Time Machine Encryption

[uptownnyc]

I recently added a new 5tb drive as my external Time Machine backup destination. About half of that is full with my Time Machine backup data. I opted to encrypt the backup. The transfer has completed, and Time Machine has shown "Encrypting" for the past few days. It's moving, but quite slowly. Is this normal? Does the initial encryption of a full Time Machine backup usually take days, or has something gone wrong?

 

[Weaselboy]

If you have a lot of data on there, yes... it can take a long time.

Run the below command in Terminal and it will show you how far along it is.

diskutil cs list

The output of the command will look something like this. You can see in this example where 231 of 569GB is encrypted.

Encryption Status:           Unlocked
    Encryption Type:         AES-XTS
    Conversion Status:       Converting
    Conversion Direction:    forward
    Has Encrypted Extents:   Yes
    Fully Secure:            No
    Passphrase Required:     Yes
Disk:                       disk6
    Status:                  Online
    Size (Total):            569869340672 B (569.9 GB)
    Size (Converted):        231454277632 B (231.5 GB)
    Revertible:              Yes (unlock and decryption required)
    LV Name:                 Heap
    Volume Name:             Heap
    Content Hint:            Apple_HFS

 

[uptownnyc]

Yup. 46% done.
Can I safely reboot and it'll continue where it's left-off?

Thanks for that command. Didn't know that one.

 

[Weaselboy]

Yes you can.