How do I see what files are new in a Time Machine backup?
As I understand it, Time Machine creates hard links for all the previous files in a backup, so each timestamped backup folder appears as a full snapshot of the files at the time of the backup. How can I find out which files are new for a given backup and which files were carried forward from the previous backup?
macos time-machine
edited Jan 28 at 23:23
fixer1234
19k144982
asked Dec 4 '09 at 5:02
Rob KennedyRob Kennedy
160212
add a comment |
As I understand it, Time Machine creates hard links for all the previous files in a backup, so each timestamped backup folder appears as a full snapshot of the files at the time of the backup. How can I find out which files are new for a given backup and which files were carried forward from the previous backup?
macos time-machine
edited Jan 28 at 23:23
fixer1234
19k144982
asked Dec 4 '09 at 5:02
Rob KennedyRob Kennedy
160212
See also the notes ontimedog(command line) and TimeTracker (GUI) at Verifying Time Machine backups.
– Arjan
Apr 30 '10 at 6:25
add a comment |
As I understand it, Time Machine creates hard links for all the previous files in a backup, so each timestamped backup folder appears as a full snapshot of the files at the time of the backup. How can I find out which files are new for a given backup and which files were carried forward from the previous backup?
macos time-machine
edited Jan 28 at 23:23
fixer1234
19k144982
asked Dec 4 '09 at 5:02
Rob KennedyRob Kennedy
160212
As I understand it, Time Machine creates hard links for all the previous files in a backup, so each timestamped backup folder appears as a full snapshot of the files at the time of the backup. How can I find out which files are new for a given backup and which files were carried forward from the previous backup?
macos time-machine
macos time-machine
edited Jan 28 at 23:23
fixer1234
19k144982
asked Dec 4 '09 at 5:02
Rob KennedyRob Kennedy
160212
edited Jan 28 at 23:23
fixer1234
19k144982
asked Dec 4 '09 at 5:02
Rob KennedyRob Kennedy
160212
edited Jan 28 at 23:23
fixer1234
19k144982
edited Jan 28 at 23:23
fixer1234
19k144982
edited Jan 28 at 23:23
fixer1234
19k144982
19k144982
asked Dec 4 '09 at 5:02
Rob KennedyRob Kennedy
160212
asked Dec 4 '09 at 5:02
Rob KennedyRob Kennedy
160212
asked Dec 4 '09 at 5:02
Rob KennedyRob Kennedy
160212
160212
See also the notes ontimedog(command line) and TimeTracker (GUI) at Verifying Time Machine backups.
– Arjan
Apr 30 '10 at 6:25
add a comment |
See also the notes ontimedog(command line) and TimeTracker (GUI) at Verifying Time Machine backups.
– Arjan
Apr 30 '10 at 6:25
See also the notes on
timedog (command line) and TimeTracker (GUI) at Verifying Time Machine backups.– Arjan
Apr 30 '10 at 6:25
See also the notes on
timedog (command line) and TimeTracker (GUI) at Verifying Time Machine backups.– Arjan
Apr 30 '10 at 6:25
add a comment |
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
BackupLoupe is $1, excellent, and does just this.
And yes, it does use hard links. This article (part of a 10.5 review on arstechnica) explains how Time Machine works and is a very interesting read.
answered Dec 4 '09 at 5:30
ridogiridogi
2,63211324
add a comment |
If Time Machine is actually using hard links, you can use 'ls -l' to display the link count for a file. In theory, new files will have a link count of 1. For example:
$ touch foo
$ ls -l foo
-rw-r--r-- 1 lars staff 0 Dec 4 00:22 foo
The second field is the link count. Let's create a link:
$ ln foo bar
$ ls -l foo bar
-rw-r--r-- 2 lars staff 0 Dec 4 00:22 bar
-rw-r--r-- 2 lars staff 0 Dec 4 00:22 foo
Note that the link count has increased.
