superduper and smart-sync problem

[mairc]

I am using "superduper" for years to make a 1:1 backup of my macbookpro's SSD. It's in addition to TimeMachine and allows me to work (nearly) without interruption if the computer or it's drive fails.

Since I enabled Dropbox smart-sync on my dropbox business account, it looks like that superduper is also trying to backup online-only files. That means, that I will need more storage on the backup volume than the actual size of the macbookpro's SSD. Moreover, it will not be possible to restore an exact 1:1 copy, because this will not fit on the SSD again.

Any suggested solution from the community?

Kind regards, Christian

[Lusil]

Hey Christian! 

Initially, if you’re using a third party app to back-up your files, please note that files set to be online-only may be prompted to be downloaded as local due to the app’s processes. You can also check this thread out which discusses a similar scenario a bit more in-depth (although it refers to Time Machine, you may find it relevant).

Furthermore, you mention:

---

@mairc wrote:

I will need more storage on the backup volume than the actual size of the macbookpro's SSD.

If you’re looking by any chance to move your Dropbox folder to a new location, I’d kindly recommend having a look at this article for more info and ideas on what to bear in mind. 

Let me know if you have any other questions!

[mairc]

Hey Lusil,

thank you and of course you are right and I also understand the beckgrounds, but unforunately: this does not solve the problem. 

If there is anybody how can suggest  a working solution (maybe another tool than superduper?) I would be very lucky. And I am sure, I am not the only one...

Christian

[jk12]

Hi:

I just had exactly the same problem and would really like Dropbox support to suggest a solution.

Details: I've been using SmartSync with many of my files set to Online Only in two different Super Duper accounts (1 work, 1 personal). When Super Duper made a backup (bootable clone) of my 500GB MacBook Pro, the size of that backup was a whopping 895GB. Of course, restoring from the clone filled the MacBook Pro and then caused the restore to fail for lack of space.

The wonderful Super Duper support guy figured out it had something to do with Dropbox files being backed up even though they are marked Online Only. He suggested writing a Super Duper Copy Script to restore all files except those in my two Dropbox accounts. That worked for one of the Dropbox accounts; the second Dropbox account did not get ignored and tried to restore anyway. Help please.

[Rich]

There really isn't anything for Dropbox to resolve here as the SmartSync feature is working as intended.

Files marked as Online-only will be automatically downloaded back to the computer when they're accessed. Dropbox can't tell if it's you opening a file, an antivirus app scanning a file or a backup process backing up your files. Anything that attempts to access an Online-only file will cause it to be downloaded back to the comptuer. In the case of a backup process, both are doing exactly what they're supposed to do; the backup app attempts to access the file, Dropbox recognizes this and downloads the file to the comptuer, then the backup process backs it up.

Your best course of action will be to set an exclusion for your Dropbox folder within your backup software, and then manually backup your Dropbox folder so Online-only files aren't downloaded.

[jk12]

Thanks Rich. I understand what's happening and why. But if the smart peeps at Dropbox (who I really admire and couldn't live without) could figure away around this it would be such a timesaver. Manually backing up the Dropbox folder is not such a good plan in the long run.

[rksinc]

That is the problem. How do I set up an exclusion so that SuperDuper doesn't try to back up my Dropbox folder with most of the files online only. I can no longer use SuperDuper because of this, as it hangs up when it gets to the Dropbox folder. I want to exempt just that folder. where is this link to how to set up a script for this?

[Lusil]

Hi there @rksinc, since you’re trying to exclude the Dropbox folder from a third party app, I’d recommend contacting them for more info. 

Let me know how it goes!

[mairc · Accepted solution]

I just discovered this very easy solution:

Simply "program" a new superduper-script which ignors the directories  "users/*/Dropbox*"

For the easy steps to create a script refer to page 20 on this document:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/com.shirtpocket/SuperDuper/SuperDuper.pdf

Hope this helps!

[yotimbo]

I was not comfortable with not having the entire Dropbox folder not backed up by SuperDuper!.

The solution that worked for me, and still allowed the Dropbox folder to be backed with SuperDuper! was that is created a folder called "Not on MBP" (I have a MacBook Pro) within the Dropbox folder: "Users/<me>/Dropbox/Not on MBP". I then moved all the files I had marked as Online Only to that folder. I marked the entire folder Online Only, then waited for all the files within and the folder itself to be labeled Online Only by Dropbox. Once that was done, I created a copy script in SuperDuper! (I merely duplicated the main copy script and modified it), that included an ignore command that pointed to that folder.

Thereafter, the entire Dropbox folder was backed up, except for the Online Only folder and files (along with the rest of the computer, of course).

Hope this helps!