Disable Local Backups per Volume

Hello world!
I need to urgently disable local backups (/.MobileBackups) on a per-volume basis -- is this possible?
I was considering just removing it and placing a zero-permission-zero-byte file in it's stead, but I wanted to check first and curiously found that seemingly no one has asked this question ever before … strange! My use case is simple: I have a second drive almost constantly attached to my MacBookPro, and it's formatted in HFS+, and I do want it to be included in the regular TM backup onto my Time Capsule.
But, because the drive is external and slower than the internal, having the hourly snapshots taken gives me a 10 Minute performance degradation every 50 Minutes. This I cannot suffer.
On the other hand, I do want to keep my internal SSD to make regular, even mobile, backups.
What would be the smartest way to achieve this?
Thanks for your input and greetings,
-Thomas

[...] Local backups are made on your MBP itself, not on the external disk, [...]
Not true.
Just try for yourself, connect a HFS+-formatted (that's the important part) drive and wait.
/Volumes/[device]/.MobileBackups
will be created in due time, and it will fill up with linked backup files.
I reproduced with two disks (actually, one SDCard and one USB drive) and this is fully reproducable.
Example:
retina /Volumes/Zweitplatte % ls -la
drwxr-xr-x+ 3 thomas staff    102 Sep 20 15:38 .MobileBackups
drwx------   5 thomas staff    170 Sep 20 15:38 .Spotlight-V100
d-wx-wx-wt   3 thomas staff    102 Sep 20 19:59 .Trashes
-rw-rw-rw-   1 thomas staff 216345 Sep 20 16:05 .VolumeIcon.icns
drwx------   7 thomas staff    238 Sep 21 02:11 .fseventsd
retina /Volumes/Zweitplatte % sudo du -sh .MobileBackups
Password:
90G .MobileBackups
retina /Volumes/Zweitplatte %
Yup.
I actually work on the external drive, and a lot of files are slightly modified regularly, and you can surely see that 90GB starts to be an issue. Im at this very moment _directly_ connected to the LAN and the Re-Backup /Sync to my Time Capcule is ongoing for hours now ... and I don't need this #*#
Thanks for your advice!

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Can't Delete Time Machine Local Backup

This is driving me crazy, I have tried everything.. I even completely wiped my drive and reinstalled Yosemite..
Basically the problem is that I have a 18MB Backup showing inside about this mac which shouldnt be there.. When I restart my mac it is gone then about 30 seconds later the 18mb backup appears out of nowhere.. I have tried disabling local backups which delete's all the other backups but just keeps a random 18mb one? Please help..
http://prntscr.com/5mn9wp

Yes it still stays.. The only time it ever disappears is when I restart but it just reappears after like 30 seconds

How to permanently disable local TimeMachine backups?

Hi,
I have disabled the local TimeMachine using:
sudo tmutil disablelocal
That all works fine but after a reboot, the local backups are back again. For some reason this setting doesn't survives a reboot.
Can nayone give me some advise on how to permanently disable local TimeMachine backups?
Dennis

Here's how I permanently disable TM local snapshots:
1. create ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.wfiveash.disable_tmlsnaps.plist containing:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>com.wfiveash.disable_tmlsnaps</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>/Users/willf/bin/disable_tmlsnaps.ksh</string>
    </array>
    <key>WatchPaths</key>
    <array>
        <string>/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist</string>
    </array>
</dict>
</plist>
2. create a shell script ~/bin/disable_tmlsnaps.ksh:
#!/bin/ksh -p
# This script is supposed to be run via launchd (see
# ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.wfiveash.disable_tmlsnaps.plist) when launchd
# detects a change to the TimeMachine.plist file. This script will determine
# if TM local snapshots has been enabled via the MobileBackups property and if
# it has it will run the setuid disable_tmlsnaps binary.
# prevent launchd throttling respawn warning, must wait 10s before this script exits
sleep 10
integer lsnaps=-1
lsnaps=$(defaults read /Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist MobileBackups)
if [[ $lsnaps -eq 1 ]]
then
    exec "${HOME}/bin/i386/disable_tmlsnaps"
elif [[ $lsnaps -eq -1 ]]
then
    # there was an error running defaults
    exit 1
else
    exit 0
fi
3. Lastly compiled this C program and named it ~/bin/i386/disable_tmlsnaps. I set the permissions so it was owned by root and setuid:
* To build: gcc -o disable_tmlsnaps disable_tmlsnaps.c
* sudo chown root:wheel disable_tmlsnaps
* sudo chmod u+s disable_tmlsnaps
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <unistd.h>
int
main (int argc, char *argv[])
    int rc;
    rc = setuid(0);
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=================================================================
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Time Machine : Deleting all local backups of one of several computers leaves files behind

