Selfhost Mac backup
reddit / selfhosted

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linuxmel · 2023-10-22 21:23

Is there anything I can selfhost that would allow me to backup my Mac-
Air via time machine? I would be using a vps to host the backup.
Thanks!

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AffairesDePiasses · 2023-10-22 21:46

Why not just use rsync? With my experience, I'd rather go with that
than any solution based on time machine, especially over Wan, as it is
quite unreliable if the connection isn't perfect.

Otherwise, as long as you can mount the share as smb, you should be
able to use it for time machine, so anything like freenas, truenas,
unraid, open media vault should do the trick.

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linuxmel · 2023-10-22 21:58

Thanks for the fantastic options I never thought about. I just don't
trust the USB external drive. I've had nothing but bad luck with it.
Thanks again!

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vivekkhera · 2023-10-22 22:22

FreeNAS can do it (either via AFS or SMB). Or you can just set up a
Samba server with the right magic incantations and use that network
share to do Time Machine.  I use FreeNAS since I already have it on my
network. I gave each Mac its own ZFS volume so I can limit the size
independently.

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LavaCreeperBOSSB · 2023-10-22 22:55

You can setup SMB and enable the Time Machine option

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linuxmel · 2023-10-22 23:01

Thanks!

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LavaCreeperBOSSB · 2023-10-22 23:04

No problem I think they actually have an example

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matt827474 · 2023-10-23 00:43

I use TrueNAS with a SMB share that also has Cloud Sync to Backblaze
B2 for offsite backup.

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adamshand · 2023-10-23 01:55

Rsync is great, but unless you are using a system on top of rsync (eg.
rsync-backup) it only gives you a single copy which isn't the best
option for backups.

For example, you accidentally change a file but by the time you notice
the version you want has been overwritten.

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PirateParley · 2023-10-23 04:53

syncthing?

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Niazt · 2023-10-23 06:30

Borgbackup

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esvaf · 2023-10-23 08:24

I use for it docker container odarriba/timemachine image. It works
fine for me.
my compose section example:
timemachine:
    image: odarriba/timemachine
    restart: unless-stopped
    container_name: timemachine
    ports:
      - 192.168.7.18:548:548
      - 192.168.7.18:636:636
    environment:
      AFP_LOGIN: "mytimemachine"
      AFP_PASSWORD: "blablabla"
      AFP_NAME: "super-drive"
      AFP_SIZE_LIMIT: "700000"
      PUID: "170"
      PGID: "170"
    volumes:
      - /mnt/hdd/timemachine:/timemachine

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ezkrg · 2023-10-23 13:48

netatalk, which is an open-source implementation of afp. it has better
performance with time machine than smb.

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linuxmel · 2023-10-23 16:28

is it hard to get setup and running?

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esvaf · 2023-10-24 10:47

Docker that i mentioned above use it :)

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linuxmel · 2023-10-24 16:20

Why would you want to create backup on the same machine? I'm assuming
it's not possible to have docker time machine on a remote vps server,
there is no way for the Mac you want to backup can see the remote
service. I guess you need another Mac or something else on the same
local network. Just doesn't make sense.

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linuxmel · 2023-10-24 22:31

Nevermind I figured it out 😁

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esvaf · 2023-10-24 22:33

I run it on home server with tens of other services

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ezkrg · 2023-10-27 09:51

It can be running with docker as mentioned above. I think you can use
with vpn between your Mac and vps server, I do not recommend to run it
on public access.