Tech savvy needed: creating two copies of Time Machine

Hi,
I like Time Machine so much.
I have wanted a two-disk backup solution for Time Machine for ages. Let me explain: I currently have a Mac for mission-critical work backed up to a Time Capsule. This gives me the original data plus a backup. As my set-up is mission critical, I would like two backups, and - because I like Time Machine so much - I would like it to manage them both. Of course, a user of the current version of Time Machine can choose only a single disk as destination.
So I need two applications that do what Time Machine does (in exactly the same way it does it), each pointed at different disks, to give me my original + 2x backups. The problem is, of course, that there is only one Time Machine.
Now, a very bad idea would be to simply copy Time Machine.app and rename it to Time Machine2.app and/or the preferences pane. However, copying and changing the name of an application doesn't cut it - for instance, both versions would need to access to the same preferences. Other shared resources could also cause problems. So that isn't a good idea, and don't do it.
So, my question is this: what do I have to do to Time Machine.app (and/or the preference pane) to be able to copy it and remove all problems with shared resources and the like?
The answer to my question may simply be, 'You can't do that!'. But it may be 'Simply change the bundle identifier in info.plist'. (Of course, that might break Code Signing, so you need to do this too...)
Is it a silly question? Can you help?
Jon

This has been asked before, and I've never seen anything like what you want posted. It's very unlikely to work, because the actual TM app isn't where the real work is done; about all it does is show the preference pane and maintain the plist. Everything else is pretty deeply embedded in OSX. I'm not saying it can't be done, but it would probably be rather tricky, and likely to be broken by an OSX update.
Assuming you don't already have other backups, you may want to try one of the more common solutions, involving a portable external HD (or two):
Use them not for Time Machine, but to make a "bootable clone" of your system, via CarbonCopyCloner (which I use) or SuperDuper (similar). Have them update weekly, daily, or as often as you can (they're much more CPU- and time-intensive than TM); then take one off-site periodically and swap with the other. That way, you're also protected against fire, flood, theft, direct lightning strike on your power lines, etc., plus you have a completely separate, independent, testable backup if something's wrong with the TM backups.
Or attach one periodically (either directly to your Mac or to your Time Capsule), and do a +Change Disk+ so TM will back up to it, then change back. Both will be up to date as of the last backup, although both won't have the exact same history. Again, consider taking the portable off-site.
You might also be able to attach two externals to your TC, in a software RAID set, and back up to it, rather than the TC's disk (but you can't put the TC's disk in a RAID set).
Or periodically use the "Archive" facility in +Airport Utility+ to copy the TC's disk to a USB disk attached to it.

Similar Messages

I want to use two separate Lion Time Machine backups and use them to create two separate profiles on one new computer

This is something I need to do temporarily but I must do it.
I have an iMac 27 (end of year 2009) I5. It has 1 TB internal and I want to replace it with a 2 TB internal.
I have time machine backups on an external hard drive that has been connected via Firewire.
I have another iMac (my son's)Imac 24 Intel Core 2 Duo that has it's own separate Time machine backup to it's own separate firewire connected external drive. Both machines are completely up to date with the latest version of Lion and all other necessary software updates.
When the internal hardrive is replaced - I want to use my latest time machine backup to create one profile on the imac and then use my son's latest time machine back up for a second profile. The end goal being to have everything from my current set up ie: apps, documents, itunes, etc existing in one profile and everything in my son's current set up existing in the other profile. We can both be administrators for the time being as well. I should note even though we both have some of the same apps, we both also have other apps that the other does not.
My profile will be using about 900 gigs of total space.
My son's profile will be using about 250 gigs of total space.
This is temporary until the new iMac is released. Then I will want to transfer my profile to that leaving my son's intact on the iMac 27 I5.
I realize that during the temporary period that Time Machine will be making backups of this entire two profile setup, which I am now understanding as I write this will create a new issue for me when I want to transfer only my profile to the new computer as well. But one bridge to cross at a time, I guess.
I need to do this because we must bring his current computer to my father - as his iMac G5 is inoperable. We have been doing this round robin hand me down in our family since IMac DV special edition :-)
Any insight on this would be greatly appreciated. And any other suggestions as well.
Thanks very much.

