6 ms·

Time Machine for OSX Lion 10.7 using Debian 6.0 Squeeze

52 points by danielwozniak 15y ago

Build your own time machine using open-source software.

mikehoward 15y ago
Plug a 1T LaCie all terrain HD into the FW 800 port. Works a lot faster than the wireless and it's easy to back up the backup (portably)
aeontech 15y ago
is there a mirror?
- danielwozniak 15y ago
  http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:S1ltAY9SAgsJ:www.mikepalmer.net/archives/208+&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:S1ltAY9...
jws 15y ago
Can't see site, but it all "just works" if you can go to wheezy on your debian machine.
g0atbutt 15y ago
It appears to be down. Here's the Google Cache http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:a7H_n-eKm-4J:www.mikepalmer.net/build-a-netatalk-timemachine-for-osx-lion-using-debian-6-0-squeeze/+mikepalmer+Time+Machine+for+OSX+Lion+10.7+using+Debian+6.0+Squeez&hl=en&client=safari&gl=us&strip=1 http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:a7H_n-e...
Thrymr 15y ago
An older page on doing this with a lot more detail: http://www.kremalicious.com/2008/06/ubuntu-as-mac-file-server-and-time-machine-volume/ http://www.kremalicious.com/2008/06/ubuntu-as-mac-file-serve... Not all of it is necessary anymore with Lion (and maybe with more recent Debian/Ubuntu, I'm not sure), but it is a nice overview of the pieces.
smackfu 15y ago
To be honest, I'd probably just get a refurb 2 GB Time Capsule for $260, considering the bare drive would run you $160.
latchkey 15y ago
One addition, use my little automator action (Create Backup Volume) [1] to generate the sparsebundle for each machine you are backing up. It sets up the sparsebundle with better arguments, namely a larger sparse-band-size=131072 which greatly improves the speed of the backups since it is fewer files being opened in the sparsebundle. Don't worry about the size you give the bundle since newer versions of osx will just resize the bundle to the size of the shared volume in netatalk (something which was neglected in the blog authors post). [1] http://code.google.com/p/backmyfruitup/downloads/list http://code.google.com/p/backmyfruitup/downloads/list
hmottestad 15y ago
Here is another alternative. Get a second-hand mac mini and attach an external hdd. Then share the hdd on the network and use it from timemachine.Now you also have a normal web server with apache and php, install your favorite db and you're done. Or you can create a hackintosh from an old laptop. Though this is potentially quite unstable.
- jonhendry 15y ago
  And that way you could use a RAID configuration of your choice, rather than being limited to what Apple provides in Time Capsules, which I don't think are even RAID.
  - wmf 15y ago
    Getting a little off the topic, I find it interesting that so many people RAID their backups but not their primary storage.
    - catch23 15y ago
      most people's primary storage is the laptop hard drive. doubt it is useful to have raid on 1 drive.
pilif 15y ago
While I appreciate the fun of getting this to work, overall, I really wonder whether saving $300 for a Time Capsule is worth it if it means that your backup solution is now relying on you typing a command like defaults write com.apple.systempreferences TMShowUnsupportedNetworkVolumes 1 The "unsupported" would give me pause when setting up a solution I will need to be there when the worst happens. There must be a reason for this preference to be there. Granted, it could just be Apple wanting to sell their products and thus doing some public key magic for it to work without the switch. Or it could be that TM relies on some very rarely used feature in AFP which is not or at least not perfectly implemented in netatalk. Are you willing to bet your backup on this flag being needed for the former reason and not the latter?
- g_lined 15y ago
  You're quite write that it should give you pause! I have, however, used this flag for 2 years now and it does work very well and have had no problems at all and that's over 2 versions of OS X. My computer is an iMac and my server is an ubuntu server with a separate 2TB HDD in it for Timemachine. Edited for spelling
- lloeki 15y ago
  > Or it could be that TM relies on some very rarely used feature in AFP which is not or at least not perfectly implemented in netatalk. There was a Time Capsule firmware + OS X update duo that fixed reliability issues somewhere in the Snow Leopard timeline. IIRC it added a bunch of "damage control/prevention" methods to AFP and HFS+ (backups being stored in a remotely accessed sparsebundle), aiming to bulletproof against flaky network situations and interruptions like sleep. Hopefully OS X appears to degrade nicely in absence of those features, although you might not get all the safety net features. I built an Debian armel netatalk package myself for fun about one year ago. It took "quite a while" to compile on my NSLU2, but AFP shares ended up working like a charm.
- latchkey 15y ago
  Apple put that in there so that they could sell more TC's. They also seem to make backwards incompatibile changes to the protocol for every OS release. That said, the netatalk (and other vendors such as Drobo) have been pretty good at staying on top of the changes. You can safely ignore this as an issue.
drewr 15y ago
Another data point. If you already have a regular Airport Extreme, you can plug a drive into the USB port, share it, and set it as your Time Machine target. I didn't see the need to spend the extra money for the Time Capsule.
0x0 15y ago
I had this running (except with netatalk 2.2.x I don't think all that "unsupported" prefs setting and xml hacking was necessary), anyway after a month or so Mac OS started complaining that the backup couldn't be "verified" or somesuch, and then proceeded to re-do the whole backup. As this started happening every couple of days I gave up and switched to running rdiff-backup manually across ssh instead. Makes browsing the backup repository much easier too, especially if I only need something from the last run.
- mkhpalm 15y ago
  I think you're right about netatalk 2.2 avahi stuff.
latchkey 15y ago
I use Backblaze (http://goo.gl/LKYIq http://goo.gl/LKYIq) in case my house burns down and I do TM backups to a DroboShare FS in case I need the data immediately. The TM backups are also full backups so that if I need to just restore a whole machine I have that option too. I also have PreyProject installed in case someone steals my laptop. Having lost data in the past, I can only say that setting up some sort of backup/recovery system is very important. Hard disks and SSD's are like life, they have a 100% guaranteed failure rate. =)
fpgeek 15y ago
I found the title a bit unclear. The first time I read it, it sounded like Apple was using Debian Squeeze as part of Time Machine somehow, rather than someone interfacing to Time Machine using squeeze. Both stories would have been interesting, I just wanted to know which one to expect.

