Trying to move backup from Time Capsule to external USB drive

As per the title, I'm getting rid of my Time Capsule and am trying to move the backups to an external USB drive instead.
Initially I used AirPort Utility 5.6.1 to archive to the USB drive. However, when I switched TM back on, it wanted to do a full backup rather than incremental.
I then found Pondini's very useful page at http://pondini.org/TM/18.html and decided to try it this method instead. It also made me realise that I'd incorrectly formatted the new drive as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) when in fact the TM backup was case sensitive. So I thought this could have been the issue, but still persued Pondini's method. I formatted the drive again, this time in the correct format, and followed Pondini's guide, copying the Backups.backupdb folder from the sparse bundle to the new drive, which completed fine. But unfortunately, TM again wanted to backup everything from scratch when I turned it back on.
Any ideas what I might be doing wrong?

So it looks like I was wrong on both counts.
I misunderstood AirPort Utility's archive feature. I failed to realise that archiving actually puts the sparse bundle in a separate folder called "Data Archive" on the new drive, so of course TM won't continue using that existing backup.
It would also seem that I was incorrect in thinking that Pondini's method didn't work. When I tried it again, I realised that TM was in fact continuing the backup. Initially it looks like it's going to do a big backup, but actually only backed up a few hundred megabytes, then everything was back to normal.
Incidentally, I've also found that if you do use AirPort Utility to archive the backup, you can effectively using Pondini's "How can I copy my TM backups to a different location?" by mounting the spare bundle in the "Data Archive" folder, then dragging Backups.backupdb to the root of the drive.
I just wanted to post this for completeness and in case it helps anyone in the future.

Similar Messages

Moving Time Machine backups from Time Capsule to External USB Drive

Hi all,
hoping someone out there can help I'm trying to move my time machine backups from my old Time Capsule to my external USB drive. I've already used the Airport Utility to "archive" my Time Capsule to a USB connected WD MyBook Elite.
Right now my WD MyBook Elite has both the archive, and recent (roughly 5 backups) of both my MacBook & MacMini. I've tried to follow the seemingly simple steps located in the FAQ's here [URL="http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/18.html#id22"]Copy NETWORK backups to be used LOCALLY[/URL] , but I cannot past step 1.
[Quote]Right-click the new volume on your desktop or Finder sidebar and select Get Info. If the Ignore ownership on this volume box is checked, click the padlock at the lower right and enter your Admin password at the prompt. Then remove the check mark from the box and close the window.[/Quote]
There is no option to "Ignore Ownership" in Snow Leopard for the Spars Bundle or when expanding it to see its folders.
Any advice?
I'm basically trying to combine my backups to unit them into one seemless backup each for:
Mac Mini & MacBook.
Thank you in advance.

Dark Heart wrote:
[Quote]Right-click the new volume on your desktop or Finder sidebar and select Get Info. If the Ignore ownership on this volume box is checked, click the padlock at the lower right and enter your Admin password at the prompt. Then remove the check mark from the box and close the window.[/Quote]
There is no option to "Ignore Ownership" in Snow Leopard for the Spars Bundle or when expanding it to see its folders.
That's not referring to the sparse bundle you're copying FROM, but the new volume you just formatted on the USB drive you're copying TO.
If you didn't just format the partition, that box may not be shown -- it not, there's no problem and you don't need to do anything in that step.
I'm basically trying to combine my backups to unit them into one seemless backup each for:
Mac Mini & MacBook.
I'm not sure what you mean by that: you cannot combine the backups of two different Macs. You can put them both on the same hard drive, either in two different partitions, or, if any are going to be backed-up over a network, in a sparse bundle.
If I've misunderstood, please clarify exactly what you're trying to do.

How to backup from Time Capsule to external HD?

