Moving Aperture library to external HDD and then replacing HDD in iMac

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Moving Aperture library to external HDD and then replacing HDD in iMac

I currently have a 2010 iMac with 1TB HDD and my Aperture library is sitting on this hard drive.

I intend to replace the internal HDD with a 256GB SSD and have my Aperture library and iTunes libraries on an external USB 2TB HDD.

I can find support articles on moving to an external drive, and also moving to a new Mac, but nothing on telling what is effectively a brand new Mac on how to talk to an Aperture library stored externally.

Do I just copy the entire library file to the new external HDD, install the new SSD internally and then install Aperture and tell it to point to the library? Or is there something else I need to do to ensure all meta data and edits remain.

Thanks

iMac (27-inch Late 2009), OS X Yosemite (10.10.2)

Posted on Mar 4, 2015 5:14 PM

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Answer 1

GeoCo

Level 1

130 points

Mar 4, 2015 6:38 PM in response to mjsommo

The edits and the metadata are all in the library not in the application so basically once you have the SSD installed and Yosemite running on it and your home folder restored, install Aperture from the Mac App Store. Once that is all working connect the external drive with the library on it, locate the library with Finder and double click it. This will start Aperture on that library and mark it as the default library.

A suggestion concerning the install of the SSD. It is usually easier and less prone to errors to attach the SSD to the iMac using a dock and get the SSD setup before installing it in the system. You can test it all out once it is genned by booting off it. This will also make it easier to copy over your home folder to the SSD. You should be able to find a suitable dock for $30 or so and the cost is well worth it, it really will make your life easier.

good luck

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Answer 2

léonie

Level 10

194,755 points

Mar 4, 2015 7:56 PM in response to mjsommo

I can find support articles on moving to an external drive, and also moving to a new Mac, but nothing on telling what is effectively a brand new Mac on how to talk to an Aperture library stored externally.

Your Aperture library contains all edits . If you move it to a different drive, double click it to open it in Aperture.

Just make sure, that the external drive has the correct file system - MavOS Extended (Journaled), before you move the library there.
When copying between different Macs, enable the "Ignore ownership on this volume" flag to prevent permission issues.
Make sure, that no referenced images will be left behind. Consolidate all referenced images into your Aperture library, before you move it to the external. I'd do the same with your iTunes library, btw.

How are you backing up your Mac? Before replacing the internal drive, I'd make more than one backup. At least a bootable clone in addition to your time Machine backups. The advantage of a bootable clone would be, that you can test it if it is working before taking out the drive.

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Answer 3

Mar 4, 2015 9:02 PM in response to mjsommo

... and also 🙂 : repair the Library after backing it up, confirm that the repaired Library works as expected, back up the repaired Library, and then move it to what will be your external drive.

Moving the Library is simple and should cause you no trouble. Good luck.

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