Carbonite Support Knowledge Base

Migrating from Carbonite Mac 1x to Mac 2x

To enhance the customer experience, we are providing a migration path from the legacy Mac version (1.x) to the latest version (2.x). Due to technical differences between the two versions, backups cannot be directly upgraded. As a result, customers will need to start a new backup after installing version 2.x.

Carbonite Safe for Mac CPU Usage

Expected CPU usage for Carbonite for Mac version 2x and clarification on actual usage versus what is shown in Activity Monitor

Pausing and Resuming Carbonite

Pausing Carbonite causes it to stop uploading your files to the Carbonite servers. Carbonite will continue to scan your computer for changes while paused. You can pause Carbonite for an increment of time. Carbonite can be paused to free up system resources for immediate use by another service or delay back up until a later time.

Entering and Exiting Recover Mode

When Carbonite scans for files to back up, it removes files you delete from the backup after 30 or 60 days to ensure your backup is up to date. You can enter Recover Mode to stop this timer if you need more time to restore your files. After your files are safely restored, you can exit Recover Mode to start backing up your files again.

Pausing and Resuming Carbonite (Mac 2x)

You can pause Carbonite from the Carbonite User Interface to temporarily stop Carbonite from backing up your Mac.

The Carbonite Icon

The Carbonite icon menu provides quick and easy access to the most frequently used Carbonite options. You can launch the Carbonite application, search for files to restore, and pause your backup while restoring files.

Scheduling Your Backup for Carbonite Safe Backup Pro

Carbonite is always running on your computer by default. You can schedule your backup to start at a specific time or to not back up between certain hours. Creating a custom schedule will let you ensure Carbonite does not use computer resources during select times of day.

Locating the Carbonite Icon

The Carbonite icon is located in your Windows notification area / system tray at the bottom right of your screen. The Carbonite icon can be used to check the status of your backup, view and set options, and/or get assistance.

The Backup Settings Page / Settings Tab for Carbonite Safe Backup Pro

Configuring Carbonite's settings lets you manage limited resources efficiently. You can change options such as which files Carbonite automatically backs up, how Carbonite uses Internet bandwidth, whether or not colored status dots are displayed on your file icons, and scheduling your backup.

The Carbonite User Interface (Mac 2x)

The Carbonite User Interface lets you monitor the status of your backup and choose settings for Carbonite. With the Carbonite User Interface, you can select and deselect files for back up, restore individual files, restore all files, change Carbonite's status (e.g. paused, disabled, recover mode), and uninstall Carbonite.

Getting Started with Carbonite Safe

You can use the Carbonite application to back up your files to Carbonite’s secure servers. When you need to get your files back, you can use Carbonite to restore your files at any time.

Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Carbonite Safe Server Backup Single-Server Subscriptions For CSSB 6.x Enhanced

A single-server subscription is available for Carbonite Safe Server Backup. If you have a single-server plan, CSSB can only be active on one server at a time.

Pausing and Resuming Carbonite (Mac 1x)

You can pause Carbonite from the Carbonite System Preference pane to temporarily stop Carbonite from backing up your Mac.

Scheduling Your Backup for Carbonite Safe

Carbonite is designed to always be running. You can alternatively schedule your backup to start at a specific time or prevent backup activity between certain hours. Creating a custom schedule allows you to control when Carbonite uses your system resources.

Locating the Carbonite Preference Pane (Mac 1x)

When Carbonite is installed on your computer, you can find the black Carbonite lock located in your Apple menu bar near the system clock or through Apple's System Preferences.

The Backup Details Page For CSSB 6.x Enhanced

The Backup Details page displays information about the status of your backup, the amount of data backed up locally and to the cloud, the date and time of your most recent backup, detailed information about your backup runs, and the history of your restore and deleted backup runs.

Carbonite Safe Server Backup Release Notes For CSSB 6.x Enhanced

Carbonite Safe Server Backup is continually updated to address issues that may impact how you use the product.

Carbonite Icon Notification Area Meanings

The Carbonite icon displays information about your Carbonite backup at a glance.

Moving Carbonite Safe to Another Windows Computer

You can transfer your Carbonite Safe subscription from your old computer to your new or repaired computer to restore your files or start a new backup.

Low Priority Mode (Mac 1x)

By default, Carbonite backs up your files as quickly as possible without interfering with your important tasks. Placing Carbonite in Low Priority mode causes it to use less of your available bandwidth during backup, thereby freeing up bandwidth for other services.

Transferring Your Carbonite Safe Subscription to Restore Files

You can transfer your Carbonite Safe subscription to restore your files to another computer.

How to Determine if Carbonite is Installed (Mac 1x)

When Carbonite is installed and running correctly, you will see a black padlock icon in your Apple menu. If you do not see this, you may need to unhide it from System Preferences or reinstall Carbonite.

The Carbonite Preference Pane (Mac 1x)

The Carbonite System Preference pane lets you monitor the status of your backup and choose settings for Carbonite. With the Carbonite Preference pane, you can select and deselect files for back up, restore individual files, restore all files, change Carbonite's status (e.g. paused, disabled, recover mode), and uninstall Carbonite.

Determining the Status of Your Backup on Windows

You can check the status of your backup through the Carbonite application.

Limitations of the Backup to Cloud Operation

The product allows users to perform backups to disk only, backups to cloud only, or backups to both disk and cloud. The Backup to Cloud operation has a few limitations and drawbacks, when compared to the other backup types. The limitations are technical, and are largely related to the power and speed of the machine that runs the product.