How to set up files backup from Time Capsule to external HD?
Here is configuration: MacBook + MacAir + Time Capsule (which I use as a storage) + 2Tb WD MyPassport (USB connected to TimeCapsule)
I keep files like photos on TimeCapsule to be available by WiFi and I want to set up my Time Machine to backup picture folder from TimeCapsule to MyPassport HD.

Time Machine can't back up a network volume. You'll have to use third-party software. I don't have a specific recommendation. There is no efficient way at all to back up a Time Capsule, which is why it should only be used as a backup destination, not as a general-purpose file server.

Transferring backup from Time Capsule to external HD?

Have had many headaches with trying to use Time Capsule wirelessly for backups and also as a router for internet connectivity.
Finally decided to invest in an external HD with 3T of capacity. It is a 'plug and play' unit, already GUID partitioned and I want to transfer my Time Machine backups (that go back to Nov 2010) in total to this new HD, which is connected to my desktop computer with FW800.
Here's my question: This article suggests that all I have to do is to drag the Backups.backupdb folder to my new external HD, but this is not found on my Time Capsule.
Instead, I have the following:
[Folder Icon} Desktop (containing 0 items)
KO's MacPro.sparsebundle
There is a total of 1.39 TB on the Time Capsule, representing backups for the past 2 years.
So do I just drag these 2 items to my external HD?
Also, I'm not confident that copying the files wirelessly is the way to go. However, I've had spotty success with trying to use the TCapsure via ethernet.
Any suggestions?

Apple now recommends this method for backup of the TC.. see.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5096
Pondini covered it ages ago and with better detail.
http://pondini.org/TM/18.html
Read the whole thing carefully.. inside the sparsebundle is the backup.. you do not copy the sparsebundle just the backup.
There is a total of 1.39 TB on the Time Capsule, representing backups for the past 2 years.
So do I just drag these 2 items to my external HD?
Also, I'm not confident that copying the files wirelessly is the way to go. However, I've had spotty success with trying to use the TCapsure via ethernet.
Any suggestions?
That is never going to work over wireless.
By the time you get it half way something will happen and corrupt it and you need to start over.
TM backup are fairly difficult beasties to backup IMHO.
You must get your ethernet working. I would strongly advise you do this in isolation.. Setup a computer and the TC.. and copy the file across.. no other network connection.. If it still give issues.. something is actually wrong with the TC. How old is it and what model, please give A1xxx from the rubber foot.
The final method.. is to extract the TC hard disk and put it in a USB holder. Then do a copy on the computer, disk to disk. this is much faster btw if you use sata connection on your Pro.. in fact you can do it in a few hours.
http://www.ifixit.com/Device/Apple_Time_Capsule

Delete old Backups from Time Capsule

Deleting old Backups from Time capsule ist very slow.
How could it be faster?
Where can i change the preferences?
Which Programm changes Preferences?
If its possible answers in German;-)
Thanks

Deleting old Backups from Time capsule ist very slow.
Deleting Time Machine backups can be slow. Löschen von Time Machine-Backups können nur langsam voran.
How could it be faster?
Unfortunately, there isn't any settings that you can make to speed them up. Leider gibt es keine Einstellungen, die Sie vornehmen können, um sie zu beschleunigen.

How do I remove a backup from Time Capsule?

How do I remove a backup from Time Capsule? It is taking up 250 GB on the capsule and I wish to remove it.
I do not wish to erase the Time capsule since I have another backup on there I wish to keep.

Then you use the TM application to manage the backups. See:
A whole lot about Time Machine for help with TM problems. Also you can select Mac Help from the Finder's Help menu and search for "time machine" to locate articles on how to use TM. See also Mac 101- Time Machine.

