MacOS_backup_reminder

A small python script that looks to see when the last time a Time Machine backup was made, and if it was too long ago, pings a reminder

• I have only tested this on Python 2.7
• I have only tested this on MacOS Sierra 10.12.3

Installation

1. Install Python 2.7
2. Copy the .py file into a directory of your choice
3. Determine your age of backup trigger, in number of days
   1. Call the script with the flag -d or --days followed by the number of days you want before the backup alert triggers
   2. For example, if you put 3, once the last backup is 3 or more days old, you will get pinged
4. Create a cron job:
   1. crontab -e to edit your crontab, which opens it in vi
   2. Optionally, set your crontab MAILTO variable

   MAILTO=user@domain.com

   2. insert a cron job that runs the script as often as you want. For example, this job which will run every 10 minutes and remind you once your last backup is 3 or more days old

   */10 * * * * python <path_to_script>/backup_monitor.py -d 3