[ANN] The Entourage Help Blog: Entourage and Time Machine

[Diane Ross]

Time Machine is a breakthrough automatic backup feature that¹s built right
into Mac OS X Leopard, but for Entourage users it's recommended that you
exclude your Identity from Time Machine.

There is an alternative for Entourage users using a Folder Action and
Automator. The nice thing about this method is it can be used by those still
running Tiger and it's free.

Entourage and Time Machine (The Entourage Help Blog)
<http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/2008/01/entourage_and_time_machine.html>

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Diane:

Neat idea!

However... how do you deal with "... As long as Time Machine is backing up
the database when the file is not open (the Database Daemon is not running),
then the databases should be valid."?

Many users will not know how to quit the Daemon. There is a script around
that does it. Can you add that script to the iCal schedule?

Unless you do, there is no point in doing the rest of it, since the backup
will never be useable.

You would also need to re-start the Database Daemon after this operation,
otherwise the user will miss all their morning appointments next morning

Cheers

Time Machine is a breakthrough automatic backup feature that¹s built right
into Mac OS X Leopard, but for Entourage users it's recommended that you
exclude your Identity from Time Machine.

There is an alternative for Entourage users using a Folder Action and
Automator. The nice thing about this method is it can be used by those still
running Tiger and it's free.

Entourage and Time Machine (The Entourage Help Blog)
<http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/2008/01/entourage_and_time_machine.html>

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John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[Diane Ross]

However... how do you deal with "... As long as Time Machine is backing up
the database when the file is not open (the Database Daemon is not running),
then the databases should be valid."?

Many users will not know how to quit the Daemon. There is a script around
that does it. Can you add that script to the iCal schedule?

Unless you do, there is no point in doing the rest of it, since the backup
will never be useable.

You would also need to re-start the Database Daemon after this operation,
otherwise the user will miss all their morning appointments next morning

If you just put Entourage into Offline mode at night the daemon will not be
active. Most users have reported that as long as the database is not being
used during backup there is no problem.

If the database gets written during the backup you can either (1) lose some
data or (2) have a corrupt backup file. If you are not writing
anything...e.g., no automatic Send & Receive All schedule...you can back up
without quitting anything. To be absolutely safe, you should quit Entourage
before backup.

I'll add this as a note to the article. It's also another good reason not to
let Time Machine backup your database hourly. Most likely it will be active
during most of the backups during the day.

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

If you just put Entourage into Offline mode at night the daemon will
not be active. Most users have reported that as long as the database
is not being used during backup there is no problem.

Well to be precise: nothing should write to the database, though it
might still be active. The notifications still read events and poop-up
when they need to.

Corentin

 

[aRKay]

Time Machine is a breakthrough automatic backup feature that¹s built right
into Mac OS X Leopard, but for Entourage users it's recommended that you
exclude your Identity from Time Machine.

There is an alternative for Entourage users using a Folder Action and
Automator. The nice thing about this method is it can be used by those still
running Tiger and it's free.

I am not a fan of the Apples Time Machine hourly backups; however, I
found a very neat tip on the Apple discussion group that helped me. I
keep the Time Machine OFF until I am ready for it to do a backup. The
problem is when you turn ON the Time Machine, it sleeps for about an
hour or until the next scheduled backup. Apple hid the Run Backup Now
button that several of us wanted. Thanks to tip I can now leave the
Time Machine OFF and when I want it to start all that is required is to
Right-Click on the Time Machine icon on the Dock and select "Back Up
Now" from the list of options. The hourly backup is as dumb as dirt and
fills up the back up drive too fast.

This may be an option to excluding Entourage Identity from the TM.

My personal backup preference is SuperDuper; however, is still being
updated for Leopard.



the TM does not have Run Backup Now button and when you

 

[Diane Ross]

This may be an option to excluding Entourage Identity from the TM.

My personal backup preference is SuperDuper; however, is still being
updated for Leopard.

It's important to have snapshots of your backups so make sure you don't just
rely on SuperDuper, which is my favorite backup utility, to rewrite your
database every night. Database corruption is often not evident for weeks.
Even slight corruption can go unnoticed for months. That's why a "Time
Machine type" backup is necessary.

I like having my Entourage backups in my "Time Machine archive". I have room
and will let it go for long periods before I go in and delete extras.

The folder action is also very useful for your downloads and screen snaps
folders.