Hen3ry

Q: yosemite backup to external disk permissions issues

Besides using TimeMachine, always, as an extra precaution, I make a quarterly backup of my Mac HD on an external USB drive,  which I store off-site.

 

I've been doing this for quite a few years, and it seems it has been getting harder over time, due to permissions problems.

 

Procedure: I set Energy Saver to "Never Sleep" and I drag a bunch of top-level folders over to an recently-erased, mounted, USB drive on the desktop.  The Finder copy totes up the number of files, and estimates the time to completion -- typically on the order of 5 hours.   Once I see this, I walk away -- or go to bed.

 

More and more frequently I come back to find some error has aborted the copy.  A single file is cited:  I don't have permission to copy that file. 

 

My questions:

 

1.  Is there any way fix the problem and continue the copy, or --to be assured that I have a full backup-- must I then re-erase the target drive and run the entire copy again?

 

2.  In the few cases I can recall, checking File Info I seem to have read access to the cited file.   Why is that not sufficient to make a copy?

 

3. Is there a way to preview the copy so I can find out about the eventual permissions problems and fix them before I start a multi-hour process?

 

4.  Is there an alternative to using a Finder copy that is more robust, or at least more resistant to permissions issues?   How about running a shell script as superuser, using sudo and ditto, maybe?  

 

5.  Any other issues I should be aware of?  Special considerations regarding some standard folders, e.g. Applications?   I assume I need not backup  the Library or  System folders, correct?

 

TIA

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

Posted on Aug 9, 2015 1:06 PM

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Q: yosemite backup to external disk permissions issues

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  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Aug 9, 2015 1:09 PM in response to Hen3ry
    Level 10 (271,708 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 9, 2015 1:09 PM in response to Hen3ry

    You should be using a backup utility for this backup, not Drop and Drag. It's the latter that causes the permissions problems to arise.

     

    Suggested Backup Software

     

      1. Carbon Copy Cloner

      2. Get Backup

      3. Deja Vu

      4. SuperDuper!

      5. Synk Pro

      6. Tri-Backup

     

    Others may be found at MacUpdate.

     

    Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on backup and restore.  Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files.

  • by Hen3ry,

    Hen3ry Hen3ry Aug 9, 2015 2:10 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 2 (499 points)
    Aug 9, 2015 2:10 PM in response to Kappy

    Thanks for your fast response.

     

    My question should have included this requirement:

     

    Is there any native way of accomplishing this task?

     

    That is, without downloading 3rd party software, free or $.   Each new item I add to my Mac adds an increment of overhead:   There's a learning curve to using it.   The s/w may not work correctly, in which case I have to deal with a completely new tech support path.  I have to make sure that I keep the utility updated -- yeah, most 3rd parties these days provide automatic updates, but that isn't guaranteed.  There is a --probably, very slight-- possibility of a security breach, too.

     

    Let's say the worst happens:  my primary Mac and its external drive maintained by TimeMachine are both destroyed.   It won't be fun but I should be able to take my Finder-copied backup out of off-site storage, plug it into any modern Mac, and start recovering from this disaster.  No need to recall what third part utility I used to create that backup.  It won't be fun to recover, of course, but by staying native, I'm at least a bit better off.

     

    Drop and Drag triggers permissions problems...  could you provide more detail? 

     

    Thanks!

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Aug 9, 2015 2:20 PM in response to Hen3ry
    Level 10 (271,708 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 9, 2015 2:20 PM in response to Hen3ry

    Create backups using Time Machine which is built-in to OS X.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Aug 9, 2015 6:37 PM in response to Hen3ry
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    Aug 9, 2015 6:37 PM in response to Hen3ry

    Start up from the Recovery partition, from Internet Recovery, or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) Launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in this support article, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.” The article refers to starting up from a DVD, but the procedure in Recovery mode is the same. You don't need a DVD if you're running OS X 10.7 or later.

    If you use FileVault 2, then you must first unlock the startup volume. Select its icon ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name.) It will be nested below another disk icon, usually with the same name. Click the Unlock button in the toolbar. Enter your login password when prompted.