Time Machine back up
Anyone doing a self hosted (MacOS) Time Machine backup server?
macos - Need to set up Time Machine for 2 MBP to a Windows server - need help - Ask Different
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Hi all, does anyone currently use Time Machine but instead of an external drive use a network share and if so, how have you set it up?
In the past this was done with netatalk but I think Apple switched to CIFS so I am not sure what to do right now. Can anyone recommend a good setup tutorial?
This is from an Apple Support article:
If your network server or NAS device supports Time Machine Bonjour notifications, you can set up Time Machine backups even if you are not connected to the server. If your server does not support Time Machine Bonjour notifications, you may still be able to set it up as a Time Machine destination by connecting to the server using SMB and then selecting the mounted network disk. After you set up the network disk in Time Machine settings, Time Machine automatically reconnects when it’s time to back up or restore your data. If your backup disk is on a network, the network server can use SMB file sharing. (Your Mac must be connected to the SMB server when you set up Time Machine.) After you select the network disk in Time Machine settings, Time Machine automatically connects to the disk when it’s time to back up or restore your data.
https://support.apple.com/en-mn/guide/mac-help/mh15139/mac#:~:text=If%20your%20backup%20disk%20is,up%20or%20restore%20your%20data.
Windows does not advertise shares over Bonjour, so they won't automatically appear in the list of possible backup destinations in Time Machine settings. If, after manually mounting the share in the Finder, it still doesn't appear, try the steps in this article:
https://www.imore.com/how-use-time-machine-backup-your-mac-windows-shared-folder
So you’ve already created an SMB file share from what I can tell. The missing piece is using your Mac to create a sparsebundle disk image using Disk Utility and placing it on your SMB share. Once you mount that you should be able to select it as your backup destination.
I followed the directions here to get it working - https://www.imore.com/how-use-time-machine-backup-your-mac-windows-shared-folder