Create a Disk Image backup

You can easily create a disk image instead of a normal copy of any source folder of your choice. It will copy the contents of the folder and not the folder itself. Disk Images are faithful exact copies that will appear as a .dmg file at the destination you choose. Clicking on a .dmg file will then open and mount the image on your desktop, as a disk icon, from where you can extract any files you need for restoring.

To create a disk image backup

  1. Select your file or folder in the list window. Each list item will be a separate disk image so it is better to make an image of one folder such as you Home folder or Documents folder.
  2. Choose a destination in the Destination text field.
  3. In the settings panel, select Make Disk Image check box.
  4. enter a size ( in GB ) for the sparse image. backuplist+ will then create a fresh sparse image and then copy your source files there suing rsync. The image takes up only the space the files occupy but can expand as they are added, up to the limit of the desired size. So you need to add at least 20% above what the size of the source files are - more if you wish to update the disk image with many backups over time. If you leave the size field blank, backuplist+ will try to calculate the size for you, adding 20%.
  5. Include your password if you are copying files without correct permissions, or you will likely be asked for your password during backup. This will create a read-only type of disk image which allows your to copy files from it but not add or delete files. This is probably ok since you usually only need to copy files from a backup session for restore purposes.

The name of the disk image depends on the settings.

If you leave the Backup to Folder box un-checked, it will name the disk image itself with the name in the text field next to it.

disk image name

 

If you check the Dated folder option it will make a unique disk name with a date stamp. This acts as an archive but that also means you can't make successive backups ((updates) to that folder since each time you backup it will create a unique dated disk image.

disk image dated archive