Data Volume Backup Assistant
NOTE: A Data Volume backup is the preferred method of maintaining a full system backup on macOS 11 (Big Sur) and later. This is due to Apple making it more and more difficult to create bootable backups and it will eventually become impossible to create a bootable backup at all.
A data volume backup is an exact replica of your working system’s data volume. If something were to happen to your primary system drive, you could reinstall macOS and then use Migration Assistant to restore all of your user data from the data volume backup. The Data Volume Backup assistant will create a synchronizer task that makes a backup of your system’s data volume. The destination must be a volume on another drive connected locally, typically an external drive.
CREATE A NEW SYNCHRONIZER TASK
From the ChronoSync Organizer window, choose ‘Use a setup assistant’. This takes you to a list of all the assistants that ChronoSync has to offer. For this guide, choose ‘Data Volume.’
NOTE: The Data Volume assistant is only available when running on macOS 10.15 (Catalina), or later.
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A summary panel will appear to explain the Data Volume Backup assistant. Click on ‘Get Started’ to set up the assistant.
ADMIN PRIVILEGES
Before you make a data volume backup, you must have admin privileges. Click on ‘Request Admin Privileges’ and enter your credentials.
SELECT A SOURCE VOLUME
From the list presented to you, choose the volume that you’d like to make a data volume backup of. Normally this is your current boot volume but if you have multiple boot volumes attached, they can be chosen as well. Click on ‘Next Step.’
SELECT A DESTINATION VOLUME
Choose the volume that you’d like to have the data volume backup reside. Click on ‘Next Step.’
PREPARE THE DESTINATION VOLUME
Choose how you would like the destination volume formatted. Click on ‘Next Step.’
MAINTAIN AN ARCHIVE
ChronoSync maintains an archive so that you have access to older files or files that you have deleted, just in case. The archive is a safety net against accidental deletions or changes to files. Determine whether you wish to have an archive and then click on ‘Next Step.’
NAME THE TASK
The final step to the Data Volume Backup assistant is to give it a unique, meaningful name so that you can easily access the task in the future. After naming the task, click on ‘Create Task’ to complete the assistant setup.
TASK CREATED
ChronoSync has created a new task with the settings specified during the assistant setup. The task is presented to you. From here, you can choose to go through all of the panels of the task document and fine tune options or, to keep things simple, run the task as-is.
CONCLUSION
That’s it! You now have a data volume backup task defined. If you need to access this task document in the future, it can be found in the ChronoSync Organizer.
WHEN THINGS GO WRONG
Using the Data Volume Backup assistant is pretty straightforward so the above steps should work flawlessly and without incident. If you encounter any problems following this tutorial or you have any questions concerning any of the settings, please contact our technical support team and just ask! We don’t mind — we’re here to help!