
    I don't think this was the question you were asking, but you can have multiple backup drives, now, but they are just redundant backups, not different backups.

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