Since macOS Catalina changed the backup extensions of the Time Machine bundles (and modified the contents slightly) compared to all backups made with Mojave and earlier, there have been problems with older systems hosting the backups:
i.e. Apple´s own Server.App does not recognize the backups hosted by an older Mac Pro running El Capitan. Catalina´s backups to it still work (and are functional for retrievals), but do not show up in the server application and hence cannot trigger warnings or alarms for missing or delayed client backups.
Running such a setup (Catalina client machines and a central MP2,1 with El Cap as server) in a small office environment, I looked for a solution. Extensive coverage of the changes and new behaviour can be found on the Eclectic Light web page, but no solution or suggestion.
So I came up with a partial, very useful way to get both sides to speak to each other again. Could be helpful for all similar scenarios where upgrade to Catalina would otherwise trigger buying new server hardware and replacement of otherwise still very capable machines. Also, some of you might actually want to stick to the v5.2 of the server application that is not already stripped-down compared to what Apple sells us now.
Here´s what to do to regain almost full functionality:
There will be an actual listing of all backups, including correct owners, machine types (icons) and last modification date. Only thing not working yet is the overall size info that shows as 0 KB.
But based on the info that is correctly shown, alerts can again be automatically generated for failed backups or too long intervals between user backups!
Always happy to get your feedback, questions or suggestions!
i.e. Apple´s own Server.App does not recognize the backups hosted by an older Mac Pro running El Capitan. Catalina´s backups to it still work (and are functional for retrievals), but do not show up in the server application and hence cannot trigger warnings or alarms for missing or delayed client backups.
Running such a setup (Catalina client machines and a central MP2,1 with El Cap as server) in a small office environment, I looked for a solution. Extensive coverage of the changes and new behaviour can be found on the Eclectic Light web page, but no solution or suggestion.
So I came up with a partial, very useful way to get both sides to speak to each other again. Could be helpful for all similar scenarios where upgrade to Catalina would otherwise trigger buying new server hardware and replacement of otherwise still very capable machines. Also, some of you might actually want to stick to the v5.2 of the server application that is not already stripped-down compared to what Apple sells us now.
Here´s what to do to regain almost full functionality:
- Let Catalina clients do the conversion of the .sparsebundle to .backupbundle on the server
(as noticed, the result is that the backups work, are still retrievable from Catalina but do not show up in the Server App any longer) - On the server side, create symbolic links for all backups by terminal command ln -s with the .backupbundle and the link again being named as .sparsebundle
Note: Mere Finder aliases won´t work - and caveat: The name of the link has to be slightly different also (not just the extension!) because otherwise the Catalina clients will start trying to convert the images again to the new format.
Example: You have a “Sam Tramiel Macbook Pro.backupbundle” to begin with, then create the link as i.e. “ST Macbook Pro.sparsebundle” - Restart the server application to update the listing of backups being shown
There will be an actual listing of all backups, including correct owners, machine types (icons) and last modification date. Only thing not working yet is the overall size info that shows as 0 KB.
But based on the info that is correctly shown, alerts can again be automatically generated for failed backups or too long intervals between user backups!
Always happy to get your feedback, questions or suggestions!
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