Trying to restore from time capsule to nes hard drive, keeps looking for disks ! Can you help

ccan't restore from time capsule to new hard drive, after changing to new HD, after calculating required space to restore it keeps looking for disks! Have have put original OS X install disk 1 in it won't Eject , any help

The very best way to do this is with ethernet to the existing router. Put the TC in bridge mode manually.
Then plug it in to existing router.. we recommend LAN router to WAN on the TC but even that is not 100% necessary.
If you want to link by wireless, to a non-apple router that is bad.. recommend strongly against it. Join a wireless network is super slow.
If you have a desktop Mac you can plug it directly into the Mac by ethernet.
But we need to know how the Mac is connected to internet.
I have given some info on one layout here.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4817218?tstart=30
If you end up relying on an old TC. And any of the models from Gen1-3.. and increasingly Gen4 have all reached EOL.. they can die suddenly and either take your files with them or be hard to recover. Also a TC is slow cf a USB external drive even, which is more reliable. Considering a 2TB is <$100 I would be careful using an old TC simply because you got it free.

How to restore from Time Capsule to bare hard drive

This is more for information, than a question, but I really hope that it helps someone else out facing the same challenge.
Scenario:
1 complete recent backup on Time Capsule
2 failed hard drive on Mac
3 no startup or OS disk
[My teenage daughter was distraught, as her much loved and much abused MacBook Pro died completely on a college tour; quick diagnosis confirmed that the hard drive was completely toast. And with it, she believed, all of her work this summer on her college applications.
That was the bad news. Now for the good news. Unbeknownst to her, I had configured her machine to automatically backup to the Time Capsule on the home network.
Now the problem. We just moved home. No OS disks. No install disks. And I discovered that she hadn't told me that the optical disk drive was also toast. So no way to get a disk in, in any case.
So I have a backup, and a new hard drive to go into the dead Mac, and (fortunately) a good Mac (actually several). But all of the guides assume that you have some way to get the zombie Mac to boot.]
Solution:
1 figure out spec for new hard drive, find one, buy it and install new hard drive in dead Mac (making it a zombie Mac - it moves but it has no real brains) http://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/0/MA161/en_US/MacBook_13inch_HardDrive_DIY .pdf and http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Unibody+Mid+2010+Hard+Drive+Repl acement/4305/1
2 mount hard drive as FireWire disk in Target mode by using ⌘T to any good Mac
3 download Carbon Copy Cloner http://www.bombich.com/
4 start the process of cloning, which involves creating a (hidden) Recovery HD partition http://help.bombich.com/kb/advanced-strategies/the-disk-center#recovery_hd
5 do NOT proceed to clone the 'good Mac', ejecting the formerly dead Mac, which was a zombie Mac, and now has a brain again, and shut it down
6 connect the now undead Mac to the Time Capsule
7 boot the now undead Mac, and restore as usual from the Time Capsule http://pondini.org/TM/14.html
[... and thereby obtain many many good father points]

Read Q14-18 in Pondini.. the grand poohbah of Time Machine.
http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html

Time Capsule Hangs with USB Drive Connected after installing 10.5.6 update

The 10.5.6 update basically made my External USB Disk connected to the Time Capsule unusable. I've repaired the permissions as suggested in other posts - this did not fix the problem.
I was unable to perform any incremental backups initially after the 10.5.6 update, so I archived my sparsebundle and created a new one by doing a full fresh backup - which completed successfully. However, after the backup, I was unable to connect to the Time Capsule or the USB drive connected to the Time Capsule via Finder - when trying to connect, my computer hangs and I'm forced to do a hard restart of BOTH my computer AND the Time Capsule, if I just restart one or the other the problem persists. If I let the connection attempt run long enough I get an "Error Code: -8072" message and still have to do a hard restart. After the hard restart of my computer and Time Capsule I'm able to connect to the Time Capsule and the USB drive connected to Time Capsule just fine. However, once the Time Machine backup runs again - the same problem returns, I can no longer access the Time Capsule or the USB drive connected to Time Capsule via Finder and have to do a hard restart of BOTH my computer AND Time Capsule. This 10.5.6 update has been havoc, anyone have the same troubles or ideas for resolving this? Before updating to 10.5.6 my system was working flawlessly with Time Capsule and the connected USB drive.
UPDATE: I've just verified that this problem only occurs with my external LaCie Hard Drive connected to Time Capsule via USB. If I disconnect my LaCie Hard Drive from the Time Capsule and restart the Time Capsule everything works fine (backups, access to Time Capsule Disk from Finder). If I connect the LaCie Hard Drive via USB to the Time Capsule, I am able to access the LaCie Hard Drive in Finder UNTIL the next Time Machine backup. After the first Time Machine backup with the USB drive connected, I can no longer access the USB drive from Finder - Finder hangs and eventually produces "Error Code: -8072". If I disconnect the USB drive, then plug it back in - Finder no longer hangs and I can access the drive connected to Time Capsule until the next backup occurs.
Anybody have ANY ideas? This worked fine before the 10.5.6 update!

