Operating Systems

RIP Bootable Backups

If there is one thing we learn from the world of Technology: Things Change.

In days past, we made a “bootable clone” backup to an external drive, which could be used to start up a(nother) Mac. Need a new battery in your laptop or had to send your Mac to Apple for repair? Software update gone bad and your computer won’t boot? No problem, just connect your bootable clone drive to another computer, choose it as the Startup Disk and get work done while your machine is out for service.

The concept of a bootable clone has, very sadly, gone the way of the Dodo. Starting in Mojave (MacOS 10.14) and continuing through newer operating systems: Catalina (10.15), Big Sur (MacOS 11.x) and now Monterey (MacOS 12.x), and with modern Macintosh hardware (including Macs with the “T2” fingerprint scanner/security chip and Macs with Apple silicon “M1” processors), Apple has made making and keeping a bootable clone unreliable.

Mike Bombich discusses the details in this excellent article:

https://bombich.com/blog/2021/05/19/beyond-bootable-backups-adapting-recovery-strategies-evolving-platform

As noted in the article above, Apple’s operating system is now “cryptographically signed” upon installation and this signing is only possible with an Apple-built software tool. This means the clever tools Carbon Copy Cloner uses to make a backup drive “bootable” no longer work.

So how does this change the situation where you’ve had an issue with your computer and need to get back up and running ASAP? Given the inability to create a bootable external drive, Apple is now forcing us to rely on their “Migration Assistant” (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204350) to restore data from a “data only” backup. Unfortunately this can take hours while your data restores, vs. the near-immediate uptime of restarting from a bootable clone.

You may recall seeing a question during setup of a new Mac: “Do you want to transfer information from another Mac?” – that’s Migration Assistant.

In the event of a catastrophe on your Mac, the process of restoring will now look something like this:

1. Fix any hardware issues (i.e. replace internal storage device)

2. Erase internal storage device

3. Reinstall Mac OS (can take 1-2 hours, depending on the speed of your internet connection)

4. Migrate from your last backup (can take several hours to copy your data, depending on how much data you have)

Here is Apple’s Support article on the process: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204350

As you can see, this process can be quite time consuming (~3-6+ hours) vs. time it takes to boot from your external backup drive.

There is no “fix” for this situation. Apple has chosen to make Mac OS and the Mac hardware more secure (as required by customers and current security, virus, malware and ransomeware vulnerabilities). Security is a good thing; unfortunately it comes with an inconvenient price tag sometimes.

For now, there is nothing you need to change about your Carbon Copy Cloner backups. CCC will continue to make full backups of everything on your Mac and can be used in the future with Migration Assistant (your CCC backup is called a “Startup Disk” in Migration Assistant-speak) to copy your user account, data and settings to a new computer or an erased computer with a newly installed operating system. If you haven’t updated to Carbon Copy Cloner version 6 yet (provides important compatibility fixes for macOS Catalina, Big Sur and Monterey), I recommend doing so. Choose “Check for Updates…” from the Carbon Copy Cloner menu. The update is only $20.

MacOS Monterey/Big Sur Backups: Q&A

For those who have bought a new computer or have updated their machine to Apple’s Catalina, Big Sur or Monterey operating systems, here are some things to know about the new(ish) APFS disk format, bootable backups and the Carbon Copy Cloner backup program…

Q: Should I continue to use Carbon Copy Cloner to make backups of my data?
A: Absolutely. A backup to an external drive is the best way to recover from a sick drive mechanism, failed operating system update or lost/stolen computer.

Q: Should I make my Carbon Copy Cloner backups “bootable”?
A: This is a tricky question to answer. Prior to Catalina, the answer was “absolutely”. Today things are a bit more complicated… Start with this article by Carbon Copy Cloner’s programmer Mike Bombich:

https://bombich.com/kb/ccc6/cloning-macos-system-volumes-apple-software-restore

As noted in this article, the answer depends on several factors, including which Mac hardware you have (Intel processor vs. Apple “M1” processor), and if you want to preserve previous “Snapshots” (points in time from which you can restore data).

If you’re running an Apple silicon “M1” Mac, I recommend using Carbon Copy Cloner’s “Standard” data-only backup strategy. For Intel-intel based Macs, I still recommend the “Legacy Bootable Backup”.

Q: What do I need to know about backups in Catalin, Big Sur or Monterey?
A: Disks used to boot a Mac are now required to be formatted in Apple’s newer file system (APFS). If you have an older backup drive which was previously set up for an earlier operating system (“Mac OS Extended, Journaled”, a.k.a “HFS +”, it is will likely need to be erased and reformatted as APFS. Note: This will permanently destroy all previous backup data on the drive.

Q: Can I continue to use my old external spinning hard drive for Carbon Copy Cloner bootable backups of Catalina, Big Sur or Monterey?
A: I don’t recommend this. The performance of a spinning hard drive formatted as APFS is terrible. In an emergency it may take 8-10 minutes to boot from a spinning APFS drive (vs. <60 seconds to boot from a backup made to a solid state drive (SSD). SSDs are becoming much more affordable per Gigabyte, are exponentially faster than spinning hard drives, and are more resilient to bumps and bruises due to them having no motor or moving parts to wear out.

As of this writing (October, 2021), a name-brand 1TB SSD can be had for around $155 and a 2TB model for ~$300.

