It will take a long time but its the simplest approach. There was a problem. Everything still works fine. Christine Romero-Chan was formerly a Senior Editor for iMore. They're cheaper now. I had heard of a command line tool called icloudpd that did this, but unfortunately I lack any knowledge or skills when it comes to using such tools.. Thankfully, u/Alternative-Mud-4479 was gracious enough to lay out a step by step guide to installing it as well as automating the . This enabled me to get up and running and now my entire 500GB+ iCloud Photo Library is synced to my Synology. I use iCloud photo library so i can view the pics on my apple tv but absolutely want to have a local backup of full res photos. Open the Photos app. While Synology Drive's paid plans are quote-based, Apple iCloud, on the other hand, offers three storage plans that are perfect for your needs. For some reason Synology CloudSync can't sync from Apple iCloud - probably because Apple does not allow this. Download the files that you need from Synology NAS to your local computer. This was you have your photos backed up online in 2 places. I use the Synology Drive app. My Synology maxed out at about 10Mbps download, a fraction of my available speed, You should see current status: running with no data as the output, Turn off SSH on the Synology (remember to hit apply), Change log level if desired in the task settings by editing your scheduled task and replacing the last word (info) with error, Limit the comparisons to recent photos only if youd like by adding -recent 1000 to the end of your configuration (you can change the number if desired), Downloading iCloud Photo Library to your Synology for Backup. When the storage on one of my family accounts gets full, they just export the new stuff in Apple Photos to the preferred folder (Synology Drive Moments or shared photo) via SMB on the Synology. If you add, update, or delete content after the transfer starts, or if your images and videos are still uploading, these changes or additions might not be included in the transfer. suijiu 1 mo. In the Synology web UI, open Synology > Control Panel > Task Scheduler. Run as executable, docker container, or from the source; Run one time or continuously watch for changes to keep a local backup of your photos and videos. However, when you are creating the best user experience, it tends to happen overtime because it is hard to keep tight integration with an entire ecosystem and stay completely open. Using HB will enable you to keep your user configurations and certain package settings. Back up the library in Photos on Mac - Apple Support Jul 31, 2017. Hi Rusty and thanks very much for that! I believe I paid around $500 for the NAS box and the 3 TB drive a few years back. Drag Photos Library to a location on your external storage device. Lastly, I had my admin account create a "Family" folder on its Synology Drive which is shared to all the family. On my study user, I have copied the photo library to my external drive and set "download full res images to this Mac". Migrate Apple ICloud Photos to a Synology & Qnap NAS Posted on 24 Oct 2021 Also Read. One is all photos based on their added date (the date added to your library in photos on icloud) back to the "date_from" date in config.ini. With the exported files, I create my own file structure based on years/Months. As an idiot, I needed a lot of help figuring out how to download a local copy of my iCloud Photos to my Synology. Everyone's favorite IPhone backup app : r/synology - Reddit Hey, thanks! Follow the prompts to complete your request. If I am understanding correctly, I don't think there is a way, without exporting the full size copies to an external (which is what I do monthly). They then turned off iCloud for desktop and documents. Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac Isn't a trailing ' &' enough to put the command to run in a job independent from the effective terminal connection? The transfer includes copies of photos and videos that you store in iCloud Photos, associated with your Apple ID. Backing up iCloud Photos to a Synology NAS - Adrian - Adrian Thomas Any stand alone NAS (DS) would be a "smarter" choice. I have the script set to run once a day via DSM Task Scheduler, and it looks like it takes about 30 minutes for icloudpd to scan through my whole (already imported) library. It means your photos arent stored in a recognizable, hierarchical folder format and your access to the library depends on Apple continuing to offer a reliable service. Putting Photos library on a synology NAS - Apple Community You can turn it on and turn iCloud off in the Apple Files app on mobile at the same time. Some posts say that it requires Photo Station installed as well but this is not the case. I suggest opening a separate thread for that if you need peeps to share their experience. I always have to run my files through exiftool to change the modified and creation timestamps. No matter which method you prefer (though it's highly recommended to use both), your Photos library (and all images