Bombich Software Announces Carbon Copy Cloner 6 Featuring Faster Backups, Quick Updates, Snapshot Navigator, and More

[macintoshmac]

I'm using Ulysses. Also a rental app, but I think it brings a lot to the table if you have a lot of other work to use it for. I toyed with using Agenda for this purpose but all my other writing is in Ulysses so I put it there. To be honest, I could just as easily create a Pages document, put each entry on a new page and call it a day (or, a succession of days).

Indeed. The only reason I am using Day One right now is that I got it last year for USD 25, which I believe is fair price for it. In the next few months, if I do not get it at that price, I will have to think it over.

I use Ulysses for my professional work, so I tend to keep it separate from any other things. I do not want to have an unwieldy library that I might lose thread of on occasion, inadvertently mixing professional and personal content.

 

[mhoutman]

Both are great backup apps and it really seems quite equal: Some like/use CCC more, others SuperDuper. My suggestion would be that you try out both (within the trial period) and then decide which one suits your needs better.

thanks I am a SD user for many years but just wondered what CCC can do better ?

 

[Apple_Robert]

TM and CCC do very different things. I use both and they complement each other nicely.

My point to the other member was CCC also has the feature he mentioned about TM.

 

[harriska2]

.

 

[Macintosh IIvx]

Right. I meant on the dev's website.

CCC 5.1.27 and CCC 6 can make bootable backups on Intel and Apple Silicon Macs (11.3+) right now, and we'll continue to support that functionality as long as macOS supports it.

Beyond Bootable Backups: Adapting recovery strategies for an evolving platform - Bombich Software

bombich.com

 

[petsk]

Using Disk utility for cloning is like yelling across the street to your neighbor, who may not hear you, even with the window open. Disk Utility doesn't let you know you have been heard much less that you have heard in proper context.

Using Disk Utility for cloning is akin to Fred Flintstone driving with his feet. Why do that when there is CCC that is faster, stable, and verifies each backup and can be set for a particular schedule?

Eh, what? Disk Utility does bit-to-bit copying/cloning, CCC can't do that. If you clone a drive or partition with CCC it will not be perfectly matched to the original.

 

[petsk]

I use Time Machine, I only use Disk Utility for partitioning, and formatting drives. CCC is good if you want the backup bootable. For me personally, it's not a requirement to be bootable.

When I want a bootable backup I prefer Disk Utility, that way I know I'll get a perfectly cloned drive or partition.

CCC didn't even support cloning APFS drives until very recently.

 

[CoastalOR]

CCC didn't even support cloning APFS drives until very recently.

If your definition of "recently" is September 2017 then you are correct. High Sierra introduced and used APFS in September 2017. CCC worked for High Sierra.

I do not consider September 2017 to be recently.

 

[cmaier]

If your definition of "recently" is September 2017 then you are correct. High Sierra introduced and used APFS in September 2017. CCC worked for High Sierra.

I do not consider September 2017 to be recently.

Okay, sept. 2017 may not be ”recently,” but is it “*very* recently?” ;-)

 

[harriska2]

If you purchase today, I know it makes you buy 6 but I need 5 because I'm on Mojave. Also, I can't find a contact us on their website.

 

[CoastalOR]

If you purchase today, I know it makes you buy 6 but I need 5 because I'm on Mojave. Also, I can't find a contact us on their website.

Try the "Download CCC5" button on this page (below the CCC6 section):

Download CCC - Bombich Software

bombich.com

 

[Weaselboy]

Also, I can't find a contact us on their website.

Submit a request – Carbon Copy Cloner Help Center

support.bombich.com

Try this.

 

[MacinMan]

Is CCC 6 only for Big Sur? I have CCC installed on a Catalina installed, and it's saying the latest version is the last version of 5 I had installed prior to version 6 being released.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Is CCC 6 only for Big Sur? I have CCC installed on a Catalina installed, and it's saying the latest version is the last version of 5 I had installed prior to version 6 being released.

CCC is an advanced backup and file copying utility for the Mac.

