Comments on: Changing Time Machine’s backup schedule http://www.markwheadon.com/blog/2009/03/changing-time-machine-backup-schedule/ Welcome to Mark Wheadon's blog; I hope you find it useful. Feel free to comment on anything you read here. Wed, 16 Jun 2010 15:29:35 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Allan http://www.markwheadon.com/blog/2009/03/changing-time-machine-backup-schedule/comment-page-1/#comment-1021 Allan Wed, 16 Jun 2010 15:29:35 +0000 http://www.markwheadon.com/blog/?p=485#comment-1021 I find that whenever Time Machine runs it consumes so much of my home network bandwidth that my Vonage calls start stuttering. I downloaded Time Machine Editor and set it for a once a day at 01h00 backup. I'll see if it works, and report back. I find that whenever Time Machine runs it consumes so much of my home network bandwidth that my Vonage calls start stuttering. I downloaded Time Machine Editor and set it for a once a day at 01h00 backup. I’ll see if it works, and report back.

]]> By: abre http://www.markwheadon.com/blog/2009/03/changing-time-machine-backup-schedule/comment-page-1/#comment-1014 abre Thu, 15 Apr 2010 11:58:05 +0000 http://www.markwheadon.com/blog/?p=485#comment-1014 Correction to Phototristan's comment... Lingon can still be downloaded from http://sourceforge.net/projects/lingon/files/ I'm just waiting to see if my next backup happens in 4 hours time Correction to Phototristan’s comment… Lingon can still be downloaded from http://sourceforge.net/projects/lingon/files/
I’m just waiting to see if my next backup happens in 4 hours time

]]> By: kupy http://www.markwheadon.com/blog/2009/03/changing-time-machine-backup-schedule/comment-page-1/#comment-1005 kupy Fri, 12 Feb 2010 07:26:20 +0000 http://www.markwheadon.com/blog/?p=485#comment-1005 Nevermind: Time Machine Editor can do it... Supposedly... We'll see... Nevermind: Time Machine Editor can do it… Supposedly… We’ll see…

]]> By: kupy http://www.markwheadon.com/blog/2009/03/changing-time-machine-backup-schedule/comment-page-1/#comment-1004 kupy Fri, 12 Feb 2010 07:25:16 +0000 http://www.markwheadon.com/blog/?p=485#comment-1004 This is cool but what if I want to schedule a specific time, say 1:00am for my Time Machine to backup? Can I run it off some cron job instead of its own scheduler? This is cool but what if I want to schedule a specific time, say 1:00am for my Time Machine to backup? Can I run it off some cron job instead of its own scheduler?

]]> By: Jerry Jones http://www.markwheadon.com/blog/2009/03/changing-time-machine-backup-schedule/comment-page-1/#comment-1003 Jerry Jones Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:52:49 +0000 http://www.markwheadon.com/blog/?p=485#comment-1003 Mark, Thanks for the command line instructions. I am completely ignorant of this guru type stuff, but never the less followed your instructions. But how do I know if it did anything (other than waiting and watching for five hours)? Thanks. Mark,
Thanks for the command line instructions. I am completely ignorant of this guru type stuff, but never the less followed your instructions. But how do I know if it did anything (other than waiting and watching for five hours)? Thanks.

]]> By: phototristan http://www.markwheadon.com/blog/2009/03/changing-time-machine-backup-schedule/comment-page-1/#comment-978 phototristan Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:06:53 +0000 http://www.markwheadon.com/blog/?p=485#comment-978 Lingon is now no longer available. Why is it so darn difficult to change the interval? Seems like Apple doesn't want people changing it. Lame. Lingon is now no longer available. Why is it so darn difficult to change the interval? Seems like Apple doesn’t want people changing it. Lame.

]]> By: Spade Aceman http://www.markwheadon.com/blog/2009/03/changing-time-machine-backup-schedule/comment-page-1/#comment-963 Spade Aceman Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:30:21 +0000 http://www.markwheadon.com/blog/?p=485#comment-963 I believe I have an understanding of why solutions such as Secrets prefPane don't appear to be working. The time interval for a Time Machine backup is declared in a launchd plist file. However, you have to restart your machine for any interval changes to take effect – the launchd daemon interval won't change otherwise. This is true even for your command line solution, and might be why other programs (such as the Secrets prefPane) still "see" the old value, even after (apparently) applying the change. Think of system launchd plist files like the old AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files of MS-DOS. Changes to those files wouldn't have any immediate effect on how the system was running – you had to restart the computer in order to see the effects of those changes. The launchd plist files for Time Machine work the same way. There seems to be a fair amount of misinformation on the internet, related to confusion over why the interval change doesn't take effect immediately. (Even the authors of TimeMachineScheduler seem confused about this, in the first description paragraph on their program's website – which gives me cause to seriously question the validity of their software offering.) It's easier to understand once you know how launchd works. To confirm this, I used the excellent open-source program Lingon (http://tuppis.com/lingon/) to modify my plist file for Time Machine, setting the interval to every two hours instead. After rebooting, the Time Machine UI still erroneously thinks backups will be happening every hour (this is apparently hard-coded, and make it appear that the interval change had no effect), but the backups themselves take place every two hours, just as I instructed! (Oh, and "Michael" – I'm sorry, but your over-the-top anti-Apple comments make it difficult to take you seriously.) I believe I have an understanding of why solutions such as Secrets prefPane don’t appear to be working.