and video automatically downloaded from iCloud) will be backed up as well. syncing icloud backup with synology - SynoForum.com 1813 model about to be local backup! This container is going to be a lifesaverthank you so much for sharing and posting your compose. Amazon has the DS216+ (the current version of my NAS box) for $300. Create an upgrade script to keep the iCloud Photos Downloader up to date. First off, it takes a few days before they make the data available to you. r/synology Started with a DS1813+ from EBay two months ago. Worth a mention. We do not use the "auto import" function of Moments (or Photo Station) because we do not like the file structure it produces. Yes I do, what i meant was something to download all my content to my Synology from Google photos. If you use macOS TextEdit app to copy/paste/tweak your commands, make sure you select Format>Make Plain Text! Chronosync, GoodSync, Hyperbackup. You're using iCloud Photos to store photos and videos with Apple. Step 2. Christine also enjoys coffee, food, photography, mechanical keyboards, and spending as much time with her new daughter as possible. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Over time, you're going to end up with a lot of photos especially if you have kids and pets but even your best iPhone only has so much space. Is there a reason against using the Synology Photos app to do this..? Thanks. and our DS file | iOS - Synology Knowledge Center Synology Photos on the App Store Apple Photos and iCloud and Synology : r/synology - reddit Transferring photos and videos from iCloud Photos doesnt remove or alter the content you store with Apple, but sends a copy of your content to the other service. I then enabled Moments on Synology and turned on the "Shared Photo Library." backup journal to an external disk (newbie question), MariaDb problems "connection refused" after restored backup, DS923+ migrates to 1GbE LAN, not 10GbE LAN. Ive configured the Mac Mini and Synology to wake up for a few hours every day to do this and so far its working really well. Select the photo library you want to back up. icloud-photos-downloader/icloud_photos_downloader - Github In fact, the Apple Photo library does not even really like external storage unless it is formatted a certain way and has adequate size to do file swap. In some cases, you may find that the transfer didnt include all the photos, videos, or formats that you expected and there are a few reasons why this could happen. I found a simple solution. Back up Photos Library manually by showing: Click and drag your Photos Library to your external hard drive (Image credit: iMore). Don't worry to much about that as the container will attempt to run the sync after 6 hours again. Some contentincluding shared albums, smart albums, photo stream content, live photos, some metadata, and photos and videos stored in other folders or locationsis not transferred at all. All you have to do to back up your data to iCloud is copy it into this folder, paste it, or drag it there. For #3, you can just add `nohup` before the command and then ` &` at the end if you're running it via SSH and that will prevent the command from stopping if your SSH connection breaks. ago. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts, icloudpd doesnt work if advanced data protection is turned on. I considered posting this myself after I wrote up the guide, but, alas, I was too lazy! By default, Photos Library is stored in the Pictures folder of your home folder. DS cloud (iOS) Version 2.11 . 7) Click the "connect . DS file functions as a document provider, allowing files to be directly accessed and imported from other cloud storage providers (e.g., iCloud or another Synology NAS with DS file installed on your iOS device). If you have one of the best external hard drives just laying around, you should consider using it for making an external library to backup your iCloud Photo Library. I am in a near identical situation to you guys here, 320gb library nearly full on my 512 MacBook pro. Then, you can access your NAS files in the same way as you would local hard drive data. How To Sync Between Synology and iCloud - recoverit.wondershare.com Posting here in case it comes in handy to someone else. Synology DS415+. Ah. Doing so risks corruption which every Apple Photo help article explains. We use this time to verify that the request was made by you, and to make the transfer. kalleboo on March 6, 2021 | parent | context | favorite | on: Apple now lets you transfer your iCloud Photos to . It also leaves the "Moments" library on "Synology Drive" for their personal collections. It took only one Apple iCloud server error which cut our access to our files/photos/videos for about 38 hours to teach me that you should not leave things that are important to you on someone else's computer unless it is an encrypted backup of a backup that you likely will not ever need. It is an amazing device, and I am awestruck at how well it is designed. I've configured the Mac Mini and Synology to wake up for a few hours every day to do