Using Duplicati with MacOS
This page describes common scenarios for configuring Duplicati with MacOS
Before you can install Duplicati, you need to decide on two different parameters:
You machine CPU type: Arm64 or x64
Deciding on type
To use Duplicati on MacOS, you first need to decide which kind of instance you want: GUI (aka TrayIcon), Server, Agent, CLI. The section on Choosing Duplicati Type has more details on each of the different types. For home users, the common choice is the GUI package in .dmgformat. For enterprise rollouts, you can choose the .pkg packages.
Determine CPU architecture
Your Mac is most likely using Arm64 with one of the M1, M2, M3, or M4 chips. If you have an older Mac, it may use the Intel x64 chipset. To see what CPU you have, click the Apple icon and choose "About this Mac". In the field labelled "Chip" it will either show Intel (x64) or M1, M2, M3, M4 (Arm64).
Installing the package
The packages can be obtained via the main download page. The default package shown on the page is the MacOS Arm64 GUI package in .dmg format. If you need another version click the "Other versions" link at the bottom of the page.
If you are using the .dmg package the installation works similar to other application, simply open the .dmg file and drag Duplicati into Applications. Note that with the .dmg package, Duplicati is not set to start automatically with your Mac, but if you restart with the option to re-open running programs, Duplicati will start on login.
If you are using the .pkg package, Duplicati will install a launchAgent that ensures Duplicati starts on reboots. The CLI package installs a stub file that is not active, so you can edit the launchAgent and have it start the Server if you prefer.
Using the TrayIcon
If you have installed the GUI package, you will have Duplicati installed in /Applications and it can be started like any other application. Once Duplicati is started, it will place itself in the menu bar near the clock and battery icons. Because Duplicati is meant to be a background program, there is no Duplicati icon in the dock.
On the first start Duplicati will also open your browser and allow you to configure your backups. If you need access to the UI again later, locate the TrayIcon in the status bar, click it and click "Open". If you install the CLI or Agent packages, the Duplicati application is not available.
Using the Server
If you install the CLI package, Duplicati binaries are placed in /usr/local/duplicati and symlinked into /usr/local/bin and you can start the server simply by running:
When invoked as a regular user, it will use the same folder, ~/Library/Application Support/Duplicati, as the TrayIcon and share the configuration.
Note: If you install the GUI package or install from homebrew, Duplicati's binaries are not symlinked into the paths searched by MacOS. You can invoke the binaries by supplying the full path:
Using the Agent
With the Agent there is a minimal setup required, which is to register the machine with the Duplicati Console. When installing the Agent package, it will automatically register the Duplicati agent with a launchAgent that starts Duplicati in an Agent mode.
If the Agent is not registered with the Console, it will open the default browser and ask to be registered. Once registered, it will run in the background and be avilable on the Duplicati Console for management.
If you have a pre-authenticated link for registering the machine, you can place a file in /usr/local/share/Duplicati/preload.json with content similar to:
Using the CLI
Using the CLI is simply a matter of invoking the binary:
Since the CLI also needs a local database for each backup, it will use the same location as described for the Server above to place databases. In addition to this, it will keep a small file called dbconfig.json in the storage folder where it maps URLs to databases. The intention of this is to avoid manually specifying the --dbpath parameter on every invocation.
If you specify the --dbpath parameter, it will not use the dbconfig.json file and it will not store anything in the local datafolder.
Note: If you install the GUI package or install from homebrew, Duplicati's binaries are not symlinked into the paths searched by MacOS. You can invoke the binaries by supplying the full path:
Using the support programs
Each package of Duplicati contains a number of support utilities, such as the RecoveryTool. Each of these can be invoked from the commandline with a duplicati-* name and all contain built-in help. For example, to invoke ServerUtil, run:
Note: If you install the GUI package or install from homebrew, Duplicati's binaries are not symlinked into the paths searched by MacOS. You can invoke the binaries by supplying the full path:
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