CrashPlan Quick Start Guide

When you start the HFS Hub you will see the following screen

Click the Install CrashPlan button in the centre of the window. The next screen will inform you that you must log in with your SSO.

Click the Login button and a browser window will open. If you have already logged into your browser you may need to do no more, but otherwise log in as you usually do. Once you are logged in go back to the HFS Hub which will now have created you a CrashPlan account (if you didn't already have one) and will ask you to confirm you want to start CrashPlan installation.

Do this by clicking on the Start installation button.

The correct version of the CrashPlan software for your computer will now be downloaded.

When the download completes this screen will change confirming the download has completed and will ask you to proceed to the next step. Click on the Next button and at the next screen the Start installation button.

On Mac and Linux (and on Windows if you do not have admin rights) you will be prompted for credentials to run the CrashPlan installer. The installer will run and when it completes CrashPlan should start up (in rare circumstances it does not - if it has not started after a while start from the Start Menu/Launcher etc.). You will see the Sign in to CrashPlan screen:

Usually your SSO will have been automatically filled in by the HFS Hub. If it has not been then enter it. 

Now click 'Continue'. The CrashPlan app will now tell you to complete login to CrashPlan in your browser

As you have already logged into the HFS Hub using your browser you will not need to enter your credentials again. Please be patient and allow the login process to complete.

Once you have logged in, if you have already used CrashPlan the first dialogue screen will now offer you the choice of registering this machine as a new device or as a replacement device for one of your other machines. You will normally choose the 'New Device' option. (If your current machine is indeed a new replacement for another machine that has failed and for which CrashPlan backups exist, choose the 'Replacement' option and follow the prompts.) If you are installing CrashPlan for the first time on your one and only device, you should not be prompted as above.

The CrashPlan home screen will now display and is ready for you to make a selection for backup (note: by default nothing is included). 

Note that on a Mac you may be interrupted by the following request to grant CrashPlan access to your personal files.

This is important. If you do not do this CrashPlan will not be able to back up all your files. Click the "Open Privacy & Security Settings" button. This should open System Settings at the Full Disk Access page. Drag the CrashPlan icon to this page. You will then see

Quit and reopen CrashPlan. When it reopens continue from where you were. If you have problems with this, click the link to be taken to instructions on granting permissions to macOS devices.

The initial CrashPlan screen on starting the app for the first time is displayed below.

Click the Add Files link to select what files and folders you want backed up. This will take you to an explorer-like window where you can make and amend your backup selection, as below.

Note that while there is no default inclusion of files, there are some default exclusions, as indicated by the red circle to the right. Additionally, some files are hidden from the default listing (usually system files and names beginning with dot on Windows and macOS). These can be exposed by clicking the three dot button in the upper right of the screen and selecting 'Show hidden files'.

Consider your selection carefully - your initial backup may take a considerable amount of time over a home broadband connection so it may be advisable to select your most important data first and then later add more files to your backup. Select files and folders via the toggle box to the left of the icon and once done choose Save.

You will now see the home screen listing your backup set and a background scan reporting on the number of files and total amount of data that is candidate for backup. You can manually start the backup immediately or you can close the screen and let the backup run on schedule in the background (by default within the next 15 minutes).