Backup Client Release Notes (Mac)

Release Version 9.2.2.884

Bug Fixes

• The user email is now consistently displayed during all steps of the upgrade installation process. 
• A bug was resolved where the upgrade installation process would cause the installer to install a fresh installation with a new HGUID for some users. This release now checks for existing installations, allowing for successful upgrades with no HGUID-related issues.

Release Version 9.2.2.878

Improvements

• OpenSSL was upgraded to 1.1.1za to address known security vulnerabilities.
• The Backup Client now blocks SSHFS-mounted drives and excludes system and cloud-synced folders like ~/Library/CloudStorage, Caches, Developer, Metadata, and Mobile Documents to prevent unintended backups and reduce data usage.
• Help page links were updated to avoid future dead URLs. References to help.backblaze.com were replaced with permanent URLs to ensure continued access to support content, especially for users on legacy Backup Client versions.
• The Backup Client now shows a warning popup when less than 5 GB of space is available on the boot drive, helping ensure Backblaze can run reliably. This prevents silent failures due to insufficient disk space.
• Because Backblaze does not back up network drives, the Backup Client now prevents backups from common NAS filesystems such as SMBFS, NFS, FTPFS, SSHFS, iSCSI, and others.
• Recent macOS versions can mount cloud storage (for example, Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox) in local paths, causing the Backup Client to mistakenly back them up. These cloud-mounted folders are now detected and excluded to avoid performance issues, excessive data usage, and restore complications.
• The Computer Backup Installer was enhanced to enforce mandatory multi-factor authentication (MFA) when using the Email MFA method. This change ensures consistent MFA enforcement across all methods when mandatory MFA is enabled.
• The Backup Client symlink security was enhanced when opening files. This prevents the Backup Client from unintentionally following symlinks, aligning with the intended behavior of not relying on symlinks for application data.
• A message was added to the Backup Client's Exclusions tab to clarify what data is not backed up. The message includes a “Learn More” link that directs users to the Supported Backup Data page for full details.
• The Inherit Backup State flow now shows a message when Email MFA is selected, as only SMS MFA is supported for this process. Email-based MFA is not currently compatible with Inherit Backup State.
• The Computer Backup Installer was hardened to prevent privilege escalation via a tampered installation package. Previously, a low-privilege user could overwrite payload.pkg before installation, allowing code execution with root privileges. The installer now verifies the integrity of payload.pkg before executing it.
• The Computer Backup Installer now supports mandatory email-based MFA during installation. This ensures users can complete authentication when MFA is required for their account.
• The Computer Backup Installer now prevents multiple instances from running concurrently to avoid conflicts. This change ensures that if a user or IT tool (e.g., Jamf) attempts to run a second installer while one is already in progress, the second process will be blocked, preventing file access issues and incomplete installations.

Bug Fixes

• The bz_done file now maintains a consistent hguid during Inherit Backup State migration.
• The "Full Disk Access" check was simplified to improve reliability and maintainability. The previous implementation was complex and error-prone; cleanup revealed a timestamp precision issue that contributed to inaccurate results.
• Bztransmit now limits repeated unreadable file warnings to prevent log bloat. Previously, Bztransmit could generate gigabytes of logs per day by repeatedly warning about unreadable OneDrive files. The Backup Client now suppresses duplicate warnings after a threshold, reducing log volume while still reporting total counts
• The Backup Client now skips disconnected cloud drives to prevent backup loops and log bloat. Previously, the Backup Client would repeatedly attempt to back up files from disconnected cloud drives volumes, causing endless backup loops and large log files. The Backup Client now detects unmounted cloud drives and skips related files entirely, logging a single summary line instead of per-file errors.
• If a login attempt (e.g., via Okta) was interrupted during inherit backup state, the GUI would appear frozen until a timeout occurred. The Backup Client now handles failed logins more gracefully, allowing the Cancel and Close buttons to respond immediately.
• BzClient now deletes old bz_done_internal_consistency.dat reports to prevent unbounded growth. This debug-only file previously grew indefinitely in some cases; the Backup Client now manages and removes older entries automatically.
• Intermittent failures were addressed when using “Send Logs to Backblaze” from the bzmenu. The issue was caused by uninitialized values and a macOS API dependency; both have been resolved.
• A C++ JSON exception in the Computer Backup Installer was addressed to prevent rare crashes during setup. This improves installer stability, especially in edge cases where malformed or unexpected JSON data was encountered.

