Time Machine hooks - is it possible?

Parallels Desktop gives a warning when backupd starts. I would like to execute a bash script at start & end of a backup.
at the end of a backup, a new version of /private/var/db/.TimeMachine.Results is written, so i could watch for that, and for the start, i could monitor /var/log/system.log.
is there a standard way to do this?
thanks,
paul de vries.

Time Machine is one app on your Mac, thus it will exclude the files on all back-ups. 

Similar Messages

  • Time machine doesn't see possible disks

    Hi there,
    Have several Macs in house and they are all Tiger. Now we have also few month old MacBook and that one is only one with Leopard. I am trying to setup automatic backups with Time Machine and it stops in second screen where it suppose to see possible hard drives used for backup.
    we have Airport Extreme with big USB hard drive connected to it.
    All Macs including this one see and communicate with that shared USB hard drive but it doesn't show up on the list of available drives for Time Machine. I expected to see iDisk and that HD but nothing.
    Any suggestions?? thank you in advance,
    Zack

    Zack,
    It's likely that the USB Hard disk is not partitioned correctly. Even though you may have reformated it Mac OS Extended (Journaled) long ago, It may still not be partitioned correctly. See the following:
    *_How Should a Time Machine Hard Disk be Prepared?_*
    For Time Machine to work properly, the hard disk must be formatted “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)” and its’ Partition Scheme should be either GUID or Apple Partition Map.
    Time Machine is incompatible with disks partitioned as Master Boot Record (MBR). Unfortunately, this describes nearly every hard drive you can buy because MBR is a Windows partition scheme. (Naturally, this DOES NOT apply to Apples’ Time Capsule.)
    For some, Time Machine begins to perform as expected with a new external hard disk. But then the initial full backup or subsequent incremental backups fail. The user only later discovers the hard disk was still partitioned as Master Boot Record (MBR).
    One article on Time Machine made this observation: “Virtually everybody will have to open Disk Utility and repartition the disk as APM or GUID. It doesn't really matter which one because the Time Machine disk will not be bootable anyway. APM allows a disk to boot a PowerPC, GUID allows the disk to boot an Intel processor but both are easily digestible by Time Machine on either kind of processor.” [http://www.girr.org/mac_stuff/backups.html]
    It’s been recommended by many here that your reserve +at least+ double the size of your primary hard disk, that way Time Machine backups have room to grow as the size of your data grows. Additionally, the more space you give Time Machine the more history it can preserve. The less space you reserve for Time Machine the sooner older backups & deleted items will disappear.
    One poster recommended this regarding multiple partitions: “If you do create multiple partitions (half and half would be a good place to start), make sure you use the first partition for Time Machine, and the second for your own stuff (the first one will be on top in the graphical representation shown in Disk Utility; you'll understand when you see the partition tab). This way, you can expand the Time Machine volume at any later time by deleting the second partition. Disk Utility allows this dynamic re-sizing of volumes, but volumes can only be expanded toward the end of the drive, when a volume that comes after is deleted to create the room.” [http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1712437&tstart=0]
    Procedure
    Connect the hard disk you wish to use for Time Machine backups.
    Launch Disk Utility.
    It will appear twice in the pane on the left. (Make sure you recognize that it is different from the 2 icons that represent your Macs' internal drive.) The upper entry represent the device as a whole, including the controller inside. The lower entry represents the hard disk contained within the device.
    Click on the upper icon of the external hard disk.
    Select the "Partition" tab.
    For "Volume Scheme" choose "1 partition". (Choose 2 partitions if you intend on storing other data on the disk besides your Time Machine backups. Ensure that the two partitions have different names.)
    Name the disk.
    Format should be "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)".
    Click "Options".
    Select either GUID or Apple Partition Map. (See above for significance)
    Click "OK".
    Click "Apply". Then click “Partition”.
    Once the external hard disk is repartitioned, select it again in Time Machine preferences and use it for your backups. If you chose to create 2 partitions, then select the first partition for Time Machine backups, and the second for additional files/folders.
    Let us know if this was helpful.
    Cheers!

  • If i upgrade from 10.6.8 to Mountain Lion and do a Time-Machine-Backup, is it possible to restore my mac on Mountain Lion?

