Backup a DT database to SpiderOak

DEVONthink Tips
1

I wish to backup the files of a database to SpiderOak, but I’m not seeing the option to select the database in SpiderOak.

Is a DT database accessible to a backup application like SpiderOak which seems to employ Finder folder trees? Are the files of a DT database revealed with Finder, making the contents available to an application like SpiderOak?

In my case, DEVONthink Pro 2 is found under Application Support in Finder, but all of the files of a database are not revealed there, rendering them inaccessible as constituents of the database.

How to backup a DT database to SpiderOak? Thanks, Grant

2

Grant:

I have no experience with Spideroak but a DEVONthink database is a special kind of folder called a package. (Right-click on one and select “Show Package Contents” and you will see the internals.)
I would contact Spideroak’s support and see if they have any support for packages (or if they’ll add it). Cheers!

3

Your safest bet is to ask SpiderOak directly if they support backups of OS X packages, and DEVONthink database packages in particular. SpiderOak’s FAQ suggests that it does not support all features of the OS X filesystem - that could be a red flag.

4

Thank you, gentlemen, for your replies. Yes, it seems unworkable, but the matter has received some attention. From SpiderOak customer support I received this response:

“In terms of backing up databases [to SpiderOak], you do not want to upload any application data. You can backup files that are accessed by other applications, but you will not be able to backup a live database. I will speak with our engineers about DEVONthink as well.”

I would like nevertheless to backup and sync contents of a DT database to a secure cloud and welcome suggestions.

Best,
Grant

5

Backup and sync are not necessarily synomous. They can present different issues. In any case, if you run a database from the cloud, the copy in the cloud is NOT an adequate backup.

Go to our Blog page and search for “Sync plugin”. There’s a public beta available for user testing. Please pay attention to the warnings!

6

Hi,

I do this daily, having moved to SpiderOak from Dropbox for security reasons a few months ago.

It works without any issues as long as you observe two conditions:

  1. Only have one computer open any one DT database at any one time.
  2. Ensure the SpiderOak sync is complete after closing Devonthink and before putting the computer in current use to sleep or powering it down.

This permits one to use the same file on more than one computer, but not at the same time. In my case, desktop and notebook.

Hope this helps,
Steve