Hi, I am new to this forum, need some help, can’t find it, and am not even sure this is the right place to ask for it. So guidance on this, and an answer to my question would be greatly appreciated. I have an old My Cloud that predates OS3 on which I store all my data. Nothing is kept on my laptop. Another similar NAS is used for “Safepoints”, (backups?) I plan to decommission both and have just bought a My Cloud EX2 Ultra which I have just finished setting up. Question, how to get the data that is on the original My Cloud onto the EX2? I’ve tried setting it as destination for a safepoint. The My Cloud finds it, but when I select it, a message briefly says “retrieving shares” then does nothing. I’ve tried backup on the EX2, but that only finds itself as both source and destination. Any instructions that I have found on line assume knowledge or expertise that I don’t have or use the cloud; unnecessary. So if it is possible to copy data between two My Clouds of vastly different ages that are on the same network, a step by step “how to” guide would be most useful.
Thanks in anticipation.
I highly recommend having a “doomsday backup” that is on a seperate device.
Recommend you buy a USB external drive for the backup task.
The “easy” way to make the transfer is to open a file window for each NAS on your PC and do the simple “Drag and drop”. Caution: You want the PC on a wired connection to the network (buy a USB ethernet adapter if necessary - - relatively inexpensive- - - -I use a USB hub that has an ethernet port). If you don’t . . .the transfer will be at molasses wireless speeds.
Thanks for that. I had thought of doing it via the laptop and mapped drives, but that will be slow. Even all Ethernet, I get 4 - 6 MBs through Windows 10. The network can support Giggabit, so direct NAS to NAS would seem to be the obvious way to do it, if only one could make them talk to each other. It seems a gross oversight on WD’s part if they cant because with so many devices going obsolete in April there will be many like me who need to move Terabytes of data between old and new My Clouds.
You get the data to the new My Cloud EX2 the same way you got the data to the older My Cloud devices, COPY and PASTE or DRAG and DROP between the two devices. You will want to do this from a computer that is connected via Ethernet wire cable to the same gigabit capable router (or gigabit network switch) the My Cloud devices are connected too. You can even Map the Shares to make things somewhat easier. If you have a lot of data it will take a very long time to copy that data from one My Cloud to another.
One can use software programs like TeraCopy (https://www.codesector.com/teracopy) or Free File Sync (https://freefilesync.org/) to help copy from one My Cloud to another from your computer.
There are a number of other methods to copy data from one My Cloud to another such as the method the previous poster mentioned using a USB hard drive attached to the USB port of the My Cloud device. And there are methods that involve more technical knowledge. This other methods includes configuring the EX2 Ultra such that it can be used as a designation target for Safepoint/Backup from the older OS3 My Cloud devices. One may have to enable SMB1.0 and or NFS on the EX2 Ultra Dashboard > Settings section for the older My Cloud units to see and access the Shares on new EX2 Ultra. Also one may have to set the EX2 Ultra Shares to Public not Private (password protected). Other methods include using SSH to trigger an Rsync between the two devices but that requires additional computer knowledge and skills.
How to map a My Cloud or NAS device on Windows
https://support-en.wd.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9323
How To Map a My Cloud or NAS Device on macOS
https://support-en.wd.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/24148
Hi EngProf, I am in the same situation as you. Wondering which method you found to be effective. Just want to learn from you.
Regrettably, the only suggestion from WD was to drag and drop files using explorer on my laptop. Highly unsatisfactory because of the limitations of putting a windows machine in the process and all data having to pass both ways along it’s network connection.
A backup app for the EX2 would be far better, but apparently none exists. WD assume we’ll use the cloud, which, of course, completely defeats the object of having “MyCloud” in the first place.
I’m sorry I cant be more help. We are not alone in thinking WD have lost the plot when it comes to MyCloud instead of The Cloud.
The OS3 firmware does have an included “backup app” (or feature). Its either called Safepoint (v4.x firmware) or Backup (v2.x firmware). And it may be possible to point that backup to another My Cloud device as a way to transfer files from one My Cloud to another. There are additional installable app modules including Goodsync and Acronis True Image that may potentially have the ability to backup a My Cloud.
My Cloud OS 3: 3rd Party Apps Matrix
https://support-en.wd.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/14709
My Cloud OS 3: How to Create a Safepoint Backup
https://support-en.wd.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/22015
My Cloud OS 3: How to Create a Remote Backup
https://support-en.wd.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/19931
Thanks for that. I used Safepoints with my old (now unsupported) MyClouds and hoped to use them in local mode only to backup the EX2 Ultra. Unfortunately that runs OS5 so therein lies the problem. The old myclouds cant “see” it. The offered solutions are, as far as I can see, cloud and subscription based. So oh so slow via a laptop seems to be the only way.