Restoring All of Your Files for Carbonite Safe Backup Pro

You can use Carbonite's Restore Manager to restore the files in your backup to a repaired or new computer. The Restore Manager allows you to download your entire backup in the simplest manner.

Determining the Status of Your Backup (Mac 1x)

You can determine the status of your Carbonite backup through the Carbonite Preference pane.

Known Issue: Unable to Select Files for Back Up

Some files such as pictures and .PDFs can occasionally be marked as temporary files due to the nature of the software used to create or import them. Files with the temporary attribute cannot be backed up by Carbonite. In most cases, a new copy of the file can be created that would remove this attribute and allow Carbonite to select it for backup. This can be done by zipping the file with the Windows compression tool, and then unzipping it.

Carbonite Post-Restore Checklist

This checklist will assist you with performing post restore functions to get your data where it needs to be and resume your backup.

Managing Your Bandwidth For CSSB 6.x Enhanced

By default, Carbonite Safe Server Backup (CSSB) attempts to transfer data to and from the cloud at the maximum possible speed. Hence, CSSB always attempts to use the maximum bandwidth you have available. If you wish to specify the maximum bandwidth CSSB should use for the upload and download of data, you can do so through the Dashboard.

Viewing the Restore Status

When Carbonite is restoring files, you can view the restore status to determine how much longer the restore may take to complete.

Known Issue: Backups Fail with the Error "Could not write to disk"

While performing a Backup to Disk, the backup will fail with the error "Could not write to disk", if the disk becomes inaccessible for any reason.

Known Issue: Unable to Delete Orphaned Backup on Disk

Local disk capacity prevents further backups and backups cannot be found in the CSSB interface.

The Backup Tab (Mac 1x)

You can review or change your backup settings, add files and folders to your backup, and view the status of your backup through the Carbonite Preference Pane.

The Backup Tab (Mac 2x)

You can review or change your backup settings, add files and folders to your backup, and view the status of your backup through the Carbonite User Interface.

Advanced Options (CSSB 6.x) For CSSB 6.x Enhanced

On the Advanced page, the Global Settings allow you to set options for Data Transfer and Networking, Retention Policy Enforcement, directories used for backup and restore operations, and the ability to update the amandabackup / CarboniteUser user password.

Carbonite for Mac Showing Account is Disabled Following Update to Sequoia

This article details a new security in Sequoia (macOS 15.0) and its impact on the Mac 2x backup functionality.

File Types Excluded from Backup for Carbonite Safe

Carbonite does not automatically select files larger than 4GB (Gigabyte) for backup. Files that may cause conflicts with your programs or operating system when restored are excluded from being backed up.

Message: “The drive ‘NAME’ has been disconnected”

During a backup, a Carbonite alert appears with “The drive ‘NAME’ has been disconnected”.

Known Issue: Writer's Status is not Stable for Oracle Databases

If you receive an error message stating writer's status is not stable, while attempting to back up Oracle Databases, it indicates the Database is in No Archivelog mode and is opened in a Read Write state. Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) does not support backing up a database in this configuration.

Hyper-V Backup For CSSB 6.x Enhanced

Hyper-V is Microsoft's virtualization host. It allows users to create, run, and manage virtual machines. Carbonite Safe Server Backup (CSSB) supports backup and restore of virtual machines hosted by Hyper-V server installations on Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2016. Hyper-V backups support full backups on Windows Server 2008 and higher. Incremental backups are supported on Windows Server 2008 R2 and higher. Differential backups are not supported on any platform. CSSB is able to take snapshots of files located on network shares configured with the SMB3 protocol.

How to Use a NAS Device with CSSB For CSSB 6.x Enhanced

Carbonite Safe Server Backup can store your backups on any Network Attached Storage (NAS) device. CSSB can also back up data that exists on a NAS.

Selecting Files for Backup (Mac 1x)

This article explains how to select files for backup with the Carbonite version 1x for Mac.

Backing Up Files on an External Hard Drive (Mac 1x)

You can use Carbonite to back up files on an external hard drive from Carbonite within the Apple System Preferences.

Message: “Your hard drive has been disconnected”

During a backup, a Carbonite alert appears with “You hard drive has been disconnected”. If Carbonite cannot detect your drive, Carbonite will remove the backup for that drive after 30 or 60 days.

Message: "The backup archive could not be read"

While performing an upload from disk, either as part of a Backup to Disk and Cloud operation or following a Backup to Disk operation, you could experience backup issues. If the upload to disk fails, the following error message will appear: The backup archive could not be read. Please verify that the disk is connected and in good health.

Stuck Backup and Backup Errors (Mac 1x)

If your backup appears slow or stuck on your Mac, there are steps you can take to resolve the issue.

Hyper-V Backup For CSSB 5.x & 6.x Classic

Hyper-V is Microsoft's virtualization host. It allows users to create, run, and manage virtual machines. Carbonite Safe Server Backup (CSSB) supports backup and restore of virtual machines hosted by Hyper-V server installations on Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2016. Hyper-V backups support Full backups on Windows Server 2008 and higher. Incremental backups are supported on Windows Server 2008 R2 and higher. Differential backups are not supported on any platform. CSSB is able to take snapshots of files located on network shares configured with the SMB3 protocol.

Deleting CSSB Backup Data For CSSB 6.x Enhanced

As a best practice, one should always set a Retention Policy that best suits their business needs. Data that meets its Retention Policy is automatically removed from the cloud, providing lower costs and easier quota management. A user can also delete data manually from the cloud for any reason.

Message: "One or more of the VSS Writers required for backup type are missing"

If one or more VSS Writers is unavailable while attempting to perform a backup, you will receive an error message stating that the Application writer's data is not available. Please check the application writer status.

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