Hi,
I'm in the process of transitioning my Time Machine setup. For the moment, I have a local Time Machine volume backing up three Macs to the same Backups.bakupdb folder (I had set that up two years ago before reading Pondini's Time Machine FAQ).
Basically what I want to achieve is have a partition per computer that I'm backing up. So what I did was I partitioned a second external drive into 3 partitions, and I copied my TM partition to each of these 3 temporary partitions. I did that using Disk Utility's Restore tab. My plan was then to delete the backups of two computers off each temporary partition (per question 12 of Pondini's FAQ), to get 1 computer per partition on the temporary drive, then partition my main external drive in 3 and copy back each temporary partition to the main drive.
(The second external drive is lent, I can't just switch to using it.)
From what I read on question 12 of Pondini's FAQ and this reply by Pondini to a similar thread, I thought that deleting all backups of one computer via the Time Machine interface would leave me with an empty folder for that computer under Backups.backupdb, and that I could just delete this folder via the Finder. This is * not * what happened.
After all backups for the first computer I wanted to delete off the first temporary partition are deleted, the folder for this Mac is not empty ; it still contains all the 15 dates folder of the individual backups. What's more, these date folders aren't empty either. The first 12 of them I deleted (the most recent ones) each contains a Macintosh HD folder, under which remains a System/Library/CoreServices hierarchy. The (locked) boot.efi file is alone in the CoreServices folder. The last 3 dates I deleted (the oldest backups), however, still contain an even bigger hierarchy. Applications, Library, System and Users exists in all three, with a lot of subfolders and lots of files, totalizing around 2 GB of data. Most of the files are locked, even logged into root (very diverse files : plists, dylibs, rtf files, fonts, etc) but some are not (apps, and other diverse files : colorsync profiles, dashboard widgets, bundles...). Seems like Time Machine could not delete everything. (Why ?)
Note that I deleted the backups for one computer using that same computer, first using an Admin account for the first 3 or 4 dates and then using the root account to avoid having to always authenticate. (I didn't think it would create a problem... maybe it has?)
When I go back into Time Machine for this computer, no backups remains. It's like if Time Machine doesn't see the data that it could't delete... This is all very strange.
My question is : can I delete these leftover files and folders bia the Finder without fear it's going to break the backups for the other computers on the same partition ? If not, what should I do ?
Sorry for the long post, but I hope I was clear...

Phil_6379 wrote:
After all backups for the first computer I wanted to delete off the first temporary partition are deleted, the folder for this Mac is not empty ; it still contains all the 15 dates folder of the individual backups.
It shouldn't; when you delete a backup, the date-stamped backup folder and all it's contents should be deleted.
Most likely, there was some sort of corruption, either on the original or the copies, that left some pieces. On occasion, that will happen even when Time Machine is doing it's normal "thinning:" there will be a message in the log about finding a "partially-deleted" backup, and trying again. Sometimes the second try will do it, sometimes not. In that case, you might be able to delete it after running Repair Disk; if not, sometimes you can delete it via the Finder.
Under Lion only, deleting backups via the Finder is supported by Apple; you'll get a message about how it can't be undone. But it doesn't always work, so is recommended only as a last resort. Holding the Option key while deleting may help with the locked files.
If you can't get rid of the detritus, however, I'd recommend erasing the affected partition(s) and starting over. I'd not continue backing-up to a set of suspect backups -- the way they're all linked together, there's just no telling whether you could do a full system restore successfully.
In addition, as Linc says, even if you have some things off-site, I'd strongly recommend getting another external HD for "secondary" onsite backups. Externals are getting much less expensive all the time, and if there's a problem with the old one (either the drive itself or the backups on it), you'll be in a large pickle. Plus, of course, drives don't last forever. See #27 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions for some suggestions.

