From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

Before the internet, my personal data was documents. If my computer
wouldn't work, I could connect my backup disk to any computer that could
read the disk and had apps that could read the files.

Now I need passwords and certificates, usernames, bookmarks, mailboxes,
and email account info, for examples, besides my documents. My current
Mac and my old one both run Catalina, so if my Mac didn't work, I could
use Time Machine or a clone of my startup disk to give my latest
personal information to the old Mac.

If I upgrade to Big Sur, that will exclude my old Mac. How can I keep my various kinds of personal data available for my old Mac?
--- Synchronet 3.18b-Win32 NewsLink 1.113

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

J Burns wrote:

Before the internet, my personal data was documents. If my computer
wouldn't work, I could connect my backup disk to any computer that could read the disk and had apps that could read the files.

Now I need passwords and certificates, usernames, bookmarks, mailboxes,
and email account info, for examples, besides my documents. My current
Mac and my old one both run Catalina, so if my Mac didn't work, I could
use Time Machine or a clone of my startup disk to give my latest
personal information to the old Mac.

If I upgrade to Big Sur, that will exclude my old Mac. How can I keep my various kinds of personal data available for my old Mac?

Depends on kind of personal data. You can use IMAP to keep your mail synchronized between your two computers, you can synchronize some personal
data (bookmarks, calendars, passwords etc.) via icloud - of course assuming you're OK with putting all this into cloud. Software preferences will be a problem, because eventually the old versions of apps will stop understand preferences written by the new versions - I don't think there's a way to overcome that.

--
A spokesman said: "Would you like to buy some of my spokes?"


--- Synchronet 3.18b-Win32 NewsLink 1.113

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

On 18-Nov-2020 at 2:13:38AM PST, "Krzysztof Mitko" <invalid@kmitko.at.list.dot.pl> wrote:

J Burns wrote:

Before the internet, my personal data was documents. If my computer
wouldn't work, I could connect my backup disk to any computer that could >> read the disk and had apps that could read the files.

Now I need passwords and certificates, usernames, bookmarks, mailboxes,
and email account info, for examples, besides my documents. My current
Mac and my old one both run Catalina, so if my Mac didn't work, I could
use Time Machine or a clone of my startup disk to give my latest
personal information to the old Mac.

If I upgrade to Big Sur, that will exclude my old Mac. How can I keep my >> various kinds of personal data available for my old Mac?

Depends on kind of personal data. You can use IMAP to keep your mail synchronized between your two computers, you can synchronize some personal data (bookmarks, calendars, passwords etc.) via icloud - of course assuming you're OK with putting all this into cloud. Software preferences will be a problem, because eventually the old versions of apps will stop understand preferences written by the new versions - I don't think there's a way to overcome that.

I used 1Password v6 to hold passwords and other information. It's not automatically entered or saved but it is recoverable should I need to supply license info, passwords, etc to a replacement system.

There's really no way I know to keep a "configuration as code" such that various system administration tools can reproduce a system. I could do this
in AWS or on a Linux box or a Linux VM, but automating such an install with things like network boot, puppet and/or ansible has a way to go. I heard that Apple uses Monki as a package manager but don't know how they do that network boot and automatic configuration part.

--
DeeDee, don't press that button! DeeDee! NO! Dee...


--- Synchronet 3.18b-Win32 NewsLink 1.113

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

On 2020-11-18, J Burns <burns@nospam.com> wrote:

Before the internet, my personal data was documents. If my computer
wouldn't work, I could connect my backup disk to any computer that
could read the disk and had apps that could read the files.

Now I need passwords and certificates, usernames, bookmarks,
mailboxes, and email account info, for examples, besides my documents.
My current Mac and my old one both run Catalina, so if my Mac didn't
work, I could use Time Machine or a clone of my startup disk to give
my latest personal information to the old Mac.

If I upgrade to Big Sur, that will exclude my old Mac. How can I keep
my various kinds of personal data available for my old Mac?

By transferring your data ifrom your Time Machine backup to the new Mac
using Setup / Migration Assistant, which takes care of transferring all
of you apps, system and network settings, and user data (yes, including passwords, certificates, user accounts, bookmarks, mailboxes, email
account info, and so on).

People do this every day, and it works great. Apple has directions
showing how to do it:

<https://support.apple.com/HT204350>

--
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR
--- Synchronet 3.18b-Win32 NewsLink 1.113

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

On 2020-11-18, Krzysztof Mitko <invalid@kmitko.at.list.dot.pl> wrote:

J Burns wrote:

Before the internet, my personal data was documents. If my computer
wouldn't work, I could connect my backup disk to any computer that
could read the disk and had apps that could read the files.