Hey Shootist000, Thanks for the replies. First off, I am actually okay if we both have each other applications so I am not concerned about that. It is still unclear from what you have said as to whether I can in fact, use these two separte time machine backup to create two separate profiles on the new hard drive. If that in fact can be done, then - will it create two copies of the apps we both have in the ROOT of the drive as well as placing all the ones we each have separately?
And reading your second reply, makes me think that maybe the partition is the way to go to begin with and then down the road - after I am in the new iMac, I could reformat the iMac 27 with only one partion and restore my son's latest back prior to the reformat thus giving him full access to the 2 TB of the drive.
If this is still making sense, does this mean :
replace the 1TB with a 2TB - but have it partitione - 1.5 TB & 500 GB.
Install(Restore using Time Machine) my latest back up prior to the 1.5 partition
Install (Restore using Time Machine) my son's latest back up prior to the 500 gig partition
Lastly, in order for us both to be using the partioned computer - I am assuming Switch user can no longer be used - so would we need to restart and select our respective partions in order to use the computer? And if so, how would we each be able to be using time machine to back up - two separte external hard drives - with each one dedicated to only one partition? Or ?
Thanks so much.
Ironically, I am only trying to do this so that I don't need to manually install all his apps, setting, games, blah blah for this temporary period. :-)

Why does it create two copies in the sent folder?

Whenever I send an email, it creates two copies in the sent folder. I use outlook / hotmail / live.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1056919

How can I make I-cloud back up only the files created since the last Time-Machine backup?

Hi everyone,
So, I wish to use time-machine to back up every six weeks or so. This means a whole range of files could be lost if my wonderfully fast but terrifyingly unrecoverable solid state hard drive packs up.
Has anyone any idea how I can make Icloud only backup files created since the last time machine backup?
Best
Danny

Automator is not the right solution.
Use a folder action script. Apple has an example here: (Auto-backup Script):
http://www.apple.com/applescript/folderactions/05.html
the steps might have been written for 10.3, so the steps may not be 100% right, but this will do what you want.

How do I create more space on Time Machine backup disk?

How do I create more space on Time Machine backup disk?

since time machine in Snow Leopard stops backing up when there's no more space on the disk,
That is has not been my experience, and does not appear to be agree with this Time Machine documentation:
Backup drive fills up
As your backup drive begins to fill up to its capacity, Time Machine intelligently deletes the oldest backups to make room for newer ones (and will alert you if the "Notify after old backups are deleted" option is selected in Time Machine preferences).
from : Mac 101: Time Machine

New Mac Pro. Do I need to create a totally new time machine backup?

I Just upgraded from a Mac Pro 1,1 to the new Mac Pro. On my old machine I kept work files on one internal drive and photos on another which were backed up with time machine sparse bundle on my NAS. Now, since I have a Pegasus2, the contents of those drives are now kept in two separate folders on a single volume. Is it possible to have time machine continue backups on these from where it left off, or will I now have to create a new backup?

Per this:
http://pondini.org/TM/4.html
No since it says:
Yes, if it's big enough (see question #1). Time Machine keeps track of which computer is which (by a hardware identifier, not computer name), so it will always keep its backups for each Mac separate from each other.
But you may prefer to back them up to different places, or via a network. See question #33 for options, details, and cautions.
It is advisable, though, to partition an external disk that will be connected to your Macs into one volume for each Mac (see question #5 or #6 for instructions). You can't partition a Time Capsule's disk, but each Mac will have a separate sparse bundle on a Time Capsule, so it's not as big an issue. See the pink box in question #33 for details.

