Change time machine back up settings

I'm sorry, there's probably a million questions for this but I can't find the right one. My hard drive is about 330 gigs and time machine has stuffed it to the brim. Considering the fact that my mbp doesn't have that much space on it, I don't see why that's necessary. I would really like to use the hard drive for things other than backing up and don't need a thousand back ups of my computer (one in february 2012, etc) Is there a way I can change that? Time machine prefs don't seem to have that many options. Thanks!

There's at least three ways, I know, that you can do this:
Changing the Time Machine Backup Interval
Method 1 - Manually
o Open Finder, and navigate to System/Library/LaunchDaemons
o Find com.apple.backup-auto.plist, and copy it to the Desktop (in case you want to return back to the default hourly backups)
o Open the plist file in TextEdit and find the StartInterval key. It has a default value of 3600. This value is in seconds.
o Change the value to your desired interval.
o Save the plist file.
Method 2 - Using Terminal
o Open a Terminal session
o Enter sudo defaults write /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.backup-auto StartInterval -int 3600, and then, press <Enter> (Note: Change the value 3600 to the desired backup interval.)
Method 3 - Using third-party software
o There are several available, here's one example: TimeMachineScheduler

Similar Messages

HT201250 How to change Time Machine back up time

Is there a way to change the hourly Time Machine back up time to once or twice a day?

Tidy wrote:
Now I have my original back up on time capsule which time machine can't see and it keeps starting over again to make a new backup - so my time capsule disk shows two separate backups one the original one of 2 days ago named for my computer and a new one almost the same gigabytes (139gb) which it has called Macintosh sparse bundle ????
It's possible the first one is damaged, but that seems unlikely, unless you turned the TC or Mac off while it was trying to do a backup. But even that shouldn't cause TM to start a new one (absent any messages to that effect). And it shouldn't be named "Macintosh" unless you've changed your computer name to that via System Prefs > Sharing.
A clue may be lurking in your logs. Use the widget in #A1 of Time Machine - Troubleshooting to display the backup messages from your logs. Locate both backups in question, then copy and post all the messages for each one here. (Since the first backup has been a couple of days, the widget may not show the messages for that backup; if not, the pink box shows how to use the Console app to find them.)
With the messages from both backups, we may be able to see what's going on.
I'm thinking that I should just leave time cap ON and see which it backs up to then delete the other one.
Let's see what we can find first.
I assume connecting iMac to time cap via Ethernet cable would not be a problem?
Correct. Doing the first, full backup via Ethernet is recommended.
Also if just turning time machine off is enough to disrupt time capsule backups how about turning the iMac off, which I will have to do once in a while.
Neither should be a problem, unless a backup is in progress and either the TC or Mac is shut down abnormally.

Change Time Machine backing up times?

Is there a way to either i) have Time Machine back up at night or ii) have it back up less frequently than every hour. I can hear the thing going on in the background all day long and it's beginning to get a bit annoying.

You can use Terminal to reset the time between backups. The default time is set to 3600 seconds, but you can change it to whatever you want as long as it is in seconds.
There is another app called TimeMachineScheduler which provides a bit more customization. You can set a time frame when you don't want it to backup in.
Or the app Eric suggested.
Both the Terminal process and TimeMachineScheduler app are listed in this article:
http://osxdaily.com/2012/02/02/change-the-time-machine-backup-schedule/
You can also just turn TM off and back up manually. Check the box to show TM in the menu bar and you can access it at any time easily and hit backup now.

How can I change time machine settings?

How can I change time machine settings? I only want Time Machine to backup my Home Folders and the items on the desktop. Currently, it's backing up more files which overwhelm my backup drive. How do I get it to back up Home/Desktop ONLY?
knarfrh60

Also, see selecting items to exclude from the backup here...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427
You may also find this Link of interest...
Time Machine Tutorial

How do I change permissions for the documents and files on my Mac Book Pro after I re-instaalled the HD using a Time Machine back-up?