Release Version 9.2.1.860

Improvements

• The Computer Backup Installer now correctly shows or hides the SMS fallback button based on the user’s two-factor verification (2FV) configuration.
• The Computer Backup Installer now follows the server-defined authentication challenge flow instead of relying on a fixed login sequence. This update improves flexibility and ensures compatibility with evolving authentication requirements.
• Removing config files now causes the Backup Client to create a new backup upon reinstall. The Refresh Drive List menu option appears, and the Backup Client may auto-inherit an old backup or revert to the original backup name.

Bug Fixes

• An issue was resolved where extremely large backup lists could take hours to load, potentially delaying backup operations. Performance has been improved for faster processing.
• An issue was resolved where certain internal backup metadata could be incorrectly modified during self-healing. This update ensures better consistency between what the Backup Client shows as backed up and what’s retained in storage.
• The Backup Client now limits this to a single log entry per several thousand lines to improve performance and reduce log size.
• A rare issue was resolved where the Computer Backup Installer could crash at the end of a clean installation.
• An issue was resolved in the internal backup system where HGUID entries were not properly cleaned up, improving data consistency and system reliability.

Release Version 9.2.1.852

Improvements

• The Computer Backup Installer now includes several enhancements to two-factor authentication, such as improved error handling, localized error messages, and SMS fallback detection.
• Vulnerable third-party library dependencies were upgraded.
• The Computer Backup Installer now supports reinstalling the application on systems where a previous backup was removed via self-destruct.
• The Computer Backup Installer now explicitly closes Backblaze B2 sessions when completed to reduce unnecessary open sessions.
• The Full Disk Access tutorial in the Computer Backup Installer was updated to reflect the latest macOS requirements and provide clearer guidance.
• The Backup Client now detects bzdone lines containing multiple HGUIDs. It identifies affected FGUIDs, determines which files are still present on disk, and re-uploads them with a new, valid FGUID. For files that are no longer present, the Backup Client generates new x lines to mark them as expunged. This enhancement improves backup accuracy and ensures un-restorable files are correctly marked.

Bug Fixes

• An issue was resolved that caused the spacebar to become unresponsive in the password field.
• An issue was resolved where modifying settings in the Exclusions tab caused the Backup Client to freeze.
• A Safety Freeze alert was implemented for Backup Clients without a private encryption key (PEK) set, ensuring that users are notified of prolonged backup issues.
• A privilege escalation vulnerability was resolved. Safer file handling was also implemented to mitigate time of check to time of use (TOCTOU) conditions.
• Logging was optimized to prevent excessive log file growth during attempts to back up unreadable cloud-based files.
• The Backup Client was updated to avoid backing up Backblaze B2 mounts for improved efficiency.
• Excessive and incorrect logging was resolved, reducing log file bloat and improving performance.
• An issue was resolved in which users upgrading to version 9.2.0.836 via auto-update encountered unexpected warnings related to bzfileids.dat. Some users also received messages indicating their Backup Client had not backed up in several days, despite being active.
• An issue was resolved where the silent upgrade option did not produce any log file output.
• Password generation was improved in the command-line installer to align with updated security best practices.
• An issue was resolved that allowed the removal of default folder exclusions in the Backup Client. This behavior was corrected to prevent modification of default exclusions.
• An issue was resolved that prevented Wi-Fi networks from being added to the block list when using macOS Ventura 13.7.4 and 13.7.5 with certain versions of the Backup Client.
• An issue was resolved that caused an “invalid login” error for users with weak account passwords.
• A mismatch was resolved in the cross-platform Backup Client related to version parsing. The Backup Client now handles version compatibility better to prevent these errors.

Release Version 9.2.0.836

Improvements

• Files with missing chunks are now automatically repaired when possible.
• Restrictions were removed that prevented certain large files from being backed up.
• Improvements were made to the two-factor authentication modal.
• The modal text prompting users to download and install the latest Backup Client version was improved.
• The threading mechanism was optimized to enhance performance and efficiency in data operations.

