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Backing up iCloud, iCloud recovery and document versions
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An article by this title was published yesterday on .
Backing up iCloud, iCloud recovery and document versions. |
Here are the first two paragraphs:
Time Machine
Unless you add iCloud Drive to the list of excluded items in Time Machine, its contents will be backed up by Time Machine so long as there are local copies of those files and folders, and your backup includes the Library in your Home folder. Any items that have been evicted and replaced locally by stub files can’t be backed up without downloading them first. The reason for this is that files whose data only exists in iCloud Drive can’t be copied to local backup storage immediately; rather than defer their copying until they can be downloaded, Time Machine simply ignores all evicted items.
This is significant if you have enabled Optimise Mac Storage, the more so if you have put your Desktop & Documents Folders into iCloud Drive, when many older items may be automatically evicted by macOS, even if your Data volume has plenty of free space. Although items shouldn’t have changed while they’ve been evicted, their last local occurrence may be in a backup made months ago. If you remove old backups, this could leave you without a copy of an evicted item in local storage.
The phrase that causes some confusion for me is this one: ?so long as there are local copies of those files and folders, and your backup includes the Library in your Home folder.
?I interpret that to mean that in order for TM to back up a file which exists on your iCloud , a copy of that file must be on your MacintoshHD.
But, my interpretation must be wrong because I just saved the eclecticlightcompany article as a .pdf and saved it to my iCloud Drive and NOT to my MacintoshHD.
Nonetheless, when I open a Finder window and browse TM, there is the eclecticlightcompany article. ?
Anyone want to take a shot at this one???
Bob
——
“He who asks is a?fool for five minutes,?
?He who does not?ask remains a fool?forever.”
Chinese?proverb
On Fri, Jul 21, 2023 at 01:41 PM, Bob Gerard wrote:
?I interpret that to mean that in order for TM to back up a file which exists on your iCloud , a copy of that file must be on your MacintoshHD.
?
But, my interpretation must be wrong because I just saved the eclecticlightcompany article as a .pdf and saved it to my iCloud Drive and NOT to my MacintoshHD.
?
Nonetheless, when I open a Finder window and browse TM, there is the eclecticlightcompany article. ?
?
Anyone want to take a shot at this one???
?
I have not stored my files on iCloud Drive but I will make a guess. If you put a file directly into an iCloud Drive folder that is being mirrored from your Mac, there is probably an alias made on your Mac for that file. When you want to open it on your computer it will be downloaded from iCloud to your computer. This is the basic functionality of such systems. Kind of the purpose of the whole thing. I am sure that you can find articles explaining this on Apple's support Web pages.
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Sounds perfectly normal. When you put something in iCloud Drive, you are putting it in a folder on your internal drive and macOS is copying it to Apple’s iCloud server. This file is therefore stored locally on your Mac and available for backup.
If you right-click a file in iCloud Drive and choose Remove Download, the file will be removed from your Mac but remain in iCloud. This file is not available for backup.
Note the ELC article’s mention of your Home Library not being excluded from TM. That’s because everything in iCloud Drive that’s mirrored on your Mac is stored in a folder in your Library.
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On Jul 21, 2023, at 13:41, Bob Gerard <rowerbob@...> wrote:
? An article by this title was published yesterday on .
Backing up iCloud, iCloud recovery and document versions.
|
Here are the first two paragraphs:
Time Machine
Unless you add iCloud Drive to the list of excluded items in Time Machine, its contents will be backed up by Time Machine so long as there are local copies of those files and folders, and your backup includes the Library in your Home folder. Any items that have been evicted and replaced locally by stub files can’t be backed up without downloading them first. The reason for this is that files whose data only exists in iCloud Drive can’t be copied to local backup storage immediately; rather than defer their copying until they can be downloaded, Time Machine simply ignores all evicted items.
This is significant if you have enabled Optimise Mac Storage, the more so if you have put your Desktop & Documents Folders into iCloud Drive, when many older items may be automatically evicted by macOS, even if your Data volume has plenty of free space. Although items shouldn’t have changed while they’ve been evicted, their last local occurrence may be in a backup made months ago. If you remove old backups, this could leave you without a copy of an evicted item in local storage.
The phrase that causes some confusion for me is this one: ?so long as there are local copies of those files and folders, and your backup includes the Library in your Home folder.
?I interpret that to mean that in order for TM to back up a file which exists on your iCloud , a copy of that file must be on your MacintoshHD.