Chris.
One may have to change or enable additional settings on OS5 My Clouds. For example; one may have to enable the Remote Server option in the OS5 My Cloud Dashboard > Settings > Network.
https://products.wdc.com/nas0s5/nasum/en/#t=MyCloud%2FConfiguringBasicSettings%2FNetwork.htm
The Remote Server section of the Network screen allows you to enable your My Cloud device to act as a remote server, allowing you to back up shares from another My Cloud on the local LAN or WAN.
Additional settings in the OS5 My Cloud Dashboard > Settings > Network section that may have to be enabled or modified to be a backup target for an OS3 v4.x firmware single bay My Cloud (Safepoint); SMB setting to include SMB1.0, and or possibly enabling the NFS setting.
Bit more in the following link on what kinds of backup targets each My Cloud is capable of.
A single-bay My Cloud is unable to create a remote backup to another single-bay My Cloud
https://support-en.wd.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3413
How to copy the whole directory from your old WD MyCloud Mirror to your new WD MyCloud EX2 Ultra using standard remote sync.
In my case it was a directory called “Photo” on the old NAS drive that I wanted to copy directly to the same directory on my new WD MyCloud EX2 (it has IP 192.168.1.25 on my network). I just needed to execute the following command once logged in to my old WD MyCloud Mirror via SSH:
nohup rsync -avh /mnt/HD/HD_a2/Photo sshd@192.168.1.25:/mnt/HD/HD_a2/ > /mnt/HD/HD_a2/rsync.log
If you don’t have a lot of files there, you can just wait until the command successfully finishes executing.
Otherwise, you can suspend your rsync process by pressing “Ctr-Z” and then continue this process in the background by entering “bg” command.
Then you can safely log out from SSH and even shut down your PC and leave your NAS drives unattended. The rsync process will continue to silently synchronize the contents of your Photo directory to your new NAS drive.
If you want to monitor the progress of you background rsync, you may log back in to your old drive and execute the following command that will show the last 10 files synchronized. You may continue monitoring it by repeating the command:
cat /mnt/HD/HD_a2/rsync.log | tail
P.S. In the web access to your NAS drives you will also be able to see some traffic between your drives at the speeds of around 3-8 MB per second (my maximum was 11 MB/s).
NB. Ensure a good ventilation and cooling of both of your NAS drives and monitor the temperature of the drives. MyCloud EX2 Ultra can manage the optimal temperatures itself as it features an integrated fan, but the HDDs in my MyCloud Mirror went up to 53°C, so I used a USB fan connected to the neighboring EX2 to cool the Mirror drives down to 47°C. EX2 drives were 44-45°C with the help of the integrated fan at 9000 RPM.
Also, you may want to disable the QuikFynd Storage Server on the target device as it could consume too much CPU time during rsync.
I have raised this issue with WD support and the only suggestion they did was a Windows drag and drop which as you mentioned is obviously the most ridiculous way to do mass data copy. When you have terabytes of data in hundreds of thousands of files it would be a disastrous waste of time and effort taking into account that you need to keep your windows on and always connected to your wi-fi or an Ethernet cable. Background rsync method that I shared here before they replied makes it several times quicker and does not require your windows machine to stay switched on. Here is the method: How to transfer data from old My Cloud to new My Cloud EX2 Ultra - #10 by Pchelyakov
Also new to this forum, as many others I have the same issue, thanks to those who have offered solutions. The issue with all seems to be that this relies on methods that causes the now out of date OS devices to be exposed, with no protection, to attack. Come on WD let’s have some help with this, we have had to buy new product in good faith (EX2 Ultra) and it could be con-strewed that the product is not fit for purpose.
If one installs the latest OS3 firmware it will disable remote access which closes one potential avenue of the device being compromised. One should take the additional step of blocking broadband access to their OS3 My Cloud at the network edge (in the router or gateway). With broadband access to a OS3 My Cloud blocked at the network edge it significantly reduces the possibility a OS3 My Cloud could be compromised. Nothing prevents your network from being attacked if the malware/attacker gains access to that network through other means. Good local network security is a multi layered approach.
The EX2 Ultra can be, and should be, updated to OS5 so one continues to have the latest security patches WD has implemented in the firmware, and one continues to have WD supported methods of remote access. The EX2 Ultra will continue to receive OS5 firmware updates until WD moves the EX2 Ultra to End of Support status at some future time (currently December 2026).