this and so far it's working really well. I just wish I could run a second instance for wifes phone but will setup symbology photos in hers to do the backup automatically or try to find an old mac mini cheap. Once transferred to Google, the filenames of albums and videos start with "Copy of.. I have a full 2TB worth of photos that I want to move to my NAS from iCloud. It may not display this or other websites correctly. It's just a few clicks every so often depending on how worried you are, and probably not 20 minutes before it's finished. Synology DS423+ NAS Confirmed How to Enable NVMe Storage Poo QNAP Launches New Security Vul Synology SAT5210-7000G 7TB SAT best nvme for Synology NAS (Sy Unleash the speed with the DS1 Synology DS223 NAS - Should Yo Synology DS1823xs+ NAS Reveale Synology . So since Im already paying Apple, why would I want another backup? - In Photos, under Preferences/General, check "Metadata: Include location information for published item". Step 2. Click " Photo Backup Not Enabled " and then " Enable Photo Backup " to allow the Photos app to access the storage. The Mac Mini downloads a copy to its Photos Library. iCloud Photos can feel like a backup. Way 2. Or use tmux or screen to run the command so that you can come back to it easily. It's also possible that the data you were expecting isn't in a format that can be transferred or it may have been held only for a very short time and is no longer on our servers. However, as great as iCloud Photo Library is on your favorite iPhone, iPad, and Mac, it's not failproof (nothing really is). I want to do this too but the Photos integration across all Apple devices, plus the memories, etc make it difficult to leave. How to back up iCloud Photo Library - The cloud-based sync service <br>Apple's iCloud Photo Library is a great. For even more absurd redundancy, you can use Synologys Glacier backup to copy your entire photo library up to AWS Glacier for cheap, offsite replication. The last step? Now, the magic, I go into the Apple Photos preferences menu and uncheck "Importing: Copy Items to the Photos library." Second: Documents and Desktop. I didn't need to install manually, but YMMV. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Go to the File menu. I then used SMB (network drive) on my iMAC to transfer over my entire folder structure of photos and videos I had just exported. Once all the backups are complete, I go and delete all my photos and videos off of iCloud that I exported. Downloading iCloud Photo Library to your Synology for Backup I am Sam That, in turn backs up to . It retains a full copy of your photos in iCloud (accessible on iCloud.com as well). skarppi/icloud_photo_station - Github If you've turned on the Download Originals option for your Photos library, you can back up your Photos library as part of your regular backup routine with Time Machine or even an online clone service like Carbon Copy or BackBlaze. Then I configured Photos.app to store a full local copy of my library. I cant select all photos on iCloud.com because the max number is 1000. Take note of env variable skip_check=false. Once again, Apple uses iCloud to achieve this. Hi and welcome to the forum and into Syno world. Finally I installed Synologys Cloud Station Backup Mac client on the Mac Mini and told it to monitor the photos directory and mirror those files to the Synology. QNAP NAS are optimized for Apple's Pro Apps. After installing, you will have an iCloud Drive folder in your Windows Explorer. By the way, I do not think Apple sets out to "lock" users into its walled garden intentionally. How to back up your iCloud Photo Library | iMore For some reason this defaults to the SMS fallback (if youre still not using MFA on iCloud, you really should be), Return to the DSM web user interface but do not disconnect your terminal yet, Create a dedicated folder for your photos, Copy the path to your folder out to a note somewhere and save it for the next step, Remember that you need to add /volume1 (or a different number if you have more than one volume) to the beginning of your path, Return to your terminal. When she isnt writing about Apple, Christine can often be found at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, as she is a passholder and obsessed with all things Disney, especially Star Wars. A somewhat pricey solution is a NAS box. It is scary because everything disappears and blank folders appear in the user home folder. Then, each family member downloaded the Synology Drive Desktop Client from here: https://www.synology.com/en-us/support/download. The other way is by album, but also constrained by the added . upload photos to a cloud service like Google Photos or iCloud; Option 1: Whole Computer Backup. I ask because every time I log into iCloud to download the original full resolution image, the timestamps do not have the original time, but they have the time when the download is done. The problem is that you can not put the Apple Photo library on a NAS. Because of the way this script tracks (and removes) deleted photos, it must be