Excluding Time Machine Back-ups from TSM Back-ups: MacOS

The following instructions are for clients who want to use both TSM with the IBM Spectrum Protect application, as well as Apple’s proprietary Time Machine backup service.

These instructions assume you have already set up a TSM node for your machine, and have installed the IBM Spectrum Protect app. If you have not done so yet, please go to the Install the IBM Spectrum Protect client: Mac OS X page.

These instructions will help you exclude the Time Machine backup files from being backed up to TSM. If you do not exclude these files, you will run into issues with TSM nodes being extremely large due to redundant backups.

1. In the new IBM Spectrum Protect window, click Edit in the top menu and select Client Preferences.
   
   
   
   
2. Under the Include-Exclude tab on the left sidebar, click Add…
   
   
   
   
3. Another window, Define Include-Exclude Options will appear. Click Browse… to find your Time Machine Backup drive.
   
   
   
   
4. In the Finder window, find the Devices category on the left sidebar and choose your Time Machine backup drive. Click Open.
   
   
   
   
5. Back in the Define Include-Exclude Options window, set the Category to Backup, and the Type to Exclude.dir. Click OK.
   
   
   
   
6. Your Time Machine backups should now be excluded from your TSM backups.