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Time Machine
366 Topics
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: /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=5516617KViews1like64Comments
Time Machine could not be accessed, network password problem
I'm running OS X El Capitan (10.11.6) and after running the latest set of updates from the App Store (Security Update 2016-003, Safari 10.0.2, XCode Command Line Tools 8.2, iTunes 12.5.4), Time Machine has stopped being able to access my shared ReadyNAS TM share. I'm running latest firmware (6.6.0). The error reported from the Time Machine prefpane is: Time Machine couldn't complete the backup to "nas". The network backup disk could not be accessed because there was a problem with the network username or password. You may need to re-select the backup disk and enter the correct username and password In the console, I see: com.apple.backupd[2950]: NAConnectToServerSync failed with error: 80 (Authentication error) for url: afp://ReadyNAS@nas._afpovertcp._tcp.local./timemachine com.apple.backupd[2950]: Authentication error (80) - the correct user or password info may not exist in the System.keychain or the server may no longer allow access for this user. com.apple.backupd[2950]: Attempting to mount network destination using alternate URL: afp://ReadyNAS@nas.local/timemachine It doesn't help if I delete the relevant keychain entry, remove the disk from the prefpane and re-enter the credentials when prompted. Rebooting the Mac makes no difference. The shared Time Machine settings in FrontView admin look fine. It successfully backed up an hour ago. I fear something in AFP has been broken by the latest update...Solved16KViews0likes3Comments
Can't delete sparsebundle
I have been having problems with my Macbook Pro backing up to my ReadyNAS Duo since I came back from a trip. I realized I was inadvertently backing up VMWare Fusion images as part of the backup and these were causing the backup space to be used up rapidly. I tried to go into Time Machine and delete all versions of the file but that never succeeded. I suspect that corrupted the sparsebundle in some way so I decided to delete it and start again. I log in via AFP= and see the sparsebundle. When I try to delete it, a window pops up saying "Deleting <name of my sparsebundle>". It says "Items to delete 0", with the moving bar that indicates its trying to do something. It sat in this state for 12 hours without any apparent progress. I expanded the sparsebundle to do "Show Package Contents". I was able to delete the individual files but could not expand the "bands" directory in the Finder window. I tried to delete that directory but got a similar pop-up window saying "Deleting 'bands' and again it said "Items to Delete 0" and sat for hours. If I stop the delete by clicking on the X by the progress bar, it takes about 2-3 minutes to actually stop. I rebooted the ReadyNAS doing both a volume check and a quota permissions check; both were fine. I then did a re-install of the OS by holding down the Reset button for 5 seconds while powering on. None of these steps have helped. I'm running the latest FW (4.1.8) and am running the latest Lion image (10.7.3) on the Macbook. Since the original sparsebundle is huge, I need to be able to delete it to get backups running again. (I don't have enough space to just rename it and create a new one. We use the same ReadyNAS to back up other machines, and also to host iTunes so I desperately want to avoid Restoring Factory Defaults if at all possible. Help! Thanks in advance for any suggestions.15KViews0likes11Comments
Problem with Yosemite?