Bug Fixes

• An issue was resolved that caused the Backup Client to crash when restoring files.
• Unnecessary files were removed to prevent the drive from reaching capacity.
• An issue was resolved that caused the Backup Client to freeze and display an error when logging in with a single-sign on (SSO) account.

Release Version 9.1.0.832

Improvement

• The Mac Backup Client installer was enhanced with performance and reliability optimizations for smoother installations and upgrade and downgrade experiences.

Bug Fixes

• An error was resolved that prevented the Use Backup Code option to appear when submitting credentials using two-factor authentication.
• When running the Mac Backup Client installer or launching the restore app, the email field now allows 99 characters.
• An issue was resolved that caused the Mac Backup Client installer version 9.1.0.818 to fail on OS X Mavericks.
• An issue was resolved that caused Mac Backup Client installer version 9.1.0.818 to fail on OS X High Sierra version 10.13.
• An issue was resolved that caused an error to occur when a custom installer was already used or expired.
• An issue was resolved that caused an incorrect modal to appear when selecting Uninstall > Cancel.
• An issue was resolved that caused the app to freeze and display an error during installation when logging in with an SSO account.
• Various bug fixes and stability improvements were made to the Mac Backup Client installer.

Release Version 9.1.0.818

Improvements

• Improvements were implemented to strengthen the Mac Backup Client Installer, laying the groundwork for a future installation.
• cURL version 8.9.1 is now supported.
• The "Skipped Files" process was enhanced for better performance and more efficient file handling.
• The Backup Client was upgraded to support OpenSSL v3.3.2.

Bug Fixes

• An issue was resolved that caused the Mac Backup Client to crash when a folder with spaces was added to the exclusion list.
• The keyboard shortcut for pasting a value is now re-enabled in the Private Encryption Key (PEK) entry field.
• An issue was resolved that caused the Backup Client to crash when the number of top-level directories exceeded 200,000 entries.

Release Version 9.0.2.802

Bug Fix

• An issue was resolved where files were prematurely expunged before the license expired.

Release Version 9.0.2.790

Improvements

• Improvements were made that enhanced security.
• Improvements were made to error messages to provide more information during installation.

Bug Fixes

• The "Remaining files" value that appears in the Backup Client and the Backblaze web console now match.

Release Version 9.0.2.784

Improvements

• All .git files were removed from the exclusion list and are now backed up.
• The Xcode compressed xip extension is excluded from backups.
• Notifications and the process for handling the end-of-life status of an installed Backup Client version were improved through various enhancements.

Bug Fixes

• The Location Services dialog no longer appears if permission was already given.
• For older versions of the Backup Client, file lists are produced so that new backups are no longer stuck in a loop.
• An upgrade link now appears so a user can upgrade to “Forever” version history.
• Files no longer back up when a WiFi network is blocked, and an error is displayed.
• The Show Backblaze button was fixed for notifications.

Release Version 9.01.778

Improvements

• A Close button was added to the Restore Options modal.
• In the Backblaze Help menu, an option to submit user feedback or report an issue was added.
• The process for handling the end-of-life status of an installed client version was improved through various enhancements.
• The list of blocked Wi-Fi networks now sorts to group the checked items and the unchecked items as two separate groups.

Bug Fixes

• Files that contain a resource fork no longer fail when scheduled for backup.
• The “Install Complete” modal was updated to notify the user to open Backblaze Preferences instead of the Applications folder.
• The “Support” link was updated with the new URL.
• An issue was corrected that, in certain conditions, prevented the “Map This” feature on the Locate My Computer page from pinpointing the IP position.
• If a large file existed that required making a full copy of that large file to back up and a user deletes that large file from their computer, a “Low on Disk Space” error is no longer returned.

Release Version 9.0.1.768

Improvements

• The user experience to manage the Wi-Fi network block list was improved when Location Services are disabled.
• The installer was improved when used from the command line.

Bug Fixes

• The Wi-Fi selection menu that contains a list of available SSIDs was updated for macOS Sonoma 14.1.
• An issue was resolved that caused a crash when location services were enabled.