How do I back up files from my Mac to Synology NAS using Time Machine? | Synology Inc.

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Set up your DSM to support Time Machine

1. Create a shared folder for Time Machine backup.

2. Sign in to your DSM using an administrator account.

3. Go to Control Panel > Shared Folder and click Create to create a shared folder.

4. Enter a name for the shared folder (such as "Time Machine Folder") and select a location (if multiple volumes exist). In this example, we'll choose Volume 1.

1. It is not recommended to enable the recycle bin feature or to use encrypted shared folders as your Time Machine destination. Click Next.1

2. Configure advanced settings for the shared folder as you prefer and then click Next.

3. Click Apply.

4. Click OK to complete the process.

5. Create a user for Time Machine and set a quota limit.

6. Go to Control Panel > User and click Create.

7. Enter a username and specify a password. Then, click Next.

8. Click Next.

9. Make sure that this user is assigned read/write permissions for Time Machine Folder. Click OK.

1. On the User quota setting page, enter a value you prefer in the Quota field and select a Unit from the drop-down menu. After specifying a quota, click Next.2 3

1. Continue through the next prompts and click Apply to complete the process.

2. Set the shared folder as Time Machine's backup target.

3. Go to Control Panel > File Services.

4. For 6.2 and earlier: For 7.0 and above:
• Find the AFP section on the SMB/AFP/NFS tab, and tick the Enable AFP service checkbox (for AFP) or the Enable SMB service checkbox (for SMB).4
• For AFP: Go to the AFP tab and tick the Enable AFP service checkbox.
• For SMB: Go to the SMB tab and tick the Enable SMB service checkbox.

5. Go to the Advanced tab and tick the Enable Bonjour Time Machine broadcast via AFP checkbox (for AFP) or the Enable Bonjour Time Machine broadcast via SMB checkbox (for SMB), and then click on the Set Time Machine Folders button.

6. Choose the shared folder you just created from the Time Machine menu and click Apply to save settings.

Perform Time Machine Backup to your Synology NAS

1. Connect to your NAS server.

2. On your Mac, click Go in the top menu bar and select Connect to Server.

3. Enter the IP address or the host name of your NAS server. Use AFP or SMB according to your settings in the previous steps. After specifying the address, click Connect.

4. Enter your account credentials and click Connect.

5. Select Time Machine Folder from the list and then click OK.

6. Configure Time Machine to set your Synology NAS as its backup disk.

7. On your Mac, open System Preferences from the Dock, and click Time Machine.

8. Tick the Back Up Automatically checkbox and click Select Disk.

1. Choose the shared folder that you created and click Use Disk.

2. The system will prompt you to provide your account credentials. Enter the username and password for the user that you have just created and then click Connect.

3. Time Machine will start backing up your data soon after.

1. If you would like to encrypt your backups, please use the encrypt backup option in Time Machine on your Mac instead of encrypting your shared folder.

2. We recommended you to set a quota to prevent Time Machine from occupying your entire storage space. In general, the quota should be at least two or three times the size of your Mac's drive or the amount of data to be backed up.

3. Users can only set shared folder usage quotas on models that support the Btrfs file system. If your NAS server only supports the ext4 file system, you can only set a usage quote for the entire volume.

4. For macOS Sierra and later, Time Machine uses SMB as the default protocol.