Cloudberry PC and MAC Have Different AWS Directory Structures

Paul Naish

I'm moving from a PC to a MAC. I'm trying to preserve the AWS S3 backups I have from my PC and get the MAC to recognize it. I'm not finding a lot of knowledge on how to do this so did my own test.

On the PC, I created a new folder in my main bucket and backup nine items.

On the MAC, I haven't been able to get CB to recognize the same folder even though it can see the bucket used in the PC. Consequently, I create a new bucket for the test. I copied the 9 files I used in the PC test to a directory in my MAC.

The result is that on the PC the structure is:

Amazon S3/DAQUERREO/CBpc2mac/T$/20070607-200609.nef

On the MAC, a directory is added for each file with the file being the only content,

Amazon S3/ambrotype256/CBB_Ambrotype/Users/apple/Documents/pc2mac/20070607-200609.nef$/20180726145605

This means, that if I want to move all my existing files from DAQUERREO to AMBROTYPE I would have to do it one file at a time creating a directory at the same time.

I hope I'm missing something here. Can anyone help in moving from PC to MAC with Cloudberry?

David Gugick

↪Paul Naish

I'm checking with the team, but I am pretty sure backups are not compatible between platforms as they exist in their native backup formats. But I'm waiting on confirmation from the Support team. In addition, I also asked if PC backup files can be restored to a Mac as another possibility.

But my guess regarding your question of leveraging a PC backup on a Mac as the basis for avoiding having to back them up again, is likely to result in the need to do just that: back them up again. Do not re-copy the backup files in the cloud from the Mac bucket to the PC bucket until you hear back from me as I'm not sure yet that would work.

Paul Naish

Thanks David. While I understand the different directory organizations, I don't understand why CB creates a separate directory for each file backed up. That extra directory is not part of the MACos structure.

So, from the PC, the file is stored as 20070607-200609.NEF but the same file from the MAC is stored as 20070607-200609.NEF$/20070607-200609.NEF

Paul Naish

I just ran a RESTORE plan against the test files by selecting 2 to be restore a different directory. The restore failed. No details.

Paul Naish

I just tried the RESTORE again and it failed. I completed the feedback form but then it bounced back to my email saying it was suspected SPAM. At the moment I'm not that impressed with the CB MAC product.

David Gugick

↪Paul Naish

I'm still waiting on final word, but I'm pretty sure the backups are not compatible, hence your restore failure - EDIT: This was incorrect on my part - they are compatible. Unless you are saying that you did the restore from the PC and it failed (the reply was unclear). Please clarify.

Can you clarify who flagged the email as spam? Was it a spam filter at your end or by your ISP, or are you saying it was kicked back by MSP360?

Paul Naish

Hi David. Understood. Looks like I'll have to look at one of your competitors for the MAC to see if they can read the existing PC based backups in AWS. Putting the directory in front of each file makes no sense.

It was your email server that flagged the SPAM.

David Gugick

↪Paul Naish

So the answer is they are compatible. I just checked with the team and the product platforms are designed to be compatible with one another. So, you can restore PC backups on a Mac. I also see Klim answered you on the other post. If the spam kickback is happening on our side, shoot me a direct message on the forum with your email and I'll send it over to the team to have a look.

Paul Naish

Thanks David. I'll have to do some cross checking from the MAC to existing PC stores.

I'm also going to check the trial AWS Container I created. I'm wondering if I accidentally selected something like versioning that would trigger putting a directory in from of a file.

David Gugick

↪Paul Naish

Support has your logs. They'll review and be in touch. You can ignore the spam kickback.

Paul Naish

Thanks. I already got a note about resyncing that solved the restore problem.

David Gugick

↪Paul Naish

Good to hear. Thanks for the update.

Paul Naish

I've just done what I think is an pretty decent test of simulating moving from a PC to a MAC (see attached). Unfortunately, there are issues:

Trying to backup the same files from the MAC to AWS did not create any new entries even though the directory path structure was different. This shows Cloudberry found the same files somehow.
Adding a new file to the directory structure spawned a new branch following the MAC directory structure which only contained the new file. The original PC directory structure was retained.
Modifying a file on the MAC, that originated from the PC, was not backed up even though Cloudberry report that it had.

Paul Naish

A correction. I decided to check what Cloudberry would return if I asked for the modified file. It brought back the modification.

I then went searching, performing refreshes along the way, and found the modified file in the MAC thread at Amazon S3 > pc2mac > CBB_Ambrotype.local > Users > apple > Documents > pc2Mac > sUb > Home Depot May 2020.odt$ > 20200617184635. The file itself is under a double directory structure Home Depot May 2020.odt$ > 20200617184635

Paul Naish

Final thoughts:

CB MAC Backup does allow for interoperability with AWS backups created from PC CB Desktop. However, the disposition of your files can only be viewed on CB MAC Backup.
CB MAC Desktop introduces a new branch off the main AWS Bucket for new and changed files. These new and changed files are behind 2 additional levels of directory per file which appear to be a CB construct.
Because of the way that CB MAC seems to organize backups, you cannot easily see the disposition of files that have been changed from PC to MAC through CB Explorer or the AWS Console. You have to hunt through both the PC branch and the MAC branch of the AWS Bucket.
The PC CB Desktop will not see new or updated files from the MAC CB Backup.
This approach seems to make one dependent on CB for understanding their AWS storage.

So, as much as I've enjoyed using CB Desktop on my home PC's, I need to look for an alternative when I go to a MAC. One that will keep a simple structure but still give me the options of AWS.

Paul Naish

I have to apologize because it looks like I am the creator of my own problem. The testing I was doing was using the SIMPLE MODE of CB Desktop Backup. I was doing some further investigation and found my main backup mode is ADVANCED MODE which in the documentation states "Please be informed that when choosing this mode, you will only be able to access the contents of files in your backup using MSP360 (CloudBerry) software. We cannot guarantee the ability to access this contents when using third-party software." . See https://help.msp360.com/cloudberry-backup/backup/cloud-to-local/step-5-specify-backup-mode

So it appears if you want to access your backups from some other tool, choose SIMPLE.

Karson

Thanks. I already bought a be aware about resyncing that solved the restoration problem.

Cloudberry PC and MAC Have Different AWS Directory Structures

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