You can use the 'find' command to find all files with a single link:
$ find /path/to/backup -links 1 -print
answered Dec 4 '09 at 5:24
larskslarsks
2,8921521
That's what I thought, too, but it's not that easy. If a folder has been "carried forward," then there will be a hard link to just the folder. The files in the folder won't have additional links, so if a folder remains unchanged for several backups, the link counts for those files will remain at 1 even though they're actually very old.
– Rob Kennedy
Dec 4 '09 at 5:38
add a comment |
Compare snapshots
In Lion or greater:
- use the
compareverb of tmutil.
answered Jul 24 '12 at 8:40
Graham PerrinGraham Perrin
98051849
add a comment |
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3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
BackupLoupe is $1, excellent, and does just this.
And yes, it does use hard links. This article (part of a 10.5 review on arstechnica) explains how Time Machine works and is a very interesting read.
answered Dec 4 '09 at 5:30
ridogiridogi
2,63211324
add a comment |
BackupLoupe is $1, excellent, and does just this.
And yes, it does use hard links. This article (part of a 10.5 review on arstechnica) explains how Time Machine works and is a very interesting read.
answered Dec 4 '09 at 5:30
ridogiridogi
2,63211324
add a comment |
BackupLoupe is $1, excellent, and does just this.
And yes, it does use hard links. This article (part of a 10.5 review on arstechnica) explains how Time Machine works and is a very interesting read.
answered Dec 4 '09 at 5:30
ridogiridogi
2,63211324
BackupLoupe is $1, excellent, and does just this.
And yes, it does use hard links. This article (part of a 10.5 review on arstechnica) explains how Time Machine works and is a very interesting read.
answered Dec 4 '09 at 5:30
ridogiridogi
2,63211324
edited Dec 4 '09 at 5:48
answered Dec 4 '09 at 5:30
ridogiridogi
2,63211324
answered Dec 4 '09 at 5:30
ridogiridogi
2,63211324
answered Dec 4 '09 at 5:30
ridogiridogi
2,63211324
2,63211324
add a comment |
add a comment |
If Time Machine is actually using hard links, you can use 'ls -l' to display the link count for a file. In theory, new files will have a link count of 1. For example:
$ touch foo
$ ls -l foo
-rw-r--r-- 1 lars staff 0 Dec 4 00:22 foo
The second field is the link count. Let's create a link:
$ ln foo bar
$ ls -l foo bar
-rw-r--r-- 2 lars staff 0 Dec 4 00:22 bar
-rw-r--r-- 2 lars staff 0 Dec 4 00:22 foo
Note that the link count has increased.
You can use the 'find' command to find all files with a single link:
$ find /path/to/backup -links 1 -print
answered Dec 4 '09 at 5:24
larskslarsks
2,8921521
That's what I thought, too, but it's not that easy. If a folder has been "carried forward," then there will be a hard link to just the folder. The files in the folder won't have additional links, so if a folder remains unchanged for several backups, the link counts for those files will remain at 1 even though they're actually very old.
– Rob Kennedy
Dec 4 '09 at 5:38
add a comment |
If Time Machine is actually using hard links, you can use 'ls -l' to display the link count for a file. In theory, new files will have a link count of 1. For example:
$ touch foo
$ ls -l foo
-rw-r--r-- 1 lars staff 0 Dec 4 00:22 foo
The second field is the link count. Let's create a link:
$ ln foo bar
$ ls -l foo bar
-rw-r--r-- 2 lars staff 0 Dec 4 00:22 bar
-rw-r--r-- 2 lars staff 0 Dec 4 00:22 foo
Note that the link count has increased.
You can use the 'find' command to find all files with a single link:
$ find /path/to/backup -links 1 -print
answered Dec 4 '09 at 5:24
larskslarsks
2,8921521
That's what I thought, too, but it's not that easy. If a folder has been "carried forward," then there will be a hard link to just the folder. The files in the folder won't have additional links, so if a folder remains unchanged for several backups, the link counts for those files will remain at 1 even though they're actually very old.
