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How-to: Setup multi-Mac backup shares with quotas. Easy.
Over the last couple years, I've been backing up each of my Macs to the default ReadyNAS Time Machine share. It's been OK, aside from having to hack my sparse bundles to stop them from increasing in size on their own. For some reason, as of Lion, I've had trouble getting that trick to work reliably.
After a weekend of research and playing around I finally put together a good Time Machine setup for my three Macs. Rather than have all three computers backup to the default ReadyNAS Time Machine share, I've setup specific user accounts with quotas to limit the size of the Time Machine backups and I backup each computer to the respective user account home folder. Turns out with the latest 4.2.19 update (I have an x86 NAS) it's a pretty easy setup. I've now tested it with two Lion and one Leopard OS. (And as a test, I found that SSH and Unix know-how isn't necessary.) Figured I'd try to contribute something back to the forum.
These steps assume that Time Machine support is already enabled on the ReadyNAS.
1.) Go into FrontView. Under Security > User Accounts I added a user account for each computer with a quota. (I tend to allocate 1.5x my computer's hard drive space for backups.)
2.) For each user, only two files needed to be created. Repeat the following steps for each user you create:
3.) Open a Finder window and open the AFP (or CIFS) representation of your ReadyNAS in the sidebar or Network folder.
4.) You'll probably be connected as "Guest" and might see any shares that are publicly accessible. Click the "Connect As" button at the top of the window and connect using one of the user accounts you created earlier.
5.) A folder should show up with the name of the user that you logged on as. That's the user's home folder.
6.) Using your favorite plain-text editor create a new plain-text file with a single line containing:
Replace <username> with the exact spelling of the user you're connected as. (It should match the folder name in case and spelling.) Save this file as .AppleVolumes in the user's home folder.
7.) Create an empty file called .com.apple.timemachine.supported and save it in the user's home folder.
Note: both the files start with a . which won't show up in the Finder normally. Eject the ReadyNAS share when you're done creating those two files and connect as the next user if necessary. I found I didn't have to reboot the system to make the changes work for the next step. But it doesn't hurt.
8.) On your Mac, go into the Time Machine preferences. If Time Machine was already setup, go to Select Disk and choose "Do Not Backup" (this makes it forget the previous username/password that was saved). Then do Select Disk again and choose your ReadyNAS like usual. When asked for a username and password, connect using the user and password you setup for that particular computer.
That should be it. Like I said, worked on three computers without a problem. No special settings had to be made on the computers.
Sources:
http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=57003
http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=55738
http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=55166
After a weekend of research and playing around I finally put together a good Time Machine setup for my three Macs. Rather than have all three computers backup to the default ReadyNAS Time Machine share, I've setup specific user accounts with quotas to limit the size of the Time Machine backups and I backup each computer to the respective user account home folder. Turns out with the latest 4.2.19 update (I have an x86 NAS) it's a pretty easy setup. I've now tested it with two Lion and one Leopard OS. (And as a test, I found that SSH and Unix know-how isn't necessary.) Figured I'd try to contribute something back to the forum.
These steps assume that Time Machine support is already enabled on the ReadyNAS.
1.) Go into FrontView. Under Security > User Accounts I added a user account for each computer with a quota. (I tend to allocate 1.5x my computer's hard drive space for backups.)
2.) For each user, only two files needed to be created. Repeat the following steps for each user you create:
3.) Open a Finder window and open the AFP (or CIFS) representation of your ReadyNAS in the sidebar or Network folder.
4.) You'll probably be connected as "Guest" and might see any shares that are publicly accessible. Click the "Connect As" button at the top of the window and connect using one of the user accounts you created earlier.
5.) A folder should show up with the name of the user that you logged on as. That's the user's home folder.
6.) Using your favorite plain-text editor create a new plain-text file with a single line containing:
/c/home/<username> ReadyNAS cnidscheme:dbd allow:<username> options:tm
Replace <username> with the exact spelling of the user you're connected as. (It should match the folder name in case and spelling.) Save this file as .AppleVolumes in the user's home folder.
7.) Create an empty file called .com.apple.timemachine.supported and save it in the user's home folder.
Note: both the files start with a . which won't show up in the Finder normally. Eject the ReadyNAS share when you're done creating those two files and connect as the next user if necessary. I found I didn't have to reboot the system to make the changes work for the next step. But it doesn't hurt.
8.) On your Mac, go into the Time Machine preferences. If Time Machine was already setup, go to Select Disk and choose "Do Not Backup" (this makes it forget the previous username/password that was saved). Then do Select Disk again and choose your ReadyNAS like usual. When asked for a username and password, connect using the user and password you setup for that particular computer.
