the alias is saved as raw data in the key BackupAlias in /Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist
you can use the CLI tms to get some information
Through a combination of using TMS and removing all special characters from my hostname (now “bob”), it looks like it is working. I am doing an initial backup as we speak, and it did not error out, so I can only assume the timer is running.
Thanks so much, Stefan. I hope I don’t have to bother you with it anymore!
Alright, I have been merrily modifying this script to my heart’s content and am nearly satisfied. I’m having one major snag though, which is actually unrelated to Time Machine: I can’t seem to write to the log file at the end, no matter what I do. Any suggestions, anyone?
-- This script is by Dain Schroeder, with significant help from the user StefanK of the MacScripter.net forums. He is the man.
property backupVolume : "Volumes:Backup of dkschroeder-m-25" -- To backup to a different drive, simply change this property.
set startTime to (get current date) -- This gets the time as of the script being initiated. This will be used later to see how long the script ran.
set currentHost to computer name of (system info) -- This finds the system's hostname, which is used in the Time Machine backup folder.
set backupFolder to (backupVolume & ":" & "Backups.backupdb" & ":" & currentHost) -- This variable simply contains the folder where the backup will be placed. Best not to touch this at all.
do shell script "/System/Library/CoreServices/backupd.bundle/Contents/Resources/backupd-helper" -- Tells Time Machine process, backupd-helper to begin backing up.
repeat
if not ((do shell script "/bin/ls " & quoted form of POSIX path of backupFolder) contains "inProgress") then exit repeat -- If there is not a .inprogress file in the folder, then move on.
delay 0.4 -- Delay 0.4 seconds before repeating; this is to not destroy the computer's resources so much.
end repeat
set endTime to (get current date) -- Ges the time as of the backup finishing.
set duration to endTime - startTime -- Compares the start time to the end time (simple subtraction) and puts the result in the duration variable.
set hrs to duration div hours
set mins to duration div minutes
set secs to duration mod minutes
set today to (do shell script "date '+%d.%m.%Y'")
set finalResult to {"The backup on " & today, " at " & getTimeInHoursAndMinutes(), " took " & hrs & " hours, " & mins & " minutes and " & secs & " seconds." & return} as text
set logName to POSIX file "/Users/dkschroeder-m-25/Documents/TMLog.txt" as file specification
try
do shell script "/bin ls /Users-dkschroeder-m-25/Documents/TMLog.txt"
on error
tell application "TextEdit"
activate
make new document
save document 1 in "/Users/dkschroeder-m-25/Documents/TMLog.txt"
end tell
end try
try
open for access logName with write permission
write finalResult to "Users:dkschroeder-m-25:Documents:TMLog.txt" starting at eof
close access logName
on error
close access logName
end try
display dialog "The backup took " & hrs & " hours, " & mins & " minutes and " & secs & " seconds." -- Displays our final dialog box with duration information.
--SUBROUTINES!
--I did not design this subroutine; the original author is unknown.
--Get current time in hours and minutes
on getTimeInHoursAndMinutes()
-- Get the "hour"
set timeStr to time string of (current date)
set Pos to offset of ":" in timeStr
set theHour to characters 1 thru (Pos - 1) of timeStr as string
set timeStr to characters (Pos + 1) through end of timeStr as string
-- Get the "minute"
set Pos to offset of ":" in timeStr
set theMin to characters 1 thru (Pos - 1) of timeStr as string
set timeStr to characters (Pos + 1) through end of timeStr as string
--Get "AM or PM"
set Pos to offset of " " in timeStr
set theSfx to characters (Pos + 1) through end of timeStr as string
return (theHour & ":" & theMin & " " & theSfx) as string
end getTimeInHoursAndMinutes
Hi,
first of all, AppleScript works with HFS paths (colon separated), POSIX paths are only used in shell script.
There is a “shortcut” path to documents folder which is an alias of the documents folder of the current user.
To write to a text file, use the unique file reference number, which will be returned in the open for access line.
If the log file doesn’t exist, it will be created automatically. With UTF8 encoding it can also be read by Console.app
The subroutine can be replaced by one line (do shell script “/bin/date +%l:%M’ '%p”)
-- This script is by Dain Schroeder, with significant help from the user StefanK of the MacScripter.net forums. He is the man.
property backupVolume : "Volumes:Backup of dkschroeder-m-25" -- To backup to a different drive, simply change this property.
set startTime to (get current date) -- This gets the time as of the script being initiated. This will be used later to see how long the script ran.
set currentHost to computer name of (system info) -- This finds the system's hostname, which is used in the Time Machine backup folder.
set backupFolder to (backupVolume & ":" & "Backups.backupdb" & ":" & currentHost) -- This variable simply contains the folder where the backup will be placed. Best not to touch this at all.
do shell script "/System/Library/CoreServices/backupd.bundle/Contents/Resources/backupd-helper" -- Tells Time Machine process, backupd-helper to begin backing up.
repeat
if not ((do shell script "/bin/ls " & quoted form of POSIX path of backupFolder) contains "inProgress") then exit repeat -- If there is not a .inprogress file in the folder, then move on.
delay 0.4 -- Delay 0.4 seconds before repeating; this is to not destroy the computer's resources so much.