I had to re-install the HD on my Mac Book Pro. I used a Time Machine back-up for all the apps and files. Most were restored, However, I cannot unlock a number of them. I tried changing the permissions using Get info but it is not working. I am using the latest version of Moutain Lion OSX.

Linc:
Very helpful suggestion and response, Thanks for pointing out that it is a permission issue. I am working through the issue and resolving my problem.

Is it possible to change the read/write permissions on a time machine back-up of iTunes? I need to restore it, but old version is locked....

Is it possible to change the read/write permissions on a time machine back-up of iTunes? I'm needing to restore it as my phone deleted half our playlists during sync & am not seeing a way to unlock the permissions. I have the current version unlocked, but can't seem to get the backed-up version. When I click on restore I get a pop-up that says iTunes can't be deleted as it is part of the OS. I'm not even trying to delete, just restore the old version. Any suggestions?

Hmmm, ok I'll give it a shot. I've always had the iTunes sync w/ my phone set up to only load selected playlists to the phone b/c there's a lot more in iTunes than I have room or desire for on my phone. A few months back I started having trouble w/ trying to sync everything & subsequently adding more to the phone than it could hold. The quickest thing at the time was to unclick the sync music option in iTunes so I could still backup the phone to the computer & not have a problem.
When I asked about it during one-to-one session shortly after, they advised me to delete the music off my phone & then re-sync it to the computer, run a backup of the phone & redownload the music to the phone. When I tried this it ended up deleting all my playlists (but not my husband's) from iTunes. Irritating, but I've been rebuilding the playlists since. I had also unclicked sync music again & an Apple person told me the most likely best fix was to delete & reload iTunes completely.
A few days ago I realized I hadn't backed up the phone to the computer in over a month so after deleting & reinstalling iTunes, & w/o changing anything (sync music was STILL unchecked) I ran a backup & my phone went from having 4 GB free space to being 2 GB over capacity due to iTunes trying to download the entire music library to the phone. I made a one-to-one appt again & it was suggested AGAIN that I delete all the music off my phone & then resync it to the computer & redownload the music. We did this (though a few random songs that had previously been purchased somehow remained on the phone), I got home, connected the phone & instead of the music that shows as 'on my device' disappearing from iTunes it just sat there, so, as the guy had told me I MIGHT have to do, I threw all those songs showing in iTunes as being on my phone, in the trash so that it was completely clear.
At this point I checked sync music, made sure the options were 'selected playlists only', checked the ones from my own list that I wanted (I usually have one playlist of comedians from my husband's folder that I also have on the phone, but didn't check it at this point). It uploaded all my stuff just fine, but for whatever reason when it saw that I wasn't uploading that comedy playlist any longer, it not only didn't upload it but proceeded to delete my husband's entire folder of playlists from iTunes. -_- I got on the phone w/ an Apple support person right away but he wasn't able to tell me anything .. basically said we'll have to rebuild everything. I asked about the possibility of using time machine, he said he's not qualified to answer that, so that's when I started looking around online & found, among others, the link I referenced a couple replies ago.
I hope this all makes sense. It's been a long-term issue so I'm trying to go from memory as I figured to begin w/ that I had just made a mistake somewhere, so didn't try to document anything. Now w/ it having happened a 2nd time, I'm not sure if it was 'user error' or something else.......

Why does time machine back up change root directory of software?

about a year ago i did a time machine back up of my old macbook pro, then when i came to use a piece of software (native instruments-traktor) it said the root directory had been changed and it couldnt find the file. i had to remove the whole program from my mac and redownload it. then since then had no problems.
now ive just purchased a new macbook today and wanted all my old files and software on it so i did a migration expert with time machine. it seems to have bought most things over.....a few files are missing from logic but again when i went open traktor, again it said root directory changed,,,im not to good with these root directorys so havent got a clue what to do so again ive had to remove the program and redownload it which is a bit of a pain.
any ideas why time machine changes it??

