I recently replaced my Macbook Pro (early 2015) with a newer model. As I make use of Time Machine for making encrypted backups on my Synology NAS I thought it would be a great opportunity to actually test my backups as a non tested backup is no backup at all (Schrodinger’s backup).
During the initial setup of my new Macbook however, I ran into a problem. The migration assistant found my NAS, I was able to connect to it and see the backups but at the same time I got the following message: “No volumes found in backup”. My heart dropped a little but thought some one else must have had the same experience so I started to look for answers online.
Searching for just the message “No volumes found in backup” returned some results but none were actually solutions for the problem I was having. That changed when I added “Synology” as a search term as that search led me to the Synology community forum and more specifically to a post describing just what I was experiencing.
In short, to restore from an encrypted Time Machine backup with Synology:
- Set up the Macbook as a new Macbook when asked by the Migration Assistant (do not transfer any information at this time)
- After setting up the Macbook, connect to the Synology NAS and access the shared folder where your Time Machine backups reside
- Double click (mount) the Time Machine backup from which you want to restore, you will need to enter your key
- After the backup is mounted, start the Migration Assistant
- Instruct the Migration Assistant to use your mounted backup
The restore / migration took several hours but was successful in the end, I am now typing this blogpost on my new Macbook!
References:
- Restore your Mac from backup
- https://support. apple.com/en-us/HT203981
- Post on the Synology Community about restoring from encrypted backups