# OS X disk clone



## bfletcher7 (Jan 16, 2016)

Hi. Historically, I've utilized Disk Utility to clone my HD volume and then create a disk image from the clone. Now that my OS X system utilizes the APFS my process for accomplishing this task fails (prior to, I formatted my volumes as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). The error is shown in the attached image. Are there any OS X experts whom can assist me in this effort? Thx.


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## bfletcher7 (Jan 16, 2016)

Larger image attached:


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## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

Always google your error messages. Here's one hit. 


https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8384650


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## bfletcher7 (Jan 16, 2016)

Thanks for searching but I read that thread several days ago. My preference is to continue using Disk Utility rather than using the command line mode. Since I don't know commands, I am hesitant to copy/paste what others share over the Internet.


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## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

I used command line all the time. The only problem is that I'm not a Mac guy & that's who you need. I was a little surprised that command line was involved since it were Mac related. Don't be afraid of the command line. You'll learn it faster than you think. I'll try to research it more later today. Besides that site that I posted, I also saw something on GitHub. Have you see that?


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## bfletcher7 (Jan 16, 2016)

I was not familiar with GitHub; I'll check. Thx.


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## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

I'm trying to research it again. The first thing that I noticed was:
"All of the commands below should be used in Terminal app on macOS 10.13 or later."
Is 10.13 the Terminal app that you have?


As I said, I'm not a Mac guy so let me ask a few basic questions that may seem simple/stupid but that's the only way that I can help. Please explain the cloning process from the beginning. In other words, does it start on a Mac with a DVD in the drive? Is it started by a few clicks. If so, what is clicked? Where does the command line interface come in to play? Just try to give me the first few steps to start the process.


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## Miniwax (Sep 13, 2018)

Guap0_ said:


> I'm trying to research it again. The first thing that I noticed was:
> "All of the commands below should be used in Terminal app on macOS 10.13 or later."
> Is 10.13 the Terminal app that you have?
> 
> ...


Never done a full disk clone, so I can't really help, but 10.13 would be the OS, Terminal doesn't have versions, bash does, but shouldn't be relevant.


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## bfletcher7 (Jan 16, 2016)

I don't want to waste your time like I consumed my own. I caved and installed the CCC trial and successfully created a Mojave clone, reverted to an older OS backup, then went back to Mojave. For the minimal cost of CCC, I'll just rely on that method for now. 

On OS versions 10.13.x and earlier I would simply boot to the startup menu (CMD-R), launch Disk Utility, then clone my OS X volume (which Apple names "restore"). Once the clone completed I would perform a normal startup, then go back to DU and create a disk image of the clone and save it offline. 

I'm guessing when I say that the new disk format "APFS" is impacting my inability to perform this routine as I have in the past but I've yet to read of a workaround, or new method within DU. Perhaps, too, the fact that I'm using a mechanical drive vs., say, a Fusion--or SSD--has some adverse affect on the APFS format. 

I appreciate the feedback but for now I'm content with relying on the CCC third-party app.


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