up vote 5 down vote favorite
share [g+] share [fb]

We use Apple's Time Machine to back up our Apple 10.5.8 workstations at the office.

If I want to restore a file, I need to open up the Time Machine GUI and browse files there. The GUI is ugly eye-candy and gets in my way.

Is there a way to browse the Time Machine archive using the Mac's command-line?

I'm used to Netapps and other storage appliances. I use backintime for my Ubuntu workstation. To restore a file with one of those systems, you can restore a file with a simple command like:

cp .snapshot/daily.0/filename.txt .

or

cp /backup/backintime/20100611-000002/backup/etc/shadow /etc/shadow

Is there an equivalent for Apple's Time Machine?

link|improve this question
67% accept rate
1  
An intermediate solution would be to use Finder to browse the Time Machine backups just like a regular folder. – fideli Jun 14 '10 at 22:23
@fideli : You said we can browse Time Machine in the finder. I didn't realize this was possible. It also turns out we can browse the Time Machine folder using the commandline! For example, I can a backup of ~/.vimrc at /Volumes/TimeMachine/Backups.backupdb/$HOSTNAME/Latest/$USERNAME/Users/mydirect‌​ory/.vimrc. – Stefan Lasiewski Jun 14 '10 at 22:48
@fideli : I think you answered my question. Go ahead an put in your answer below, mention something about 'command-line' and collect your prize! – Stefan Lasiewski Jun 14 '10 at 22:48
feedback

1 Answer

up vote 3 down vote accepted

Putting my comment as an answer. An intermediate solution would be to use Finder to browse the Time Machine backups just like a regular folder. If you want to browse it in the command line, drag the folder from the Finder to the Terminal window so that you don't need to hunt through the many levels of directories that Time Machine sets up. Enjoy!

link|improve this answer
feedback

Your Answer

 
or
required, but never shown
discard

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.