So if you are a Mac user, and have had the lovely privilege of having your backup to your NAS, or other such backup disk you use fail you in the time of need, you are not alone. I have some documentation on how to recover your data here. This article, though, is about preventing this from happening to begin with.
When backing up over the network to something like a NAS, the connection can sometimes be interrupted, causing the backup to be corrupted. The way to ensure your backup isn’t corrupted is by verifying it. This can be achived by:
Click on the Time Machine icon on the top of your screen (Make sure to enable it to display on the top menu bar under Accessibility) and hold the “option” key, you will then see “Verify Backups.” Click that little button and let your computer do its thing. But it is very tedious, annoying to do, and everyone will forget to do this.
So, now for the solution! Time Machine Auto Backup Verifier! This program will automatically verify your backups once a week. It has a GUI to change the day of the week your backup is to verify. It is very simple, but straightforward, and works like a charm! The program is built in Python and is all wrapped up in a .pkg file. But if you want the source code instead, that can be found here. Instructions on the compiling process and locations of the files are documented there for your convenience.
Please note that this program can be edited, duplicated, and modified to your liking. It also doesn’t come with a warranty of any kind. If you need help with anything, give me a holler.
This project is licenced under the Apache Version 2.0
With that, let me know if I should add or change anything. Thanks and God Bless!