I use Mac laptops. Have for years. I make use of their Time Machine backups.
I configured Time Capsule instance using Samba, FreeBSD, and ZFS (latest) and today I added a new user to that configuration.
Next, I wanted to start the backups. I didn’t find details in my blog, so that prompted this post.
In this post:
- This post assumes you’re already configured the server (see above links).
- FreeBSD 14.2
- samba 4.16.11
Connect the remote Samba drive to your laptop
From finder, select Go | Connect to Server (shortcut is CMD-K).
In the Connect to Server window, enter the name of your host, as shown. For me, that’s smb://tm.int.unixathome.org
After hitting Connect, you should be prompted to confirm the connection:
Click on Connect.
Next you will be prompted for the user credentials. For me, that’s the user I created above when added a new user to that configuration. When I create the Unix user and the Samba user, I use the same creds.
Click on Connect.
Open Time Machine on your Mac. … actually, before I did that, I got this pop up on the screen:
Next, I saw:
I clicked on Add Backup Disk.
I clicked on Set Up Disk…
And we’re back to entering credentials.
I entered the password and clicked on Connect.
Now we’re at the critical point. This password is used to encrypt your backup. I use a different password than that for the user credentials.
Keep in mind: You may have to type that password in the future. I made sure any I or 1 or L were very easy to recognize. 0 is often mistaken for O.
After entering my password, this was the next screen:
Now, I wait. This may take some time. I have 520GB used on this 2TB drive.
By the time I had finished this, the backups had started. Estimated time: 16 hours.
