Moving User Folder contents to External NVMe volume on Sonoma+

[woodenbrain]

I'm in the process of migrating from a 2009 MacPro still running Mojave to a current Mac Studio.

Due to boot volume space limitations in both the old environment and the new one (1TB SDD), I want to locate large capacity files that normally would exist in ~ on an external volume (4TB NVMe). In the Mojave environment, that included things like ~/Movies, ~/Pictures, but also certain items in ~/Documents and ~/Library, such ~/Library/Application Support/GarageBand, or ~/Library/Mail

In the Mojave environment it works well enough with symlinks to the external folders.

Two questions:

• has anything changed in terms of security since Mojave that would make this more difficult, and if so are there better approaches?

• what about the possibility of installing MacOS on the external NVMe drive as a secondary boot volume? In that case, if I had a user with the same short name as the user on the internal Mac Studio boot volume, could I do the same thing? i.e. symlink (for instance) ~/Library/Mail ? Or would security limitations block that?

Thanks for the info.

 

[gilby101]

For reliability through updates and upgrades, I have found it best to leave alone the default folders (Library, Documents, Desktop, Downloads, Music and Pictures). My symlinks to large folders on external SSD either have different names or are put inside Music, etc. And, obviously, move Music and Photos libraries to external.

Regarding ~/Library: Tread cautiously. The GarageBand folder should symlink fine. But I would leave Mail as is.

 

[MacCheetah3]

Symlinks will probably work, however, I instead recommend using the integrated library relocation functions — similar to what @gilby101 cautioned.

Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support

To save storage space on your Mac, you can move your Photos library to a different storage device.

support.apple.com

Change where your music files are stored on Mac

On your Mac, change where your Music files are stored on your computer. You can also manage your files and create folders for better organization.

support.apple.com

Change Files settings in the Apple TV app on Mac

In the Apple TV app on Mac, set options for folder locations, automatic delete options, and more.

support.apple.com

Moving GarageBand

Install GarageBand on (or move it to) a non-startup volume.

www.macworld.com

 

[woodenbrain]

OK, thanks, that's all helpful and mostly I've been aware of those things and have done it like that in current environment for Music and Photos. Mail works for me with a symlink in current environment.

Any thoughts on the second part of my questions? I just installed Sonoma on that external NVMe drive, and now have a user with the same name and short name as my "main" user on other boot volumes, and the same one I'll use on the new Mac Studio's internal boot volume. If for example I symlink from ~/myuser/Library/Mail on the internal boot volume to the exact same path on the external NVMe drive (which can also be booted) is that likely to work?

 

[Fishrrman]

"I just installed Sonoma on that external NVMe drive, and now have a user with the same name and short name as my "main" user on other boot volumes, and the same one I'll use on the new Mac Studio's internal boot volume."

Hmmm...
Not sure if this will work.

Even though the NEW account has the same username and password as the old one, the Mac will STILL "see them" as DIFFERENT accounts. The result will be permissions hell.

 

[gilby101]

Any thoughts on the second part of my questions? I just installed Sonoma on that external NVMe drive, and now have a user with the same name and short name as my "main" user on other boot volumes, and the same one I'll use on the new Mac Studio's internal boot volume. If for example I symlink from ~/myuser/Library/Mail on the internal boot volume to the exact same path on the external NVMe drive (which can also be booted) is that likely to work?

Even though the NEW account has the same username and password as the old one, the Mac will STILL "see them" as DIFFERENT accounts. The result will be permissions hell.

I too am worried by the @woodenbrain scenario.

For permissions, the important thing is that the UID of the accounts is the same. The first user created on macOS has UID 501 (whatever the name). Is the UID of each one the same? - you can show this with the Terminal command id.

Symlinking anything in ~/Library is going to cause unexpected problems which will be difficult to diagnose. Some things will work

Mail is a good example as Apple Mail uses more than ~/Library/Mail. There are mail related folders in ~/Library/containers and ~/Library/groupcontainers. And likely elsewhere.

Assuming the UIDs are the same, you can symlink document folders, but avoid symlinking anything in ~/Library (or other system folders) or package libraries like those for Photos. There are a few exceptions which will probably work - like the GarageBand folders you mentioned before.

 

[Ben J.]

Symlinkinking folders in ~/Library isn't a problem in itself. I have lots of apps that has large folders in library folder, that I've replaced with symlinks, and it's totally fine - have been for years. Symlinking the whole ~/Library folder or subfolders, though, I'd be more sceptical of.