Trying to backup two computers via Time Machine on Time Capsule

Hi, everyone.
I have read about a similar problem that I am having, but the forums were all from 2009, so I don't know if anything has been updated or figured out since then.
I bought a Time Capsule yesterday, and I set-up a network as well as the Time Machine configurations. My iMac running 10.6.8 did just fine backing up; however, my Macbook running 10.5.8 did not.
When I try and run a backup with Time Machine, I get this error:
"The network backup volume could not be mounted because there was a problem with the network username or password."
After that error, I get this error:
"Keychain error -25299 occured while creating a System Keychain entry for the username "XXX" and URL "afp://[email protected]//XX".
I have searched different forums for hours, and so far, based on what I have been reading, I have done this:
1. Deleted anything having to do with the TC in the keychain and trying to restart the backup. This made me have the same errors again.
2. Reset the PRAM.
3. Repaired disk permissions.
4. Repaired keychain permissions.
Finally, I found on a forum that I could set up guest access on the network and backup my Macbook as a guest. This is what I am doing, now. However, I saw that starting with OS X 10.6, there was some kind of update for Time Capsule and Time Machine in regards to using Time Capsule for multiple computers.
My question is, since 2009, has there been a fix for this? I know some people suggested updating firmware, and if this is the fix, what do I need and where do I get it? Also, would it be possible to purchase OS X 10.6.8 for my Macbook and update it to potentially solve the problem? Is updating the Operating System hard? I'm not completely computer illiterate, but I am not great, either. If I update the Operating System, will all of my files and applications remain on my Macbook?
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

Well, there is a way to reinstall without erasing the drive. But it may not fix the problem. You may need to start from scratch. In any event you should make a backup of your system then you do not risk losing anything but some time.
But the real problem I see is that it is the computer that is the problem not the TC which seems to work fine with your iMac.
Since you are using Leopard you can do the following. In my opinion I would not opt to preserve user accounts and network preferences since your problem may well be in your user account.
How to Perform an Archive and Install
An Archive and Install will NOT erase your hard drive, but you must have sufficient free space for a second OS X installation which could be from 3-9 GBs depending upon the version of OS X and selected installation options. The free space requirement is over and above normal free space requirements which should be at least 6-10 GBs. Read all the linked references carefully before proceeding.
1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.
Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger, Leopard or Snow Leopard.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now restart normally.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Do not proceed with an Archive and Install if DU reports errors it cannot fix. In that case use Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro to repair the hard drive. If neither can repair the drive, then you will have to erase the drive and reinstall from scratch.
3. Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When you reach the screen to select a destination drive click once on the destination drive then click on the Option button. Select the Archive and Install option. You have an option to preserve users and network preferences. Only select this option if you are sure you have no corrupted files in your user accounts. Otherwise leave this option unchecked. Click on the OK button and continue with the OS X Installation.
4. Upon completion of the Archive and Install you will have a Previous System Folder in the root directory. You should retain the PSF until you are sure you do not need to manually transfer any items from the PSF to your newly installed system.
5. After moving any items you want to keep from the PSF you should delete it. You can back it up if you prefer, but you must delete it from the hard drive.
6. You can now download a Combo Updater directly from Apple's download site to update your new system to the desired version as well as install any security or other updates. You can also do this using Software Update.

Do I need to remove Bootcamp before Time Machine Restore?

Hello - anyone familiar with this scenario.
I have used TIME MACHINE from the very first day I had my iMac. So it was started almost immediately after the initial boot of a brand new iMac case I ever needed to restore my Mac to that initial Day 1 state.
That day has come, but it's now two years, and in that time I have installed BOOTCAMP, Parallels and Windows 7. That process created another partition, and created the required 'links' between my OSX and Windows via Parallels etc.
So my question is this - can I do a 'Restore from Time Machine' over the top of the new partioned set up of my iMac OR or will it be now totally confused because of the changes I have made to my system in that time, and do I firstly need to remove Windows, Bootcamp, and erase the partitions I created back to one.
So in summary - will Time Machine do this when it restores, or do I need to do it before I restore?
I also have a CARBON COPY CLONE from Day 1 too. Am I better using that instead - and if so, same question - will i need to remove Windows, and my Bootcamped partion first?
(My system is iMac late 2012 still running OSX Mountain Lion if that makes any difference)
Thanks
OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4), i7 / 3TB Fusion Drive / 24GB Ram