The time interval for a Time Machine backup is declared in a launchd plist file. However, you have to restart your machine for any interval changes to take effect – the launchd daemon interval won’t change otherwise. This is true even for your command line solution, and might be why other programs (such as the Secrets prefPane) still “see” the old value, even after (apparently) applying the change.

Think of system launchd plist files like the old AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files of MS-DOS. Changes to those files wouldn’t have any immediate effect on how the system was running – you had to restart the computer in order to see the effects of those changes. The launchd plist files for Time Machine work the same way.

There seems to be a fair amount of misinformation on the internet, related to confusion over why the interval change doesn’t take effect immediately. (Even the authors of TimeMachineScheduler seem confused about this, in the first description paragraph on their program’s website – which gives me cause to seriously question the validity of their software offering.) It’s easier to understand once you know how launchd works.

To confirm this, I used the excellent open-source program Lingon (http://tuppis.com/lingon/) to modify my plist file for Time Machine, setting the interval to every two hours instead.

After rebooting, the Time Machine UI still erroneously thinks backups will be happening every hour (this is apparently hard-coded, and make it appear that the interval change had no effect), but the backups themselves take place every two hours, just as I instructed!

(Oh, and “Michael” – I’m sorry, but your over-the-top anti-Apple comments make it difficult to take you seriously.)

]]> By: wasmachine keuze http://www.markwheadon.com/blog/2009/03/changing-time-machine-backup-schedule/comment-page-1/#comment-959 wasmachine keuze Sun, 24 May 2009 19:43:59 +0000 http://www.markwheadon.com/blog/?p=485#comment-959 Maybe my time machine is strange but it doesn't work for me? Maybe my time machine is strange but it doesn’t work for me?

]]> By: Mark Wheadon http://www.markwheadon.com/blog/2009/03/changing-time-machine-backup-schedule/comment-page-1/#comment-936 Mark Wheadon Tue, 31 Mar 2009 20:46:08 +0000 http://www.markwheadon.com/blog/?p=485#comment-936 It seems I've been giving bad advice. <em>Secrets prefPane</em> doesn't work for me either now I try it again. I must have changed my backup interval by a different route before installing the prefPane and so not noticed that the <em>Secrets prefPane Time Machine</em> settings don't stick. Sorry -- I've amended the article accordingly :-( Mark It seems I’ve been giving bad advice. Secrets prefPane doesn’t work for me either now I try it again. I must have changed my backup interval by a different route before installing the prefPane and so not noticed that the Secrets prefPane Time Machine settings don’t stick. Sorry — I’ve amended the article accordingly :-(

Mark

]]> By: Michael http://www.markwheadon.com/blog/2009/03/changing-time-machine-backup-schedule/comment-page-1/#comment-933 Michael Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:54:21 +0000 http://www.markwheadon.com/blog/?p=485#comment-933 Thanks for the post in response to my comment. Yes it is ticked. Your explanation is clearer than Apples but neither results in being able to edit the file that other sites refer to. I did download Time Machine Scheduler and am trying it out. I can't figure out if it's working--haven't paid attention to the actual backup times--but the last I checked it's still scheduled for an hour interval. This is truly frustrating and again: I'm very disappointed in Apple. It's as though they hired some cast-off Microsoft employees and their viral thinking has infected the company. Thanks for the post in response to my comment. Yes it is ticked. Your explanation is clearer than Apples but neither results in being able to edit the file that other sites refer to.

I did download Time Machine Scheduler and am trying it out. I can’t figure out if it’s working–haven’t paid attention to the actual backup times–but the last I checked it’s still scheduled for an hour interval.

This is truly frustrating and again: I’m very disappointed in Apple. It’s as though they hired some cast-off Microsoft employees and their viral thinking has infected the company.

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