I'm also puzzled because it continually wants to back up some 15MB or more when I've changed nothing
Suggest that you download and install BackupLoupe to find out exactly what is being backed up on each pass.
soma-zone: BackupLoupe
If you want to change the backup frequency of Time Machine, an application like Time Machine Editor will allow you schedule backups whenever you like. But, you may not need to do this if you can figure out what might be causing the first issue.
TimeMachineEditor
If you ever decide to delete Time Machine Editor, be sure to change the backup frequency back to hourly before you delete the application.

Time machine backs up 32K files even when nothing changed.

I just received a brand new OSX Lion Server (Mac Mini). I also installed an external USB HD for backup.
Unfortunately, each Time Machine back-up eats up about 1.9GB and backs up 32K files, even if nothing changed (e.g. I leave it on over night).
Below is the log, which I received with time machine buddy (a widget).
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/backup/Backups.backupdb
Waiting for index to be ready (101)
1.93 GB required (including padding), 363.27 GB available
Copied 326275 files (64.7 MB) from volume Server HD.
1.91 GB required (including padding), 363.10 GB available
Copied 326402 files (16.8 MB) from volume Server HD.
Starting post-backup thinning
No post-back up thinning needed: no expired backups exist
Backup completed successfully.
In this case, there were small changes, so 17 or 65MB sounds about right. What bugs me is that the backup took 2 hours(!) and required 1.91 GB. As every backup is longer than the hourly interval, in the current setup, if I switch on TM it is continuously backing up all day all night.
I have already erased the backup disk twice and have also tried to delete the .inProgress file. After such a restart, the first backup is big and real fast, and then it is just as slow as ever.
Does anybody have any idea what it could be? Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,

Use either of these to see what it is actually being backed up?
http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/A2.html
regards,
Colin R.

Do time machine back up with HD attached to mac, then change HD location?

I want to do my first time machine back up with the HD directly attached to mac (faster) then take that HD and connect it to my Airport Extreme (dual band) 802.11n router for subsequent periodic back ups (as future back ups, unlike the first one, will be far smaller, obviously).
Is that possible?
If not, what else should I do?
Ethernet directly to the router (a pain for my situation, but possible)

BreeBrizzle wrote:
I want to do my first time machine back up with the HD directly attached to mac (faster) then take that HD and connect it to my Airport Extreme (dual band) 802.11n router for subsequent periodic back ups (as future back ups, unlike the first one, will be far smaller, obviously).
Welcome to Apple's discussion groups.
Is that possible?
Not without a lot of hassle. Time Machine manages backups on a locally-connected disk completely differently from how it managed backup on a network disk. It's possible to convert between the two schemes, but it's not easy.
If not, what else should I do?
Ethernet directly to the router (a pain for my situation, but possible)
I'd back up to the disk while it's connected to the AirPort Extreme, but connected via Ethernet for the first backup. It might minimize the pain if you do that overnight.

How to change the frequency of time machine back ups

Time machine backs up every hour. And it takes several minutes. I don't need to back up that often. Once a day is fine. But I don't see any way to set the frequency of back ups.

There are a number of applications that can be installed to set different time schedules for TM. I have not provided links as I know nothing about them.
If you do a web search on the title of your post you should find them.

Mail 6.2 will no longer open on my macbook pro after migrating my old computer from a time machine back up

Hi,
I recently got a new 13" macbook pro to replace my old macbook.
I did a migration assistant transfer from a time machine back up of my old macbooks data on to my macbook however Mail 6.2 will no lonfer work for me.
It worked fine before the transfer and no it opens ok but if i click 'new viewer window' it unexpectedly quits
Any and all help would be greatly appreciated
Thanks
Pacman481

