{"id":36794,"date":"2022-08-17T15:48:36","date_gmt":"2022-08-17T19:48:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=36794"},"modified":"2022-08-17T15:48:44","modified_gmt":"2022-08-17T19:48:44","slug":"nightly-time-machine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2022\/08\/17\/nightly-time-machine\/","title":{"rendered":"Nightly Time Machine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jack Wellborn<\/a> (tweet<\/a>):<\/p>\n

Nightly Time Machine is a collection of bash scripts that limits macOS’s Time Machine to once per night by only mounting Time Machine disks just before backing up and then unmounting them when Time Machine is finished. Preventing Time Machine disks from automatically mounting when connected also ensures they can be safely disconnected throughout the day.<\/p>

[…]<\/p>

At its best, Time Machine is “set it and forget it” in that you should never really have to think about it until a backup is needed or a backup disk needs to be replaced. Time Machine by itself is only at its best on desktops. On laptops, where external drives are frequently disconnected, Time Machine becomes a hassle at best and a risk to data at worst. With Nightly Time Machine<\/em>, Time Machine is “set it and forget it” on laptops.<\/p><\/blockquote>

Earlier this year, I tried solving these problems using network Time Machine, but I gave up with that for my main Mac. I noticed that the Time Machine volume was mounted all off the time, and there was constant network traffic, seemingly because Spotlight was never able to catch up.<\/p>\n\n

For my laptop that mostly acts as a desktop, I actually want the opposite functionality. Frequent backups during the day are good, but I want it to be quiet at night.<\/p>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n