Skip to main content
Contact Support
Code42 Support

Stop and start the CrashPlan service

  1. Last updated
    14:47, 4 Sep 2017
  2. Save as PDF
Applies to:
  • Code42 CrashPlan (previously CrashPlan PROe)

Overview

This tutorial explains how to stop and start the Code42 CrashPlan app's CrashPlan service. You may need to stop and start the CrashPlan service to upgrade your operating system, to move a CrashPlan app user to another device, or as part of a task with a Customer Champion.

This article describes the steps for the CrashPlan app only. 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 describe how to stop and start the CrashPlan service.

Basic restart for all operating systems

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

  1. Open the CrashPlan app.
  2. If necessary, sign in to your account.
  3. Use the keyboard shortcut for your operating system:
    • Windows: Ctrl+Shift+C
    • OS X: Option+Command+C
    • Linux: Ctrl+Shift+C
      The CrashPlan command-line area opens.
  4. Enter this command:
    restart
  5. Press Enter.
    This closes the CrashPlan app, reauthenticates the CrashPlan app with the Code42 server, and then restarts the CrashPlan service.

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

You may also confirm whether or not the CrashPlan service is running on OS X.

OS X per user installation (for me only)

If you installed the CrashPlan app per user (instead of for all users, the default method), use the following commands to stop and start the CrashPlan service:

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

You may also confirm whether or not the CrashPlan service is running on OS X.

Windows default installation (for everyone)

  1. Open Windows Services:
    • Windows 7 and 10: Click Start and enter services.msc.
    • Windows 8: Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open the Task Manager and select the Services tab.
  2. Right-click Code42 CrashPlan Backup Service and click Stop, Start, or Restart, as appropriate.

Windows per user installation (for me only)

If the CrashPlan app is installed per user (instead of for everyone, the default method), use the following commands to stop and start the CrashPlan service:

Stop the CrashPlan service

  1. Open Windows Task Manager:
    • Windows 7 and 10: Click Start and enter Task Manager.
    • Windows 8: Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open the Task Manager.
  2. Click Processes.
  3. Choose the Code42 CrashPlan Backup Service.
  4. Select End Task.

Start the CrashPlan service

  1. Open Windows Task Manager:
    • Windows 7 and 10: Click Start and enter Task Manager.
    • Windows 8: Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open the Task Manager.
  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

OS X: View status of the CrashPlan service

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