    If i upgrade from 10.6.8 to Mountain Lion and do a Time-Machine-Backup before, is it possible to restore my mac on Mountain Lion with this Backup made on Snow Leopard?
    Thx guyz

    You don't need to restore anything.
    Just upgrade.  That replaces Snow Leopard with Mountain Lion, without disturbing anything else.
    But by all means, always keep up-to-date backups, in case something goes wrong.

  • Time Machine Hybrid (Mac Windows) possible solutions.ro

    Is it possible to create an Hybrid Net with use of Mac (MacBookPro) and PC Windows ?
    Thank you.

    Let me get this straight.. You have a network using a Time Capsule.. (never Time Machine which is backup software). and you plugged a 2TB USB hard disk into the TC for media storage.
    when I installed my storage device, I formatted in Journalised mode so now I think I have to format my HDD in a format available even for Windows.
    No, this is not correct.. I would advise everybody plugging a disk into any Apple router to format it HFS+, ie Mac OS extended Journaled.
    Windows does not read the disk directly in a network drive.. nor does the Mac for that matter. Both talk to the OS of the Time Capsule which offers clients disk space using a known network protocol.. nowadays it is always SMB for both Mac and Windows.
    A Mac and a PC can store and read files equally well.. but it might not understand a file format.

  • Using network drive with time machine.  IS IT POSSIBLE?

    There are lots of discussion on using network drives with time machine. I have not been able to make them work. Could somebody tell me if this is possible

    Time Machine does not back up to network drives, except Time Capsules or USB drives connected to an Airport Extreme, or a drive on a Mac running Leopard.
    Here's the official word: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1733
    You may find some "hacks" that might make it work, in some cases, to a degree. But use them at your own risk.
    First, since this is *unsupported by Apple,* there's nowhere to go when there's trouble.
    Second, you're risking a future update preventing it from working, and perhaps rendering your backups useless.
    If you still think this is a good idea, do yourself a favor before you bet your backups on it: be sure it really works, at least for now:
    1. Get a copy of CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper! or the like, and make a full bootable clone of your internal HD, on an external disk. Test it by booting from it. Then reboot from your internal HD.
    2. Let TM do it's first, full, initial backup.
    3. Attempt a full system restore (like you'll need when, not if, your internal HD fails), via the instructions in item 14 of the of the Frequently Asked Questions post at the top of this forum.
    Again, even if it works today, tomorrow is another day . . .

  • I deleted my iPhoto Application from my MacBook Air by mistake. But I have backup on my TimeMachine. How does it work if I wanna get it back from Time Machine? Is it possible? Thanks.

    I've just deleted iPhoto from my applications by mistake on my MacBook Air. But I do have a backup on Time Machine. Can I get it back from there? How do I do it? Thanks.

    Do you still have iPhoto in your Trash? Thenopen the Trash, select "iPhoto", ctrl-click, and select "Put Back".
    If iPhoto came preinstalled on your mac, or you bought it from the AppStore, it would be easier, to download it again from the AppStore. If you open the AppStore and sign in with your AppleID, click the "Purchased" tab, then you should see iPhoto waiting for you, ready to download. Click the "Install" button.
    To restore from TimeMachine, select your Applications folder in the Finder.
    Enter Time Machine and go back  in time, to the time before you deleted your iPhoto. select iPhoto and press the restore button.
    Good Luck

  • If using 2 hard drives to for time machine backup is it possible to exclude files from one backup only??

    Hi,
    At work we have a network system that allows backup of everyones mac via time machine is there a way I can exclude certain files and directories from this backup without removing them from the private time machine backup that I have?
    Many thanks,
    Nick

    Time Machine is one app on your Mac, thus it will exclude the files on all back-ups. 

  • Less frequent backups possible with Time Machine?

    I'm new to Leopard and Time Machine. Is it possible to set Time Machine to update less frequently than every hour? I'm working in an environment with multiple Adobe apps open at any given time, and I've noticed TM activity affecting my work (response slowdowns). It would be nice to be able to choose how often the iMac gets backed up. Right now, I'm running TM manually.