That should be it. Like I said, worked on three computers without a problem. No special settings had to be made on the computers.
Sources:
http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=57003
http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=55738
http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=55166
64 Replies
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- Works like a charm, thanks for the summary!
:-D - Thanks for putting this summary together. It is exactly what I have been looking for sometime now! I can't seem to get it to work for some reason and I suspect it has something to do with the text editor/naming that I am using - I created a user account for each of the Macs that I want to use time machine with i.e. - MacPro
6.) Using your favorite plain-text editor create a new plain-text file with a single line containing:
Which text editor do you use/recommend? I tried - TextEdit.app on the Mac. with a problem of only being able to create the filename with a .txt extension - i.e.( .AppleVolumes.txt/.com.apple.timemachine.supported.txt). I suspect this is giving me the problem- when a backup starts it stops with an error that says those features are not supported on the volume. Please pardon my lack of experience here...
/c/home/<username> ReadyNAS cnidscheme:dbd allow:<username> options:tm
Replace <username> with the exact spelling of the user you're connected as. (It should match the folder name in case and spelling.) Save this file as .AppleVolumes in the user's home folder.
My file .AppleVolumes for the user account MacPro reads - /c/home/MacPro ReadyNAS cnidscheme:dbd allow:MacPro options:tm
Do you see any mistakes there? Thanks for your help, Mike - You need to create the file wihout the .txt extension. Do a command (has Apple symbol on it) + I (i.e. Get Info) of the file and rename it to not have the .txt extension. See if that works.
- Thanks mdgm - That worked like a charm! Renaming and deleting the .txt extension was very simple. I've now backed up my MacPro and will move on to the other 3 machines.
Really appreciate the quick response too - Mike pilot144 wrote: Thanks mdgm - That worked like a charm! Renaming and deleting the .txt extension was very simple. I've now backed up my MacPro and will move on to the other 3 machines.
Really appreciate the quick response too - Mike
Glad you got it worked out!- Tip:
Set quota warnings to 100% of the quota, rather than the default 80%.
If your Time Machine backups go over the 80%, Time Machine will just give you an error and the ReadyNAS will complain too. At 100% Time Machine will properly consolidate your old backups.
The setting is under User and Group Accounts, then choose Preferences from the drop-down menu above the list of users. The option is the last one: "Warn user when disk usage is:" - To make creating the files easier:
I recommend always showing filenames extensions in the Finder. You can enable this under the Finder menu > Preferences… > Advanced > Show all filename extensions.
You can also show hidden files, since the period hides the files in the Finder:
1.) Open Terminal.app. (It's under Applications > Utilities folder.)
2.) At the prompt, type (or copy & paste the following and press Return:defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles YES
3.) Then type in the following to restart the Finder:killall Finder
To stop showing hidden files when you're done, follow the same steps but change YES to NO. - I have a few problems that I hope someone can help me with.
I have an iMac which I already have backing up with Time Machine - I would now like to add my wife's MacBook. I've read the instructions given here, but I am assuming that this method applies when there had not been an initial use of Time Machine (TM) - am I correct?
I have tried adding the MacBook after setting up my wife as a users, but when I try to connect her to TM I get an error 'The operation could not be completed. (OSStatus error 2.)'
The other problem I keep running across is the reference to FrontView - this has been replaced as I understand it by ReadyNAS - and there is no mention in it of Quota! So how do I set User Accounts I added a user account for each computer with a quota. (I tend to allocate 1.5x my computer's hard drive space for backups.) Is this the same as Capacity shown in Backup Time Machine?
I am also a little confused by the <username> does this have to match a name on the Mac? For instance my iMac has a file called Martin Sullivan's Computer.sparsebundle.
I have the Duo v2. - Well some success I'm please to report. I followed the instructions and created the two files, and my wife's MacBook is now in the process of backing up via Time Machine.
Just one problem now! My iMac is not doing the hourly TM back ups - it says Backup Delayed… and when I try Back up Now - Time Machine could not complete the backup. the backup disc is not available. I have tried reselecting the NAS, and logged in again, but then I get the 'The operation could not be completed. (OSStatus error 2.)'
Does this mean that I will have to follow the same procedure as with the MacBook? Or can I only back up one Mac at a time?
If I have to start again which TM files can I delete from the NAS?
Thanks again for any help. - Just for anyone else reading this post.
I did carry out the same set up for the iMac and this is now being backed up via Time Machine.
I also had the answer on removing the old backups in another thread, and it seems this cannot be done until there is a firmware update.
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