Studio BackupVersioned Mac backups to drives or over SSH
Back up your sessions, drives or whole Mac to an external drive or a Linux machine over SSH, and go back to any point in time from a dated folder.
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When you need last Tuesday’s version of a session, the easiest backup to get it from is a dated folder you can open in Finder and drag files out of.
Studio Backup makes a complete, dated folder every time it runs. Unchanged files are shared between versions, so history costs only the space of what changed. It runs on your schedule, to an APFS or HFS+ drive or to another machine over SSH with the keys you already have, and it tells you when something goes wrong.
When it runs, and what it keeps
Each job is one source, one destination and a schedule: every few hours, daily, on chosen weekdays, monthly, or whenever the drive is plugged in. A run is skipped when nothing has changed. Then choose how long to keep versions, for example one a day for a week, one a week for a year, then one a month, and the oldest go first when the drive runs low.
What it
does
Every version is a folder
Each backup is a real dated folder of your files, readable in Finder with or without the app. Creation dates, Finder tags, permissions and ownership are kept.
Drives or SSH
Back up to an APFS or HFS+ drive, or to a machine over SSH such as a Linux NAS on ext4 or btrfs. The destination is checked for version history and free space before the first run.
Schedules
Every 15 minutes to every 12 hours, daily, on chosen weekdays, monthly, or whenever the drive is plugged in. Runs are skipped when nothing has changed, and laptops can wait for mains power.
History that thins itself
By default it keeps every backup for 2 days, one a day for 30 days, one a week for 52 weeks, then one a month. When the drive runs low it removes the oldest first, keeping at least three.
Restore and verify
Restore a file, a folder or everything from any point in time to a place you choose. Check a backup against your originals file by file, or run a quick check on a 5% sample.
Take over or move a backup
Take over a backup another tool such as Carbon Copy Cloner already keeps, and only the changes are copied. Move a backup to another drive or machine with its full history, checked before the original is removed.
Works with
- Back up
- A folder, a whole drive, or everything on this Mac: home folders, Applications, /Library (audio plug-ins, fonts, licences), /opt and /usr/local, /private/etc
- Destinations
- APFS or Mac OS Extended (HFS+) drives with full version history · exFAT and FAT drives as a plain mirror · any machine you reach over SSH with a key and tar, such as a Linux NAS on ext4 or btrfs
- Schedules
- Every 15 minutes to every 12 hours · daily · chosen weekdays · monthly · when the drive is plugged in · by hand
- Takes over
- Existing backup folders kept by another tool, such as Carbon Copy Cloner, on a drive or over SSH
Scheduled backups pause, with a notification. Your existing backups are untouched, and restoring always works. The app’s window is blurred behind a “No valid licence” card, and nothing is deleted. How trials and licences work
Common
questions
Should this be my only backup?
Keep more than one backup whichever app you use, with a second copy on another drive or off-site, and test-restore a few files now and then.
What permissions does it need?
Full Disk Access for the app and its backup helper, which you switch on in System Settings, to back up protected places such as Mail and Messages. Drive jobs ask for your admin password once to install the helper.
Can it back up to a network share or iCloud?
It backs up to drives connected to your Mac and to machines over SSH. SMB shares mounted in Finder aren’t supported as destinations; use SSH to reach a NAS. iCloud Drive and other cloud folders are skipped.
Can I restore a whole Mac from it?
Reinstall macOS, then restore the backup on top. macOS lives on a sealed system volume that can’t be copied, so the backup holds your files, apps and settings.
How is Studio Backup different from Time Machine?
Both keep a dated history of your files that you can go back to. Time Machine is built into macOS and backs up to an external drive, a Mac shared on your network, or a NAS that supports Time Machine over SMB. Studio Backup saves each backup as a plain dated folder, backs up to drives or to any machine you can reach over SSH, and lets you choose the schedule and how long versions are kept.
How does Studio Backup compare to Carbon Copy Cloner?
Carbon Copy Cloner, from Bombich Software, backs up to external drives and network volumes and keeps earlier versions as snapshots. Studio Backup keeps each version as a dated folder with unchanged files shared between them, and can also back up over SSH. If Carbon Copy Cloner already keeps a copy of the same source, Studio Backup can take that folder over and copy only the changes; its snapshots stay where they are and aren’t imported.
Can I back up my Mac to a Linux server or NAS over SSH?
Yes. You need to be able to log in with an SSH key (ssh user@machine works in Terminal without a password), the machine needs tar installed, and your account must be able to write to the backup folder. Linux filesystems such as ext4 and btrfs work well, and SSH backups run while you’re logged in to your Mac.
Can I back up my session folders and sample library drive?
Yes. Make a job for your projects folder, and another for the whole sample drive if you like. Unchanged files are shared between versions, so a large sample library takes its full space once and later versions only add what changed.
Does a whole-Mac backup include my audio plug-ins?
Yes. The Everything on this Mac job includes the system-wide Library folder, where audio plug-ins, application support, fonts and shared licences live, along with Applications and every home folder. Caches and render files, such as Adobe media caches and Final Cut Pro render files, are skipped.
Can I open my backups without Studio Backup?
Yes. A drive backup is a Latest folder with the current copy of your files and a Versions folder of dated folders, and you can drag files out of any of them in Finder. SSH backups are the same folders on the other machine.
Why does Finder say my backup is bigger than my drive?
Unchanged files are hard-linked between versions, and Finder counts them again for every version. There is only one copy of each on the drive, and More › Space Used… shows the real figure.
Can I use an exFAT drive for Studio Backup?
Yes, as a plain mirror with no version history and without Mac details such as creation dates and Finder tags. For full history use an APFS or Mac OS Extended (HFS+) drive, and copy anything you need off the exFAT drive before reformatting it.
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