deploying Time Machine exclusions
I have a 10.6 Server with 20TB of storage.
I also have 100 iMacs (running 10.6) that use Time Machine to backup to my server.
I modified each iMac with the following:
-- set the backup interval to once a day
-- exclude most folders that are redundant (system for example) or not work-related (music for example)
This all worked very well... until we updated to 10.8!
Now each iMac backs up every hour and every file!!
The server (and network) are having problems keeping up!!!
1) How can I change the interval from hourly to daily?
I used to use Apple Remote Desktop to push:
defaults write /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.backupd-auto Start Interval -int 86400
Since that doesn't work anymore, I have been using Time Machine Editor.
It works ok, but I would prefer to keep Time Machine ON...
2) What file can be distributed to all iMacs so that I can enforce a backup policy?
I used to use Apple Remote Desktop to push a custom StdExclusions.plist file (see below) to:
/System/Library/CoreServices/backupd.bundle/Contents/Resources/
But now machines are only respecting the UserPathExcluded section.
My other modifications (to exclude Applications, System, and Library) are ignored and backed up.
What file should I modify to add all my default exclusions?
Thank you,
Brian 🙂
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<!-- paths we do not want to include in a system backup -->
<key>PathsExcluded</key>
<array>
<string>/.Spotlight-V100</string>
<string>/.Trashes</string>
<string>/.fseventsd</string>
<string>/.hotfiles.btree</string>
<string>/Backups.backupdb</string>
<string>/Desktop DB</string>
<string>/Desktop DF</string>
<string>/Network/Servers</string>
<string>/Previous Systems</string>
<string>/Users/Shared/SC Info</string>
<string>/Users/Guest</string>
<string>/dev</string>
<string>/home</string>
<string>/net</string>
<string>/private</string>
<string>/private/var/db/Spotlight</string> <!-- old tiger location of the Spotlight db -->
<string>/private/var/db/Spotlight-V100</string> <!-- old tiger location of the Spotlight db -->
<string>/Applications</string>
<string>/Developer</string>
<string>/Library</string>
<string>/System</string>
<string>/bin</string>
<string>/dev</string>
<string>/home</string>
<string>/net</string>
<string>/opt</string>
<string>/sbin</string>
<string>/usr</string>
</array>
<!-- paths where we need to capture top level folder to restore disk structure, but don't want to backup any contents -->
<key>ContentsExcluded</key>
<array>
<string>/Volumes</string>
<string>/Network</string>
<string>/automount</string>
<string>/.vol</string>
<string>/tmp</string>
<string>/cores</string>
</array>
<!-- paths where we need to capture entire subtree folder layout to restore disk structure, but don't want to backup contained files -->
<key>FileContentsExcluded</key>
<array>
<string>/private/var/log</string>
<string>/private/var/spool/cups</string>
<string>/private/var/spool/fax</string>
<string>/private/var/spool/uucp</string>
</array>
<!-- standard user paths we want to skip for each user (subpath relative to root of home directory) -->
<key>UserPathsExcluded</key>
<array>
<string>.Trash</string>
<string>Documents/Parallels</string>
<string>Documents/Virtual Machines</string>
<string>VirtualBox VMs</string>
<string>Downloads</string>
<string>Library/Application Support/SyncServices/data.version</string>
<string>Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion</string>
<string>Library/Caches</string>
<string>Library/Logs</string>
<string>Library/Mail/Envelope Index</string>
<string>Library/Mail/AvailableFeeds</string>
<string>Library/Mirrors</string>
<string>Library/PubSub/Database</string>
<string>Library/PubSub/Downloads</string>
<string>Library/PubSub/Feeds</string>
<string>Library/Safari/Icons.db</string>
<string>Library/Safari/WebpageIcons.db</string>
<string>Library/Safari/HistoryIndex.sk</string>
<string>Movies</string>
<string>Music</string>
<string>Pictures</string>
<string>Sites</string>
</array>
</dict>
</plist>