WD Product Software Support Lifecycle
https://support-en.wd.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/28740
Product Lifecycle Support Policy
https://www.westerndigital.com/support/software/software-life-cycle-policy
My Cloud OS 5: Firmware Availability and Supported Devices
https://support-en.wd.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/29230
#WDUserRewards
Hello, I am not sure if this is of any help, but I have the WDMYCloud (Older version)and I used the usb to connect the WDmyBook to it and it acts as a back up by means of setting it up through the MYCloud. I am able to access the MyBook files just how they appear on the MYCLOUD(old). I to just purchased the MyCloud EX 2 ultra and was searching the same data management options for moving the data over… My thinking is , I might just connect the MYCloud (old) via usb to the New MyCloud EX 2 and tell it to back up all the files while I am sleeping. When I open the MyBook to access the backed up files I see all the files from MYCLOUD (old) So… I don’t see why this wouldn’t work, this is what I am going to attempt to do because there is no way I am manually moving them all over and risk any issues. I am not sure if this is helpful for you, but I really don’t see any risk using your MYCLOUD EX as the backup from your older MYCLOUD you have nothing to loose this way your original doc’s are there and if they back up successfully to the new MYCLOUD you are done! Worth the try I believe. Best of luck.
You cannot connect the My Cloud USB port to another My Cloud and transfer data. The My Cloud USB port does not work like that. The USB port is for connecting external USB hard drives not for connecting to a computer or to another network attached storage device.
Depending on the My Cloud version one may be able to setup a Safepoint (v4.x single bay My Cloud) or the multi bay My Cloud (v2.x or v5.x firmware), to another local network NAS (like the My Cloud EX2 Utra) to copy the file files over. Or one can simply use an external USB hard drive to move the files from one My Cloud to another. One will likely have faster copying if enabling SSH through the My Cloud Dashboard then using a SSH client program like WinSCP to copy the files or folders from the USB hard drive attached to the My Cloud to the My Cloud internal hard drive.
Hi Bennor,
thanks for the info… I tried already and you are correct it didn’t work… I can however attach my WDMYBook and that seems to work, So I think I am just going to hook it back up to my OLD cloud as per before and have it back up the data again (so it is current) then disconnect from the old Cloud and reconnet to the new MYCloudultra. I cant really understand why this is so difficult , you would think this would (or could) have been a easier process. Thanks again!
There is an easier process depending on what My Cloud models one has and what firmware version they are running. As previously indicated if one has a single bay My Cloud running v4.x firmware they can use Safepoint to backup their My Cloud to another My Cloud on the local network. If one has two multi bay My Cloud units running v2.x or v5.x firmware then they may be able to setup a Backup from one multi bay My Cloud to another multi bay My Cloud unit.
Or one can use SSH and the rsync command to copy from one My Cloud to another. One can use the forum search feature and search for rsync to find a number of past discussions on copying data from one My Cloud to another My Cloud (or NAS).
But the fastest method is likely going to be backing up the data to a USB drive then connecting that drive to the new My Cloud and using SSH and WinSCP to copy the data from the USB drive to the new My Cloud internal hard drive.
Trying to copy the data using Windows File Explorer or Mac Finder is liable to be very slow, made worse if the computer is using WiFi to connect to the local network and access the My Cloud devices.
Thank you for this information. I am going to try backing everything up to the My Book, and then just attach the Mybook to the new cloud, this is the easiest for me. I am not really very technicological when it comes to these things. Thank you so much for your advice.
It’s been a particular beef of mine, and many others, that WD don’t provide software on newer MyClouds (such as EX2ULTRA) that allows direct file transfer to and from another MyCloud on the same local network. Safe point was great, but is not available on later MyClouds which cannot be accessed from the old ones. We don’t all have handy TB USB drives to use so Windows was my only option. It took 2 days. With a GBit network and two WD drives I expected direct file transfer. Bad job WD.
What WD doesn’t include on the My Cloud Dashboard is a “file manager” app to allow dragging and dropping of files like Synology NAS does with File Station in Synology DSM. Such a feature removes the computer from the mix when copying files within on the NAS or from one NAS to another NAS (provided one has mapped the second NAS to the first NAS) and generally means faster copy/move of files/data between the NAS devices (or within the NAS device).
Depending on the My Cloud model one can backup direct from one My Cloud model to another My Cloud model without having to use a computer to drag/drop files between them (or to a USB hard drive attached to the source My Cloud. See the following WD Knowledge Base Articles for more information on OS5’s Remote Backup feature and on which My Cloud models that feature is available on. Also included is the OS3 Safepoint backup to another location.
How to Use Remote Backups for My Cloud OS 5
My Cloud: A Single Bay My Cloud Cannot Remote Backup to Another Single Bay My Cloud
My Cloud OS 3: Create a Remote Backup
My Cloud OS 3: Safepoint and Remote Backup Compatibility Matrix
My Cloud OS 3: Safepoint and Backup Online User Guide and Solutions
