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Configuring automated backups on your hosted Mac

This FAQ will guide you through using Mac’s Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) to set up automated backups of your hosted Mac.

What You’ll Need

  • An external hard drive (HD) or solid-state drive (SSD) connected to your hosted Mac.

You can either:

Note: Apple recommends using a backup drive that is at least twice the capacity of your Mac.

Option 1: Backups Using Time Machine

  1. On your Mac, go to System Settings > General > Time Machine.
  2. Click Add Backup Disk, or the Add (+) button.
  3. Select the connected storage device and click Set Up Disk. During setup:
    • Your Mac may prompt you to erase the drive for Time Machine use. If so, either erase it or choose a different backup disk.
    • If previous backups exist from another Mac, you may be asked if you want to claim existing backups. Choose “Claim” if you wish to continue those backups on this machine.
    • To enhance security, you can enable encryption. This will prompt you to create a backup password – store this safely, as it’s required for restoring files.

After setup, Time Machine will begin backing up your Mac automatically to the selected storage device.

Option 2: Backups Using Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC)

You may prefer to use CCC, which is a 3rd party backup option. It can no longer take full bootable images on modern Macs, but if your goal is to have file backups available, this is an option.

Video Tutorial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azM24RzMaZk

Steps:

  1. Download and install CCC from:
    https://bombich.com/download
  2. Open it from Applications > Carbon Copy Cloner.
  3. Click Source, then select your primary drive (Macintosh HD).
  4. Under Destination, select your connected backup drive from the available volumes.
  5. Click Automation to schedule your backup frequency.
  6. Click Save.
  7. Use the Backup Volume Setup Assistant to configure the destination drive.
  8. Click Start to begin your backup task.
    • The first time you run a backup, CCC will:
      • Prompt you to grant Full Disk Access.
      • Ask for authentication to install the privileged helper tool, which is needed to copy system files and applications.
  9. Your backup will then run and complete.