Eek, sorry for the multiple posting, I keep trying new things and needing to report back. SO, in those accounts that I thought I'd "fixed," I tried going back in and changing the settings back to the way I like them, i.e. leaving the messages on the server for a week (because sometimes I like to see messags on my iphone too) and as soon as I did that, it started downloading old messages before, i.e. back to the same problem.
Meaning, there's no workaround for the account I share with my business partner, because the only way I've "fixed" it on my personal accounts is to have mail removed from the server immediately, which is not possible on the accounts I share. (And is kind of a bummer for my personal accounts, too, given that I like to see mail on my iphone too).
Sorry for info overload, just trying to be helpful and cover all the bases. :-)

Using a time machine back-up

Using a time machine back-up or a carbon copy back-up, is there a way to restore my network config only?
I was installing the drivers for a Brother wireless printer and the network settings changed my airport settings,
somehow and I can't access internet via airport. Only via ethernet hardwire.

Linc:
Very helpful suggestion and response, Thanks for pointing out that it is a permission issue. I am working through the issue and resolving my problem.

Server Monitor Notifications - Drive Status Changed - Time Machine

I'm using an Xserve as a file server for a small workgroup . It has a Raid 1 set which is being backed up via Time Machine to an attached disk array.
Whenever Time Machine runs (every hour), I get two notifications from Server Monitor that the drive status has changed:
*Reason(s) for notification:*
*Drive status changed*
The timestamps on the notifications coincide with these messages in system.log
Feb 2 11:28:05 ciesaxserve2 Server Monitor[854]: * _NSSocket.m:243 read() failed; socket=0x197060 error=(NSPOSIXErrorDomain,61)
Feb 2 11:28:05 ciesaxserve2 Server Monitor[854]: * _NSSocket.m:243 write() failed; socket=0x197060 error=(NSPOSIXErrorDomain,61)
Feb 2 11:28:05 ciesaxserve2 Server Monitor[854]: * _NSSocket.m:243 read() failed; socket=0x2090e90 error=(NSPOSIXErrorDomain,61)
Feb 2 11:28:05 ciesaxserve2 Server Monitor[854]: * _NSSocket.m:243 write() failed; socket=0x2090e90 error=(NSPOSIXErrorDomain,61)
and:
Feb 2 11:28:55 ciesaxserve2 servermgrd[78]: servermgr_backup: TimeMachinePostBackupHook called.
Feb 2 11:28:55 ciesaxserve2 servermgrd[78]: servermgr_backup: TimeMachinePostBackupHook done.
The notifications simply report that all is normal, and the number of available drives goes from 6, to 7, back to 6. Something to do with making the backup volume available, I presume.
I would like to disable these specific messages. I realize I can disable all messages from server monitor regarding disk statuses, but then I would be turning off messages about failures and actual problems.
Is there a config I can edit which will only alert me to actual problems? I'd like to stop getting 48 emails each day; reduce the noise and increase the signal.

