Sync entire user home directory in MacOS


winter4w

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Hello,

I am wondering if it is possible to backup all folders in a user directory without selecting each one. I tried to select the users home folder however it says there is already a sync folder in it which is the programs .sync folder. Reason for this is to have an emergency backup clone of the user profile.  

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That's right, user's home folder contains Sync installation folder, you cannot get Sync to sync itself. You have license applied and / or linked devices, right? 

See it also asked a while ago:

forum.resilio.com/topic/43754-backup-a-couple-of-macs-to-a-windows-machine/

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10 hours ago, Helen said:

That's right, user's home folder contains Sync installation folder, you cannot get Sync to sync itself. You have license applied and / or linked devices, right? 

See it also asked a while ago:

forum.resilio.com/topic/43754-backup-a-couple-of-macs-to-a-windows-machine/

I am right now using the trial to see if I like it. So is it possible in any way for me to sync an entire user account to my server for a backup?

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This can be done in Free version only.  In Trial and Pro versions it's not possible. 
But generally, syncing the whole home folders is not advisable, as it contains other apps' and user account's settings, configurations, cache, property lists, etc. These may prevent successful syncing. 
 

 

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15 hours ago, Helen said:

 

Ok, thanks guess this program won't be the best solution. I m trying to find something that will backup entire users account to my backup server. Only thing I liked about this program is you don't have to be on LAN to backup. Is there anything similar that can backup/sync a user account?

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23 minutes ago, Helen said:

Sync Free won't work for you? Ok, then I'm afraid i cannot advise on any other tool.

Well, I am more looking for a one-way sync in case something happened to the server the files won't be affected. From what I understand the only way it can be done is with Advanced folders.

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20 hours ago, Helen said:

where did you read it? You can do one-way with Standard folders as well

I forgot where but if I can do it to stander folders then I will be interested lol. What is the real difference between both folders? Right now I got the trial with advanced folders, would I have to remove those folders and re-sync everything as Standard? 

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  • 1 year later...
On 1/11/2018 at 10:48 AM, winter4w said:

Ok, thanks guess this program won't be the best solution. I m trying to find something that will backup entire users account to my backup server. Only thing I liked about this program is you don't have to be on LAN to backup. Is there anything similar that can backup/sync a user account?

The main issue is that if you are trying to sync your active user directory, sync also creates log files in their %APPDATA% or ~Library/Application Support folder. This can create an endless syncing loop.

My personal advice to you is that you can set the .sync/IgnoreList to ignore this directory and other more active temporary files as most users are more concerned with not loosing the work they recently worked on and was not of the mind to make multiple backups rather than some configuration or customisation setting file.

If they were tech savvy enough, you can use a specific whitelist option in IgnoreList by using ! before each specific folder you want.

For example: ~Assuming you're using macOS

# Ignore Resilio Sync Application Support Only #
Library/Application\ Support/Resilio\ Sync/*

# Ignore Library But Keep Some Specific Application #
Library/*
!Library/Application\ Support/[some folder name]

 

Edited by sk9c00
code error
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