CrashPlan Pro Headless Server Configuration on OS/X
The CrashPlan Pro documentation is incomplete and difficult-to-follow at best when it comes to configuring a new headless server using the OS/X CrashPlan Pro client. Here is the info you need to get it done quickly.
For reference, my environment is OS/X Sierra with CrashPlan Pro 4.8 accessing a new CrashPlan Pro installation on a Ubuntu 16.04 server.
Get Your UI Key
Login to your remote server where you want to configure the new CrashPlan install. This is my Ubuntu box in this case.
Go to /var/lib/crashplan.
Copy the line in the hidden .ui_info file that looks similar to this:
4243,e3f54c21-f221-4e22-a76b-fdd7932fc960,127.0.0.1
Configure Your OS/X Client
Close CrashPlan Pro on your local system.
Go to /Library/Application Support/CrashPlan/ on your OS/X system.
Copy .ui_info to original_ui_info.
Edit the .ui_info file and paste in the info you copied from your remote server.
Change the port (the first 4243 number) to 4200.
4200,e3f54c21-f221-4e22-a76b-fdd7932fc960,127.0.0.1
Open An SSH Tunnel To The Remote Server
On your OS/X box open a terminal window and connect to your remote server using an SSH session. Add the -L 4200:localhost:4243 option to any keys or other connection data.
ssh -i ~/.ssh/my-credentials.pem -L 4200:localhost:4243 meo@my.greatwp.hosting
Start CrashPlan Pro
Start CrashPlan Pro on your local OS/X system. It should ask you to login.
Make your configuration settings.
Exit CrashPlan Pro.
Go back and restore that original_ui_info file you created on your Local OS/X box.
Close your ssh tunnel.
You sir, are a scholar and a gentleman.
These instructions were working great for me, but something changed. I think it may be related to CrashPlan 4.9, but I can no longer get a remote CrashPlan instance to respond to a local client. Which is a bummer since that means installing a whole GUI/X11 infrastructure on my Ubuntu server just to run CrashPlan’s client. 🙁