What is TMCacheDelete?

[watcher00090]

Hi,

I have a MacBook Pro with macOS 10.13.6 10.15.6 High Sierra, and I am using Time Machine to back it up to a external hard drive.

Looking at the file /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/backupd.plist I see a key for TMCacheDelete under the MachServices entry. I was wondering, does anyone know what TMCacheDelete is? I'm not sure whether or not I should disable this prior to running a backup.

Thank you,
James Pedersen

 

[DeltaMac]

The "TM" is the key, I think.
TM would likely be Time Machine, so without knowing much more, I think you can go with the idea that TMCacheDelete is probably responsible for removing Time Machine caches.
So,with that i mind, I think you should let THAT file help you with your Time Machine backup.
(If you decide to prevent that from running, then I think you can also expect that you won't get a good TM backup--proabably not your intent

 

[watcher00090]

You know when I work with backup software, I really like to have everything laid out clearly and unambiguously before I start taking backups. Unfortunately Apple doesn't do that very well in my opinion when it comes to Time Machine. I am taking for given that TMCacheDelete has something to do with removing caches that are involved with Time Machine backups. But I was really hoping to get some more information about what exactly these caches are and what happens if I don't remove them. This guide states with regards to MacOS High Sierra, Time Machine will trigger the creation of a APFS snapshot after it completes a backup, and Time Machine will also compute a snapshot delta prior to backing up. Are the caches that TMCacheDelete is removing old APFS snapshots that are no longer used by Time Machine to compute the snapshot delta prior to a Time Machine backup?