11 Dec 2016 13:11 | macOS
SuperDuper! from ShirtPocket software is fantastic backup utility. It lets you
create a full bootable clone of your mac that you can boot from any machine.
Not only is this a great way to backup your data but if your main machine dies
you can plug the backup drive into any mac, boot from it using the option key
at startup and be straight back into your environment.
SuperDuper! doesn't natively support FileVault but there is a way you can use.
It's a bit cumbersome to set up but once done it works really well.
1. First create a full SuperDuper clone of your main drive as normal onto an
unencrypted volume.
2. Boot from the external disk into the clone'd environment.
3. Reinstall MacOS in the clone'd environment. This is necessary in order to
create the hidden partitions that allow FileVault to work.
4. After the install has finished, boot again into the clone'd environment
and enable FileVault. You don't need to wait for it to finish encrypting.
5. Reboot into the main mac environment.
6. The FileVault encryption process will continue in the background all the
time the drive is mounted but if you want to ensure all the files are
encrypted as soon as possible I recommend the following:
6.1. Delete all the files from the backup drive.
6.2. Run SuperDuper again from the main mac drive to the backup drive.
Since FileVault is now enabled they will be automatically encrypted as they
are written.
Once this finishes you now have a fully bootable clone of your mac that you
can update with SuperDuper as necessary.
