SOLVED backing up Macbook Pro to a Linux machine

[markp1989]

I recently got a macbook pro and I am looking for a backup solution for it.

most other machines in the house are running some kind of linux and I back those up using Deja Dup to my file server (running Ubuntu Linux) over ssh.

The server has rsync,smb and ssh services available, I am willing to add other services if they would make backup up my mac to it easier.

I have read that you can get "Time Machine" working to a network share, but it seems like a hell of a lot of trouble to get working, and most guide I have found are for older versions of OS X.

what solutions would your recommend for automatically backing a Mac?

Thanks for reading, Mark

 

[Stratus_ss]

Bacula is a pretty awsome solution in general. It takes a little leg work to get going but its pretty feature rich once its up and doing its thing

if you have rsync, you could always write a small script (it probably would be less then 10 lines) and run that in the crontab. That would be easiest based on current services available

 

[gangaskan]

you should be able to time machine to a network share.


this should help.

http://gigaom.com/apple/how-to-use-time-machine-over-a-network/

and this too is better
http://lifehacker.com/5691649/an-ea...ne-to-back-up-to-a-networked-windows-computer

 

[Arkaine23]

I'd still cut a dmg of the whole filesystem while its new and clean. Pretty easy to install OS X on a USB drive, then boot from it and use Disk Utility to make an image of the mac's drive. Then you can use that for full disk restores, and you can setup your time machine or rsyc to only backup your home directories.

 

[gangaskan]

I'd still cut a dmg of the whole filesystem while its new and clean. Pretty easy to install OS X on a USB drive, then boot from it and use Disk Utility to make an image of the mac's drive. Then you can use that for full disk restores, and you can setup your time machine or rsyc to only backup your home directories.

but you can use time machine for whole system backups if wanted right?

 

[markp1989]

Thanks all for replying.

I tried following the links gangaskan posted but I am having a problem, I get an error saying "the network backup disk does not support the required AFP features"

I plan to make a dmg clone of the hard disk tomorrow morning/afternoon depending what time I wake up, gotta love lazy Sundays.

an Rsync script would work fine, I used one on an older laptop a while back, but Ideally I would like something with a GUI like time machine or Deja-Dup where I can roll back to previous versions or restore deleted files pretty easily.

almost all the important stuff is backed up on Dropbox, the main thing that is not in Dropbox is some Parallels machines which are too big to be stored in the Dropbox account, and as the Macbook is the only machine I have with parallels installed on so I don't need them being portable just backed up.

 

[dropadrop]

Timemachine is a bit tricky, you have to fool osx into thinking it's a supported platform. You might also lose some of the meta-data (though it's probably not that serious). It's definately doable, but you can expect to lose compatibility during major upgrades (for example to 10.8).

I use time machine on a NAS and the main problem I've had is the occasional "you have to rebuild your backup" which removes the old backup and creates a new one. It's pretty annoying, and does not happen when backing up to a directly attached drive, but seems to happen quite frequently when backing up to a linux nas (I believe it might have something to do with putting the machine to sleep during the backup, but not sure).

Nothing can touch time machine in ease of use and how handy it is to reinstall the machine (new system disk for example) by just updating your time machine backup, changing the disk, booting the osx media and selecting install from backup (you are pretty much right where you where apart from cache's).

 

[dippy_skoodlez]

Carbon Copy Cloner.

 

[Merlin7777]

The compatibility with Time Machine has grown by leaps and bounds with the latest versions of Netatalk. My Freenas (8.0.4) Server worked without a hitch with my MBP's Time Machine install, no "fooling" trickery required.

 

[markp1989]

I got time machine working now.

I used this guide to set up the server.
http://zrmt.com/2012/02/05/back-up-to-ubuntu-server-using-time-machine-with-os-x-lion-10-7/

and I used this the script from here to make and upload the image.
http://lifehacker.com/5691649/an-ea...ne-to-back-up-to-a-networked-windows-computer

Im still part way thought my first backup, 400mb out of 30gb copied across, its going to take a long time! I really should get a "N" access point at some point.

now I have mine working I will setup the same thing on my sisters MBP aswel.

Thanks to everyone who replied