Q: Should I upgrade to Carbon Copy Cloner 6?
A: If you’re running Mac OS Catalina, Big Sur, Monterey or later I recommend updating to Carbon Copy Cloner 6. CCC6 is significantly faster and the upgrade price is only $20. Here’s a list of some of the new features:

https://bombich.com/blog/2021/05/19/ccc-6-here-faster-backups-better-accountability-dark-mode-and-so-much-more

Note: Carbon Copy Cloner 6’s user interface is a bit different and may take some getting used to. If you’re running a version of Mac OS before Catalina, Carbon Copy Cloner 5 still works fine.

Q: Should I run both Carbon Copy Cloner and Time Machine backups?
A: Yes. Keeping multiple backups is always a good idea and Time Machine and Carbon Copy Cloner will work to save your data in different ways, depending on the crisis/scenario.

Q: Can I keep using my old spinning external drive for Time Machine backups?
A: Yes. As long as you have enough ports on your computer to connect both drives (or are comfortable rotating external drives on a regular basis), your old Time Machine disk can still be used. If your old spinning drive was previously partitioned for both Carbon Copy Cloner and Time Machine, the Carbon Copy Cloner volume can usually be deleted, making more room available for future Time Machine backups.

Q: Should I exclude my external backup drive from Spotlight indexing?
A: Yes! This prevents a scenario where you search for a file and inadvertently open the copy on the backup drive. If you then edit and save your changes, those changes will NOT reside in the original file on your internal storage. This can be confusing later when you open the original file and your edits are not there!

Q: The icon for my external backup device disappeared from the Desktop during the first run of a Legacy Bootable Backup run. What’s up with that?
A: This is a normal, (but annoying) behavior of Apple’s ASR tool which Carbon Copy Cloner uses to create a bootable clone. The destination disk’s icon will appear again when the copy is finished.

There are plenty of options and questions involved in backing up your Mac. Feel free to contact me via email or the “Contact” section on the right of this page for technical translation and/or advice on or help with any of the above.

Kirk van Moon
LANsharks Consulting

MacOS 11 “Big Sur” Observations

UPDATE: 3/9/2021:

I remain unimpressed with the stability of Big Sur. Many users (myself included) are reporting kernel panics when waking from sleep and trouble using external displays with laptops.

In addition, the update process introduced in Big Sur was supposed to *reduce* install time, but has actually done exactly the opposite. Given the number of bugs and requisite updates being released, updates are taking upwards of 45 minutes each, longer if you don’t have a fast internet connection. Details here: https://eclecticlight.co/2021/02/28/last-week-on-my-mac-users-are-losing-out-against-big-surs-sealed-system/

Another problem with Big Sur is the cryptographically signed system volume. This was designed as a security mechanism, but in daily use it means that your Carbon Copy Cloner bootable backup must be erased each and every time the operating system is updated – a problem Apple introduced in Big Sur.

I still recommend Mojave (MacOS 10.14.x) or Catalina (MacOS 10.15.x) and am not recommending Big Sur at this time.

November 12, 2020

Apple released Big Sur – the newest operating system for the Mac today.

If you’re looking for the quick and dirty “should I install Big Sur?”, the answer is no, not yet.

Read on for more details and information:
Big Sur leverages the changes Apple made in Catalina, when it was released last October. Catalina was the first operating system for the Mac that only supports 64-bit application software. Older 32-bit apps do not and cannot be made to run in Catalina.

In addition, Catalina requires startup disks (including bootable backups) be formatted in the new APFS format, which Apple only supports on SSD media. This means there are ramifications for your backups (i.e. you’ll need new backup drives), if/when you update to Catalina or, as of today, Big Sur.

My observations regarding Catalina remain true – here are more details from back when Catalina was released:

https://lansharks.net/2020/01/17/things-to-consider-and-know-about-catalina/

I spent much of the day yesterday arguing with the Big Sur beta installer – not a good sign for stable, hassle-free software. Today’s public release (a gargantuan 12GB download) *seems* better, and Apple released a software update only hours after the initial release – not a confidence builder for well-tested code. I’ve only had a few hours to put it through the paces – so far things seem to be working and it feels snappy on my 2018 15” MacBook Pro.

There are some pretty significant cosmetic changes in Big Sur – for those who aren’t a fan of Apple changing/moving things around, this may be a release you want to wait to install, when you have time become familiar with the new bells and whistles. Here is an excellent comparison of some of the different look and feel changes from Catalina and Big Sur:

https://www.andrewdenty.com/blog/2020/07/01/a-visual-comparison-of-macos-catalina-and-big-sur.html

Bootable backups of Big Sur now require the system volume be cloned using a new software mechanism from Apple known as ASR. The system resides on a cryptographically sealed “Signed System Volume”. That seal can only be applied by Apple; ordinary copies of the System volume are non-bootable without Apple’s seal. To create a functional copy of the macOS 11 Big Sur System volume, Carbon Copy Cloner has to use the ASR tool to copy the system, or install macOS onto the backup. The upshot is that your backup drive will need to be erased the first time you run a clone under Big Sur and your previous backup data will be lost. If this is problematic for you, you can re-run the initial backup of your Big Sur Mac to a new external hard drive. More about Carbon Copy Cloner and ASR here:

https://bombich.com/kb/ccc5/frequently-asked-questions-about-ccc-and-macos-11

So, my advice for now is to wait to download and install Big Sur. Give it and other third party software time to mature. And of course, I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t remind you to update your bootable clone backup immediately before downloading any software updates, especially new operating systems. And don’t run your backup again for a few days, until you’re certain everything is working as expected.