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Stop and start the CrashPlan service

  1. Last updated
    13:27, 17 Apr 2017
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Applies to:
  • CrashPlan for Small Business
  • CrashPlan PROe

Overview

This tutorial explains how to stop and start the CrashPlan service for the CrashPlan app. You may need to stop and start the CrashPlan service to upgrade your operating system, to move a CrashPlan app user to another computer, or as part of a task with a Customer Champion.

This article deals only with the CrashPlan app. For information on stopping and starting the Code42 service on the enterprise server, see Stopping & Starting The Enterprise Server.

Considerations

The CrashPlan software on your device consists of two components:

  • A service, the CrashPlan service, that performs all backup operations in the background
  • A desktop application, the CrashPlan app, for viewing the status of your backup and changing settings

If you quit the CrashPlan app, the CrashPlan service continues to run. These instructions detail how to stop and start the CrashPlan service.

Basic restart for all operating systems

If you are able to open the CrashPlan app, follow the steps below to restart the CrashPlan service.

  1. Open the CrashPlan app
  2. Double-click the CrashPlan logo in the upper-right corner
    The CrashPlan command-line area opens
  3. Enter this command:
    restart
  4. Press Enter
    This closes the CrashPlan app, stops the CrashPlan service, and then restarts the CrashPlan service

Running the restart command

Advanced restart process

If you are not able to open the CrashPlan app, follow the steps below to restart the CrashPlan service.

  • If you installed the CrashPlan app for everyone (the default method), follow the default installation steps for your operating system.
  • If you installed the CrashPlan app per user, follow the per user installation steps for your operating system.

OS X default installation (for everyone)

Go to Go > Utilities > Terminal and enter the commands below to stop or start the CrashPlan service:

  • Stop: sudo launchctl unload /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.crashplan.engine.plist
    Note: When prompted, enter your password, then Enter. The password doesn't display as you enter it.
  • Start: sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.crashplan.engine.plist

Use this command to view if the CrashPlan service is running:

ps auxww | grep -i CrashPlanService

If the CrashPlan service is running, the output looks like this:

c42-dhcp-183:~ renee$ ps auxww | grep -i crashplanservice
root        63   0.1  6.1   873644 126976   ??  SNs  Tue03PM  43:01.37 /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Commands/java -Dapp=CrashPlanService -Xmn10m -Xms15m -Xmx512m -Djava.awt.headless=true -Dfile.encoding=UTF-8 -Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true -Dsun.net.inetaddr.ttl=300 -Dnetworkaddress.cache.ttl=300 -Dsun.net.inetaddr.negative.ttl=0 -Dnetworkaddress.cache.negative.ttl=0 -DCP_USER_NAME= -DCP_USER_HOME= -cp lib/com.backup42.common.jar:lib/com.backup42.service.jar:lib/com.code42.backup.jar:lib/com.code42.bplusj.jar:lib/com.code42.messaging.jar:lib/com.code42.os.jar:lib/com.code42.peer.jar:lib/com.code42.utils.jar:lib/com.jniwrapper.jniwrap.jar:lib/com.jniwrapper.macpack.jar:lib/com.jniwrapper.winpack.jar:lib/jtux.jar:lib/trove-2.0.1.jar:lang com.backup42.service.CrashPlanService
renee     3256   0.0  0.0   590472     84 s001  R+    2:11PM   0:00.00 grep -i crashplanservice

If the CrashPlan service is not running, the output looks like this:

c42-dhcp-183:~ renee$ ps auxww | grep -i crashplanservice
renee     3265   0.0  0.0   599780    444 s001  R+    2:13PM

OS X per user installation (for me only)

If you've installed the CrashPlan app per user (instead of for all users, the default method), the commands to stop and start are slightly different:

Stop launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.crashplan.engine.plist
Start launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.crashplan.engine.plist

Use the same commands as the default installation path to check whether the CrashPlan service is running.

Windows default installation (for everyone)

From the Windows services menu

  1. Open Windows Services:
    • Windows Vista / 7 / 10: Click Start and enter services.msc.
    • Windows 8: Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open the Task Manager and select the Services tab.
    • Windows XP: Click Start, select Run, enter services.msc, and press Enter.
  2. Right-click CrashPlan Backup Service and click Stop, Start, or Restart, as appropriate.

From the command prompt

Enter the following commands into the command prompt or PowerShell:

Stop net stop CrashPlanService
Start net start CrashPlanService

Windows per user installation (for me only)

If you've installed the CrashPlan app per user (instead of for everyone, the default method), the commands to stop and start are slightly different:

Stop the CrashPlan service

  1. Open Windows Task Manager
    • Windows Vista / 7 / 10: Click Start and enter Task Manager.
    • Windows 8: Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open the Task Manager.
    • Windows XP: Click Start, select Run, enter taskmgr, and press Enter.
  2. Click Processes.
  3. Right-click the CrashPlan Backup Engine.
    The name of the process varies slightly by product (CrashPlan for Home, CrashPlan for Small Business (previously CrashPlan PRO), or Code42 for Enterprise).
  4. Select End Task.

Start the CrashPlan service

  1. Open Windows Task Manager:
    • Windows Vista / 7 / 10: Click Start and enter Task Manager.
    • Windows 8: Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open the Task Manager.
    • Windows XP: Click Start, select Run, enter taskmgr, and press Enter.
  2. Click File.
  3. Select Run New Task.
  4. Paste the following into the Open dialog, or Browse to this location, replacing <username> with your Windows user name:
    C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Programs\CrashPlan\CrashPlanService.vbs
  5. Click Ok.

Restart on Linux

A script to start and stop the CrashPlan app is stored in the crashplan/bin directory. The default directory is /usr/local/crashplan/bin.

In a terminal session, navigate to the crashplan/bin directory, then enter:

Stop ./CrashPlanEngine stop
Start ./CrashPlanEngine start

Some Linux systems (e.g., Debian-based distributions) allow you to process the stop and start triggers with an init.d script.

After starting the CrashPlan service, open the CrashPlan app. If you do not have a shortcut to open the CrashPlan app, you can open it from terminal with the following command:

sudo /usr/local/crashplan/bin/CrashPlanDesktop