Carbon Copy Cloner can't clone system volume in Big Sur

[HDFan]

Just received an email from Bombich detailing an issue with Carbon Copy Cloner that disables the ability to clone a bootable drive.

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​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ macOS Big Sur and Carbon Copy Cloner backups ​ Apple will be shipping a major new operating system in the near future, and I wanted to take a moment explain how this change affects your CCC backups. We recommend waiting for a few updates before upgrading to Big Sur because important components of the OS aren't working yet. Early adopters can install macOS Big Sur onto the CCC backup volume to make it bootable. ​ What's changing in Apple's next OS upgrade?​ With the announcement of macOS Big Sur, Apple has retired Mac OS X (10) and replaced it with macOS 11. As with every OS since the original release of Mac OS X, CCC has been adapted to accommodate the changes to this new OS. As the numeric change would suggest, though, this is the biggest change to macOS since Apple introduced Mac OS X roughly 20 years ago. The system now resides on a "Signed System Volume". This volume is cryptographically sealed, and that seal can only be applied by Apple; ordinary copies of the System volume are non-bootable without Apple's seal. To create a functional copy of the macOS 11 System volume, we have to use an Apple tool to copy the system, or install macOS onto the backup. Will CCC 5 work on macOS 11 or will I have to upgrade?​ CCC 5.1.22 is compatible with macOS Big Sur, and that update is free for all CCC 5 license holders. Choose "Check for updates…" from the "Carbon Copy Cloner" menu and follow the instructions provided to apply the update. When we have an update that includes support for cloning the System volume, we’ll make a blog post and post an update to CCC. In the update notification, you’ll see a statement at the top of the release notes indicating that we’ve added that support. You can set the interval at which CCC checks for updates in CCC’s Preferences window. Can CCC copy the macOS 11 System volume?​ CCC will be able to use Apple's APFS replication utility ("ASR") to copy the System volume (we field-tested that functionality for the flawed 10.15.5 update). As of the latest Big Sur release, however, Apple's APFS replication utility is not working correctly with the Signed System Volume. As a result, ASR-created copies of the System volume are not bootable. Apple is aware of this issue and is currently working to resolve it. Can I still make bootable backups on macOS 11?​ Yes. There are two approaches to making your backups bootable on Apple's new OS. When Apple works out the problems in its APFS replication utility in an future update to macOS Big Sur, CCC will leverage that directly to copy the System volume and produce bootable backups. In the meantime, you can install macOS Big Sur onto your APFS-formatted CCC backup volume if you would like to make it bootable. Does CCC back up all of my data, applications, and system settings?​ Yes, absolutely. This part of CCC has not changed — CCC continues to provide complete backups of all of your data, applications, and system settings. Additionally, CCC offers support for snapshots, giving you access to older versions of your files. We design CCC to be a complete and more flexible replacement to Time Machine. Does my CCC backup have to be bootable for me to restore data from it?​ No. Bootability is a convenience that allows you to continue working if your startup disk fails, but it is not required for restoring data from a CCC backup. You can restore individual folders and older versions of files (i.e. from snapshots) using CCC while booted from your production startup disk. CCC backups are also compatible with Migration Assistant, so you can use Migration Assistant to restore all of your data to a clean installation of macOS (e.g. on a replacement disk). Should I upgrade my Mac to macOS Big Sur?​ Major system upgrades are often disruptive, so we have always recommended a very conservative approach to applying them. Consider the following: Is the upgrade required for my Mac? Will this upgrade improve the performance of my Mac, or degrade performance? Does the upgrade provide some functionality that will make me more productive, or otherwise greatly increase my enjoyment of using my Mac? Does the upgrade fix a problem that is preventing me from effectively using my Mac? What software will no longer work after applying the upgrade? If the upgrade turns out poorly and you have to downgrade, you certainly may downgrade using a CCC backup from an earlier OS. These sorts of procedures require time and effort, though, so you should weigh that potential hassle against the potential gain of the OS upgrade. Lastly, we recommend that any users that rely heavily upon the availability of their Mac for work or other productivity consider waiting for several OS updates before making the upgrade. Early adopters inevitably find some shortcomings and bugs which are resolved in minor OS updates. Related resources​ Restoring from a bootable backup Restoring from a snapshot Migrating data from a data-only backup using Migration Assistant Frequently asked questions about CCC and macOS Catalina (many of these are also applicable to Big Sur) Best practices for updating your Mac's OS macOS Big Sur Known Issues We take pride in listening to our customers and strive to continually make CCC better. Do you have suggestions, requests, or questions? Just reply to this email and we'll take a look. Mike Bombich ​ ​

 

[chscag]

Registered owners of CCC received the same email from Bombich.

 

[haralds]

It's been a known issue throughout the beta.
I have used the backup several times for reinstall and then migrating from it. Works fine. But it's not quite the same as your good ol' CCC. I do not blame Mike and his teams.
Apple has been "difficult" to even their most faithful developers. As he pointed out they also threw a curveball with the 10.15.5 update despite the fact they were made aware of the issue well before the release.

 

[Madhatter32]

This will get resolved ... hopefully sooner than later.

 

[Realityck]

I did a bootable backup of Big Sur 11.0.1 using CCC 5.1.23-b2 today. It didn't allow me to pick startup disk from within Big Sur, but I restarted with option and selected the back up drive and it booted to be able to run a CCC script to do a full restore if you wanted.