    Hello again em:
    Just a note. I am sure that the process that VK suggests does what it purports to do. I recommend, however, that people avoid (like the plague) anything non-Apple that changes Apple's operating system software. That is an opinion, but I have NEVER had serious problems for many years. These forums are replete with stories of how add-ons or haxies or +"small changes"+ have caused grief.
    Barry
    Note to VK - This is not a personal criticism. I am raising the point that changes like this (even simple ones) work - until the next software update.

  • Use drive on iMac for Macbook Air time machine backup

    I have an external drive hooked up to my Imac and want to use it for backing up my Mac Air via time machine.  Is it possible?  I can see the drive and Imac in finder...

    Yup. 
    See #22 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.

  • Limit Time Machine backup/sparsebundle so one machine doesn't hog all the time capsule space?

    Is this possible?
    I have a brand new time capsule, my wife and I will be backing up our computers to it using Time Machine. Is it possible to limit the storage size of the sparsebundles so one of us (probably me) wont hog all the space?
    My wife doesn't use her's as much, while my computer is on almost everyday, so I'm affraid my computer will limit the amount of states, or versions, that she can back up before her time machine has to start deleting old files.
    I'm trying to avoid a situation where my time machine goes back a year while her's only goes back a few months.
    Thanks!

    No. That is not how a Time Capsule and Time Machine work. All backups are adding to existing backups.
    About TM "Backup Drive is Full"
    Alert TM only deletes older files if they have been deleted from the source and when TM needs space on the backup drive for a new incremental backup. Time Machine "thins" it's backups; hourly backups over 24 hours old, except the first of the day; those "daily" backups over 30 days old, except the first of the week. The weeklies are kept as long as there's room.
    So, how long a backup file remains depends on how long it was on your Mac before being deleted, assuming you do at least one backup per day. If it was there for at least 24 hours, it will be kept for at least a month. If it was there for at least a week, it will be kept as long as there's room.
    Note, that on a Time Capsule the sparsebundle grows in size as needed, but doesn't shrink. Thus, from the user's view of the TC it appears that no space has been freed, although there may be space in the sparsebundle.
    Once TM has found it cannot free up enough space for a new backup it reports the disk is full. You can either erase the backup drive and start your backups anew or replace the drive with a larger drive.
    To accomplish what you want would mean using just an external backup drive partitioned with volumes for each of you to use, and the use of a different backup utility that overwrites old files rather than saving them as does Time Machine.

  • Restoring iPhoto from Time Machine. However iPhoto albums are not transfer

    iPhoto albums are not transferring. I just have a bunch of photos with no albums/details/comments etc. I have done a few searches in support and have found similar problems but nothing like mine, which seems to be that I have a back up of all my photos in Time Machine but when I open Time Machine, I cannot simply select a previous restore date as I have been able to with everything else so far. I have tried dragging the whole iPhoto Library folder to iPhoto but again, end up with thousands of pictures with no albums... Any suggestions? Thanks.
    It seems iPhoto is backed up but does not have several backups in Time Machine.
    Using iPhoto '06
    Message was edited by: BrMendez

    I think you may need to post this one on the Time Machine forum.
    http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1227
    In later versions you can restore +to the iPhoto Library+, but as v6 predates Time Machine it's not possible to do that. Hence you need to restore an entire Library and open it.
    Regards
    TD

  • My Macbook Pro was stolen, and I have replaced it with a Macbook Air. New hard drive is too small for a Time Machine restore. How do I restore my more-expensive apps (ie iWorks) on my new Macbook without repurchasing them?

    My Macbook Pro was recently stolen, and I have replaced it with a Macbook Air. I attempted to simply do a restore from the Macbook Pro's Time Machine backup, but since the new Macbook Air's hard drive is significantly smaller, a Time Machine restore was not possible. I even tried to choose only settings or only my User Profile (option) when restoring, but the backup was still too large to do a restore onto the new machine. How do I restore my more-expensive apps (ie iWorks) onto my new Macbook without repurchasing them? Also, I reaad somewhere that if you went to the Mac App Store and attempted to repurchase the app and clicked BUY, it would simply alert you that you have already purchased the app (and trigger a re-download)... NOT THE CASE... So I just dropped another $19.99 for a second copy of Pages... Not my intention....
    Any help would be greatly appreciated.
    LM

    you should get a usb backup drive as well.  time machine has limited use in my eyes. it saves things. but older things can be errased ad space drops without telling you
    nothing beats data redundancy.  2 saves is. 1.    and 1 is none
    im personally not fond of time machne though i use it only for a recovery parameter for a mac
    id never ever myself consider time machine a genuine data backup tool.  though most do consider it as such
    drive clones such as superduper and carbon copy cloner can clone your entire drive for emergency recovery.  and you can boot from them as well o. another mac

