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Backups of desktop and laptops
Macs
Requirements
An IBG computer account
A Mac desktop or laptop
On the CU wired or wireless network or connected by CU's
VPN
Connecting
Wired local connection
If the computer is in the IBG or RL4 building and is connected by an ethernet wire, then starting backups is easy.
Go to “System Preferences”
Launch the “Time Machine” control panel
Click on “Select Backup Disk…”
Select Time Machine on “linux” and click “Use Disk” Sometimes this doesn't work the first time. If it gives an error, just select it and try again.
Enter your IBG username and password into the login box and click “Connect”This will be your identikey username, but may be a different password than your identikey password and the password for the local computer
Your Mac will do a full backup, and then do an hourly backup of files that have changed.
Wireless or non-local wired connections
These steps apply for any computer connected to “UCB Wireless”, “eduroam”, or using a wired connection from outside the IBG subnet, such as from the ARC building or Muenzinger. This can also work from off campus, if the CU VPN is running.
Launch “Finder” (the smiling blue icon)
Press “⌘K” or select the “Go” menu and “Connect to Server… ⌘K”
Into the “Server Address:” field, type
afp://linux.colorado.edu
and press “Connect”
Enter your IBG username and password into the login box and click “Connect” This will be your identikey username, but may be a different password than your identikey password and the password for the local computer
Go to “System Preferences”
Launch the “Time Machine” control panel
Click on “Select Backup Disk…”
Select Time Machine on “linux.colorado.edu” and click “Use Disk” Sometimes this doesn't work the first time. If it gives an error, just select it and try again.
Enter your IBG username and password into the login box and click “Connect” This will be your identikey username, but may be a different password than your identikey password and the password for the local computer
What is backed up
By default Apple Time Machine backs up the entire computer. This is generally useful as it is possible to completely reinstall a new computer to the state of the backed up computer using Time Machine. This will recover all applications, settings, and files.
You may have files on your computer which you do not want to backup because they are personal files inappropriate for a work backup, or are simply large scratch files which do not require a backup. Excluding folders from backup is easy.
Go to “System Preferences”
Launch the “Time Machine” control panel
Click “Options…”
Click “+”
Choose the files or folders you do not want backed up, and click “Exclude”
Repeat as necessary to exclude all undesired items.
Time Machine Scheduler
Laptops which are frequently connected to non-CU networks, such as your home network, may complain that they cannot find the Time Machine backup destination. The software at http://www.klieme.com/TimeMachineScheduler.html works around this problem by enabling Time Machine only when your computer is on a designated wireless network.
-
Install the software
Run Time Machine Scheduler from the Applications folder
Click the “Advanced” button
Unlock using the padlock icon
Under “Network Connection” choose “Wi-Fi”
Under “SSID” enter “UCB Wireless” or “eduroam” depending on which wireless you usually connect to
This will limit Time Machine to only run when the laptop is on the CU wireless network. Time Machine will show that it is turned off, because the Time Machine Scheduler application is controlling when it runs.
Restoration
Click on the Time Machine icon on the menu bar
Click “Enter Time Machine”
Navigate to the date and files you wish to restore
Select the files or folders, and click “Restore”
Windows
Windows computers can be backed up so that they can be restored in the event of a drive failure, and to backup user files local to that Windows computer.
Requirements
A computer running Microsoft Windows 7, Vista, 8, or 8.1 (possibly 10)
A special Windows backup account
On the CU wired or wireless network or connected by CU's
VPN
Connecting
Windows backup account
A special Windows backup account is required for each Windows computer to be backed up. Unfortunately even if you manage multiple computers, you will need a different account for each one.
-
Provide your identikey username
The name of the computer you want to backup, for example “Alice's laptop” or “Desktop 2 in RM120”
Setting up the backup
With the provided account information, and connected to a CU wired or wireless network (or on the
VPN, go to
https://linux.colorado.edu/urbackup This does not seem to work with Internet Explorer on Windows 7. Use a different browser if you are on Windows 7
Login with your Windows backup account username and password
Under “Client Download” click “Download”
Once the file has downloaded, run it to install the backup client
The backup client will show up in the Notification area (typically at the bottom right of the screen, near the clock), and looks sort of like a barrel, or perhaps disks. It changes color to show status, so may initially be red to show no backups have been done yet
Right click on the client and select “Settings”
Go to the “Internet” tab
Make sure that “Do image backups over internet:” and “Do full file backups over internet:” are checked
Click “OK”
What is backed up
By default, a system image will be taken, and all files under “C:\Users” will be backed up. Media files matching the patterns “*.mp3;*.avi;*.mp4;*.mkv;*.m4v;*.mpg;*.mpeg;*.asx;*.wm;*.wma;*.wmx” will be excluded from the backups. Adjusting these settings can be accomplished through the client.
Right click on the client and select “Settings”
Go to the “File Backups” tab (by default, this tab is opened)
Adjust the fields “Exclude from backup” and “Include in backup” using
these directions to achieve the desired backup coverage
Restoration
Restoring individual files or directories can be done through the website.
-
Login with the username and password associated with the computer you want to recover files from.
Click “Backups” at the top of the page
Click on the backup you want to restore from
Download the entire folder as a zip file or navigate to the file you want to restore
Download the file you want to restore