#MAC AUTOMATE FOLDER BACKUP ARCHIVE#
#MAC AUTOMATE FOLDER BACKUP CODE#

folder -> I saw that resources folder in the pack content (Im on Mac). However, I found mine wouldn't run while Automator itself was still going, but worked after I quit Automator, either because it still had the workflow open, or because you have to quit Automator to start a workflow that has been saved as an Application. I was experimenting with how best to automate backups and what I tried doing. Not to be pedantic, I found I couldn't 'save it as a Program' but I could save it as an Application.

#MAC AUTOMATE FOLDER BACKUP CODE#

I managed to get the thing working first time through, only to find that all of a sudden it then stopped working with a similar error code in one of the conversions - I'm not sure exactly what it was or what I did wrong - I had tried changing the word 'archive' in the 'Create Archive' step to 'Mail-archive', and that's illegal - the problem started right after this - but also maybe I dragged the items in the 'Get Specified Finder Items' step into a different order by mistake - Īnyhoo, I started over and added an extra 'Rename' to call the result 'Mail-archive-yyyy-mm-dd.zip' and it works fine. (For the first action, just drag and drop the directory ~/Library » Application Support » Delicious Library, and the file ~/Library » Preferences » .)Ī very useful example as I didn't know you could just drag objects like that to create the 'Get Specified Finder Items' block. doing a backup of the whole Delicious Library database. The idea behind this simple workflow can be used to handle a lot of backup tasks - i.e.

#MAC AUTOMATE FOLDER BACKUP ARCHIVE#

For instance, you can choose a different archive name and location.

There are quite a lot of options you can modify to improve this workflow. This workflow will create a file named Archive-xx-xx-xx-xx.zip in your Documents folder (unless you changed some of the settings) containing a zipped archive of your Mail folder and settings for the current user.

Save the whole Automator workflow as a Program (you can choose this option in the Save dialog).

By default, this will add a date and time stamp to the existing filename.

In the Action column, drag Rename Finder Items into the work area, below the other two commands.

Change the 'Save as' value to something other than archive, if you wish. Drag it to the work area on the right, below the existing command.

In Automator's Library column, go to Finder and choose Create Archive.

This will automatically create an Automator action (Get Specified Finder Items) containing the two items you dropped. Backup Important : Your Roon Database is not the same thing as your music library (your collection of music albums and tracks contained in your Watched Folders).

Drag drop ~/Library » Preferences » and ~/Library » Mail into the Automator panel.

Navigate to the location you want to back up the selected file to. (You may wish to quit Mail before you start, just so it's not receiving new messages just as you're trying to create a new backup.) Tap the context menu of the file or folder, and select Create Backup Task. A really simple and effective way is to let Automator do all the work. There are lots of roads leading to Rome, and there a lots of ways to do the Mail backup task on OS X.

Mac automate folder backup