System Requirements​

• macOS 10.15 Catalina
• macOS 11 Big Sur
• CCC is a native application on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs (i.e. a "Universal" application)

Older versions of CCC are still available for users running older OSes. Note that these older versions are not actively being developed and support is provided on a case-by-case basis.

System Requirements for CCC - Bombich Software

bombich.com

 

[MacinMan]

CCC is an advanced backup and file copying utility for the Mac.

System Requirements​

• macOS 10.15 Catalina
• macOS 11 Big Sur
• CCC is a native application on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs (i.e. a "Universal" application)

Older versions of CCC are still available for users running older OSes. Note that these older versions are not actively being developed and support is provided on a case-by-case basis.

System Requirements for CCC - Bombich Software

bombich.com

Thanks, I found it, and manually downloaded it. Things are fine now. I was curious about something though. Both on Big Sur, and now on Catalina, CCC 6 automatically registered version 6 when opening it after updating version 5. It didn't even ask for my Serial, it just registered. Is this a new feature? or is this simple a version 5 to 6 feature if version 5 is installed first, and registered?

 

[Apple_Robert]

If you purchase today, I know it makes you buy 6 but I need 5 because I'm on Mojave. Also, I can't find a contact us on their website.

Thanks, I found it, and manually downloaded it. Things are fine now. I was curious about something though. Both on Big Sur, and now on Catalina, CCC 6 automatically registered version 6 when opening it after updating version 5. It didn't even ask for my Serial, it just registered. Is this a new feature? or is this simple a version 5 to 6 feature if version 5 is installed first, and registered?

That is normal. If you had done a fresh install of 6, then you would have needed to register using the license email process, or manually input the key. I really like how the email makes registering easy.

 

[macintoshmac]

CCC is an advanced backup and file copying utility for the Mac.

System Requirements​

• macOS 10.15 Catalina
• macOS 11 Big Sur
• CCC is a native application on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs (i.e. a "Universal" application)

Older versions of CCC are still available for users running older OSes. Note that these older versions are not actively being developed and support is provided on a case-by-case basis.

System Requirements for CCC - Bombich Software

bombich.com

How do you create links that show snippets of the web page they are pointing to? I am trying, and I have accidentally done that once, but am failing right now.

 

[Apple_Robert]

How do you create links that show snippets of the web page they are pointing to? I am trying, and I have accidentally done that once, but am failing right now.

Are you talking about creating a blue link like this? What I did earlier was copy and paste a portion of the bombich site that keep the already created link in it and then manually added the link to the article. If the latter, it depends a lot on the browser used and how the page was created. It doesn't always with but, most of the time it does using Safari.

 

[petsk]

If your definition of "recently" is September 2017 then you are correct. High Sierra introduced and used APFS in September 2017. CCC worked for High Sierra.

I do not consider September 2017 to be recently.

Well I don't remember exactly what the problem was but very recently (past winter) CCC has had problems with encrypted APFS volumes.

Facts are still facts: if you know how to use Disk Utility there's no need for CCC when it comes to cloning drives, volumes or partitions. And it seems that's what people use CCC for.

CCC costs money and cannot even make perfect copies of your boot drive. Disk Utility on the other hand is free, already a part of Mac OS, it can be fully trusted and it can do perfect byte-to-byte clones.

 

[MacinMan]

Well I don't remember exactly what the problem was but very recently (past winter) CCC has had problems with encrypted APFS volumes.

Facts are still facts: if you know how to use Disk Utility there's no need for CCC when it comes to cloning drives, volumes or partitions. And it seems that's what people use CCC for.

CCC costs money and cannot even make perfect copies of your boot drive. Disk Utility on the other hand is free, already a part of Mac OS, it can be fully trusted and it can do perfect byte-to-byte clones.

There is also DD for those who don't want an Apple specific solution, but are familiar with Unix and it's toolbox. DD comes with the mac, at least it used to. I haven't used it personally, but I have heard people recommend it as a cross platform alternative as well.