But, my interpretation must be wrong because I just saved the eclecticlightcompany article as a .pdf and saved it to my iCloud Drive and NOT to my MacintoshHD.
Nonetheless, when I open a Finder window and browse TM, there is the eclecticlightcompany article. ?
Anyone want to take a shot at this one???
Bob
——
“He who asks is a?fool for five minutes,?
?He who does not?ask remains a fool?forever.”
Chinese?proverb
On Jul 22, 2023, at 16:56, Steve Bee <buytcfhe@...> wrote:
If you put a file directly into an iCloud Drive folder that is being mirrored from your Mac,
Thanks, Steve! There’s that damned “mirrored” again. ?What does it really mean?
Since, AFAIK, the only way to put things on iCloud drive, short of going to , is to access it in your Finder sidebar.
Drag and drop a file from your Home folder to iCloud Drive (which is a Move and not a Copy) - is that what is meant by mirrored?
If so, great, all files and folder moved into our iCloud drive that way then get backed up in our Time Machine backups.
Right?
Bob
———
“They say the Lord?answers all our?prayers, it’s just that?sometimes he?answers no.”
- Amor Towles
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On Jul 22, 2023, at 17:56, Ben Rosenthal <ben@...> wrote:
Sounds perfectly normal. When you put something in iCloud Drive, you are putting it in a folder on your internal drive and macOS is copying it to Apple’s iCloud server. This file is therefore stored locally on your Mac and available for backup.
Thanks, Ben. ?
But, if the above is correct, it’s passing strange that when I do that - d&d a folder from my Home folder to my iCloud Drive folder, it disappears from my Home folder: ?a Move.
If I option - d&d it to my iCloud folder, it’s a Copy, but I assume that any changes made to that folder, be it in on iCloud Drive or in my Home folder will not be reflected.
If you right-click a file in iCloud Drive and choose Remove Download, the file will be removed from your Mac but remain in iCloud. This file is not available for backup.
Bob
———
“They say the Lord?answers all our?prayers, it’s just that?sometimes he?answers no.”
- Amor Towles
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The primary purpose of iCloud is keep data in sync among devices. That’s why Apple designed iCloud to operate with your name Apple apps, like Contacts, Calendars, Mail, and Photos. People don’t necessarily have Internet connections that are fast enough for them to open there documents and data directly from a remote server (“the cloud”) so these items get downloaded and stored locally before opening.
The main ways to access iCloud Drive on your Mac are via the Finder sidebar (if you have iCloud Drive listed there) or via iCloud Drive in the Finder’s Go menu (keyboard shortcut Shift+Command+I).
Although it’s a little confusing that Apple removed iCloud Drive from the Home folder, things you store in iCloud Drive are by default stored locally on your Mac. That’s why dragging an item between your internal drive and iCloud Drive is treated as a move instead of a copy (unless you hold Option).
For what it’s worth, the Desktop and Documents folders are actually still in Home, but when syncing Desktop & Documents Folders is enabled in iCloud Drive options, macOS hides them in the Home folder. If you go to your Home folder and press Shift+Command+Period to toggle hidden files, you’ll see Desktop and Documents appear.
Mirroring means that you have the same set of files and folders in two locations and some process syncs the locations, whether passively or on-demand.
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Show quoted text
There’s that damned “mirrored” again. ?What does it really mean?
Since, AFAIK, the only way to put things on iCloud drive, short of going to , is to access it in your Finder sidebar.
Drag and drop a file from your Home folder to iCloud Drive (which is a Move and not a Copy) - is that what is meant by mirrored?
If so, great, all files and folder moved into our iCloud drive that way then get backed up in our Time Machine backups.
Right?
But, if the above is correct, it’s passing strange that when I do that - d&d a folder from my Home folder to my iCloud Drive folder, it disappears from my Home folder: ?a Move.
If I option - d&d it to my iCloud folder, it’s a Copy, but I assume that any changes made to that folder, be it in on iCloud Drive or in my Home folder will not be reflected.
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On Jul 22, 2023, at 9:38 PM, Ben Rosenthal < ben@...> wrote:
The primary purpose of iCloud is keep data in sync among devices.?
<big byte>
Superb explanation, Ben. ?I have cut and pasted it to a TextEdit document and saved it for use when the seniors I help ask me to explain iCloud/iCloud drive.
Bob
———
“ A man sees in the?world what he?carries in his heart.”
— Goethe,?Faust
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Bob Gerard
Ben Rosenthal