52 points by danielwozniak 15y ago

Build your own time machine using open-source software.

Plug a 1T LaCie all terrain HD into the FW 800 port. Works a lot faster than the wireless and it's easy to back up the backup (portably)

aeontech 15y ago

is there a mirror?

danielwozniak 15y ago
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:S1ltAY9SAgsJ:www.mikepalmer.net/archives/208+&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:S1ltAY9...

jws 15y ago

Can't see site, but it all "just works" if you can go to wheezy on your debian machine.

g0atbutt 15y ago

It appears to be down. Here's the Google Cache http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:a7H_n-eKm-4J:www.mikepalmer.net/build-a-netatalk-timemachine-for-osx-lion-using-debian-6-0-squeeze/+mikepalmer+Time+Machine+for+OSX+Lion+10.7+using+Debian+6.0+Squeez&hl=en&client=safari&gl=us&strip=1 http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:a7H_n-e...

Thrymr 15y ago

An older page on doing this with a lot more detail: http://www.kremalicious.com/2008/06/ubuntu-as-mac-file-server-and-time-machine-volume/ http://www.kremalicious.com/2008/06/ubuntu-as-mac-file-serve... Not all of it is necessary anymore with Lion (and maybe with more recent Debian/Ubuntu, I'm not sure), but it is a nice overview of the pieces.

smackfu 15y ago

To be honest, I'd probably just get a refurb 2 GB Time Capsule for $260, considering the bare drive would run you $160.

latchkey 15y ago

One addition, use my little automator action (Create Backup Volume) [1] to generate the sparsebundle for each machine you are backing up. It sets up the sparsebundle with better arguments, namely a larger sparse-band-size=131072 which greatly improves the speed of the backups since it is fewer files being opened in the sparsebundle. Don't worry about the size you give the bundle since newer versions of osx will just resize the bundle to the size of the shared volume in netatalk (something which was neglected in the blog authors post). [1] http://code.google.com/p/backmyfruitup/downloads/list http://code.google.com/p/backmyfruitup/downloads/list

hmottestad 15y ago

Here is another alternative. Get a second-hand mac mini and attach an external hdd. Then share the hdd on the network and use it from timemachine.Now you also have a normal web server with apache and php, install your favorite db and you're done. Or you can create a hackintosh from an old laptop. Though this is potentially quite unstable.