Update Nov 11: Apple addressed some of the APFS replication issues in the Big Sur 11.0.1 update, and CCC 5.1.23-b1 includes support for making bootable backups on Big Sur. This build is also a Universal Binary, so it will run natively on M1 Macs. Obviously we won't know if it will make a bootable backup of an M1 Mac yet, but we'll be sorting that out over the next few weeks during the CCC 5.1.23 beta cycle. To access the beta, go to CCC's Preferences > Software Update and check the box to be informed of beta releases, then click the button to check for updates. Please note that this does not change our advice on waiting for the upgrade, we think it's best practice to wait for some OS updates to come along before applying a major OS upgrade to a production Mac.

 

[honestone33]

I mentioned this previously on another thread a number of times. Same for SuperDuper!. See my thread about issues with Big Sur, where CCC and SuperDuper! are specifically mentioned.

 

[Realityck]

I mentioned this previously on another thread a number of times. Same for SuperDuper!. See my thread about issues with Big Sur, where CCC and SuperDuper! are specifically mentioned.

I was specifically responding to the thread topic, don't care Adam Engst (Tidbits) says Big Sur is risky. Been using Big Sur for weeks as a beta, it been very stable compared to Catalina builds, and I used CCC even partially working with a workaround for the system partition to maintain snapshots.

 

[Janeilfen]

Anyone installed Big Sur on a 2018 mini? If so, any issues with CCC (or anything else)?

 

[honestone33]

I was specifically responding to the thread topic, don't care Adam Engst (Tidbits) says Big Sur is risky. Been using Big Sur for weeks as a beta, it been very stable compared to Catalina builds, and I used CCC even partially working with a workaround for the system partition to maintain snapshots.

Well I do, as what is stated in the article is accurate, along with having excellent advice.

 

[Realityck]

Only for non-early adopters of Big Sur. See the CCC Blog.

 

[IowaLynn]

Old wives tale - wait for your apps, some learned not to trust ore release; never put 1.0 or 11.01, into production prematurely. Apple consistently needs months after release.

CCC - install a system to where your - Data clone is, as you can't clone the system. It do a full ASR which copies the image, not files. If I read Bombich blog.

Companies that write driver extensions like SoftRAID always took longer, have to deal with low level changes, and yes bugs.

 

[honestone33]

Only for non-early adopters of Big Sur. See the CCC Blog.

Fine. I can just sit on the sidelines and read about the experiences others are having. This will definitely help me to be better prepared when I finally make the move.

 

[honestone33]

Old wives tale - wait for your apps, some learned not to trust ore release; never put 1.0 or 11.01, into production prematurely. Apple consistently needs months after release.

CCC - install a system to where your - Data clone is, as you can't clone the system. It do a full ASR which copies the image, not files. If I read Bombich blog.

Companies that write driver extensions like SoftRAID always took longer, have to deal with low level changes, and yes bugs.

Yes, products like CCC, SD, Onyx, TechTool Pro, etc. also have to deal with such low level changes, and specifically related to disks.

Even if it's an old wives tale, it is still accurate. No matter how new versions of the mac OS, it is always the same: 1) first few releases contain a lot of bugs, and 2) most third party software is not compatible with early versions of the new OS. So, I'll take that old wives tale and proceed smartly, patiently, and with caution. Doing that always leads to a successful transition that is error free. And I don't have to deal with issues too.

 

[Daniva]

Update Nov 24: CCC 5.1.23 can now make bootable backups of a Big Sur startup disk on Intel-based Macs. Support for System volume cloning on Apple Silicon Macs is disabled for now because Apple's APFS replication utility does not currently work on that platform. When Apple fixes that, we'll post an update to CCC that restores support for making bootable backups on Apple Silicon Macs.

 

[honestone33]

Yeah, I saw that update on the site macupdate.com. Has not happened yet for SuperDuper!. But again, no sweat, as 1) Big Sur is still not stable enough, and 2) there are 4 other critical apps I use that are not yet compatible with Big Sur. Catalina is nice and stable, thank you very much.

 

[winna]

Update Nov 24: CCC 5.1.23 can now make bootable backups of a Big Sur startup disk on Intel-based Macs. Support for System volume cloning on Apple Silicon Macs is disabled for now because Apple's APFS replication utility does not currently work on that platform. When Apple fixes that, we'll post an update to CCC that restores support for making bootable backups on Apple Silicon Macs.

Any futher news on this subject? I have a Mac Mini M1 that I want to clone and boot from

 

[CoastalOR]

Any futher news on this subject? I have a Mac Mini M1 that I want to clone and boot from

My understanding is that CCC can still only make bootable clones for intel Macs using Big Sur, not M1.

Yes, you can have bootable backups on macOS Big Sur | Carbon Copy Cloner | Bombich Software

bombich.com

You can make a CCC clone of a M1 that can be used to migrate data to a new install of Big Sur on a M1 Mac.

 

[Dave_O]

My understanding is that CCC can still only make bootable clones for intel Macs using Big Sur, not M1.

Yes, you can have bootable backups on macOS Big Sur | Carbon Copy Cloner | Bombich Software

bombich.com

You can make a CCC clone of a M1 that can be used to migrate data to a new install of Big Sur on a M1 Mac.

You can use CCC to clone the data volum. Enter Recovery Mode, use Disk Utility to wipe the internal disk. Then install a new copy of Big Sur on the internal drive, and Migration Assistant to move apps, data, and settings back. An inconvenience to be sure, but hopefully your use case doesn’t require frequent cloning.