popsynic wrote:
Hi - thanks for responding
"Is Parallels using the BC partition as a VM, or is it a separate VM with its own virtual disk?"
I don't know - basically I have a BOOTCAMP partition and Windows is installed on that (using these instructions from the Parallels website) I can then either open up Windows from in OSX Moutain Lion while keeping my mac running (and windows will run in its own little window - but within OSX. OR I can also choose to boot dircetly wi windows when I tuen on my MAC - and then it runs independently of my OSX.
You are using the BC Windows and running it as VM. There is no separate VM with virtual disk.
"Are you planning to erase the internal drive(s)?"
I wasn't sure - I want to restore my iMac like it was on the day I had it, before I partitoned BOOTCAMP and installed windows. So my question is, will the TIME MACHINE restore get rid of WINDOWS and the BOOTCAMP partition for me as part of its restore - or do i have to that, and then restore using Time Machine
It is much simpler to run BC Assistant and use the last option - "Remove Windows". It is a bit cleaner.
"If the backup on TM which started on Day 1 has continued as you have made changes, including BC/Windows/Parallels, it has continued to backup OS X and partition information. I suggest you backup Windows using Windows Backup to a separate external drive formatted as NTFS, and also consider Winclone or CampTune for a OS X compatible BC backup, if you run into any issues."
As above, I am not bothered about keeping Windows or the BOOTCAMP partition, I want to resore my iMac to the DAY 1 status - when I did my first full Time Machine backup - which was before I created a Bootcamp partition or installed Windows.
I suggest removing Windows via BCA and backing up to Time Machine. You will keep you OS X intact and keep all your files on the OS X side.

Mediasmart ex485 - cant create backup file for time machine

I've got an Ex485 that I've put a second 750GB drive into. I'm trying to create a 200GB backup file, however the indicator will get to a certain percentage (44%) and then stop. I dont know why its doing this but its very frustrating. I can only create small backup files - 50GB or smaller. And those small sizes are of no use to me, I need it to be able to backup all my data on my mac.

I have the EX490, so it may be different, but I had to manually create a directory on the EX490 called 'Mac', then share that to make it work. It did not work out of the box. When I run the mac software from the EX490 it installs a HP Mediaserver icon in my system preferences. From there it lets me create a Time Machine volume. I have set this up on two separate macs now in the house and both can backup with Time Machine. One volume is 100GB and the other 400GB. Not sure if this helps you? Also running Snow Leopard if that makes any difference.

How to delete hidden security copies of Time Machine?

I had the same issue with Mavericks & Lion, the OS starts making by his own a hidden security copy without using Time Machine on my local disk, usually I used the next command on terminal and my problem would be deleted "sudo tmutil disablelocal" but this won't work for Yosemite.
I tried using the method on the next page OS X Yosemite: About local snapshots:
"To stop saving local snapshots, open Time Machine preferences and slide the switch to Off. Local snapshots resume when you turn Time Machine back on."
All this time it's been off, and i don't want to have local snapshots of my data, it now takes more than 70Gb and my hard drive is 250Gb.
Does anyone has any idea what's the deal with this problem?
Thanks in advance.

It's not a problem. When Time Machine backs up a portable Mac, some of the free space will be used to make local snapshots, which are backup copies of recently deleted files. The space occupied by local snapshots is reported as available by the Finder, and should be considered as such. In the Storage display of System Information, local snapshots are shown as Backups. The snapshots are automatically deleted when they expire or when free space falls below a certain level. You ordinarily don't need to, and should not, delete local snapshots yourself. If you followed bad advice to disable local snapshots by running a shell command, you may have ended up with a lot of data in the Other category. Ask for instructions in that case.

How can two computers use time machine on same Time Capsule?