I know this post is old but this has recently cropped up for me. I have been backing up with Time Machine for months without a single alert. It started happening after I replaced the failed battery on my RAID card. A coincidence...however the prolonged down time surely caused an SMC (and perhaps PRAM) reset which I assume triggered the change in behavior.
I've pinned it down to Time Machine backing up service settings, in particular the Open Directory archive. Time Machine backs up all the service data independently from the rest of the data on your server startup volume.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5139
You can see this data in Terminal.
serveradmin$ cd /Volumes/[YourBackupVolume]/Backups.backupdb/[YourServerName]/Latest/[YourBootVolume]/.ServerBackups
serveradmin$ ls -al
total 16
drwxr-xr-x@ 2 root admin    68 4 Jun 14:44 (null)
drwxr-xr-x@ 14 root admin   476 4 Jun 14:44 .
drwxrwxr-t@ 43 root admin 1462 4 Jun 14:43 ..
-rw-r--r--@ 1 root admin    37 4 Jun 14:44 .serverBackupSignature
drwxr-xr-x@ 2 root admin    68 4 Jun 14:44 addressBookServer
drwxr-xr-x@ 2 root admin    68 4 Jun 14:44 calendarServer
drwxr-xr-x@ 5 root admin   170 4 Jun 14:44 iChatServer
drwxr-xr-x@ 6 root admin   204 4 Jun 14:44 mailServer
-rw-r--r--@ 1 root admin 3826 4 Jun 14:44 master.browse.plist
drwxr-xr-x@ 4 root admin   136 4 Jun 14:43 openDirectory
drwxr-xr-x@ 61 root admin 2074 4 Jun 14:44 serverSettings
drwxr-xr-x@ 23 root admin   782 4 Jun 14:44 sharePoints
drwxr-xr-x@ 8 root admin   272 4 Jun 14:44 webServer
drwxr-xr-x@ 2 root admin    68 4 Jun 14:44 wikiServer
If you take a look inside the openDirectory folder you should see this:
serveradmin$ cd openDirectory
serveradmin$ ls -al
total 81936
drwxr-xr-x@ 4 root admin       136 4 Jun 15:32 .
drwxr-xr-x@ 14 root admin       476 4 Jun 15:33 ..
-rw-rw----@ 1 root admin 41947136 4 Jun 15:32 ServerBackup_OpenDirectoryMaster.sparseimage
-rw-r--r--@ 1 root admin       249 4 Jun 15:32 openDirectory.browse.plist
The ServerBackup_OpenDirectoryMaster.sparseimage contains an archive of your Open Directory database like the one you create from Server Admin. The only difference is that it appears to be unencrypted. This is a bit worrying since Snow Leopard, as far as I know, does not have an option to encrypt your Time Machine backup. This image seems to invisibly mount whenever a Time Machine backup is triggered. This can be verified by checking /private/var/log/system.log and filtering for backup
serveradmin$ tail -b 100 /var/log/system.log | grep backup
Jun 4 16:00:56 yourservername com.apple.backupd[25117]: Starting standard backup
Jun 4 16:00:56 yourservername com.apple.backupd[25117]: Backing up to: /Volumes/YourBackupVolume/Backups.backupdb
Jun 4 16:00:56 yourservername servermgrd[75]: servermgr_backup: TimeMachinePreBackupHook called.
Jun 4 16:09:26 yourservername servermgrd[75]: servermgr_backup: TimeMachinePreBackupHook done.
Jun 4 16:09:44 yourservername com.apple.backupd[25117]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 4.60 GB requested (including padding), 8.40 GB available
Jun 4 16:10:14 yourservername com.apple.backupd[25117]: Copied 744 files (364.4 MB) from volume YourBootDrive.
Jun 4 16:10:14 yourservername com.apple.backupd[25117]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 4.09 GB requested (including padding), 8.04 GB available
Jun 4 16:10:17 yourservername com.apple.backupd[25117]: Copied 87 files (877 KB) from volume YourBootDrive.
Jun 4 16:10:18 yourservername servermgrd[75]: servermgr_backup: TimeMachinePostBackupHook called.
Jun 4 16:10:18 yourservername servermgrd[75]: servermgr_backup: TimeMachinePostBackupHook done.
Jun 4 16:10:18 yourservername com.apple.backupd[25117]: Starting post-backup thinning
Jun 4 16:10:29 yourservername com.apple.backupd[25117]: Deleted backup /Volumes/YourBackupVolume/Backups.backupdb/yourservername/2013-06-03-155910: 8.40 GB now available
Jun 4 16:10:29 yourservername com.apple.backupd[25117]: Post-back up thinning complete: 1 expired backups removed
Jun 4 16:10:29 yourservername com.apple.backupd[25117]: Backup completed successfully.
You can see at 16:00:56 Server Manager got a call from Time Machine to start the services backup and finished at 16:09:26. Open Directory would have been backed up during that process. Take a look at /private/var/log/hwmond.log
serveradmin$ tail /private/var/log/hwmond.log
Tue Jun 4 16:08:36 BST 2013 - Number of drives change from 4 to 5.
Tue Jun 4 16:08:48 BST 2013 - Number of drives change from 5 to 4.
You'll see that both drive change warnings from Server Monitor occured just before the services backup completed. You can also use the sudo diskarbitrationd -d command along with tail /private/var/log/diskarbitrationd.log in another terminal window, trigger a Time Machine backup manually and watch this disk image mount during the backup process. Compare the mount times with the above logs to see if they all match up.
Although I have discovered the cause (which thankfully seems harmless) I have not discovered a way to stop it from generating pointless alerts. I'll post here if I figure it out. I am in the process of upgrading all of my servers to Mountain Lion so it may be a moot point. I am hopeful this information may help someone out there even though it is thoroughly out of date.
Scot

