Backup history and search

Find any file, client, shoot or card across every drive, even when the drives are unplugged, and move your history to a new Mac.

Arkeep keeps a permanent history on your Mac of every drive, every file on it and every copy it has made. You can find out where something is backed up without plugging in a single drive.

What the history records

• Each drive: its name, capacity, when it was first seen, when it was last plugged in and when it was last indexed.
• Each file on your archive drives: its name, folder, size and dates, its fingerprint, and whether it has gone missing or may be damaged.
• Each copy Arkeep makes: the date and time, the card's name, the cameras found, the shoot folder, every drive it went to and whether each drive's copy passed verification.
• Each file Arkeep copies: its name, size, checksum, capture date, and the camera model and serial number when the file's metadata has them.
• Each card check: saved as a report in your reports folder.

Nothing is removed from the history on its own. A file that disappears from a drive is marked "missing since" the date Arkeep noticed, not deleted. The only exception is the records of old drives, if you choose a time limit for them. See Drives and Drive Memory.

Where it lives

The history is stored on your Mac, in the same database as the index. It works with no drives connected and no internet.

Because the history is the only record of what was on a drive that has died, Arkeep also saves encrypted backups of it to a second place you choose, such as another archive drive or a cloud folder. See Updates and your backup key.

Searching

1. Open the Arkeep window. From the menu bar, click the Arkeep icon, then Open Arkeep.
2. Click the search field at the top right ("Search files, clients, cards"), or press Command-F.
3. Type at least two letters of a file, folder, client, shoot or card name, for example "C0042", "Bricks" or "FX3 Card".

Results appear as you type.

Reading the results

A line at the top says what was found, for example "Found 12 files and 2 folders for “Bricks”." Search shows just the files and folders that match, each once, without opening every folder above them. After the size, a small chip says where it is: "on 24TB BLTF A", or "on 2 drives" when it's on more than one. Hover over the chip to see the path. Click it to see the full folder path on each drive and when that drive was last plugged in. Show in Drive Browser opens that folder in the drive's Files tab, with the file selected.

• Folders that match, such as a client or shoot folder, are shown with their file counts.
• Files that match show a status:
  • "2 copies" when the file is on more than one archive drive;
  • "Only copy" in amber when it's on one drive only;
  • "missing since" a date, or "possibly damaged since" a date, when something is wrong with that copy.
• On card only, in red, marks files that a card's latest check found not backed up. This finds a clip that never made it off a card.
• Cards checked lists cards whose name matches, with when each was checked and whether it was all backed up.

Arkeep shows the first 60 files. Type more of the name to narrow it down.

Select a file and press Space to show or hide the preview pane. A file on a plugged-in drive gets a full preview, and video plays. A file on an unplugged drive shows the thumbnail Arkeep saved while indexing.

How current is the answer?

The results come from each drive's last index. If a drive hasn't been plugged in for a while, its file list may be out of date. A drive's page shows when it was last indexed, and so does Get Info (Command-I) with the drive selected. Plug the drive in to refresh it.

Checking a card in the field

You don't need your archive drives to check a card. Plug a card into any Mac running Arkeep, even a laptop far from your drives, and Arkeep checks it against the history. The result says how many files are backed up and on which drives, for example "1,127 backed up on Archive A and Archive B," and lists exactly which files aren't.

See Checking a card for what the result means.

Verified and unverified copies

A copy Arkeep made counts as backed up only after it passes verification, when Arkeep has read it back from the drive and its checksum matches the card.

A copy that wasn't verified, because Fast copy was on or because the copy was interrupted, shows as "copied, not verified" in amber. It never counts as backed up. To make it count, copy the card again with Fast copy off, or finish the interrupted copy with Resume. See Copying what's missing.

Your recent checks

• The Overview page lists your Recent Checks, newest first, with each card's result. Click Show Reports Folder to see the saved report files.
• Cards you've checked appear in the sidebar of the Arkeep window, under Cards. Select one and press Delete to remove it from the sidebar. That never deletes any files.

Moving your history to a new Mac

Your history is a single database on your Mac. To take it with you:

1. On your old Mac, open Settings and go to Backups.
2. Click Save a Copy… and save the backup somewhere you can reach from the new Mac, such as an archive drive.
3. On the new Mac, install Arkeep, open Settings, go to Backups and click Restore From Backup….
4. Choose the backup file. Because the backup was made on another Mac, Arkeep asks for your recovery key.

If you've already set up a backup place on a drive or in a cloud folder, you can skip step 2 and restore the newest backup from there.

Restoring replaces the history on the new Mac with the one in the backup, including every drive Arkeep remembers. Arkeep saves the current history first, in case you need it back. For more on the recovery key, see Updates and your backup key. To move your license too, see Licenses and devices.

On your phone

Coming at launch The free Arkeep iPhone app will let you search this same history on your phone, with no Mac nearby. See Mobile companion.