I just purchased a Time Capsule and successfully backed up my computer. My brother is on the same network but cannot get Time Machine to back him up on the Time Capsule without my backup being deleted.
How does one enable Time Capsule to serve as back up for two different computers?

There are some options:
Manually delete a number of old backups from the Mac that's "hogging" the space, per #12 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions. After "compacting" that sparse bundle per the pink box there, you may be able to limit the maximum size of it, per #A8 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.
Another is to connect a USB drive to the TC (likely with a powered USB hub), and back the other Mac up to it, instead of the TC's internal HD.

Hard drive crashed need to restore iphotos from Time Machine

I need some serious help. I have a 24inch intel imac and my hard drive failed. I thought I had everything backed up on my external hard drive via Time Machine (my last backup was April 11th) so I replaced the hard drive.
Once I reinstalled Leopard 10.5 it asked me if I wanted to restore my data from Time Machine which I did. It seemed like it worked great but when I opened up iphoto all 43,000 pictures (cherished family pictures of our children) were gone!
iphoto still has the Event Titles, how many photos, and the sizes but they are empty with nothing but a big exclamation point. I see the iphoto library under Time machine as well but the restore is grayed out I can't even go back in time because the arrow is grayed out.
I named the new hard drive "new SG 1.0TB" and the old one was just named Macintosh HD. I read briefly somewhere that the old and new hard drives need to have the same name. Is this correct? Also does it make a difference that I had Leopard 10.5.6 when my photos were available and now I'm only on 10.5? Please help!
I had some help from another forum and he told me to look under the Pictures Folder and find the iPhoto Library and right click on it and select 'Show Package Contents. All the folders are there (teasing me) but there are no pictures in the folders so nothing. But I was searching again on my external time machine backup and found iphotos under time machine backups/backups.backupdp/Ryan Gunter's Computer (2)/2009-01031-002706/Macintosh HD/Users/ryang808/pictures. It had all my iphotos from 1999 until the january 2009 but everything from this date to present is not there (the folders are there but nothing in them) could they still be hiding somewhere?? And how do I get the ones I do have back in iPhoto?
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks so much!

All the folders are there (teasing me) but there are no pictures in the folders so nothing. But I was searching again on my external time machine backup and found iphotos under time machine backups/backups.backupdp/Ryan Gunter's Computer (2)/2009-01031-002706/Macintosh HD/Users/ryang808/pictures. It had all my iphotos from 1999 until the january 2009 but everything from this date to present is not there (the folders are there but nothing in them) could they still be hiding somewhere??
sorry but, no. if they are not there there is no other place they could be. for some mysterious reason TM didn't back them up. still you should restore what you can. quit iphoto, control-click on TM in the dock and select "browse other TM disks". this will let you browse your old backups via TM interface. locate the folder Macintosh HD/Users/ryang808/pictures on january 31 backup and restore its contents to your Pictures folder. start iphoto and it should have alll those pictures.
Message was edited by: V.K.

Two Questions - A Time Machine Restore, and Ipod Touch Wiping

A few days ago, my macbook started acting strangely, so I restarted it. The problem was, it never fully restarted. After a long stall on the screen with the apple logo and a very slow login process, I managed to log into my account but not load the finder. I tried to restart several times, and this was always the case. I tried removing the batteries and resetting the pram, but neither of these fixed the problem.
I had been using the latest version of leopard, with my external happily backing up periodically with time machine. However, I won't be anywhere near my leopard install disc for the rest of the summer. I did have the tiger install disc that came with the laptop, so I tried to restore from that one instead. Unfortunately, the time machine utility doesn't come with this disc, so all of my back ups were unrecognizable by disc utility. This is the only computer that I have access to during the summer, so I really need to be able to use it. Because of this, I did a fresh install of tiger with the disc and am running fine with this. I don't have any vital files, but it would be quite nice to be able to restore from my backup. Is there any way of doing this without having my leopard disc available?
This is even more pressing for me in light of an even more recent problem. I have a fresh install of tiger, which comes with a fresh install of itunes. I plugged my ipod touch into the computer to charge and sync, before I realized that I had a blank itunes library. I stupid clicked yes to the notice window, and so now I have a blank ipod with all of my music gone. Normally this would be no big issue, as I can just restore from my music library on itunes, but that is with the rest of the back ups in an unreadable time machine format on my external hard drive. Is there any way to undo my wiping of its drive, if there is no easy way to restore from my time machine back ups? I don't have any other versions of this music elsewhere, so it'd be gone for the summer otherwise.
Thank you very much for your help,
Jack