I have partitioned my time capsule, but I can't get it to work as a Time Machine back up and permanent media server for both mac and PC. What format do I need to partition the drive to so that it works for both mac and windows and so that it will be visab

I have partitioned my time capsule, as I want part of it to act as a media server for both mac and windows. However I don't know what format that I need to partition it to. I also can't make it a permanently accesible drive. I want to restore the drive to the original format (which I don't know) and start again and re-partition the drive in a format that can be used for media by both mac and PC and for time machine back-ups and make the media part of it permanetly accesible so I can add and acccess my files.
Thanks

You are mixing up a couple of things here.
The TC drive cannot be partitioned without removing it.. did you do that?
If you partition it you must use a Mac disk utility and use the HFS+ ie standard Mac format. And GUID partition table not windows type.
You can select erase disk in the airport utility.. that will take the disk back to original format. No partitions. TC is deliberately not partitioned as it is not a media server.. it is a backup device for TM. Over time .. the disk will be filled with TM backups so you have a long history of file changes to your computer.
There is no media server in the TC.. it is merely disk storage.. you can serve files from it to a media device.. but the TC itself is dumb as dumb.
Now the actual format of the drive is irrelevant to the PC.. The TC offers SMB file services to the network. You can copy files to and from the TC as if it was a local disk without caring one iota about the format. The TC handles that .. it is not a local disk .. it is a network drive.
Although you cannot partition the TC. you can still copy files to it.. this does have implications for TM.. but as long as there is plenty of free space should not be a major issue.
You can create a disk image via the disk utility in a Mac.. and as stated you can create partitions if you do it on a Mac with the disk directly connected which means breaking warranty if any exists on the TC.

Time machine back-up stuck on "cleaning up" before actually showing back-up progress

On my MacBook Pro running latest Snow Leopard, after replacing the internal HD and restoring the data from the Time Machine back-up apparently seamlessly, when starting back-up again to the the same external disk connected to another mac on the network, this happened. Almost 12 hours now. There is activity on the external back-up disk as the LED light is blinking and I can hear it work.
The message in Time Machine Preferences pane is "cleaning up" which usually shows at the end of the back-up but this time it is before any progres has shown.
I have Time Machine Buddy widget installed and this is what it says, again for the last 12 hours or so:
Starting standard backup
Network destination already mounted at: /Volumes/TM WD Book-1
Failed to attach to image: /Volumes/TM WD Book-1/Vladskibook.sparsebundle, DIHLDiskImageAttach returned: 35
Disk image /Volumes/TM WD Book-1/Vladskibook.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups
Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb
Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:must scan subdirs|new event db|
Should I just wait patiently or perform a repair of the back-up disk or do a full reset of Time Machine?
If I should wait, can I use my mac without affecting this process?
Thanks

Yellowvan wrote:
Hi Pondini,
Yes, I bought DiskWarrior 4.1.1 - it came up with this report:
" DiskWarrior has successfully built a new optimized directory for the disk named "Untitled."
The new directory is ready to replace the original directory."
Did you let it do that? If not, nothing was changed!
The drive is still under guarantee - can they really fail this quickly?
Sure, a few drives from any production run will be D.O.A, and a few others will fail very quickly, as with nearly any manufactured product.
But you don't know yet whether the drive is bad. If you didn't let DW replace the directory, run it again and do so.
If it's still troublesome, try the other things in my last post before deciding it's the drive.

Change time machine back up settings

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