*Update* I have written a script to automate the process
*Update* I recommend considering ways to avoid wasting space with your backups
This is an update on my earlier post after finding another article: http://forum.wegotserved.com/index.php/topic/18462-getting-mac-backups-to-work/
1. Configure a share on the server ensuring you have credentials for a user with read+write permission
2. Make a note of your ethernet mac address (found in network utility). Regardless of the interface you will be using for the backup this must be your ethernet mac address!
and your computer name (found in sharing)
3. From the terminal execute the following command:
defaults write com.apple.systempreferences TMShowUnsupportedNetworkVolumes 1
4. From Disk Utility click new image (select custom size and enter your hard disk size in GB, replace YYY with your computer name (from above) and ZZZ with your mac address (from above, dropping the separator- e.g. C82A140BCAF2), format = mac os extended (journaled), encryption = none, partitions = single partition – apple partition map, image format = sparse bundle disk image):
5. Mount your samba share from finder (Connect To Server from the Go menu)
6. Copy the .sparsebundle file you just created from the desktop to your samba share
7. Launch Time Machine, click Select Disk and choose the samba share. The backup should start in 120s!
There is talk of a company called Orbital Technologies creating an add-in to do this automatically http://www.wegotserved.com/2011/02/21/windows-home-server-2011-support-time-machine-backups-addin/
Paul also mentioned in a comment on his article that someone is in the process of writing a script to automate the process- I’ve asked about said script and depending on the response may decide to write a script of my own.
L
Great guide. After trying a few different methods yours worked. If I could make a couple suggestions.
When following the instructions I made a mistake on the MAC address based on an article I read. I thought you were supposed to use the mac address of the interface used for the backup. Since I did mine wirelessly I tried using my AirPort MAC. For clarity I would suggestion mentioning users should use the en0 interface regardless of which interface is doing the connection.
The other thing is formatting. Another thing that had me running in circles is the MAC address formatting in the name. I included the dashes just as it appeared on my system. It wasn’t until I ran your script in Automator that I realized it pulled the MAC address without the delimiters.
With those two issues it took me almost an hour and half to figure it out but in the end it worked. I spent far more time on other methods that did not.
Thanks again for the guide.
Thanks Chris- any reason you didn’t run the script first?
I will edit the post and emphasize the poing regarding the mac address :)
L
Because I found this article first. It wasn’t until I started going through other Google results that I found the script.
It didn’t work for me but it did help me to understand what I did wrong manually. The Automator is really cool. I didn’t even know it existed.