[Backup/Restore] iPhone tool for Mac OS X

Hi all,

I have written a backup and restore tool for my iPhone because I was tired of reinstalling all my apps when updating the firmware and esp. some of the necessary tweaks to work around mishaps with Customize or MobileRSS.

Also it will save and eventually restore text messages and all of the data and configurations of 3rd party Apps that iTunes doesn't know (and care) about.

All you need is a working OpenSSH on your iPhone with rsa-keys exchanged so you don't need to provide a password for ssh/scp.

I'd appreciate some comments and feedback.

click here to test it: http://iBackup.up.to

Cheers,
Kerry.

First of all Many thanks!!! Great idea, however...

- installs just fine

- connects to the iPhone

- "makes backup"

- creates dated zip file

Unfortunately zip file contains only empty folders. In my case:
080328 2/Applications
and
080328 2/var/mobile/Library
and
080328 2/var/root/Library

My setup: MacBook, Intel Core Duo 1.83 GHz, OSX 10.5.2 <=> iPhone 4GB, 1.1.4, 04.04.05_G

Thanks again (rep power given for great effort ;-)

P.S. "Comments" section on your website doesn't work ;-)

Hi,

thanks for the reply.
Yeah the comments section is only for members of my GA Domain. Will put a mail link there....

But regarding the zipfile... I'm quite confused..... does it take some reasonable time to make the backup (like 5-8 minutes)?
And I wonder about the archive name... where does the " 2" after the date come from?

The standard backup is stored in "$HOME/Library/iBackup/data". Have you also done a standard backup? Maybe you could check that one...

Thanks,
Kerry.

Hi,

same here. Just creates a zip with empty folders. Only needs seconds for both types of backups. Folders are also empty in their standard location.....

Any ideas?

Oni

Hi all,

very awkward... I just tested it yesterday at a friend's with his MacBook and his iPhone and with the downloaded version of my tool. It all worked as it should....
And I saw why OSX renames it to "[date] 2" when unpacking the archive right in the same dir. But nevertheless the contents were all there.

Are you sure you have set up the rsa keys correctly so the ssh-login will work w/o any password? If the backup procedure goes very fast, it obviously doesn't copy anything...

You can also check in $HOME/Library/iBackup/data... to find the data of a backup performed with the "Standard" button.

Cheers,
Kerry.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KerryXEX

Hi all,

very awkward... I just tested it yesterday at a friend's with his MacBook and his iPhone and with the downloaded version of my tool. It all worked as it should....
And I saw why OSX renames it to "[date] 2" when unpacking the archive right in the same dir. But nevertheless the contents were all there.

Are you sure you have set up the rsa keys correctly so the ssh-login will work w/o any password? If the backup procedure goes very fast, it obviously doesn't copy anything...

You can also check in $HOME/Library/iBackup/data... to find the data of a backup performed with the "Standard" button.

Cheers,
Kerry.

---

Thanks for your help.

Obviously, in my case setting the rsa keys correctly is the problem.
Unfortunately I'm not a terminal expert and following instruction on: "http://www.extrapepperoni.com/2007/09/23/openssh-on-the-iphone" failed :-(

Would it be possible to just implement a standard "asking for password" upon connecting to iPhone" feature.
I'm sure it would make it much easier for lots of terminal idiots like myself, to use iBackup?! ;-)

Cheers

Great tool, but I am also having the empty folder problem.

Unfortunately the ssh doesn't accept password passed on or from a pipe..... And if I would ask the pw every time you'd have to key it in 6 or more times per backup ;-)

I'll check for a better solution....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KerryXEX

Unfortunately the ssh doesn't accept password passed on or from a pipe..... And if I would ask the pw every time you'd have to key it in 6 or more times per backup ;-)

I'll check for a better solution....

---

Thanks a lot. Cant wait for an easier to use (for me ;-)) version!

Ok, done it :-)

There's an updated version 1.2 which includes an automatic setup for the RSA communication and is invoked when needed (meaning: when the communication fails).
Only thing you need is the root password and key it in twice in the terminal window that will open. But that's only a one-time procedure.

new version is here: http://iBackup.up.to

Hope you'll enjoy it,
cheers,
Kerry.