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I'd like to find an (semi-)automated way to backup my whole MacBook Pro system and data to a network attached storage. The external storage is a Windows share I can access using Samba.

I can't use Time Machine, because it asks for a Time Capsule device - or is there a way to use Time Machine without a Time Capsule?

Thanks!

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You can 'force' Time Machine to backup to other mounted network shares. In Terminal, run the following:

defaults write com.apple.systempreferences TMShowUnsupportedNetworkVolumes 1

This should then allow you to backup to your SMB, AFP and NFS network shares. If they do not initially show up in Time Machine, mount them and then re-check.

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Thank you! 25 rep points on a Sunday to a direct competitor, what am I doing? ;-) – splattne Jul 26 '09 at 14:59
THANK YOU for this! I am going to try it now! – Optimal Solutions Sep 15 '09 at 12:59
Tried that command, Time Capsule still didnt see my NAS which is on a shared Windows LAN. I remounted and even rebooted... I can see (read/write) files on that NAS but I'd like to get Time Machine to actually begin backing up my one iMac to that drive like I have my Windows machines doing each night. – Optimal Solutions Sep 15 '09 at 14:43
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