I am having a similar problem. Never tried it before installing 10.5.6, but have a Time Capsule (500GB) with a 1TB WD MyBook Essential Edition connected via USB. Hardware is password protected by authorized users of network and needs separate login to access. When I initially set it up, it worked fine (though too difficult to set up). The WD storage drive showed up in Finder window as a subset of the Time Capsule after clicking on the Time Capsule icon. I had an "-8072" error message yesterday that I ignored, but then the file contents of the WD storage drive took forever to be viewed in Finder (though video files could be accessed wirelessly). Today started having a problem... coincidentally?... after a Time Machine backup, and got the message: "The operation could not be completed. An unexpected error occurred (error code -8072)." Now I am unable to get into the WD drive when I click on "Connect As" on the Time Capsule icon in the Finder menu... I just get the -8072 error. I no longer even see the Time Capsule disk as a subset of the Time Capsule icon in the Finder Toolbar.
What is going on???

Please Help - Time Capsule and External hard drive Issues

Recently, I switched from Comcast to AT&T uverse as my internet provider and I started experiencing problems.
(1) I have a 4th generation Apple Time Capsule which I am using as my router.
(2) Connected to the Apple Time Capsule - USB - is an external hard drive (not for backup with Time Machine.)
(3) I have a 2011 Macbook pro which I use to access my file on my time capsule and external hard drive.
(4) I had been using my AT&T portable Hotspot from my cell phone to get internet access on my MacBook pro from remote locations to gain access to my external hard drive which is attached to the time capsule.
(5) On August 2, 2014, I switched from Comcast to AT&T and had the AT&T turn off the router function. (I have been using the router from my apple time capsule)
(6) Under Network I switched to bridge mode.
(7) And since August 2, 2014 my time capsule has not been backup.
THE PROBLEM - I need to be able to use the hotspot function from my cell phone to gain access on the external hard drive using my MacBook Pro which I was able to do before. Now it is showing time capsule under finder but unable to connect.
Do I need to reset my Time Capsule since I have a new service provider. Everything else works fine - meaning able to get internet signal but unable to access my external hard drive and backup my time capsule. Please HELP.

(5) On August 2, 2014, I switched from Comcast to AT&T and had the AT&T turn off the router function. (I have been using the router from my apple time capsule)
(6) Under Network I switched to bridge mode.
(7) And since August 2, 2014 my time capsule has not been backup.
If you got ATT to turn off router function in their modem..
Then 6. is wrong.. You cannot have the Network switched to bridge mode..
You must have it set to dhcp and nat.
That is also why you cannot backup.. the TC is off the network.
Please change back to router mode in the TC.
Ensure the internet tab shows dhcp and you create a wireless network.
Then power down the TC... power down the ATT modem.. wait about 20min (you can try 5min.. but it might not be long enough).
Power up the ATT modem.. wait 2min for things to flash lights in de right blinkin order.. then start the TC.
Open the airport utility and make sure your TC captured the public IP and is now working as the router.
That should fix that end of it.. the hotspot end??
Tell us what happens.

