How to use your NAS with Time Machine

[sodium]

mostly true...

for some people it's not possible to upgrade the NAS and for other people it's nice to know how this problem is solved behind the gui

[moller05]

Hi

I have upgraded and activated Time Machine on my TS-119 but it doesn't appear when I search for units in the Time Machine program on my Mac. Can anybody help?

Thomas

[schumaku]

As stated in the Wiki:

1. Open the Terminal application (⌘+space to open Spotlight (or click op the magnifying glass in the upper right corner) and type Terminal) For those new to this funny blinking cursor do not be afraid You'll see something like this:

Last login: Thu Apr 23 15:34:14 on ttys001 eight:~ $
...
6. Enable non-TimeCapsule disks for TimeMachine.

Code: Select all

$ defaults write com.apple.systempreferences TMShowUnsupportedNetworkVolumes 1

Run this command on your Mac terminal application - and your NAS will show up in the list.

-Kurt.

[Nesferatu]

I've a similar problem with Time Machine...
I've a T210 running 3.3.0 sporting 2x 500g drives in a RAID1 configuration.
From a MAC perspective, I've a MacBook Pro running OSX 10.6.4
Network wise, I'm running on a 1G Airport Extreme - hardwired into the qnap, wifi on the MBP.

I've also applied the "defaults write com.apple.systempreferences TMShowUnsupportedNetworkVolumes 1" system key to allow non TC disk for TM.

I've followed the TM setup wiki to little or no avail...
TM is enabled on the T210, and after a little bother I worked out the password needed to be secure (I started with a 5-letter password, and ended up with an 8 character mix before the qnap let me use it without closing its web services).
I can connect to my nas' TM share using AFP as AFP://192.168.0.5/TMBackup - logging in as the TimeMachine user. When connected I can read/write to this this folder (but it appears to close off any other sessions I have against the qnap)

When I try to fire open TM on the MAC to run the initial config, it sees the disk no problem. As soon as I click on the disk it changes to a red circle with a line through it with the words "NONE", refusing to allow me to go any further.
Equally as I've enabled the bonjour services on the qnap, the MAC spots the TM share and tries to automount it. However, this fails and will not allow me to specify another user to login with.

I'm getting real frustrated with this so would appreciate any ideas please.

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: Was running 3.2.7 NOT 3.3.0. Updated, rebooted and working fine.

EDIT 2: AFP is the key here. If you're not running it, you will get some strange responses from TM - which can result in a corrupt TM drive.

[moller05]

I found it by adding the afp. Don't know why it wasn't added.

[lbert]

Let me add my voice to the chorus of those experiencing challenges using Time Machine with their NAS.

I purchased a TS-110 primarily to use with Time Machine, however I seem to be having a lot of problems getting it to work.

Here's what I have tried:
Firmware: 3.3.1 (Build 0720)
3.2.6 (Build 0427)

Re-applying the Time Machine Support settings.
Disabling and then re-enabling Time Machine Support.
Restarting the server.
I have applied the suggested setting:
$ defaults write com.apple.systempreferences TMShowUnsupportedNetworkVolumes 1

(In various combinations and permutations)

I am able to connect to the server in the Finder (MacBook Pro, 10.5.8 ).
The only thing that consistently shows up in the "Shared" area of the Finder is the server.
With version 3.2.6 of the firmware (which I tried because some in the forums had reported success with it) I have never been able to even see the TMBackup share in either the Finder or Time Machine on the MBP.
With version 3.3.1 of the firmware, the TMBackup share (very) occasionally shows up in the Shared area of the Finder.
Even when I can see the TMBackup share in the Finder, Time Machine is unable to connect and the back-up fails.
Once, the SAMBA service showed up in the Shared area of the Finder.

Other oddities (perhaps): The only trace of the TMBackup share I can see when the Time Machine Support is under the "Available shares" under Backup/External Drive. I cannot see the TMBackup share when I am connect to the server from the MBP or in the "Web File Manager".

In the NAS Admin page on the "Manage Backup" tab of the Time Machine page, I cannot see the TMBackup either. Is this because I have not been able to have Time Machine back-up to the NAS yet so the share has yet to be created?

Any insight into how to get Time Machine working would be much appreciated.
If not, I may be forced to return the NAS and disk as it is basically useless to me right now.

Thanks in advance for any help!

L

[zwaffel]

I want to enable time machine. I can select my Raid5 volume of 4 disks in my TS439 PRO and a capacity say like 1TB. Will this be safe, I have a lot of data already on the NAS, that will be still there if I enable the option right?

[zwaffel]

can someone confirm i can enable time machine without losing the other data?

[Nesferatu]

If setting up TM on the TS439 is anything like the TS110, it should ask you to create a specific TM volume when you enable it. This volume will be segregated from the rest of your data and is effectively quota'd to the max size that you specify.
I'm running 2x500G SATA drives in RAID1 configuration on mine, and have allocated 200Gb for TM which is more than ample. I'm still service AFP, NFS and CIFS filesystems without any issues. Can't comment about iSCSI as I'm too lazy to set it up (and I only run my QNAP for a maximum of 6 hours a day, so the 'puter would go nuts if I switched it on while the NAS was off)

[lbert]

If setting up TM on the TS439 is anything like the TS110, it should ask you to create a specific TM volume when you enable it. This volume will be segregated from the rest of your data and is effectively quota'd to the max size that you specify.

Nesferatu,

thanks for the response. On the Time Machine Support tab it does ask to specify a password, to select a volume (of which I only have one in the TS110), and specify a capacity.

The wording on the tab implies that this will create a new share that will be used by all Time Machine users, however, as mentioned earlier I see no trace of this new share.

That said, I think I'm abandoning the idea of using Time Machine anyway because I really don't want to be backing up on an hourly basis.
I think my preferred solution now (not 100% decided yet) is to implement something based on rsync most probably using backuplist+ as a front end....
That should allow me to relatively simply set up rotating daily and weekly backups which should be more than sufficient for my needs.

L

[Nesferatu]

Just do what I've done, and changed the backup schedule from hourly to daily.
It's relatively easy to do this...
Open up a terminal and use sudo to vi the /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.backupd-auto.plist file (I'd recommend you take a backup first - just in case!).
Look for the following string:
<key>StartInterval</key>
<integer>3600</integer>

The integer value above is the delay time in seconds that TM will perform a backup. I've changed this to 86400 (or 24 hours) to get a daily backup. I seem to recall it required a reboot to apply, but no doubt there's other ways of applying this (it's the easiest way imo).

Works a treat for me, and only tries to backup to TM once a day (if your TM vault is unavailable, it will retry later).

[com5984]

Thanks heaps man

[xavierh]

There is no need to do all of these things, just upgrade the NAS to the latest firmware and everything will be done automatically. QNAP has made a lot of improvements in the latest firmware update and more people are able to use Time Machine w/o problems.

i do agree with this statement. i have a an IMAC and so far the Time Machine service works flawlessly with my NAS.

[ast_ph]

I'm also having trouble using Time Machine with my 559 pro and MBP, it seems like it always times out.

[jmeggers]

For anyone who wants to change the backup interval of TM but isn't comfortable with manually editing files, there's a free app, TimeMachine Editor to do that for you. http://timesoftware.free.fr/timemachineeditor/

John M.
Ashburn, VA