Use Time Capsule for local backup only

Hi there,
I think I can do what I need to but need some config assistance. Here is my issue:
I want to use a time capsule that is attached via ethernet cable to my MacBook Pro to backup via Time Machine but I do not need the TC to be used for wireless access.
I have taken the 2TB TC to my office. I have a full WiFi network there that I attach my Macbook to. I have used the AirPort utility and told it to extend a wireless network for the TC. I have given it the credentials for our office network. It seems to be attached (DHCP address assigned) but the TC light keeps flashing yellow.
I see the TC in Time Machine on my MacBook and it is doing an incremental backup (it's been about 2 weeks since the last one so it's big!). However, it seems to be backing up over the office WiFi network and not the locally attached ethernet cable.
So do I need to just disable WiFi altogether on the TC? If I do, it doesn't seem to make the Time Machine volume available to the my Mac. When I go into my Mac's Network Preferences now, and look at the physical ethernet port, it says "self assigned IP address" so I don't think the ethernet cable plugged into the TC is actually doing anything.
Can someone tell me how to correctly set the TC up to locally backup my MacBook through the Ethernet cable but let my MacBook use the company WiFi network for other network activities? Thanks much in advance for the help!

If your office network is created by non-apple routers, then the TC is working in join wireless mode and will turn off the ethernet ports.. in other words you have no connection at all by ethernet and it is irrelevant.
To get this working you will need a pretty snazzy setup..
So first and really important question.. since you are prepared to have something plugged into your MBP.. why not use a USB drive. It is much faster.. even USB2.. and if newer model with USB3 it will completely flatten any network drive. It is much more reliable.. Time Machine operates differently to local drives. And you can also use a program like CCC and create a bootable clone. This is on top of TM backup and well worth it.. A bootable clone will enable your computer to start even with a dead hard disk in a couple of minutes.. not days of sorting through TM.
Anyhow.. To get TM to work to the TC in isolation
1. Factory reset the TC.
2. Do minimal setup of the TC.. it must stay in router mode but simply ignore errors of no internet connection.
3. Here we get to the tricky bit. Open the network preferences and check the IP you get from the wireless office system.
If it is 192.168.x.x for example all will be great. If you get 10.0.x.x or indeed any 10.x address tell me.
The TC will have an IP 10.0.1.1 and will pass the computer 10.0.1.2
What you need to do now is set that statically and change the gateway (router in applespeak) and DNS values.. In most computers you can leave them blank but I found the apple computers prefer you to fill them in so you should copy the values from the wireless connection.
There is a longer discussion of it here.
Can Time Capsule be set up as a second, local network?
This is fairly old but the principles are the same albeit the utility is v5.
If you cannot figure it out post back and I will figure out a v6 set of screenshots.
What I will need to know is the values your wireless gets.. IP, subnet, router, and dns.

Can Time Machine Backup Local Backups?

Hi and tnxs for reading.
I have noticed that time machine is backupping only one backup per time, i.e. at the time of the execution of the backup.
Is there a way to backup on an external HD also all the local backup aswell?
For example, if I do a Time machine backup per week, I only have one backup per week on my time machine hd backup; however it would be interesting to let time machine saving all the local backup aswell on hte hd, so as to have more time continuity without having to connect more often the external hd.
Is this possible?
tnxs, cheers

Thomas A Reed wrote:
Time Machine won't back up those local snapshots. However, if you were to maintain a secondary set of backups using something like Carbon Copy Cloner, it should copy the local snapshots.
This makes sense because according to this article the content of the local snapshots is supplemental, and when you re-connect your TM backup drive all interim changes are included in the TM backup and the local snapshots become superfluous.
If the local snapshots don't seem to be enough, you could do something like what I do when I'm away: I use Back to My Mac to clone my MacBook Pro Documents folder to my home Mac (as Docs are really the only things which change while I'm away). Another "away" option would be to back up Documents folder to some free online storage, as Documents-only would not require as much space as a full backup.

Does os x server create inconsistent local backups of files created as a result of a client's time machine backup?