I did backup from my Imac to external hard drive, how can I unzip that backup to my mac

I did backup from my Imac to external hard drive, how can I unzip that backup to my mac again

It may be Time Machine, but Time Machine doesn't store backups in .zip folders. Open Finder and select your backup external disk in the Finder sidebar, under "Devices". If you are using Time Machine, you should see a folder called "Backups.backupdb".
If you are using Time Machine and you want to restore a full Time Machine backup, there are different methods depending on the Mac OS X version you are using. Open  > About this Mac, see Version and tell me what version you are using

Can i use time capsule for external h drive and also for time machine?

Can i use time capsule for external h drive and also for time machine?

Hello, vascocaco.
If I understand correctly, you're wondering if you can use your Time Capsule's internal hard disk both for Time Machine backups and as an ordinary drive. Is this your question?
You can, but Time Machine backups may take longer.
To do it, you should partition your Time Capsule's hard disk to create one volume for the backups and one for other files.

Can I use a time capsule as a usb drive on a windows 7 machine?

Can I use a time capsule as a usb drive on a windows 7 machine?

No, but you can use it as an Ethernet or wireless drive.
(60698)

Can I remove a specific dated backup from time Capsule?

Sorry for the long story - but I have tried to provide as much detail as possible as to what is going on...
Sadly Lion has been a royal pain in the perverbial for me. It is slow (on a Macbook pro that is still within its warranty period so I don't believe that Hardware can be blamed - especially with upgraded ram and a 7200rpm drive) I recently got so frustrated with its clunkyness that I tried reinstalling on a new HDD and booting off that. Showed improvement (clean install vs upgraded and less apps etc slowing down the OS - however it is nowhere near what Snow Leopard was). But while I was at it I did something stupid. In hindsight very stupid - but balls to Apple for putting me in this situation and balls to Apple for letting me do it with no warning about the consequences...
I connected my old HDD via firewire and tried to access my files that are on it - I couldn't initially as my newly installed user did not have permission. Easy - Add the new user to permissions for folder concerned - apply to enclosed - done - Achieved what I wanted. Files accessed - test complete - sadly I will have to reinstall a clean lion and transfer my files over (restore from time capsule).
Two Major problems have surfaced. The first is directly related to the topic, the second I might try to repost in an appropriate section...
1) What I didn't think about is as soon as I modified the permissions Time Capsule treats all the files in that folder as being modified. So it has backed up an entire new version of every file in that folder - a few hundred GB. That has chomped out 10-20% of my Time Capsule. I have no need for these backups and want to delete - say - every back up made since last Sunday when I committed the dirty deed. Seems minor - but this is a major compromise to my current arrangement.
2) I have MAJOR permissions issues now. Firstly my Aperture library (which was in the folder with added user in the permissions) is fried. Can't be repaired/rebuild or anything. Lion wont do anything so useful as to tell me why - just get the colourwheel of death and the aperture library NEVER opens. Balls to Apple for allowing this to happen so easily. Second I tried to restore the entire pictures folder from Time Machine. It tells me I don't have permission??? WHAT. Double Balls. These are my freakin files - created by this user on this MBP on this install of Lion. I can't see how adding a user can suddenly prevent a long standing user from accessing their files from within their account. By the way the new install on the new HDD is no longer in play - all I am trying to do is continue to use my MBP the way I was before I did the test install.
My long running affinity for Mac is rapidly waning - I have wasted countless hours trying to regain access to ALL of my pictures - 14 years worth. 1000's of images. I cannot access them on my MBP, Can't restore them from Time Machine. This is the worst computing experience of my life.
I have tried booting from recovery, repairing permissions etc etc etc. Nothing mainstream solves this.
Does anyone have some wisdom to address my conundrum - I am seriously desperate here... I have genuinely decided that I will not waste the upcoming long weekend ******* around with this - I would rather forget my 14 years of stored memories and just get on with life... If unsolved by this Friday I will sell my Macbook Pro and iPad and initiate my own version of the post PC world - no computer at all - currently it is doing nothing but wasting my time.

