Time Machine is a powerful, easy-to-use technology for backing up Macintosh computers, introduced by Apple in 2007. Time Machine can either perform backups to a directly attached disk drive, or to a central file server in the network.
The application Backup Server Control provides a graphical user interface to setup and administer such a server for network-based Time Machine backups with a few mouse clicks on a Macintosh. Other Macs running macOS Sierra or later can perform backups on the Time Machine server. The current status of the backup sets can be reviewed any time.
Compared to Apple’s mini server Time Capsule which can also provide backup features for a network, a Time Machine server on a Mac is much more powerful. In addition, it is easier to handle and scales better. By adding new disk drives, the service can be extended any time when needed, matching new requirements for increasing storage sizes or when new computers arrive.
The user interface of Backup Server Control is similar to the one previously offered by Apple in old versions of the App macOS Server, so a transition is easily possible. The software doesn’t attempt to imitate the previous App in all details, however.
Backup Server Control configures a Mac as a Time Machine destination. It is not designed to manage other types of Time Machine Servers, e.g. third-party file servers, NAS devices, or the Apple Time Capsule.
Backup Server Control does not provide the following features:
To use Backup Server Control, you’ll need a computer which has one of the following operating systems installed:
Older versions of Backup Server Control for operating systems down to macOS 10.13 are also available.
Backup Server Control is constantly evolving, adapting to new features in the latest versions of macOS. New versions are released as (usually free) updates from time to time. To check manually if a new version of Backup Server Control is available for download, select the menu item Backup Server Control > Check for updates. For automatic checks in regular intervals when you are launching the application, set a check mark at the related option in the preferences window at Backup Server Control > Settings … > Software Updates: Automatic Update Checks. (In older versions of macOS Settings are called Preferences.)