Backup my cloud to another external drive

[CJKaz]

Is there a way to automatically backup my backup drive? I’m using a my cloud drive to backup my computer (windows 10). I’d like to backup this backup to a WD my book drive, both 4TB.

I’ve seen third party utilities that can do this, (AOMEI for example). Does WD offer a utility that can do this, or a recommendation for another method?

Thanks

[Bennor]

Have you read the My Cloud User Manual (https://support.wdc.com/product.aspx?ID=904)? One can connect a USB hard drive to the USB port on the My Cloud to backup the My Cloud to that USB hard drive. See Chapter 10 - Managing Backups in the User Manual for more information on how to setup backups through the My Cloud Dashboard.

Or one can attach a USB hard drive to their local network computer and use a third party program (like Free File Sync - http://freefilesync.org/ for example) to copy data from the My Cloud to that local computer’s hard drive or attached USB drive.

I use both methods to have two sets of data backups on external USB hard drives.

[CJKaz]

Thank you very much! I’ll research it via the MyCloud documentation. I went through several posts on the WD community, but they were older posts.

I appreciate your help!

Christopher Hoffa

choffa@verizon.net

[FetaLovingGreek]

For backing up a WD My Cloud to a USB. Is there a way to have this back up occur automatically? I have a 4TB My Cloud with a 4TB Elements drive connected to it. I’m looking to have the My Cloud back up to the Elements automatically. Basically a Raid 1 simple mirror effect.
Safepoint previously use to have an option to do so (to an attached USB) but it appears there is no way to do this automatically any longer.

[Bennor]

@FetaLovingGreek

Safepoint previously use to have an option to do so (to an attached USB) but it appears there is no way to do this automatically any longer.

The option is still there in Safepoint using the latest v4.x firmware for a single bay My Cloud.

As one steps through the process (or if you already have a Safepoint backup process created), one needs to set the Auto Update option to On to get the various options for setting up repeating backups.

Over time I found SafePoint to occasionally be problematic. I didn’t like that I couldn’t choose specific Shares or subfolders to backup, instead SafePoint is an all or nothing affair. So I wound up using Rsync and CRON to automate backing up specific Shares/folders on a specific schedule and then having an email sent indicating the success or failure of that backup. Some past threads on using Rsync and other firmware commands (via SSH) to backup Shares or folders.

Happy accident - INCLUDES AN ALTERNATIVE TO SAFEPOINT

My 13 month old 4TB WDMC has been giving me sporadic problems for some time now, losing network connection, media stuttering, all sorts. I’ve ‘tinkered at the edges’ to keep things going but all to no avail, things have kept going wrong. I do have a certain amount of tech knowledge, so I knew what I was doing. Then one day last week I managed to accidentally hit the ‘Quick restore’ button on the dashboard, don’t ask me how, I even managed to hit the confirmation button as well, so within second…

Alternative to Safepoint - reposted

Bumping this old thread. Used a variation of the code whsbuss posted above to backup select folders to an attached USB hard drive. While the following code isn’t elegant and there are probably better ways to code it, it does appear to work for me. The following mail.py code will use Yahoo.com email and will attach the backup.log file to the email. #!/usr/bin/env python # -*- coding: utf-8 -*- import smtplib from email.header import Header from email.mime.multipart import MIMEMultipart from em…

Sending email with python on WD My Cloud

first SSH to your device, then input the following: cd / nano mail.py change your email, password, recipient and smtp server in the following then paste on terminal (right click on putty): #!/usr/bin/env python # -*- coding: utf-8 -*- from email.header import Header from email.mime.text import MIMEText from getpass import getpass from smtplib import SMTP_SSL import sys #edit the line below login, password, server, recipients = "youremail@gmail.com", "password", "smtp.gmai…

[pmvalon]

Hello. I hope you can help. My WD My Cloud does not show on my network anymore and the orange light is on continuously. I need to back this drive up to another external hard drive. Any help will be appreciated.
Thank you…Paul.

[Bennor]

What troubleshooting steps have you tried?
Have you tried using a different Ethernet cable to connect the My Cloud to the local network router (or switch)?
Did you change anything else recently on your local network (like change broadband providers)?
Can you access the My Cloud Dashboard? Does the network router’s administration page (DHCP server) indicate handing out an IP address to the My Cloud?
Have you tried a 4 second or 40 second reset? ( How to Reset a My Cloud Device)
Did the My Cloud update to OS5?
Were you previously backing up the My Cloud to an external USB hard drive using the My Cloud Dashboard’s Safepoint or Backup option?

As a last resort one can extract the My Cloud hard drive from a single bay/single drive My Cloud enclosure and connect it to a computer either using a spare SATA port or using a SATA to USB adapter/docking station. Once connected to a computer one can use Linux, or a Linux boot disc, or a Windows Linux driver to view the contents of the My Cloud hard drive.

You may want to use the forum search feature (magnifying glass icon top right) to search for similar past discussions about My Cloud’s with orange or red front LED light to see if any other suggestions may work.

#WDUserRewards

[Joanne1]

Bump … I have two Myclouds a single bay v2 and a dual bay v2 and im trying to backup select folders from the single to the dual directly as the single is the older and the original drive… im aware it could be easier to do this in reverse but its going to take a lot of moving … I read Bennors comment but its a bit more than im familiar with though i did use Putty ages ago for an RP I was given but gave up with as it was underpowered to be useful for the purpose.
If someone has any ideas and can type it out in a logical format id be grateful

[Bennor]

If both My Cloud devices are running OS5 and on the same local network; then look into use the backup apps (installed via the Dashboard App tab) to see if they’ll work for copying files from the second generation single bay My Cloud to what ever is the “dual bay v2” (My Cloud Mirror v2?).