 

[SuperMatt]

thanks I am a SD user for many years but just wondered what CCC can do better ?

I don’t think CCC is superior to SD. I would stick with SuperDuper if that’s what you’ve been using. They are both updated regularly, and their developers have shown their competence through the years.

 

[neilw]

[never mind, submitted my question directly to Bombich]

 

[Dewdman42]

Well I don't remember exactly what the problem was but very recently (past winter) CCC has had problems with encrypted APFS volumes.

Facts are still facts: if you know how to use Disk Utility there's no need for CCC when it comes to cloning drives, volumes or partitions. And it seems that's what people use CCC for.

CCC costs money and cannot even make perfect copies of your boot drive. Disk Utility on the other hand is free, already a part of Mac OS, it can be fully trusted and it can do perfect byte-to-byte clones.

Can you comment a little about this? I already own CCC, so this is not about whether to spend the money, but I am investigating several backup options..including CCC, TimeMachine and ASR/Disk Utility. I am interested in the Disk Utility approach mainly to create occasional images of EXACT clones of my source Catalina drive...I agree with you, CCC and SD are not making exact clones...close...but not exact. They are doing the best they can at the file level I think...and there are advantages to having file level backups such as CCC and TimeMachine too, but anyway, I am curious about creating DiskUtility images not nightly, but occasionally...in order to have an "exact" clone.....

I read some confusing posts on the internet about DiskUtility images having some problems with snapshots and other things...also while its quite easy to create a DMG of my Catalina container using Disk Utility...it took many hours to run...and then it was not at all clear to me what the procedure would be to restore it. There are very few people doing this, everyone seems to be relying mostly on either TimeMachine or CCC...but I am still very interested to create some exact copy clone images....

Where can some exact procedures be found to make sure the images I might create are "Proper", or is there any advantage to using ASR directly instead of Disk Utility to do it?

I tried to create one with DiskUtility, it took all night and ended up with 350gb image. When I tried to mount that DMG, it was taking hours to verify the Image in order to mount it and check out what exactly was backed up, in fact I gave up waiting for it. And after reading scary posts on the net about ASR and snapshots and other complications, I cannot find confirming information for a safe way to use ASR/Disk Utility.....certainly I could not consider that remotely good enough for a nightly backup...maybe for once every other month to have a clean and exact image or something...dunno...

Or maybe it could make sense to use ASR to exact copy Catalina to another partition...rather then to an image...it still takes a long time, I wouldn't do it nightly..but perhaps doing that then a restore would involve ASR back from that, and then time machine restore to catch it back up to date or something..this would be technically an exact copy restore, I think?

 

[petsk]

@Dewdman42
Yes, it's a slow process. I wouldn't recommend using Disk Utility for backup alone, that's more of a job for Time Machine or why not just simple drag-and-drop to an external drive. But you don't mention what you are backing up, so what do I know.

If you want an emergency bootable external drive, or you want to move to an external drive (cloning your internal boot drive), then here are some notes I took a few months ago when I cloned my internal fusion drive to an external SSD running Catalina:

- boot into recovery mode
- open disk utility
- click view -> show all devices
- mount your internal drive, insert password if your drive is encrypted (filevault turned on)
- format the external drive using GUID and APFS
- right click on the new volume (i.e. Container disk 5 or whatever) and select restore...
- select restore from Macintosh HD - Data and click the restore button
- wait for the process to finish...done

Try to boot from your external clone drive by holding down the option key while restarting your mac and your external drive should popup. If you have a T2 Mac you need to configure it allow external booting.

The clone process probably took a couple of hours with less than 200GB of data on my internal fusion drive restored to my external thunderbolt SSD. I did the same process on another fusion drive iMac with about 1TB of data and that took maaany hours, like a half day.

 

[Dayo]

TM and CCC do very different things. I use both and they complement each other nicely.

I used to think so for quite a long time as well ... CCC for bootable clone, TM for fine grained file recovery.
Stopped using TM when I discovered CCC does fine grained file recovery just as well as TM does.