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Backup "My Documents" (EZ-Backup Mac)

This article applies to: EZ-Backup

In an effort to reduce EZ-Backup storage charges, some users choose to back up only the folders that contain user documents. This method has serious repercussions in situations such as hard drive failures or lost systems, since operating system and application files can no longer be restored via EZ-Backup. In addition, some applications store user data in other data folders; excluding these folders from backups will also exclude them from restores, potentially resulting in issues for a user post-restore.

Although users often consider the "Documents" folder as the sole repository of their information, many applications, such as iTunes and iPhoto, store their data elsewhere. The procedure described here shows how to backup the complete user folder, not just the  Documents folder,  To date, this has been sufficient to restore a user's system, though not all applications, nor all installations of applications, have been tested.

The EZ-Backup team strongly advises you to discuss this change with your technical support staff before implementing it to verify your recovery options in case of a disaster (lost hard drive or lost system).

The following documentation assumes the TSM client was installed using an EZ-Backup installer.

In order to limit a backup to the user information on a Macintosh system, two statements need to be added to the top of the INCLUDE/EXCLUDE statement list client configuration in the order shown, with the string userid replaced with the person's userid.

EXCLUDE "*"

INCLUDE  "/Users/userid/.../*"

For more information on the syntax of include/exclude statements, see IBM/Tivoli documentation on include/exclude statements.

For more information about the placement and ordering of these statements, see How does the EZ-Backup software process the Include/Exclude rules?

  1. Logon to Mac using an Administrator ID.
  2. From a Finder menu select Go, then Applications, then the Tivoli Storage Manager folder, then TSM Tools for Administrators.
  3. In the TSM Tools for Administrators window, select Tivoli Storage Manager and click OK.
  4. When prompted, enter the Mac Admin ID password.
  5. Once the TSM Backup-Archive GUI client starts, from the Edit menu, select Client Preferences.
  6. Click the Include/Exclude Tab.
  7. Click Add. A Define Include-Exclude Options dialog box will open.
  8. From the Category dropdown, select Backup.
  9. From the Type dropdown, select Exclude.
  10. For File or Pattern, type * (the asterisk character) - NO quotes, NO spaces, just the single asterisk.
  11. Click OK.
  12. Click on the new statement (Exclude "*") at the bottom of the Statement List to highlight it.
  13. Click Move Up repeatedly, until the statement is at the top of the Statement List (you may need to scroll up to follow your progress).
  14. Click Apply.
  15. Click OK to continue past the Warning message that appears.
  16. Click Add. A Define Include-Exclude Options dialog box will open.
  17. From the Category drop-down, select Backup.
  18. From the Type drop-down, select Include.
  19. Leave Management Class blank.
  20. For File or Pattern, type the following statement, based on your operating system and your userid on your computer. If you are not sure what your userid is, ask your technical support provider. (For many people, their userid is the same as their NetID, but not all departments use this method.)

/Users/userid/.../*

For example, a Macintosh OS X  user with the userid "Robert" would enter the following:

  1. Click OK.
  2. Click on the new statement INCLUDE statement at the bottom of the Statement List to highlight it.
  3. Click Move Up repeatedly, until the statement is at the SECOND item on Statement List, coming just after the EXCLUDE statement you created earlier in this process (you may need to scroll up to follow your progress)
  4. Click Apply.
  5. Click OK to continue past the Warning message that appears.
  6. Click on the Backup Tab.
                                            
  7. Unclick Back up all local file systems and then click ONLY on the "/" entry in the Domain List.
  8. Click Apply.
  9. Click OK to continue past the Warning message that appears.
  10. Click OK to exit client preferences.
  11. Exit TSM GUI client.

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