Such as tmutil localsnapshot ? Lots of useful stuff for creating and accessing snapshots enumerated here: Creating, managing and using Apple File System snapshots for startup drive backups | Der Flounder
Yeah, this looks like it would work
Even snapshots donāt guarantee a consistent file, as they can happen anytime, right? The only way to a clean backup is to stop all processes which have write permissions on a file while the backup is happening, resulting in more or less downtime. Where applicable, database master/slave configuration is preferable to backups.
Well, if we use btrfs snapshots on linux, it makes sense to use APFS snapshots on Mac, so letās go 
In the worst case a snapshot is ācrash consistentā, i.e. as if you pulled the power plug. Most applications are written such that their data files survive sudden power fails/blue screen etc., especially databases (But not if half of the data file is from time T1 and the other from a different time T2!!).
Additionally most snapshots also flush data from RAM to disk first (or include data cached in RAM in the snapshot).
Best case is Windows where applications can register to get backup events (VSS) and write data and say which files need to be backed up.
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I managed to install the latest version by manually hacking inside the .pkg (extracting cpio archives, executing scripts etc). I donāt remember the details but it was quite straightforward (the āfileā command is your friend).
After installation, donāt forget to move the ādataā directory from inside the app folder to say /etc and symlink to it. Changes to the app folder void the appās authorizations (to access files for instance).
I ran the command: pkgutil --expand thePackage.pkg /destination
and got four files: Distribution, Resources(2 html file), output.pkg, output2.pkg - no one cant execute
no legal methods yet?
Repeat the process with those 2 .pkg files, youāll end up with items you can move manually to the correct places. 3 things are installed in the end : the application folder (in /Applications), the startup script for the daemon (in /Library/LaunchDaemons), and the startup script for the application (in /Library/Launchā¦ (I forgot the name)).
If I get some spare time I may write a script to automate all that, but better not wait for it.
im got.
folder output:
Bom(exec)
PackageInfo(exec)
Payload ā Library:
LaunchAgents->org.urbackup.client.plist
LaunchDaemons->org.urbackup.client.plist
folder output2:
Bom(exec)
PackageInfo(exec)
Payload->Contens:
info.plist
MacOS->bin,etc,sbin,share,var,urbackupclientgui
Resources->upbackup.icns
what to copy and where?
Copy the org.urbackup.client.plist files in their right places (/Library/Launchā¦)
Copy the contents of the other payload in /Applications/UrBackup.app/Contents/ā¦ (have a look at how other applications are organized).
maybe I made a mistake somewhere because it doesnāt work
So this has been working, by just copying the pkg contents to their locations and the client 2.3.4 indeed does work on macos Catalina 10.15, and maybe I just got lucky, but as a bonus with Catalina, adding UrBackup Client.app to full Disk access now survives reboots, Iāll test on other machines
You should test if it survives a file modification. E.g. by adding an additional path to backup.
I would also have thought that it doesnāt work at all now, since Apple now requires apps to be ānotarizedā ( Notarizing Your Mac Software for macOS Catalina - Latest News - Apple Developer ).
It has no issue adding different paths. This has been repeated on multiple machinesā¦ Iāve installed UrBackup Client directly on Catalina and also upgraded a Mohave Mac with UrBackup already on it to Catalinaā¦ no issues with UrBackup and also no issues once the OS is rebooted. This is an upgrade from Mohave, because now we can backup Mail and the Photo Libraryā¦ just need to add āUrBackup Client.appā to full disk access and everything works.
Hi Uroni,
If Catalina makes life, a little, easier would you reconsider OS X support?
I havenāt upgraded the server since version 2.3.2 in case it disconnects my OS X clients.
I think the installation issue is still present?
Plus, as said, it probably requires notarization for new installs now.
Iāll check on the installation issue once Iāve upgraded my own system. I believe Catalina has a lot of issues.
If I upgrade my server version will the OS X clients no longer be able to connect ?
Thanks,
Glenn
Hi:
I think I have a solution to the installation failure problem: itās an updated version of urbackup_backend/osx_installer/distribution.xml file (zipped copy attached).
This will need to be incorporated into the build process, rather than something which can be replaced into an already-built installer package.
In the meantime, using - for example - Pacifist to put the application and launch scripts into place should work, but you should then run the already-built installer package normally (which should then succeed) to load the backend service correctly.
distribution.xml.zip (753 Bytes)
Hope it helpsā¦
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Hey guys,
is there any news about this? Or some sort of instructions for dummies? I have two mac systems waiting to be added to my backups and would like to know if I have to look for another solution.
Thanks