Hi Jack,
Sorry to hear about your troubles. There is no way to "unwipe" an iPod.
But the good news is that you can access your backed up files without Time Machine. All you need to do is plug your external hard disk that you were using for Time Machine into your computer. Then, open it in the finder. You'll see a folder called "backups.backupd.something" (depending on the name of your computer). Go into that folder and down at the bottom you'll see an alias to "Latest." That's your most recent backup. Go into that folder, then navigate to your documents folder, music folder, etc.
Just copy the files back to your hard disk and you'll have your files and music again. Be aware, that this can cause some permissions issues. You may have to reset the permissions of the files using the terminal. If so, come back and post here and I'll walk you through it.

Sharing a hard drive between two Macs with Time Machine

can I use the same hard drive to back up two different Macs with Time machine? I'm ok with hot swapping the cables.
Message was edited by: Brian Monson

Brian Monson wrote:
can I use the same hard drive to back up two different Macs with Time machine? I'm ok with hot swapping the cables.
Yes, but TM, Leopard and external drives are not OK with hot-swapping. Never unplug a drive without properly ejecting it first.
Each computer will have it's own backup folder on the drive and each computer will recognize its own backup folder. There is no limit other than HD space on how many computers can be backed up on an external drive.

Trying to create bootable disc with time machine + archive & install

Okay... to recap, have been having a bunch of buggy issues on my Mac Pro and I determined via a previous thread here (see below) that the best approach was to put in a fresh Leopard system via an archive-and-install.
However, my current startup drive is only 80GB, with a mere 4GB currently free. Not enough for A&I, I am sure.
My plan was to do this:
* make a bootable clone copy of the current start up drive
* then do an A&I on the clone, and try using that as the startup.
so I tried - I used superduper to make a bootable clone, and it worked fine, I can start up from the clone.
however, I couldn't do an A&I install on the clone because it didn't have the correct GUID permission.
so, I reformatted the clone - I partitioned it using Disk Util -
now I am running time machine to copy from the current startup to the clone -
but I have a premature feeling that time machine will only create a backup thingie of the startup drive, unlike superDuper, it will not give me a bootable clone that I can then work with.
any suggestions?
if I partition the clone drive & put a GUID partition on it, then user superduper to copy everything on it, would the GUID partition still be there - and I can then archive & install to the clone?
am open for any ideas!
w
Not sure if this is the correct way to reference a previous thread:
<http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2041933&tstart=0>

thank you - here's my question regarding that:
1 - I partition a drive using the GUID scheme.
2 - I then use superDuper to copy everything to this drive.
3 - does the new drive STILL maintain the GUID partition scheme?
Unless it still maintains the GUID partition scheme, then I can't do the archive & install on it - as I found out, the hard way!
alternatively...
if I
1 - use the installer to put a clean copy of leopard on a blank drive
2 - then plan to use the "migration" feature to copy from the original startup drive to the new drive with leopard newly-installed...
3 - is it possible to use the migration feature once I have restarted from a hard drive? or can migration only be used in the actual install process, when I have booted from the install disc?
(I ask this second question because when I boot from the install discs, my SATA drives do NOT show up anywhere, they only get mounted when I boot from a proper hard drive. Possibly a firewire drive would - but I don't seem to have anymore firewire 1394 externals, it's all USB and eSATA...)
W

Tech savvy needed: creating two copies of Time Machine

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