Resolve devices marked as duplicate in CrashPlan for Small Business

Overview

When a user in your CrashPlan for Small Business environment has multiple devices with the same computer ID, problems such as backup never reaching 100% can occur. These problems can potentially lead to data loss. To resolve this issue, the CrashPlan cloud automatically detects the device with the duplicate ID and assigns it a new one, creating a new device in your CrashPlan for Small Business environment. This article explains how CrashPlan resolves duplicate IDs, what you can do to prevent them, and how to troubleshoot the process.  

Causes

The following actions can cause devices to have duplicate computer IDs (GUIDs): 

• Cloning a virtual machine that has the CrashPlan app installed and running on both virtual machines at the same time.
• Using Time Machine to restore a Mac from a backup.
• Using a third-party utility, such as Carbon Copy Cloner, to exactly duplicate a system state. 

Diagnosing

When the CrashPlan cloud detects that multiple devices are using the same ID, CrashPlan assigns a new ID to the duplicate device. This means: 

• A new device appears in the CrashPlan console for the user. The new device has "- duplicate 1" added to the name.
  • For example, if the device is named Saceanu OS X, the newly created device is named Saceanu OS X - duplicate 1.
  • If the user has more than two devices with the same ID, the number increments, as in "duplicate 2", "duplicate 3", and so on. 
• On the newly created device, the CrashPlan app prompts the user to sign in again with the user's account password. 

Solution

To avoid the problem of multiple user devices having the same ID, do not take actions that cause devices to have duplicate IDs. 

(Optional) When CrashPlan creates a new device for a duplicate ID, you can: 

• Update the device name so it does not include "duplicate 1".  
• Deactivate the duplicate device in your CrashPlan for Small Business environment. 

Additional resources

• To view a list of computer IDs in your CrashPlan for Small Business environment, in the CrashPlan console go to Devices > Active > action menu > Export All.
• To resolve duplicate computer IDs manually, see Assign your computer a new ID (CrashPlan for Small Business).