Server backups for macOS
CopyHome dumps your MySQL databases and archives folders over SSH, downloads them to your Mac, verifies every file and puts a copy in the cloud. Quietly, on schedule, from the menu bar.
3 projects · next run at 3:00 AM
Your whole project on one screen
Last run status, the next backup, disk usage and how fast your database grows. If something goes wrong, CopyHome tells you in plain words.
Schedule
Manually, hourly, daily or weekly. Need more precision? Write your own cron expression. Was the Mac asleep at 3:00 AM? The missed backup runs as soon as it wakes up, and a failed one is retried after 15 and 60 minutes.
15 */6 * * *
Verification
-- Dump completedtar end markerdropped less than 30%Notifications
Menu bar
Close the window and the schedule keeps running. Starts when you log in.
Rotation
Old snapshots are removed automatically, on the Mac and in the cloud separately. And only after a successful full backup, so a server that goes down never eats your good copies.
Local too
An "On this computer" project dumps without SSH. CopyHome finds the MySQL client in Homebrew or MAMP by itself.
127.0.0.1:3307
Dump options
CopyHome picks the fastest compressor available on the server. Logs and sessions can be saved as structure only.
How it works
Host and user, sign in with a key or a password. Your ~/.ssh/config and ssh-agent just work. "Check SSH" shows whether the server has everything needed.
MySQL databases and folders, with exclusions like cache/ or node_modules. Each source can be backed up on its own.
How many copies to keep and whether to send one to the cloud. From there CopyHome does the rest and tells you if anything is off.
The dump streams straight into a file on your Mac and never lands on the server's disk. The MySQL login and password go through stdin, so they never show up in ps.
Cloud copy
The 3-2-1 rule without the chores. After every backup CopyHome uploads the snapshot to your storage and checks the checksums.
Disk / CopyHome/ └─ Shop/ └─ 2026-10-17T03-00-00/ ├─ mysql-shop.sql.zst ├─ dir-uploads.tar.gz.part001 ├─ dir-uploads.tar.gz.part002 └─ .copyhome.json ✓ sha256
Security
Copies go from the server straight to your Mac. Neither our service nor anyone else's sees your data. A copy goes to the cloud only if you connect your own storage.
Turn on encryption and the dump is encrypted on its way to the file: there is no plain copy on disk, and the cloud gets the encrypted one. A .age file opens with the standard age tool, no CopyHome needed.
MySQL and SSH passwords and cloud tokens are encrypted with a key from your Keychain. They are never stored in plain text.
No home-made protocol code. Your keys, your config, your agent. A changed host key blocks the connection.
The database password reaches the server through stdin, not command arguments, so other users on the server can't see it.
You sign in to the cloud on Yandex's page. No app secret is needed or kept in the code.
FAQ
No. It only needs bash, gzip, tar and mysqldump, which are almost always there already. If no database password is set, CopyHome uses ~/.my.cnf on the server.
In ~/Backups/fast-backup/<Project>/<date-time>/ as plain .sql.gz, .sql.zst and .tar.gz files that open without CopyHome. No proprietary formats.
A missed scheduled backup (from the last 7 days) runs right away once the Mac wakes up or CopyHome starts. A failed scheduled backup is retried automatically after 15 and 60 minutes. And if there has been no good copy for too long, you get a "No recent backup" notification.
CopyHome stays in the menu bar and keeps running on schedule. Turn on "Open at login" and the window won't even appear.
The dump runs with --single-transaction, so InnoDB tables aren't locked, and zstd or pigz compression uses every core on the server. Large log tables can be saved as structure only.
Not yet. PostgreSQL is next on the roadmap, along with incremental folder backups via rsync and one-click restore.
An app for macOS. Your backups stay with you.