run at a frequency less than 30 days deleted photos are pruned from iCloud after 30 days. In other words, they will not be stored in iCloud twice -- once in iCloud Photos and once in iCloud Backup. You can download all of your photos in bulk first, then setup synology photos to only sync new images to your library. Tip: You can also try the option iPhone to PC from Phone Transfer to transfer photos, music, etc. Fill out each tab as follows: General: Give it a name, run as your user. Apple's 2TB family plan is just not enough with a wife who is a photo-hobbyist and two teenagers who have their own websites and Youtube channels. It can only be restored by restoring your entire iCloud Backup. . Synology 2021 Photo Management - YouTube With iCloud Photo Library enabled, your photos get . the option to create a new System Photo Library in the place of . Right-click and hit copy, or press Control + C. Go to the storage medium of your choice. New (and old) photos and videos are downloaded to a custom folder structure based on date, and any old files that I might delete from iCloud in the future will be deleted from the copy on my Synology (using the optional --auto-delete command). For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. But, I minimize its use (free tier) because it is another monthly fee, my family storage requirements have grown past what they offer, and I want the ability to have control of my data independent of any platform. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Building your own Synology NAS Google Photos replacement - 9to5Toys Run as a scheduled task in Synology to keep a local backup of your photos and videos. Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, Even though your entire iCloud Photo Library is (as the name implies) stored online in iCloud, it's worth considering a second online backup as one of your redundancies. Keeping a local backup of your photo library is mighty important. It's got two hard drive slots. It isn't perfect, but gets the job mostly done. Well, that is it. Select the photos and video you want to back up. If I delete stuff off my iCloud account, will this remove the matching entry from my local storage? Apple Music, Apple Pay/Card, iCloud, Fitness+. Switching from Google Photos to a Synology NAS. Best thing is that we won't ever run out of space with our family Synology. iCloud Photos Downloader . Also, this will work even if your phone is not connected to the network with your NAS and you don't have your NAS exposed externally or through a VPN. Tap > Upload > Others. cd ~/Library/Mobile\ Documents/. And if you really want to be on the safe side, you can run the above compose with skip_check=false AGAIN. Oh no, that's disappointing! I took a quick look at Github and this repository seems popular: https://github.com/gilesknap/gphotos-sync. The free 5GB individually is actually enough. Thanks for pointing it out! Click on iCloud Drive. Easily connect your Synology NAS to cloud services including BackBlaze B2, Dropbox, Google Drive, and Microsoft OneDrive to combine the different . My concern is that if my photos are wiped on one device accidentally, the Mac Minis library would also be wiped). Synology Drive vs Apple iCloud Comparison 2021 - CompareCamp I don't know if it's still the case, but I read previously that there were issues with Live Photos in that app. You must log in or register to reply here. If you have another cloud-based drive mounted in Finder, click on that. It may not display this or other websites correctly. Any cloud storage that syncs comes with a risk that all your photos could disappear suddenly this prevents that from happening. Find this folder, select files and directly backup them to NAS. But my C: doesnt have 2TB of space and mapping iCloud folder to a network drive on windows 10 isnt allowed. Remember, you can never have too many backups, and again, it's much better to be safe than sorry. I have it sync all of the photos/folders on my iPhone and every so often I open the app and it syncs all new photos. Synology is a Taiwanese technology company that produces Network-attached storage (NAS) devices. My family each created a documents and desktop folder in their Synology Drive accounts. She has been writing about technology, specifically Apple, for over a decade at a variety of websites. Don't want to back up your entire library? You can easily (and securely) access your NAS box over the Internet in a number of different ways. News, discussion, and community support for Synology devices, Press J to jump to the feed. If your Google account runs out of space during the transfer, not all of your items will be transferred. I didn't write the actual downloader python script, and it uses a plaintext keyring within the container to hold your iCloud credentials so proceed at your own risk. that is, if I put stuff in the local dir, it won't sync it to iCloud? I found a tool called icloud_photos_downloader which I packaged as a docker image. Copy everything from the iCloud desktop and documents folders to your Apple