Macos – How to view time machine log in MacOS Sierra

backuploggingmacostime-machine

In previous version of OSX, I was able to view the results of past Time Machine backup jobs thus:

sudo syslog -F '$Time $Message' -k Sender com.apple.backupd

Now syslog is no longer part of the operating system. It has been replaced by "log."

I have failed to find info about time machine jobs using "log." I have also failed using (the new version of) console.

Any suggestions?

Best Answer

macOS Sierra uses Unified Logging (memory and a data store; no text files any longer).

However, with the log(1) utility, you can view, filter, manipulate etc. logs. See man log, and here's a couple of TimeMachine-specific examples:

Stream the log, live (like tail):

log stream --style syslog --predicate 'senderImagePath contains[cd] "TimeMachine"' --info

Don't stream, just show the log and exit:

log show --style syslog --predicate 'senderImagePath contains[cd] "TimeMachine"' --info

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Old unanswered qn, needs attention

Why not just recreate the partition using Disk Utility, backing up anything you want to keep on the disk?

If you really want to preserve the disk, try sudo chown -R $USER:$USER $EXTVOL, where $EXTVOL is the path to the volume.

Macos – How to fix the access denied on folders in a old Time Machine Backup drive

I usually use tmutil to restore TM ownership after doing a manual user account restore or after migrating to a new computer. Connect the TM back-up drive. Drag the first folder inside Backups.backupdb after you type "sudo tmutil inheritbackup " in terminal app to supply the path which usually is the Macintosh shared name.

sudo tmutil inheritbackup

Follow that with associating the last TM back-up made. Locate your TM volume then set finder view as list. Open the first folder inside "Backups.backupdb", inside should be a list of folders with TM back-up dates in their names. The 2nd to last folder should be the last TM back-up (last folder is actually "Latest" alias). Inside that folder should be the name of the volume which is normally "Macintosh HD" or whatever name if it's renamed to something else. Drag that folder below after you type "sudo tmutil associatedisk -a / " to supply the path.

sudo tmutil associatedisk -a /

The best time to use this is before you attempt to use TM after setting-up your account on the replacement Mac or right after logging in after migration. I'm not sure if this will work since you already made manual permissions settings on the time machine back-up folders but it's worth a shot.

Good luck!

Best Answer

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