Copy data from a Time Machine volume mounted on a Linux box.

copy-from-time-machine.sh

#!/bin/bash
# 
# Copy data from a Time Machine volume mounted on a Linux box.
#
# Usage: copy-from-time-machine.sh <source> <target>
#
# source: the source directory inside a time machine backup
# target: the target directory in which to copy the reconstructed
#         directory trees. Created if it does not exists.
#
# Details:
#
# Time machine implements directory hard links by creating an
# empty file in place of the directory and storing in its
# "number of hard links" metadata attribute a pointer to a
# real directory in "/.HFS Private directory data^M" named
# "dir_$number".
#
# This script reconstructs a plain directory tree from this
# really ugly apple hack. Tested on a 650GB backup from OSX
# 10.6 mounted on a Linux 3.2.0-38 Ubuntu box. YMMV.
#
# MIT License.
# 
#  - [email protected]
#

self="$0"
source="$1"
target="$2"
hfsd="$3"

set -e

if [ -z "$source" -o -z "$target" ]; then
  echo "Usage: $self <source> <target>"
  exit -1
fi

if [ ! -d "$target" ]; then
  mkdir -p "$target"
fi

if [ -z "$hfsd" ]; then
  # Look for HFS Private directory data
  sysname="$(echo -ne '.HFS+ Private Directory Data\r')"
  hfsd=$source
  while [ "$hfsd" != "/" -a ! -d "$hfsd/$sysname" ]; do
    hfsd=`dirname "$hfsd"`;
  done

  if [ "$hfsd" = '/' ]; then
    echo "HFS Private Directory Data not found in $source, is it an HFS filesystem?"
    exit -2
  else
    echo "HFS Private Directory Data found in '$hfsd'"
    hfsd="$hfsd/$sysname"
  fi
fi

find "$source" -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -and -not -name . -and -not -name .. | while read entry; do
  dest="$target/`basename "$entry"`"
  read hlnum type <<<$(stat -c '%h %F' "$entry")

  case $type in
    'regular file'|'symbolic link')
      cp -van "$entry" "$dest"
      ;;

    'directory')
      # Recurse
      $self "$entry" "$dest" "$hfsd"
      ;;

    'regular empty file')
      if [ -d "$hfsd/dir_$hlnum" ]; then
        # Recurse
        $self "$hfsd/dir_$hlnum" "$dest" "$hfsd"
      else
        echo "Skipping empty file $entry"
      fi
      ;;
  esac

done

This was so useful I created a python clone here:
https://gist.github.com/alexcthomas/6df11f8a7b10a40a1dbc6adf7440995f

Hey Guys ,

I'm a complete noob when it comes to programming. I have written small C programms for school but other than that, I'm useless hahah.
I wanted to ask how exactly to I proceed with this? I copied the code to my atom editor (but the version with the "unset LANG" at the beginning of the code) saved it as tmbackup.sh and compiled with chmod +x.
Then i tried to run the programm by typing ./tmbackup.sh /dev/sdb2/ desktop. This means my source is the /dev/sdb2/ and i wanted to test out if it works, so i used the desktop as my target (was that ok or completely wrong??) .
After executing that last line, i get the following error:*** HFS Private Directory Data not found in /dev/sdb2/, is it an HFS filesystem? ***

I would be very thankful for any advice, and excuse my lacking skills ^^

Copied the script into a repo and updated it with some improvements from others forks. This also should help to better manage issues (thus having a more "clear" snapshot of the status quo in the README).
I do this because @vjt's script is a really good thing, but I had some issues (which I solved myself recognizing belatedly that others already solved them, too.)
@sepaepa try to use the mount point of mounted devices, not devices themselves, i.e. not /dev/sdb2.

@dr0i I've replaced the link in my article to your repo.

Wow, thank you! This just saved my life ahah.

@stanfrbd haha I am super glad to hear that! that’s what OSS is for :-) and luckily these internals rarely change over time :D cheers!

damn, this script keeps on giving! Life-saving 10 years after its release — thank you @vjt !

damn, this script keeps on giving! Life-saving 10 years after its release — thank you @vjt !

glad it’s useful! enjoy