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Forum Discussion
Migrating TM backup from USB drive to ReadyNAS
I'm a new owner of a ReadyNAS NV+ and what I'm trying to do is move an existing TimeMachine backup from an external drive to the ReadyNAS.
I've searched the forum and seen the page at http://www.readynas.com/?p=1097 where it says how to "migrate an existing Time Machine sparsebundle that was created with the original 15 steps to the new location," and I've also seen the page at http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427?viewlocale=en_US where it says how to move a TimeMachine backup from one drive to another.
Neither of these methods work - I didn't create the backup originally on a ReadyNAS unit, and when I follow Apple's directions it says that "The volume has wrong the wrong case sensitivity for a backup." I've also tried a method with rsync but it took 10 hours so far to "build file list" on 200GB worth of data [somehow that seems wrong to me - not the 200GB, but the 10 hours to index it] and I had to bail to use that computer for real work somewhere else.
So I'm asking here now - from what I see in the forums through searching people are helpful and knowledgable, a pretty good combination - what do you all think? Have you ever successfully done this WITHOUT resorting to the "build the .sparseimage on the local drive" method. I could do it, but it would require attaching a SECOND external drive, and I'm afraid that would take a VERY LONG TIME. On the other hand, I'd rather not lose my backup.
Thanks in advance
CubsFanRon
PS: I wanted the URLs to be links but I couldn't get that to work here...
I've searched the forum and seen the page at http://www.readynas.com/?p=1097 where it says how to "migrate an existing Time Machine sparsebundle that was created with the original 15 steps to the new location," and I've also seen the page at http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427?viewlocale=en_US where it says how to move a TimeMachine backup from one drive to another.
Neither of these methods work - I didn't create the backup originally on a ReadyNAS unit, and when I follow Apple's directions it says that "The volume has wrong the wrong case sensitivity for a backup." I've also tried a method with rsync but it took 10 hours so far to "build file list" on 200GB worth of data [somehow that seems wrong to me - not the 200GB, but the 10 hours to index it] and I had to bail to use that computer for real work somewhere else.
So I'm asking here now - from what I see in the forums through searching people are helpful and knowledgable, a pretty good combination - what do you all think? Have you ever successfully done this WITHOUT resorting to the "build the .sparseimage on the local drive" method. I could do it, but it would require attaching a SECOND external drive, and I'm afraid that would take a VERY LONG TIME. On the other hand, I'd rather not lose my backup.
Thanks in advance
CubsFanRon
PS: I wanted the URLs to be links but I couldn't get that to work here...
16 Replies
sphardy wrote: With that justification - I have to help... :D
You guys definitely rock. Thanks for the help - I'll let you know what happens tomorrow (I expect it to take all night :cry: )- Started a few minutes ago. Only 6 hours to go...
- Here's a running dialog of what's going on with this - I apologize for the decidedly not concise message, but it's a running log so I'm just jamming stuff in here until I'm done with this try. The subject gives you a quick hint as to the ultimate result.
- Using the source computer (the source of the backup), I followed steps 2 and 3 (I had already done step 1 and have 1 other computer already backing up to the NAS).
- Moving to a surrogate computer (one different than the source of the backup), I started the restore. Since the restore function is largely a block-level copy of one disk to another, that should not matter, but we'll see. I chose to use a surrogate because it was on the Gig-E network while the other one is connected via 802.11n and I didn't anticipate any problems because of it. I could have used the source, but my wife wanted to keep using it to play some games on Facebook or something.... Whatever happens, if it worked or not, losing sleep wouldn't have helped, so I'm off to bed. I'll check in the morning.
- The restore finished successfully. I suspect this was at about 2 AM, 6+ hours after I started the restore.
- When I mount the sparsebundle on the surrogate, it mounts successfully and looks like the original disk. So much so that the name of the volume inside the sparsebundle is the same as the name of the disk I restored to it and the top level directory structure of the backup has the same number of entries - I take it as a good sign that the entry count is the same and I wonder if that will cause any issues with TM backups that the volume name is different. (NOTE: the sparsebundle name is unchanged, which I take as a good sign).
- Moving back to the source computer, prior to turning Time Machine back on, I entered Time Machine to see what kinds of backups I actually have there - this tests 2 things: a) Does the change in volume name cause any problems? b) Did all the backups make it across? The answers are No and Yes respectively. This is a good sign.
- Pushing my luck, I turn Time Machine back on and start a backup. I'm expecting it to have to do a deep traversal but it doesn't - intriguing. The last backup on the old drive was 2-3 days ago, and I suspect that Time Machine sees the NAS-based volume as simply the same one it was using so everything is happy-happy.
- About 2 MB was backed up, and when I left for my office today it was busy finishing up that backup - in the "post-backup thinning" phase where it consolidates and deletes various versions. Since it's been a few days, there's likely to be some of that kind of work that's necessary
I'm ready to conclude that it was successful. I'll check again when I get home to make sure that backups have been going all day, or at least while the computer has been awake, but it seems like all the machinery is in place and doing the things it's expected to be doing.
I'd like to thank mgdm and sphardy for their guidance. If this procedure isn't written up as a sticky under the Time Machine sub-topic it should be. - A few days later, everything seems to be working just fine. The wife's real happy with having the old backups around, though at some point I'll probably clean that stuff up. She says thanks for your help too (but somehow still expects me to plug in the scanner that replaced the drive - sheesh!).
I just added a third 1TB drive to double the effective storage capacity. That was a nice experience - real easy and it didn't take too long to re-sync the drive (about 3 hours - maybe because I don't have a lot of data on the NAS yet) and set it up so new TM backups will have a larger max capacity - I set them to 1024MB (1TB) since that's big enough for everyone's drive but the iMac, and at some point I'll re-do that. - Glad it's working out for you - whatever it takes to keep the better half happy
- Thank you for this very helpful description / thread, it helped me a lot to successfully move my existing Time Machine backup to my ReadyNAS.
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