I have a first gen Mac Pro (beautiful machine). I also have a 2017 iMac. Can I turn my first gen. Mac Pro into a time machine and use it with my 2017 iMac for backup?
The 1st gen. Mac Pro has 8T of HD space that I want to use. It runs beautifully, like the first day I bought it almost 20yrs ago.
Mac shared as a Time Machine backup destination
You specify a folder on the Server Mac Pro to be a shared folder, then still inside File Sharing Preferences, you use the hidden "trick" of holding the Control key while you click on That folder, and described in this article:
Backup disks you can use with Time Machine - Apple Support
... AND File Sharing MUST be enabled over SMB, not ONLY Apple File Protocol.
The format of the destination drive does not matter, because a sparse-bundle disk image will be created inside the shared folder.
Once the destination folder is set up on the Mac Pro, you tell Time machine on the iMac to use it as its destination.
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You can alternate your old locally-attached drive with the new Network backup on the Mac Pro until you are confident the new one is working to your satisfaction. Every-other backup automatically goes to every-other drive, and the new destination will be a new stand-alone backup starting with today's data.
when you use time machine APP (not to be confused with Time machine control panel) to look at back at what is available for restoring, you will see the composite from both backups combined into one unified presentation.
Mac shared as a Time Machine backup destination
You specify a folder on the Server Mac Pro to be a shared folder, then still inside File Sharing Preferences, you use the hidden "trick" of holding the Control key while you click on That folder, and described in this article:
Backup disks you can use with Time Machine - Apple Support
... AND File Sharing MUST be enabled over SMB, not ONLY Apple File Protocol.
The format of the destination drive does not matter, because a sparse-bundle disk image will be created inside the shared folder.
Once the destination folder is set up on the Mac Pro, you tell Time machine on the iMac to use it as its destination.
-------
You can alternate your old locally-attached drive with the new Network backup on the Mac Pro until you are confident the new one is working to your satisfaction. Every-other backup automatically goes to every-other drive, and the new destination will be a new stand-alone backup starting with today's data.
when you use time machine APP (not to be confused with Time machine control panel) to look at back at what is available for restoring, you will see the composite from both backups combined into one unified presentation.
This blog post suggests MacOS Server software was a requirement (for the destination Mac) up until MacOS High Sierra (non-server) where the feature was incorporated into base MacOS.
https://nandakusumadi.com/how-to-setup-shared-time-machine-drive/
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Until I can get back to Grant on how far back Apple support TM backups to network drives (your Mac Pro would be performing as such for this purpose), I don't know if this will be possible ... as you didn't mention which version of OS X that it is running. A 1st gen Mac Pro should be capable of running up to OS X 10.7.5 (Lion). My guess is that you would need the Lion "server" version for this.
Prior to OS X Lion, Mac OS Server was a standalone product. Starting with OS X Lion, Mac OS X Server have been offered as an add-on software package, sold through the Mac App Store, that are installed on top of a corresponding OS X installation. Each subsequent release of OS X/macOS has found the "server" function deprecated.
Tesserax wrote:
FWIW, I have an Early 2008 Mac Pro (MacPro3,1) that I upgraded to macOS High Sierra.
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if they could upgrade their Mac Pro to run High Sierra, so could you, but it might requires some third-party hobbyist "patcher" software to do so. Then it could be used a Time Machine repository shared with all the Macs on your network.
When we try to provide direct links to hobbyist hacks, the Hosts consider it "dangerous or destructive", and the post gets removed.
FWIW, I have an Early 2008 Mac Pro (MacPro3,1) that I upgraded to macOS High Sierra. It has no issues running TM backups to either an internal drive or the 5th gen TC. Again, unfortunately, I do not have the exact equipment that you do to confirm your findings with TM backups. I don't think it would have any issues backing up to any version of the TC ... so, I'm not sure why yours is not working ... other than:
Also, since it can run High Sierra, I also have the option to enable File Sharing's TM feature to allow other Macs on my local network to backup to it.
Grant. I confirmed that this option first appeared in macOS High Sierra. It does not appear in the OS X Lion-thru-macOS Sierra versions.
some other articles on this subject:
https://www.howtogeek.com/330288/how-to-set-up-your-mac-to-act-as-a-networked-time-machine-drive/
What is not clear to me is what version of macOS is required on each end as a minimum to support this feature.
Readers: If anyone has insights on that question, or has encountered a version that does NOT work, please comment.
I will look through all this info. Back in 2005 I was considering turning the Mac Pro into a server, but the program to do so was too much money.
I will look through what you posted and maybe I can figure out what to do next.
I was able to get the Mac OS that cam about between 2010 and 2016. After that I was not able to get the new OS.
Hey Grant. A quick check with my 2010 MacBook Pro, running macOS High Sierra, does have this option for TM backups. As soon as I get a chance, I will run Parallels on my other Mac where I have VMs going back to OS X Lion to see how far back this option was made available.
AFAIK, TM should work with any version of the Time Capsule. Depending on how old the one you have maybe more of an issue with the Time Capsule (TC) itself. There has been five generations of the TC.
They are:
Only the 5th gen model is still supported by Apple. All others are considered "obsolete," as far as, by Apple Support. Most consumer-grade networking hardware have a typical lifespan of 3-5 years.
As far as I know, the program that came out to make my Mac Pro a server cost too much money. I believe at the time you could also pickup the server program at the Apple store (can’t remember to well, but I think it was shown to me by an Apple sales associate on the shelf in a box. Can’t truly remember) I do remember you could download it as well, but I believe the download came later, can’t remember along time ago.
As far as the OS goes, I think your right on that. My Mac Pro was capable to download and install the last 2 OS after the OS Lion.
Okay, I remember now, I was able to download and install Mac OS El Capitan. Cause I remember in 2018 when I purchased a New iMac (made in 2017) because I could no longer upgrade the new OS and download Flash to get onto websites that used the latest Flash at that time.
The App Store would not permit me to download and install Sierra.
You must not have a 1st gen Mac Pro then. Regardless, even with El Capitan, the TM option (that Grant has mentioned), will not be available. Only, potentially, with the El Capitan server upgrade. Even then, since I don't have a means to verify that, there is no guarantee that this will work either. Sorry!
I have Mac Pro 1,1 from 2005. I was able to use Time machine on it. After I downloaded and installed El Capitan, I could no longer use my time capsule.
trust me, I know, cause I did do all this.
Time machine did work on my Mac Pro.
I ran into problems with the HD one time and I had everything backed up on Time Machine. I was able to recover ever.
when I downloaded and installed El Capitan, Time capsule was no longer recognized. So I partitioned my other HD drives to work with Time Machine.
Trust me I did this.
Well, I quickly used it after I downloaded and installed the new OS at that time. I am able to fix it which won't be a problem. I did not really look into the issue with the Time Capsule. I will have to setup everything and look to see what happened. I can always wipe it clean and start fresh. I did not do that at that time. But considering that the last time I used it between 2010-2015. Which means I don't need those files any more.
One last question, can I use that time capsule on my iMac? Its a 2017 and it is up to date on the OS and everything.
I have a first gen Mac Pro (beautiful machine). I also have a 2017 iMac. Can I turn my first gen. Mac Pro Time Machine.