jameski wrote:
My only concern about resetting premissions (and ACL???) is that it will exacerbate my backup disk space wastage issue as it will result in full backup of my entire home folder (about 400GB).
Yup, if you changed the permissions on everything in your home folder, that will change them all back, so they'll all be backed-up again.
That will leave me with about 1.2TB of a 2TB TC used up with backups (currently should be about 500GB) - my plan was to have about 1.5TB of my TC available to use for files in the medium term until the need for more backup space pushed me to invest in another drive. TC's are just too expensive to waste like this.
Mixing backups and other data on the TC's internal HD will, eventually, cause conflicts. But see #Q3 in Using Time Machine with a Time Capsule for some possible workarounds.
If I do a complete restore from TM (entire account)
You can't do that. You can't restore an entire home folder via the "Star Wars" display, because the home folder and default sub-folders (Desktop, Downloads, Pictures, etc.,) are protected. You'd have to restore the contents of the sub-folders, a rather tedious process.
You can do a "full system restore" (OSX, apps, all user accounts & home folders), via a different procedure (Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #14).
to the day before this shambles started - will time machine treat my restored account as a modification of all files and try to back up a fresh copy of everything on the basis that it has been modified - or is it smart enought to realise what I have done and carry on doing only incremental backups?
Anything you restore via the "Star Wars" display is considered as changed, so will be backed-up.
A full system restore (usually) results in only an incremental backup, but TM does a "deep scan" to compare everything on your system to the backups, to see what's different. That will find that everything in your home folder has changed, so back it all up anyway.
If yes I will likely put all my historical backups onto a cheap 500GB drive and put it in a drawer and start new backups on TC
Good plan. You probably know you can always view and restore from those, via the Browse Other Backup Disks option, per #17 in the FAQ.
After you do that, in theory, you could run the user home folder permissions reset, delete all the backups made after the original permissions change, then force a "deep scan" so the only differences found would be files that really are new or changed; but that's tedious, error-prone, and "iffy."
Are backups via TC inherently substantially slower than say to firewire drive?
Oh, yes, absolutely. Here's a very rough comparison of full backup speeds (see #29 in the FAQ for details):
There's a lot of variation depending on your hardware and setup, of course.
I am running my TC through gigabit ethernet as wifi (despite having an ethernet extended AEP in my office) is too slow. I simply cannot get over the serious loss of performance since Lion and more recently the introduction of a TC. It is dire!
Some folks report WIFI backups slower under Lion vs. Snow Leopard, some think it's faster, others (including me) don't see much difference.
However, it really shouldn't make a whole lot of difference for normal incremental backups, as they should be relatively small and quick in most cases, and shouldn't have much impact on performance. You might want to check the sizes of your backups -- if they seem too large considering what you've changed, see #D4 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting. If the sizes are reasonable, but the backups are still slow, or other performance seems to suffer, see #D2 there.
Are these your only backups? If so, consider keeping "secondary" backups, to avoid having "all eggs in one basket." See #27 in the FAQ for some suggestions.

Is there way to store my movies on my Time Capsule instead of laptop drive? I will then run an external drive to backup Time Capsule.

Is there way to store and run my iMovies on my Time Capsule instead of laptop drive? I will then run an external drive to backup Time Capsule as my backup. I want to dothis because my hard drive is full and I still have many movies to import form camcorder.

I do not know about iMovie, but the experts in the iPhoto and Aperture support areas strongly advise against trying to install your "working" image library on the Time Capsule.
You might want to ask about this in the iMovie support area.
iMovie for Mac
It would be much easier and much better if you use the external drive to connect to your Mac via USB or FireWire and then store the movies there.
Then, Time Machine will back up both your Mac and the external hard drive automatically once you tell it to do so.

Trying to move backup from Time Capsule to external USB drive

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