end repeat
set endTime to (get current date) -- Ges the time as of the backup finishing.
set duration to endTime - startTime -- Compares the start time to the end time (simple subtraction) and puts the result in the duration variable.
set hrs to duration div hours
set mins to duration div minutes
set secs to duration mod minutes
set today to (do shell script "date '+%d.%m.%Y'")
set finalResult to "The backup on " & today & " at " & (do shell script "/bin/date +%l:%M' '%p") & " took " & hrs & " hours, " & mins & " minutes and " & secs & " seconds."
set logName to ((path to documents folder as text) & "TMLog.txt")
try
set fileRef to open for access file logName with write permission
write finalResult & return to fileRef as «class utf8» starting at eof
close access fileRef
on error
try
close access file logName
end try
end try
display dialog "The backup took " & hrs & " hours, " & mins & " minutes and " & secs & " seconds." -- Displays our final dialog box with duration information.
PS: the time calculation doen’t work reliably
replace
set hrs to duration div hours
set mins to duration div minutes
set secs to duration mod minutes
with
tell duration to set {hrs, mins, secs} to {it div hours, it mod hours div minutes, it mod hours mod minutes div 1}
As always, thank you very much StefanK.
If I may ask, what about the new timer makes it work more reliably than what I initially had? I am not sure I see any difference except that it’s neater code.
the result is the same, but the shell command date is more flexible and can do all the formatting things.
As you use it already for the date string, you can even write (with omitting the today line)
.
set finalResult to "The backup on " & (do shell script "/bin/date +%d.%m.%Y' at '%l:%M' '%p") & " took " & hrs & " hours, " & mins & " minutes and " & secs & " seconds."
.
Is there a way to modify what drive Time Machine will back up to using AppleScript? A Google search showed me a script that accomplishes this, but it uses GUI scripting and is huge and bloated. Is there another way?
I haven’t tested it, but you could change the key BackupAlias in the com.apple.TimeMachine.plist.
Consider that the object type is raw data.
I’ve been working quite a lot on AppleScript, and using this script extensively for some research I’m doing. I thought I’d post the latest version in case anyone wants to do something similar.
Note that the script does not change the destination volume by itself - the user must do this. I looked into what StefanK suggested (about editing the plist), and it was more hassle than it was worth.
set currentHost to computer name of (system info) -- This finds the system's hostname, which is used in the Time Machine backup folder and in network drive access.
set mediaList to {"FireWire", "USB", "Server", "Time Capsule"}
set mediaSelection to (choose from list mediaList with prompt "Please select a backup media." without multiple selections allowed) as text
if mediaSelection is "FireWire" then
set backupVolume to "Volumes:Firewire TM"
set logFile to "TMFWLog.txt"
else if mediaSelection is "USB" then
set backupVolume to "Volumes:USB TM"
set logFile to "TMUSBLog.txt"
else if mediaSelection is "Server" then
set backupVolume to "Volumes:Backup of " & currentHost
set logFile to "TMServerLog.txt"
else if mediaSelection is "Time Capsule" then
set backupVolume to "Volumes:Backup of " & currentHost
set logFile to "TMTimeCapsule.txt"
end if
set startTime to (get current date) -- This gets the time as of the script being initiated. This will be used later to see how long the script ran.
set backupFolder to (backupVolume & ":" & "Backups.backupdb" & ":" & currentHost) -- This variable simply contains the folder where the backup will be placed. Best not to touch this at all.
do shell script "/System/Library/CoreServices/backupd.bundle/Contents/Resources/backupd-helper" -- Tells Time Machine process, backupd-helper to begin backing up.
repeat
if not ((do shell script "/bin/ls " & quoted form of POSIX path of backupFolder) contains "inProgress") then exit repeat -- If there is not a .inprogress file in the folder, then move on.
delay 0.9 -- Delay 0.9 seconds before repeating; this is to not destroy the computer's resources so much.
end repeat
set endTime to (get current date) -- Ges the time as of the backup finishing.
set duration to endTime - startTime -- Compares the start time to the end time (simple subtraction) and puts the result in the duration variable.
tell duration to set {hrs, mins, secs} to {it div hours, it mod hours div minutes, it mod hours mod minutes div 1}
set today to (do shell script "date '+%d.%m.%Y'")
set finalResult to "A backup started on " & startTime & " finished at " & endTime & " took " & hrs & " hours, " & mins & " minutes and " & secs & " seconds." -- All our handy log information.
set logName to ((path to documents folder as text) & logFile) -- The script will save to Documents/TMLog.txt by default, but this could be changed.
try
set fileRef to open for access file logName with write permission -- This opens TMLog.txt with the permissions needed to save to it.
write finalResult & return to fileRef as «class utf8» starting at eof -- This dumps the info from finalResult into our text file.
close access fileRef
on error errMsg number errNum
log "Message: " & errMsg & "; Number: " & errNum
try
display dialog "I am about to close the logName access"
close access file logName
display dialog "I closed the access to logName"
end try
end try
display dialog "The backup took " & hrs & " hours, " & mins & " minutes and " & secs & " seconds." -- Displays our final dialog box with duration information.