  • Problems with Time Machine backup for two machines to one external drive

    I have a brand new WD 500GB USB My Book external drive plugged into my Intel Mac Mini running 10.5.1 to use as a TM backup drive (TM reformatted it to HFS+ journaled). The Mini's connected by ethernet to the Airport Extreme. It works great. I setup my wife's MacBook Pro 17" Dual Core 2 w. 10.5.1 for TM using the Mac Mini's TM backup drive and it works fine (a little slower at 811.n wi-fi speeds, but OK). I have the Mac Mini setup in Energy Saver to shut down at night and restart in the morning. The morning after I setup my wife's MacBook Pro for TM I found a big black & white message (in half a dozen languages) on the Mac Mini saying start up failed and I need to reboot using the power button. I did and everything was cool. Now comes the problem, it's done it three days in a row so it looks like there is a problem with the TM setup. It didn't do this before I setup my wife's computer for TM.
    Any thoughts on what is causing this? We've had minimal problems with Leopard setup (short of a brief hunt for an Airport Extreme Drive and a couple of network printers during initial setup).

    1 mistake @ a time wrote:
    I works fine over a network if the TM drive is attached to another Mac running Leopard. It won't work with an Airport drive (Apple deep sixed that feature in the final release).
    We have an Airport Extreme base station, and we plan to add an Airport Express to boost the power to reach the second floor. We are ordering 4 iMacs, 20", plus I have the Macbook 13" that I have had for a few months.
    We thought we could connect one large external drive via firewire cable to one of the iMacs and use it to back up all five computers via Time Machine.
    Is that possible, or does everybody need their own external drive?
    Thanks!
    susan

  • Not a valid photoshop document after time machine recovery and reinstall of photoshop

    After a time machine recovery most of my photoshop documents recovered fine, however there are a select few (and my most recent work unfortuantely) that seem corrupt. It isn't all of my documents. Trying to recover them again from back-up doesn't seem to be working. I did have to reinstall photoshop CS4 after the recovery.
    I have seen similar questions on here but none of the solutions have worked. I've tried opening with other programs, I've tried changing the file extentions etc. If the files were just corrupt recovering them from time machine should fix the problem. Many thanks if you can assist.

    SaveChaos wrote:
    …but it doesn't feel like corrupt files are the problem…
    If it's only a few selected files that are misbehaving but others do open without problems, then you do have file corruption in each of those files.
    Go back in time machine to the earliest possible date after each file was created and restore only that particular version of the file.
    If that doesn't work, then considered the files irretrievably lost.  What kind of error message do they return when you try to open them?
    In any event, it's imperative that you check the SMART status of your drive and Repair Drive (or at least Verify Drive) to check for a failing drive.
    As an aside, taking a belt-and-suspender approach, it's my practice to supplement Time Machine with a clone of my working drive and daily backups of my files.  For some reason, I've had three Time Machine disks fail on three different Macs and locations in the last six months or so. 
    I had Time Machine disabled on all my Macs until I decided to give it one more test run on a 65-lb Mac Pro recently.  I'm not convinced one way or another yet, so all other Macs still have TM disabled for now. Time Machine is very intrusive, and the external TM drives run much, much hotter than external storage files—always a troubling sign in my book.

  • Using a FAT32-formatted drive as backup disk with Time Machine

    For strange and perverse reasons of my own, I'd like to use a FAT32-formatted external hard drive with Time Machine. Is this possible?

    No, Time Machine needs a HFS+ formatted drive for its backup folder:
    Mac OS Extended or Mac OS Extended Journaled.
    _A solution_ if you still want to use the same drive for TM backup and for some Windows files:
    Partition the drive before you start using it.
    1) Format it (using Disk Utility) as Mac OS Extended
    2) Make two partitions.
    3) Now you can format Partition2 as FAT32, so you have then two different volumes with each its own format.

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