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macOS setup guide

Connect your SuperDuper! backups to OpenBackup

Install the OpenBackup monitor on your Mac, connect it to SuperDuper!, synchronize the generated status file, and view your backup status on iPhone or Android.

Before you start

You need:

  • A Mac running macOS
  • SuperDuper! installed and configured
  • The OpenBackup Setup wizard
  • Google Drive, Dropbox, or another supported HTTPS location
  • The OpenBackup app on an iPhone or Android device
Privacy: OpenBackup does not upload or inspect your backup contents. It only uses a small JSON status file created after SuperDuper! completes a backup.
1

Install OpenBackup on your Mac

Open the OpenBackup Setup wizard and continue to the Install step.

  1. Open the OpenBackup Setup wizard and continue to the Install step.
  2. Select your installation location.
  3. Keep the default location unless you have a specific reason to change it: ~/OpenBackup.
  4. Select Install OpenBackup.
  5. Enter an administrator password when macOS asks for authorization.
Why is an administrator password required? SuperDuper! requires the monitor script to be owned by root:wheel. macOS handles the password prompt. OpenBackup cannot see or store your password.

After installation, the selected folder contains:

OpenBackup/
├── BackupMonitor.sh
├── backup_status.json
└── logs/
    └── BackupMonitor.log

The initial backup_status.json contains clearly named demo data, allowing you to test the iPhone or Android app before running a full backup. Your first real SuperDuper! run updates the file with actual backup status.

2

Connect the script to SuperDuper!

Configure SuperDuper! to run the monitor after a copy completes.

  1. Open SuperDuper! and select the backup you want to monitor.
  2. Open Options, followed by Advanced.
  3. Under After copy, enable Run shell script after copy completes.
  4. Select BackupMonitor.sh from your chosen OpenBackup folder.
  5. Save the SuperDuper! settings.
The script is installed with owner root:wheel and permissions 755, as required by SuperDuper!.

Change an existing scheduled backup

If you want to add OpenBackup monitoring to a backup job you created earlier, open its saved SuperDuper! settings first.

  1. Open Finder.
  2. In the menu bar, choose Go, followed by Go to Folder….
  3. Enter ~/Library/Application Support/SuperDuper!/Scheduled Copies/ and press Return.
  4. Look for the familiar name of the scheduled backup job you want to change. It normally has the same name you see for that job in SuperDuper!. macOS usually hides its .sdsp filename extension. Do not open sdautomatedcopycontroller or SDUtil.
  5. Double-click the backup job with that name to open it in SuperDuper!.
  6. Open Options, followed by Advanced.
  7. Under After copy, enable Run shell script after copy completes.
  8. Select BackupMonitor.sh from your OpenBackup folder.
  9. Save the SuperDuper! settings, then run the backup once to test it.
3

Run a test backup

Confirm that SuperDuper! starts the monitor correctly.

  1. Run the configured SuperDuper! backup.
  2. Wait until the copy completes.
  3. Open your OpenBackup folder in Finder.
  4. Confirm that backup_status.json has been updated.
  5. If needed, inspect logs/BackupMonitor.log for details.

OpenBackup supports multiple backup jobs. Each job appears as a separate entry inside the backups array in the JSON file.

4

Synchronize the OpenBackup folder

Make the status file available to your iPhone or Android device.

  1. Configure Google Drive, Dropbox, or your preferred supported service to synchronize the OpenBackup folder.
  2. Wait until backup_status.json has synchronized.
  3. In your cloud service, locate backup_status.json and select Share.
  4. Give the file read-only access. Choose a setting such as Anyone with the link can view or Viewer; do not allow editing.
  5. Select Copy link in your cloud service.
  6. Test the copied link in a private browser window. The file should open without requiring sign-in and without offering editing access.
Keep the share link read-only. OpenBackup only needs permission to retrieve the status file.
5

Connect the iPhone or Android app

Add the shared status-file link to OpenBackup.

Apple App Store Google Play
  1. Install and open OpenBackup on your iPhone or Android device.
  2. Open the connection settings.
  3. Select your connection method.
  4. Paste the read-only link copied in step 4 into the status-file link field.
  5. Give the connection your own clear, recognizable name.
  6. Save the connection and refresh the backup status.

Before your first real backup, the app displays the demo entries created by the setup wizard. After SuperDuper! runs, the file is updated with real source, destination, completion time, result, and free-space information.

Troubleshooting

SuperDuper! refuses to run the script

Reinstall the script with OpenBackup Setup and approve the administrator prompt. SuperDuper! requires BackupMonitor.sh to be owned by root:wheel.

The iPhone or Android app still shows demo data

Confirm that a real backup completed, that backup_status.json was updated on the Mac, and that the cloud copy has finished synchronizing.

No log file appears

BackupMonitor.log is written when the monitor script runs. Confirm that the script is selected under SuperDuper!'s After copy setting.

The status link does not work

Test the link in a private browser window. Check that the file is shared read-only and that the link does not require access to your personal cloud account.