Otherwise if its only a few files or folders one can just copy and paste or drag and drop files between the two My Clouds using Windows File Explorer or Mac Finder.

To use rsync that has been previously mentioned in this discussion would require you to enable SSH on both My Cloud devices, then connect to the My Cloud you want to copy files from using a program like Putty, issue a command like the following, adjusting for proper Share or folder location and proper IP address.

rsync -avz <path to file/folder being copied> sshd@<destination My Cloud IP address>:<path to destination>

For example using rsync to copy from one first gen My Cloud to another first gen My Cloud.

rsync -avz /DataVolume/shares/Public/Shared\ Pictures/ root@192.168.1.100:/DataVolume/shares/Public/Shared\ Pictures/

Typically the first time one tries to use rsync to copy files to another My Cloud device they will be prompted by the SSH program (Putty for example) to enter the SSH password for that My Cloud. One would adjust the IP address and directory paths to match their devices. Generally the OS3 first gen single bay My Cloud SSH user name is root, for the second gen single bay My Cloud (and possibly for multi bay My Cloud) the SSH user name is sshd.

Standard warning: One uses SSH and rsync at their own risk! Improper use can result in data loss or corrupting/deleting My Cloud firmware files resulting in possibly bricking the My Cloud (rendering it non bootable). Using SSH and rsync typically require some extra computer knowledge and skill. If you don’t know how to use either, use an internet search engine to learn more about both.

[NAS_user]

What Bennor types will certainly work.

I have copied a stupid large amount of data using windows file explorer. The only two cautions are: The PC had better be on a wired connection the router; and the PC will be in use for the entire operation. I don’t do this often enough to need to research other ways; and when I do this I do commit a PC to the operation (I have more than one available)

With the standard Rsync commands, the putty window ALSO needs to stay open; (There is an option that keeps the command running after the terminal window shuts down; but I don’t remember it at the moment). With the Rsync command; I don’t think the PC with the terminal window is actually doing the operation; so it can be used for other things AND can be safely connected wirelessly to the network.

[Bennor]

@NAS_user

With the standard Rsync commands, the putty window ALSO needs to stay open; (There is an option that keeps the command running after the terminal window shuts down; but I don’t remember it at the moment).

Its the nohup command. Typically one can issue like so:

nohup rsync -avz /DataVolume/shares/Public/Shared\ Pictures/ root@192.168.1.100:/DataVolume/shares/Public/Shared\ Pictures/

After issuing the nohup and what ever follows command one can close the SSH command window. One can log back in via SSH on the source My Cloud and check if the rsync process is still running by issuing the top command in the SSH terminal window which will list running processes.

Trying to move large amounts of data from the My Cloud is always an issue due to its limited Dashboard interface. More full featured NAS units (like Synology) have their own GUI file manager included with the firmware which makes moving files/folders so much easier. Or they’ll have their own firmware apps dedicated to copying or backing up data from one NAS to another.

[Joanne1]

yes i’ve tried this but the copying pc invariably goes to sleep and i wanted a system where the myclouds did it internally

[Joanne1]

Bennor
My Cloud Mirror v2 yes sorry i forgot its named “mirror” both are OS5 yes same network yes ( they are also physically right next to on another), I was aware of the disclaimer that pops up when enabling SSH which is likely why i avoided the option
… the command line you unfortunately leave me ashamed and my attempts to get the backup apps (in the Dashboard tab) have proven unsuccessful, ito be honest t’s been a while since i tried anything

but i got the impression the Mirror was more designed to back up to the single more than what i wanted and in total more than by folder and just the new files and not the lot
ill look at your reply and read up on Rsync again when i have more time
thanks

[Bennor]

As my prior post mentioned, did you look into the installable Backup Apps for OS5? In particular Remote Backup?

My Cloud OS 5: Remote Backups
https://support-en.wd.com/app/answers/detailweb/a_id/30036

You can use the OS5 Remote Backup app (that you install to both OS5 My Cloud devices) to apparently schedule a backup of a second gen single bay OS5 My Cloud to a multi bay My Cloud model like the My Cloud Mirror v2 running OS5.

My Cloud OS 5: Download and Install 3rd Party Apps Manually
https://support-en.wd.com/app/answers/detailweb/a_id/29960

Installer files for manually installing the Remote Backups Apps:

OS5 Single Bay My Cloud Remote Backups:
https://downloads.mycloud.com/os5-apps/apps/GZA/GZA_WDMyCloudG2/RemoteBackups/WDMyCloud_RemoteBackups_1.28.bin

OS5 My Cloud Mirror v2 Remote Backups:
https://downloads.mycloud.com/os5-apps/apps/GZA/GZA_WDMyCloudMirrorG2/RemoteBackups/WDMyCloudMirror_RemoteBackups_1.28.bin

[Joanne1]

I was having some problems with OS 5 for a while so perhaps not
it was def pre pandemic before i ran the LAN to the PC instead of Wifi
would i be running Remote Backup on the Single or “asking” the Mirror to “get” the files from the single?

im pretty sure i ran into some sort of networking or permissions issue as this always seems to be the case when i try stuff like this
ill look at Remote Backup again thanks

[Joanne1]

sorry you appear to have answered part of my question in the reply above forgive me its late here and im a little tired