How can I automate the backup of my Bitcoin Qt wallet on a mac?

[bigasic]

Can the program automator be used to open bitcoin QT and then have it backup my wallet and send it to my dropbox? can someone point me to where I can learn how to do this? or is it even possible?

So, that I can make a backup once a day of my wallet.dat file without me being there...

[1714170848]

1714170848

[World]

Have a look at the
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Securing_your_wallet

[DannyHamilton]

So, that I can make a backup once a day of my wallet.dat file without me being there...

Daily backups?  Is that really necessary?  I find that I only need to backup about once every 2 weeks.

[bigasic]

Well, ive heard that bitcoin-qt will make addresses that may not have been backed up. Does multibit send the same way bitcoin QT does? The reason bitcoinqt needs to be backed up regularly is because of the extra "return" address, but Im not sure if multibit does this. I just want to be be able to make one back up of my addresses and be done with it.. but since i learned how QT works, it sounds like you need to make a back up every week or so...

[DannyHamilton]

Well, ive heard that bitcoin-qt will make addresses that may not have been backed up. Does multibit send the same way bitcoin QT does? The reason bitcoinqt needs to be backed up regularly is because of the extra "return" address, but Im not sure if multibit does this. I just want to be be able to make one back up of my addresses and be done with it.. but since i learned how QT works, it sounds like you need to make a back up every week or so...

Your Bitcoin-Qt backup contains the next 100 addresses that Bitcoin-Qt will use.  Generally, I prefer to create a backup when I've used about 25 addresses and keep the 3 most recent backups.  That way if one of the backups is damaged or lost, I can still recover all my bitcoins.

Bitcoin-Qt uses a new address every time you click the "New address" button AND every time you send a bitcoin transaction.

Are you sending 25 transactions per week?  Are you frequently generating new addresses with the "New Address" button?

[bigasic]

Well, ive heard that bitcoin-qt will make addresses that may not have been backed up. Does multibit send the same way bitcoin QT does? The reason bitcoinqt needs to be backed up regularly is because of the extra "return" address, but Im not sure if multibit does this. I just want to be be able to make one back up of my addresses and be done with it.. but since i learned how QT works, it sounds like you need to make a back up every week or so...

Your Bitcoin-Qt backup contains the next 100 addresses that Bitcoin-Qt will use.  Generally, I prefer to create a backup when I've used about 25 addresses and keep the 3 most recent backups.  That way if one of the backups is damaged or lost, I can still recover all my bitcoins.

Bitcoin-Qt uses a new address every time you click the "New address" button AND every time you send a bitcoin transaction.

Are you sending 25 transactions per week?  Are you frequently generating new addresses with the "New Address" button?

basically, with QT, you need to back up when you send 100 transactions, correct? I wont send many at all, Im a hoarder, but do sale a few here and there when I need to... So, it sounds like QT will be just fine.. a back up probably once a month for me is probably ok, if not 6 months, lol....or longer..

Does multibit work the same way?

[DannyHamilton]

basically, with QT, you need to back up when you send 100 transactions, correct?

As I said, backups a bit more frequent would be safer, just in case your most recent backup is somehow unrecoverable.

You'll have to decide for yourself how much risk you're willing to accept, but I find that a backup every 25 transactions and storing the most recent 3 backups in 3 separate locations satisfies my risk tolerance.

Note, that if you are generating new receiving addresses in your wallet, you need to consider those as well as the transactions that you send.

So for instance, if (after backing up) you send 18 transactions, and you generate 7 new receiving addresses, then you've used a total of 25 of the addresses from the pool of 100 addresses that are stored in your most recent Bitcoin-Qt backup.

Does multibit work the same way?

I don't use Multi-Bit, so I'm not sure.  Everything I say about it here is based on an educated guess and is not reliable, so you may want to wait for someone more knowledgeable to stop by and answer questions about MultiBit before making any decisions:

As far as I know, MultiBit does not use hidden "change" addresses like Bitcoin-Qt does.  Therefore, there is no need to create a new backup when you've been sending transactions.

On the other hand, as far as I know MultiBit does not have a pool of pre-generated addresses for inclusion in a backup.  Therefore you would want to create a new backup EVERY time you generate a new address BEFORE you have any bitcoins sent to that address.

[b!z]

Symlink the wallet.dat to your Dropbox, Google Drive, USB stick or whatever. The command is ln.

[doof]

Why do you have to back up so often?  Isnt all you need to backup is your private key?

[justusranvier]

Why do you have to back up so often?

Because when Satoshi first coded the wallet he took a quick shortcut instead of implementing a proper solution and we've been paying for it ever since.

[gnar1ta$]

OP just use https://spideroak.com it's very similar to Dropbox except it runs a local app for encryption and allows you to select files/directories to sync automatically on changes.  That and Time Machine have saved me from a few wallet disasters over the years.

[HellDiverUK]

Time Machine?

Works for me (external HDD connected to my Airport Extreme).