Time Machine
Time Machine is macOS's built-in backup system. Backups can take place to either a directly mounted volume or to a network share over AFP or SMB.
Managing
Management is via the tmutil
CLI tool:
startbackup
stopbackup
destinationinfo
Logs
To stream all logs for Time Machine:
sudo log stream --predicate 'subsystem == "com.apple.TimeMachine"' --level debug
Alternatively, to page through them:
sudo log show --predicate 'subsystem == "com.apple.TimeMachine"' --debug --info --pager
Paths to exclude
These paths tend to contain large numbers of files that are likely of little value in backups -- it's easier to redownload applications than to restore to backup.
/Applications
/Library/Developer
/opt/homebrew
/usr/local
/Users/*/.npm
/Users/*/.vscode
/Users/*/Applications
/Users/*/Downloads
/Users/*/Library/Application Support/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps
/Users/*/Library/Application Support/LogMeInInc/GoToMeeting/.versions
Backlinks