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Mac OS X (Leopard): change time machine backup interval

Objective: to set up a flexible schedule (instead of hourly) for automatic Time Machine backup.

Problem: the Leopard Time Machine is default to an hourly backup schedule. You cannot change the backup frequency through the System Preferences Pane if you would like to backup more/less frequently.

Solution: manually modify the default value within com.apple.backupd-auto.plist. The file is located under /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/. Issue the following command at terminal to open the file and make changes:
sudo pico /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.backupd-auto.plist
Find the default value 3600 (seconds) and change it to 7200 if you would like it to backup in 2-hourly intervals (or 1800 for half-hourly backup). Ctrl-O to save the file and Ctrl-X to exit editing. The changes should take effect after reboot.
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Comments

Matthew Dornquast @ 29.11.2007 07:47 CEST
An interesting alternative to Time Machine:

http://www.crashplan.com/features/timeMachine.vtl

It's has many more features while remaining quite easy to use.
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