Backing up the Leopard?
I have now switched to Leopard, and wanted to test out the much anticipated Time Machine that supposedly makes backups a breeze. So I happily plugged in a empty USB drive, Time Machine asked me if I wanted to use that disk as a backup disk, and then it started backing up my data so that I can easily restore them… or not.
You see, I am one of those paranoid geezers that like to keep their files encrypted in case someone steals their laptop. So I use Apple’s built in encryption, FileVault, for my home folder. And it seems Time Machine does not play as nice with FileVaults as it does with non-protected data. Time Machine itself states, albeit not in that exact wording, that it sucks with FileVault:
Another thing that annoys me with Time Machine is that you cannot make bootable backup disks with it. When your laptop gets stolen or your disk crashes and the customers are calling you every ten minutes the luxury of just plugging your USB/Firewire disk in, boot from it and have your complete work environment ready is pretty priceless. I’ve been there. Spending time reinstalling may not always be an option.
My current backup scheme that allows for this consists of two parts:
- Using RsyncX for backing up my entire system. This approach has the same caveat as Time Machine – I prefer to log out and back in as a second Admin user in order to successfully unmount the sparsebundle (sparseimage in Tiger) that holds my home folder, so that I am sure that it gets backed up properly. There is one “problem” with this – I only get the latest snapshot of my complete system. I can live with that, as I can boot from it. This method is not new, I used this howto from 2005 to get it rolling.
- Using plain rsync over ssh to get incremental backups of my home folder. I used a slightly modified version of the “backup to a central backup server with 7 day incremental” from the rsync examples page. Since this runs over ssh to a server at home I may take backups while on the run with my laptop, so I do not have to lug around the extra USB drive in order to get backups done.
The combination of theese two methods makes restoring my system in case of a disk replacement as easy as two rsync commands after I boot from my USB drive:
- Rsync the entire contents of the USB drive into the new disk after partitioning it. The backup USB disk is, needless to say, also the perfect rescue tool.
- Log in as my FileVaulted user and update my home folder from the server via ssh.
However, if bootable backups is not a priority and you are OK with carrying the extra Time Machine backup disk with you and risk getting BOTH your laptop and your backups stolen – then Time Machine is for you. Also, if you are a home user with a desktop Mac Time Machine is also probably perfect for you. But as a laptop user with security needs Time Machine is not an ideal solution. The rsync setup is also more of a hack, and could be more seamless. Any hints towards a seamless, fast restore, backup regime for security-minded laptop users is greatly welcome 
Even though you loose the “visual fireworks” and the ability to restore individual fiels using Time Machine, it seems that it does incremental backups of your File Vault images, albeit when you log out:
“(…) the new FV format allows TM to just backup the changed files!!!!! in your sparseimage!!!! Very fast, much less space!!!!”
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=5659855#5659855
Hey Hugo
Yeah, the fragmented structure of the sparsebundle should allow for incremental backups. But it really is a shame that they are not able to do the backups while the user is logged in, and that you loose the brilliant visual interface :/
Let’s hope for it to happen in 10.5.5 or something?
According to this article, you can make live backups of FileVault while logged in.
http://macosx.com/article/live-filevaultsparse-bundle-backups-in-leopard.html
Yup, that article describes the same method I have been using since I started using FileVault a year ago.
Look under “My current backup scheme that allows for this consists of two parts:” above
Have you looked at LBackup which supports the backup of FileVault data to multiple encrypted disk images?
I’m on the SuperDuper! bandwagon myself. Saved my butt!
Hi,
I currently use RsyncX 2.1 to backup my MacBook Pro, which is running Tiger (10.4.11). I’m considering (and dreading) upgrading to Leopard, but I want to make sure that I won’t have any problems using RsyncX on Leopard.
Have you discovered any differences with using RsyncX on Leopard, and which version of RsyncX are you using on Leopard?
Thanks and great post!
For the past week I’ve been going through all the articles on the web about this topic (TM vs. FV) since I am finally setting this up on my desktop macpro. I was robbed this week and the thieves took my macpro (they took my powerbook too of course). The problem is that I never thought someone would break into my house and steal my 50 pound macpro tower – but it is worth a lot of money so I guess if they’re taking the TV, why not take this. Now all the articles out there keep mentioning laptops as the rationale for wanting to use FileVault and not for desktop users – this is just naivety as I was thinking it could never happen to me. It’s slightly more difficult for someone to steal your desktop mac, but they will do it! And if your hard drive(s) are unencrypted, they
will have all your personal data whether they want it or not. Just fair warning to people reading these articles and thinking they are safe cause they don’t have a laptop. FileVault isn’t the only way, but protect your data – you can always replace a computer but your data is another story.