– Rob Kennedy
Dec 4 '09 at 5:38
add a comment |
If Time Machine is actually using hard links, you can use 'ls -l' to display the link count for a file. In theory, new files will have a link count of 1. For example:
$ touch foo
$ ls -l foo
-rw-r--r-- 1 lars staff 0 Dec 4 00:22 foo
The second field is the link count. Let's create a link:
$ ln foo bar
$ ls -l foo bar
-rw-r--r-- 2 lars staff 0 Dec 4 00:22 bar
-rw-r--r-- 2 lars staff 0 Dec 4 00:22 foo
Note that the link count has increased.
You can use the 'find' command to find all files with a single link:
$ find /path/to/backup -links 1 -print
answered Dec 4 '09 at 5:24
larskslarsks
2,8921521
If Time Machine is actually using hard links, you can use 'ls -l' to display the link count for a file. In theory, new files will have a link count of 1. For example:
$ touch foo
$ ls -l foo
-rw-r--r-- 1 lars staff 0 Dec 4 00:22 foo
The second field is the link count. Let's create a link:
$ ln foo bar
$ ls -l foo bar
-rw-r--r-- 2 lars staff 0 Dec 4 00:22 bar
-rw-r--r-- 2 lars staff 0 Dec 4 00:22 foo
Note that the link count has increased.
You can use the 'find' command to find all files with a single link:
$ find /path/to/backup -links 1 -print
answered Dec 4 '09 at 5:24
larskslarsks
2,8921521
answered Dec 4 '09 at 5:24
larskslarsks
2,8921521
answered Dec 4 '09 at 5:24
larskslarsks
2,8921521
answered Dec 4 '09 at 5:24
larskslarsks
2,8921521
2,8921521
That's what I thought, too, but it's not that easy. If a folder has been "carried forward," then there will be a hard link to just the folder. The files in the folder won't have additional links, so if a folder remains unchanged for several backups, the link counts for those files will remain at 1 even though they're actually very old.
– Rob Kennedy
Dec 4 '09 at 5:38
add a comment |
That's what I thought, too, but it's not that easy. If a folder has been "carried forward," then there will be a hard link to just the folder. The files in the folder won't have additional links, so if a folder remains unchanged for several backups, the link counts for those files will remain at 1 even though they're actually very old.
– Rob Kennedy
Dec 4 '09 at 5:38
That's what I thought, too, but it's not that easy. If a folder has been "carried forward," then there will be a hard link to just the folder. The files in the folder won't have additional links, so if a folder remains unchanged for several backups, the link counts for those files will remain at 1 even though they're actually very old.
– Rob Kennedy
Dec 4 '09 at 5:38
That's what I thought, too, but it's not that easy. If a folder has been "carried forward," then there will be a hard link to just the folder. The files in the folder won't have additional links, so if a folder remains unchanged for several backups, the link counts for those files will remain at 1 even though they're actually very old.
– Rob Kennedy
Dec 4 '09 at 5:38
add a comment |
Compare snapshots
In Lion or greater:
- use the
compareverb of tmutil.
answered Jul 24 '12 at 8:40
Graham PerrinGraham Perrin
98051849
add a comment |
Compare snapshots
In Lion or greater:
- use the
compareverb of tmutil.
answered Jul 24 '12 at 8:40
Graham PerrinGraham Perrin
98051849
add a comment |
Compare snapshots
In Lion or greater:
- use the
compareverb of tmutil.
answered Jul 24 '12 at 8:40
Graham PerrinGraham Perrin
98051849
Compare snapshots
In Lion or greater:
- use the
compareverb of tmutil.
answered Jul 24 '12 at 8:40
Graham PerrinGraham Perrin
98051849
answered Jul 24 '12 at 8:40
Graham PerrinGraham Perrin
98051849
answered Jul 24 '12 at 8:40
Graham PerrinGraham Perrin
98051849
answered Jul 24 '12 at 8:40
Graham PerrinGraham Perrin
98051849
98051849
add a comment |
add a comment |
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See also the notes on
timedog(command line) and TimeTracker (GUI) at Verifying Time Machine backups.– Arjan
Apr 30 '10 at 6:25