I just upgraded a few days ago and now my time machine will not even recognize the drive, let alone back up to it. I saw people having issues with cloud sync or something and Yosemite, but I am just trying normal back ups with time machine. Any suggestions?15KViews0likes26CommentsDeleting time machine backup
Hi all, I've looked what seems to be everywhere on the forum to try and find out how to delete the sparsebundle file in the .timemachine folder but can't find any step by step instructions anywhere. I have the problem where I have bought a new mac and setup time machine on it, however because of the size of the sparse image from the old mac, it always fails stating there is not enough disk space. I'd therefore like to delete the sparsebundle file and start afresh. I've managed to locate the file, however using finder I haven't managed to delete it. It just hang's on 'preparing to delete...' i've even left it doing it overnight. I've heard that the best way of deleting it is by SSH, which I have downloaded the add-on for, however I haven't found out how to go about using this method. Would anyone be able to either point me in the direction of a how-to, or explain how to do this? Any help would be very much appreciated! Thanks14KViews0likes11CommentsRemove and restart Time machine backup
Hi I have run ReadyNAS Duo v1 for several years and used it also for Time Machine backup for two Macs with little problems. The machine is getting full and I need to remove Time Machine backups and restart with a smaller quota setting. Today I have 2x2TB in RAID1 and have a Time Machine quota of 700 GB. And I have the latest firmware. I want to: 1) Remove the current Time Machines backups for both computers 2) Change the quota to say 500 GB 3) Restart Time Machine backup for one of the Macs How do I do this? I tried to simply change the quota but my NAS did not take that, and I guess it is because the quota is already full. I have removed the Time Machine connection for one of the Macs, but not sure if that was a good ideas, but done is done. Appreciate some help Jan Peter12KViews0likes7Comments
Permission problem with sparsebundle in user share
I've set up TM on my MBP (Mavricks) to back up to my user share on my ReadyNAS Duo v2 following these instructions: viewtopic.php?f=71&t=59974 It works fine, mostly. But, as others have observed, if there's a connection problem the backup will become "corrupted" and TM will want to start a new backup from scratch, which is annoying. However, there's this explanation of how to "fix" and "reset" the existing backup on a NAS, and it works: http://www.garth.org/archives/2011,08,2 ... rrors.html Sort of. I run the fix, and it lets me access the old TM backup. However, it won't use that backup due to a file permission issue. That is, after I fix the old backup, I can go into the TM and see the earlier files, but TM won't use it to continue backing up. It says the file is read-only. When, I look at the files in the user directory using Terminal, I see the sparsebundle, and ls -l tells me it has the following permissions: drwx------ 1 MBPusername staff 16384 date mbpname.sparsebundle I've done some reading on various pages about chmod or chown commands, but I'm not sure: a) what the correct permissions are to get this working again, and b) how to set them recursively to include the files inside the sparsebundle. Thoughts?11KViews0likes15CommentsTime Machine verification failure (again)
I know this has been discussed before but it seems like a perennial question. The problem occurred with my ReadyNAS Duo every few months and this is the second time it has happened with my RN102 since I got it at the end of last year. This message appears and gives the choice of creating a new backup now or later: 'Time Machine completed a verification of your backups on “ReadyNAS”. To improve reliability, Time Machine must create a new backup for you.' Every time it has happened, I have looked on the Netgear forum (and previously the ReadyNAS forum) and then gone off at Google's mercy trying to find a cause or solution. I can't say I have found any definite information but the finger almost always points at third party incompatibility. To say that it is irritating to have to create a new backup every few months is a slight understatement. It either slows my Mac down to near unusable for several days if I do it wirelessly or renders it totally unusable for about 36 hours if I do it via ethernet as I have to leave my Mac next to my Netgear DGND3300 and RN102 which are, by necessity, kept in a utility room with no furniture. Is anybody looking into this matter? Or is it just regarded as an issue which does not bother enough people and, if ignored for long enough, may or may not go away by accident. I don't rely on the ReadyNAS Time Machine implementation; given my experience, I would be stupid to do so. I have a secondary USB Time Machine backup (yes, I know the old mantra that Time Machine isn't a backup) and I also have other strategies in place to cover the most essential data. But the convenience of wireless backup and occasional recovery of lost files is virtually negated by the regular failures. When I upgraded from my old ReadyNAS Duo to the RN102, I had hoped that the shiny new interface would not be a mere facade and that there would be an undelying robustness on which I could rely. I know that Mac users are the poor cousins in demographic terms but could somebody please try to address this issue rather than dismiss it as an occupational hazzard; Time Machine integration is sold as a standard feature of ReadyNAS.11KViews0likes42Comments
OSStatus error 2
I have an NV+v2 with 2 x 2TB Seagate drives, and running the latest firmware. I am running the latest version of Mac OSX 10.8.4. On the NV+v2 I have implemented TimeMachine, and I have allocated 1.3TB for TimeMachine backup space. On my Mac Mini, however, on opening TimeMachine preferences, and selecting the ReadyNAS all I get is... "Time Machine can’t access the backup disk “ReadyNAS”.The operation couldn’t be completed. (OSStatus error 2.)". This happens when I log-on as either a 'Guest' or 'Registered User'. I have even performed a factory reset on my ReadyNAS and started again from scratch, but the problem persists. Any help in solving this problem would be much appreciated.8.7KViews0likes5Comments