Now I need passwords and certificates, usernames, bookmarks,
mailboxes, and email account info, for examples, besides my
documents. My current Mac and my old one both run Catalina, so if my
Mac didn't work, I could use Time Machine or a clone of my startup
disk to give my latest personal information to the old Mac.

If I upgrade to Big Sur, that will exclude my old Mac. How can I keep
my various kinds of personal data available for my old Mac?

Depends on kind of personal data. You can use IMAP to keep your mail synchronized between your two computers, you can synchronize some
personal data (bookmarks, calendars, passwords etc.) via icloud - of
course assuming you're OK with putting all this into cloud. Software preferences will be a problem, because eventually the old versions of
apps will stop understand preferences written by the new versions - I
don't think there's a way to overcome that.

None of this is an issue if you simply use Setup / Migration Assistant.

--
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR
--- Synchronet 3.18b-Win32 NewsLink 1.113

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

Jolly Roger wrote:

On 2020-11-18, Krzysztof Mitko <invalid@kmitko.at.list.dot.pl> wrote:

J Burns wrote:

Before the internet, my personal data was documents. If my computer
wouldn't work, I could connect my backup disk to any computer that
could read the disk and had apps that could read the files.

Now I need passwords and certificates, usernames, bookmarks,
mailboxes, and email account info, for examples, besides my
documents. My current Mac and my old one both run Catalina, so if my
Mac didn't work, I could use Time Machine or a clone of my startup
disk to give my latest personal information to the old Mac.

If I upgrade to Big Sur, that will exclude my old Mac. How can I keep
my various kinds of personal data available for my old Mac?

Depends on kind of personal data. You can use IMAP to keep your mail
synchronized between your two computers, you can synchronize some
personal data (bookmarks, calendars, passwords etc.) via icloud - of
course assuming you're OK with putting all this into cloud. Software
preferences will be a problem, because eventually the old versions of
apps will stop understand preferences written by the new versions - I
don't think there's a way to overcome that.

None of this is an issue if you simply use Setup / Migration Assistant.

For moving from older system to a newer one - sure. But OP wants to migrate backup made with newer system (Big Sur) to an older Mac, which cannot run Big Sur. Are you sure Migration Assistant won't give him the "Your Mac requires an upgrade before you can migrate from this source" error?

--
A spokesman said: "Would you like to buy some of my spokes?"


--- Synchronet 3.18b-Win32 NewsLink 1.113

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

In message <rp3fhe$2219$1@adenine.netfront.net> Krzysztof Mitko <invalid@kmitko.at.list.dot.pl> wrote:

Jolly Roger wrote:

On 2020-11-18, Krzysztof Mitko <invalid@kmitko.at.list.dot.pl> wrote:

J Burns wrote:

Before the internet, my personal data was documents. If my computer
wouldn't work, I could connect my backup disk to any computer that
could read the disk and had apps that could read the files.

Now I need passwords and certificates, usernames, bookmarks,
mailboxes, and email account info, for examples, besides my
documents. My current Mac and my old one both run Catalina, so if my
Mac didn't work, I could use Time Machine or a clone of my startup
disk to give my latest personal information to the old Mac.

If I upgrade to Big Sur, that will exclude my old Mac. How can I keep >>>> my various kinds of personal data available for my old Mac?

Depends on kind of personal data. You can use IMAP to keep your mail
synchronized between your two computers, you can synchronize some
personal data (bookmarks, calendars, passwords etc.) via icloud - of
course assuming you're OK with putting all this into cloud. Software
preferences will be a problem, because eventually the old versions of
apps will stop understand preferences written by the new versions - I
don't think there's a way to overcome that.

None of this is an issue if you simply use Setup / Migration Assistant.

For moving from older system to a newer one - sure. But OP wants to migrate backup made with newer system (Big Sur) to an older Mac, which cannot run Big Sur. Are you sure Migration Assistant won't give him the "Your Mac requires an
upgrade before you can migrate from this source" error?

u can migrate your data between versions. There are things you will not
be able to migrate, of course (like the system, of course). Possibly not
system settings.

--
He wasn't good or evil or cruel or extreme in any way but one, which
was that he had elevated greyness to the status of a fine art and
cultivated a mind that was as bleak and pitiless and logical as
the slopes of Hell.
--- Synchronet 3.18b-Win32 NewsLink 1.113