jonhendry 15y ago
And that way you could use a RAID configuration of your choice, rather than being limited to what Apple provides in Time Capsules, which I don't think are even RAID.
- wmf 15y ago
  Getting a little off the topic, I find it interesting that so many people RAID their backups but not their primary storage.
  - catch23 15y ago
    most people's primary storage is the laptop hard drive. doubt it is useful to have raid on 1 drive.

pilif 15y ago

While I appreciate the fun of getting this to work, overall, I really wonder whether saving $300 for a Time Capsule is worth it if it means that your backup solution is now relying on you typing a command like defaults write com.apple.systempreferences TMShowUnsupportedNetworkVolumes 1 The "unsupported" would give me pause when setting up a solution I will need to be there when the worst happens. There must be a reason for this preference to be there. Granted, it could just be Apple wanting to sell their products and thus doing some public key magic for it to work without the switch. Or it could be that TM relies on some very rarely used feature in AFP which is not or at least not perfectly implemented in netatalk. Are you willing to bet your backup on this flag being needed for the former reason and not the latter?

g_lined 15y ago
You're quite write that it should give you pause! I have, however, used this flag for 2 years now and it does work very well and have had no problems at all and that's over 2 versions of OS X. My computer is an iMac and my server is an ubuntu server with a separate 2TB HDD in it for Timemachine. Edited for spelling
lloeki 15y ago
> Or it could be that TM relies on some very rarely used feature in AFP which is not or at least not perfectly implemented in netatalk. There was a Time Capsule firmware + OS X update duo that fixed reliability issues somewhere in the Snow Leopard timeline. IIRC it added a bunch of "damage control/prevention" methods to AFP and HFS+ (backups being stored in a remotely accessed sparsebundle), aiming to bulletproof against flaky network situations and interruptions like sleep. Hopefully OS X appears to degrade nicely in absence of those features, although you might not get all the safety net features. I built an Debian armel netatalk package myself for fun about one year ago. It took "quite a while" to compile on my NSLU2, but AFP shares ended up working like a charm.
latchkey 15y ago
Apple put that in there so that they could sell more TC's. They also seem to make backwards incompatibile changes to the protocol for every OS release. That said, the netatalk (and other vendors such as Drobo) have been pretty good at staying on top of the changes. You can safely ignore this as an issue.

drewr 15y ago

Another data point. If you already have a regular Airport Extreme, you can plug a drive into the USB port, share it, and set it as your Time Machine target. I didn't see the need to spend the extra money for the Time Capsule.

0x0 15y ago

I had this running (except with netatalk 2.2.x I don't think all that "unsupported" prefs setting and xml hacking was necessary), anyway after a month or so Mac OS started complaining that the backup couldn't be "verified" or somesuch, and then proceeded to re-do the whole backup. As this started happening every couple of days I gave up and switched to running rdiff-backup manually across ssh instead. Makes browsing the backup repository much easier too, especially if I only need something from the last run.

mkhpalm 15y ago
I think you're right about netatalk 2.2 avahi stuff.

latchkey 15y ago

I use Backblaze (http://goo.gl/LKYIq http://goo.gl/LKYIq) in case my house burns down and I do TM backups to a DroboShare FS in case I need the data immediately. The TM backups are also full backups so that if I need to just restore a whole machine I have that option too. I also have PreyProject installed in case someone steals my laptop. Having lost data in the past, I can only say that setting up some sort of backup/recovery system is very important. Hard disks and SSD's are like life, they have a 100% guaranteed failure rate. =)

fpgeek 15y ago

I found the title a bit unclear. The first time I read it, it sounded like Apple was using Debian Squeeze as part of Time Machine somehow, rather than someone interfacing to Time Machine using squeeze. Both stories would have been interesting, I just wanted to know which one to expect.