user home desktop and documents folders and let drive do the magic. You can export individual images and videos to your external drive. How to backup iCloud Photo Library | MacRumors Forums You can check the status of your request at privacy.apple.com/account. I tried the iCloud windows app but that wont let me remap the iCloud photo folder to my NAS and my C:\ is much less than 2 TB. Level 10. Once you turn on "Shared Photo Library," it creates a folder call "photo" in the Shared Folders section of DSM. Step 2. Excited! How to Automatically Back up iPhone Photos to Synology NAS (Easy I am doing the backup. Can't wait for 1823+. If someone has an alternative for backing up a large amount of iCloud photos to a NAS Id be interested in hearing it. Note: If you plan to back up your entire digital library to your Mac's hard drive, you'll likely want to do it on a desktop Mac with at least a 1TB drive or more. You must be a member in order to leave a comment. Slated to end on June 1, Google announced a bit ago that it would finally be closing out its notable unlimited Photos backup. I use it to move files between drives at home too because it's so fast and accurate. Apple assumes no responsibility with regard to the selection, performance, or use of third-party websites or products. It's really just your photo library in a single place even if you don't use Optimize . Cloud Sync. Docker noob here. I am writing this post because I want to give those who are considering or approaching Synology from my perspective a clear path. You could also check out https://github.com/icloud-photos-downloader/icloud_photos_downloader which is the same program /u/onestix posted but not in a docker container (you should use the container though), It did exactly what I wanted it to. I intend to start the image using a scheduled task, but for now I'm just launching the container when I want to pull new stuff from iCloud. Privacy Policy. Also, this isn't a 2-way sync, right? Yes, you can. I couldnt find a perfect solution so honestly I just use Synology Moments as well. You probably shouldnt empty the deleted photos folder more frequently than you run this script or it will leave photos on your Synology that youve removed from iCloud, Synology with plenty of extra storage space, Your Synologys local IP or domain (something like .local), Familiarity with ssh, the terminal in general, and other computer inner workings, Allow SSH through your Synology firewall (only if your firewall is on), Make sure Encrypted Terminal Service appears on one of the entries with an action of allow, Enter the command `ssh @ as in ssh [email protected]', Enter your synology password when prompted, Youll see a slightly different command prompt, Check that it is by typing python -V into your terminal and pressing enter, The result needs to be at least 3.6 (Mine was 3.8.8 which I believe is included with DSM 7.1), In order to install more Python packages, we need to install an up-to-date version of pip, the Python package manager, I followed this great guide to enable pip, Run the following commands in your terminal, sudo python3 -m pip install --upgrade pip, The order of this step is very important we need to install WHEEL first, Run ~/.local/bin/icloud username , Enter your real iCloud password when prompted app-specific passwords do NOT work because it is the API, Two factor users will get prompted for your code. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. A Practical Guide to Uploading A Lot of Photos to iCloud You do still only have one copy on the Nas which is a worry. You can then delete the desktop and documents folders from iCloud and go to Apple system settings, Apple ID, and turn off desktop and documents in the "options" menu of iCloud Drive. Then install the photos app on your IPhone and let photos copy all your pictures to the Nas itself. (Note: Why isnt this enough backup? Here are the steps: 1. Does deleting iCloud backup deletes iCloud Photo library? But Synology can do one better with Synology Drive and its Desktop Client. Those photos can only be recovered by restoring your iPhone from your iCloud backup. If you go this route, it's highly recommended to set up bi-weekly reminders for the following steps to keep the Photos library backed up regularly. The typical backup time for Synology to back up photos ranges from half an hour to two hours. However, an acceptable solution for me has been to use DSPhoto on my iPhone to automatically back up my photos to my NAS by setting up a geofence (sounds harder than it is) - this really works great. A flexible and comprehensive management tool that allows photo backup and browsing by chronological order or folder structure. To answer some questions, I used the "shared photo library" in moments so my wife and kids can view the photos on the moments App on their Phones/iPads. It's really quick and easy to back up to an fast external SSD from your photos library in the cloud. Nobody else has anything close. If youre a digital pack rat with every photo youve ever taken, this is for you.