Ever useful to back up user cache files?

[twickland]

As you may already know, the default selector "All Files Except Cache Files" isn't particularly comprehensive. We've been excluding additional cache files from specific applications via our custom selectors; however, I got to wondering whether any of the files in /Users/[username]/Library/Caches/ are likely to be actually useful in the event of a full or subvolume restore (the only time I can imagine recovering these files). "Useful" in this case means, would the user ever miss (or even notice) that they weren't restored?

 

Anyone care to comment?

[CallMeDave]

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As you may already know, the default selector "All Files Except Cache Files" isn't particularly comprehensive.

 

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If you consider that the true and proper name of that selector should be "All Files Except Web Browser Cache Files" then in fact it is reasonably comprehensive.

 

This filter was conceived and first constructed on a system that did not have any OS level cache files.

 

> would the user ever miss (or even notice) that they weren't restored?

 

No.

[rhwalker]

Twickland, although answering a different question than the one you asked, note that, if you were attempting to restore on a different machine that did not have the exact same hardware configuration, some of the OS cache files can sometimes be problematic and need to be deleted before boot. E.g., restore single-processor Xserve G5 onto multiple-processor Xserve G5. Don't even think about PPC -> Intel restores unless your OS is Universal binary (not all 10.4.x install disks are universal binary, and once you are down the non-UB path, you are committed to that path unless you do a clean install).

[twickland]

Thanks Russ and Dave; you confirmed what I thought was the case.

 

For most users, we don't back up the system or applications, since they are basically running plain vanilla and will get a replacement machine if the current one goes belly-up.

 

One iBook user with a specialty configuration had a HD crash, and we successfully performed a complete restore on his replacement machine. Unfortunately, he was given the exact same model iBook, and it suffered a similar crash 9 months later. He was then given a MacBook, so we were only able to restore the Users folder and selected specialty apps, but that turned out to be almost as good for him as the complete restore had been.

[Gorbag]

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Quote:

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As you may already know, the default selector "All Files Except Cache Files" isn't particularly comprehensive.

 

---

 

If you consider that the true and proper name of that selector should be "All Files Except Web Browser Cache Files" then in fact it is reasonably comprehensive.

 

This filter was conceived and first constructed on a system that did not have any OS level cache files.

 

> would the user ever miss (or even notice) that they weren't restored?

 

No.

 

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Which segways to the question: how about the EMC team distributing a more comprehensive selector for the OS level cache files so we can easily exclude such files from our backups?