Monitoring CrashPlan Backup in Real Time on the Mac OS X Desktop!

Hi,

In recent weeks, I've taken to using CrashPlan+ for personal online backups.  I'll write more on CrashPlan proper at another time.  For now, I'd like to share a nice little method I've got for monitoring CrashPlan activity in real time on my Mac OS X Desktop.  Folks in the CrashPlan User Forums have been asking developers to add such functionality to the native CrashPlan client.  But for Mac OS X users, at least, there's no need to wait!

It's done very simply with the free and awesome GeekTool.  Check out a couple of screenshots.

This first is of my Desktop.  Note the CrashPlan History Log data:

The second is of my Desktop with the GeekTool System Preference Pane open to the configuration section for the CrashPlan History Log file:

My Mac has a standard CrashPlan install.  The History Log file is at:

    /Library/Logs/CrashPlan/history.log.0

GeekTool updates the log file display continuously.  I press F11 (Exposé Desktop) to glance at my logs unobstructed by other windows. Afterwards, I press F11 again to resume what I was working on beforehand.  What could be simpler?

While I haven't tried it yet, similar monitoring can probably be done on Linux Desktops with the free and open source Conky.

I don't know how this might be done on Microsoft Windows Desktops.

So why don't you give this a try on your Mac OS X machine with CrashPlan and let me know how it works out?

--Brian