10.5 ::: Time Machine – How to change the backup interval

February 14th, 2008 at 21:55

If you want to change the backup interval of Time Machine do the following steps:

Goto Finder
Navigate to: /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/
Backup the file: com.apple.backupd-auto.plist
Open: com.apple.backupd-auto.plist in a text editor.

The file should look like this:

<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”UTF-8″?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC “-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN” “http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd”>
<plist version=”1.0″>
<dict>
<key>Label</key>
<string>com.apple.backupd-auto</string>
<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array>
<string>/System/Library/CoreServices/backupd.bundle/Contents/Resources/backupd-helper</string>
<string>-auto</string>
</array>
<key>StartInterval</key>
<integer>3600</integer>
<key>RunAtLoad</key>
<false/>
<key>KeepAlive</key>
<false/>
</dict>
</plist>

The relevant part is the key: StartInterval. Change it’s integer value like you want. The default value in 10.5.2 is: 3600, which means 3600 seconds or 60 minutes.

Based on this article on macosxhints.com

Tags: 10.5, backup interval, backupd-helper, backupd.bundle, configure time machine, LaunchDaemons, leopard, StartInterval, Time Machine

Posted by fidel, in mac

2 Responses to “10.5 ::: Time Machine – How to change the backup interval”

Mark Wheadon Says:
March 19th, 2009 at 12:45
If you’d prefer a GUI, then the Secrets prefPane is useful for this and other settings:

http://www.markwheadon.com/blog/2009/03/changing-time-machine-backup-schedule/

Cheers,

Mark
Reply
fidel Says:
March 19th, 2009 at 13:02
Hi Mark,

thanks for your suggestion. The Secrets prefpane is a nice little tool for such small modifications…. full agree.

but to be honest: i don’t use the prefPane that often … basically one while setting up a device and thats it

Best regards
fidel
Reply