some definitions for clarity:
"TM Server" means the Network Service by which clients back up their files to the server.
"TM Client" means the local Time Machine backup process that saves the server's files to a USB drive
If I have a Server "A", and clients, "B" and "C".
"A" offers itself as a TM Server backup destination, saving to
/Volumes/Backup1/
/Volumes/Backup2/
"B" and "C" clients rotate between Backup1 and Backup2 as their backup destination, over the network, so
/Volumes/Backup1/b.sparsebundle and c.sparsebundle exist (as well as in Backup2)
"A" backs itself up through its TM Client to a USB3-attached drive at
/Volumes/USB1
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A's backups include the data on the "Backup1" and "Backup2", which have the sparsebundles.
The question is:
1. Is A's TM Client aware of the TM Server, so only saves the .sparsebundle bands to the .backupdb once the TM Server has finished accepting a client backup
OR
2. does the TM Client run concurrently with the TM Server such that it writes the .sparsebundle bands to the .backupdb in an inconsistent state:
Ex:
Server and Client have copies of a file. Server has a previous content with 'AA' and begins a backup.
Halfway through the server's backup, the client starts writing to the server with new content, 'BB'
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Client:|-------------------BB[===Backup===]BB-|
Server:|-AA[===Backup===]AA-------------------|
Scenario 2: TM Server is allowed to write while backup happens
Client:|-----------BB[===Backup===]BB-|
Server:|------AA[===Backup===]AB------|
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DOES OS X SERVER CREATE INCONSISTENT LOCAL BACKUPS OF FILES CREATED AS A RESULT OF A CLIENT'S TIME MACHINE BACKUP?

See if anything in C 12 helps. Airport Utlity 5.6 will not run in Mavericks.
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How to delete time machine local backup?

My MacBook Pro is running out of hard drive space, and the culprit is Time Machine. Apparently Time Machine stores local backups on the hard drive when it is not connected to the backup drive, and then is supposed to delete them when it does backup. However, this causes huge problems because I'm running out of hard drive space. I ran the following in Terminal to turn off the local backups:
sudo tmutil disablelocal
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bizlaw wrote:
My MacBook Pro is running out of hard drive space, and the culprit is Time Machine. Apparently Time Machine stores local backups on the hard drive when it is not connected to the backup drive,
No. It makes them at all times, whether the regular backup drive is connected or not.
and then is supposed to delete them when it does backup.
No, they're "thinned" automatically after 24 hours to one per day, then deleted after a week (or, deleted as necessary if your OSX drive gets over 80% full).
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We are looking for an opiton for local backup of clients workstations. Sure in some places we don't bother backing up clients stations but we often need to. Having a backup drive on each system gets a bit impractical, Retrospect is dead, and Time Machine via OSX Server hasn't worked with it's meany issues.
There has got to be a backup product out there to allow a system to be backed up to a NAS or Drive attached to a server that is as simple as CrashPlan or TimeMachine but that actually work and don't cost $50/month for a system.
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Core Dump wrote:
There has got to be a backup product out there to allow a system to be backed up to a NAS or Drive attached to a server that is as simple as CrashPlan or TimeMachine but that actually work and don't cost $50/month for a system.
Thoughts?
CrashPlanPROe, the enterprise version, is $60 per year per client, not $50 per month, so it may be worth looking into. It's what we run and it's been working very well for us, though you need a central server to run the software. That server can be Windows, Mac OS X, Linux or Solaris, any of which will work with any of the supported clients:
http://www.crashplan.com/enterprise/support/doku.php/requirements
We tried Retrospect and had to return it for the limitation I mentioned above.
Regards.
Disclaimer: any product suggestion and link given is strictly for reference and represents my opinion only. No warranties express or implied. I get no personal benefit from the sale of any product I may recommend in any of my posts in the Communities. Your mileage may vary. Void where prohibited. You must be this tall to ride. Objects in mirror may be closer than they appear. Preservatives added to improve freshness. Contestants have been briefed on some questions before the show. No animals were harmed in the making of this post.

I am trying to use the sudo tmutil disable local on my macbook air but when it asks for my password, I cannot type it in- the letters simply do not appear on my screen-- any solutions??

I am trying to free up space on my macbook air by stopping local backups. I type sudo tmutil disablelocal and it prompts me for my passsword. When I try to type in the password it wont type-- i.e the letters do not apear when I type them-- any suggestions??

Hi there...
For security do not appear in code, but once you hit ENTER it has been passed in Terminal ...careful to write the code properly and kaps lock

Local backup was made without "Encrypt Local Backup" checked before upgrading to iOS 7 but I can't restore because a password is requested to restore it. What do I do?

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When I click on Restore Backup, it asks for me to choose which backup I want. I choose the last one that I had just done as indicated above (which is the default).
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That's just an idea I have come to, inspired by your solution of changing user account... haven't tried it out yet. I have to say, even that sounds like an inconvenient workaround. Is there any more elegant method I wonder...?

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HT201250 How do I find and delete local backups. This is taking up over 200g of space on my MBP

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