Timecapsulesmb app tells me time capsule not reachable

[yasirfaheem]

My time machine's back failed. So i loaded the app timecapsulesmb to see if everything was ok and tried to do a check on it and it failed. So i deleted the device and tried to readd it and i get the error -

configure remote_error: No AirPort ACP service responded at this address: Could not connect to ACP on 192.168.0.225:5009. Check the device IP address or hostname.

I can load the Apple Airport utility, and it can see my device, and I can use that to restart it, and it works just fine. So, I do not know why the Time Machine backup is failing.

TimeCapsuleSMB Diagnostics
Generated: 2026-06-30T07:14:02Z

App

• Version: 2.2.7
• Build: 20213
• Application Support: /Users/faheemy/Library/Application Support/TimeCapsuleSMB
• Helper Override: auto

Settings

• Appearance: system
• Telemetry Enabled: true
• Raw Events Default: true
• Check Updates On Launch: true
• Version Check URL: auto
• Time Machine Warnings: true
• Default NBNS: true
• Default SMB Bind LAN Only: false
• Default SMB Browse Compatibility: false
• Default mDNS Advertise AFP: false
• Default Netatalk Metadata: true
• Default Debug Logging: false
• Default Mount Wait: 30
• Default ATA Idle: 300
• Default ATA Standby: device default

Readiness

• State: Ready
• Version Check: TimeCapsuleSMB is up to date. Source: cache
• Helper Version: 2.2.7 (20213)
• Distribution Root: /Applications/TimeCapsuleSMB.app/Contents/Resources/Distribution
• Artifact Manifest SHA256: 868e948f1a8cb64a5fc8ea598e847b029cb5ea5cda30fc2d1ca699ff351516ea
• Operations: activate, capabilities, configure, deploy, discover, doctor, flash, fsck, reachability, repair-xattrs, set-ssh, set-telemetry, uninstall, validate-install, version-check
• Validation: Install validation passed.
• Validation Counts: checks=5, fail=0, pass=5
• Check python_modules: PASS - required Python modules import
• Check boot_assets: PASS - boot assets are readable
• Check distribution_root: PASS - distribution root is valid: /Applications/TimeCapsuleSMB.app/Contents/Resources/Distribution
• Check artifact_hashes: PASS - all payload artifact hashes match
• Check boot_script_tokens:
• Runtime Issues: none

Updates

• State: TimeCapsuleSMB is up to date.
• Summary: TimeCapsuleSMB is up to date.
• Source: cache
• Local Version Code: 20213
• Current Version: 20213
• Minimum Supported Version: 20121
• Latest Tag: v2.2.7
• Download URL: https://github.com/jamesyc/TimeCapsuleSMB/releases/latest

Selected Device

• Selected: none

Operations

• Active: none
• Pending Confirmation: none

Backend Events

• Event: stage | deploy | validate_artifacts
• Event: stage | deploy | check_compatibility
• Event: error | deploy | unsupported_device | SSH is not reachable yet.
• Event: stage | configure | load_existing_config
• Event: stage | configure | ssh_probe
• Event: stage | configure | confirm_enable_ssh
• Event: error | configure | confirmation_required | SSH is closed on AirPort Time Capsule. Enable SSH using AirPort ACP and reboot this AirPort device? | details={"action_title":"Enable SSH and reboot","confirmation_id":"309037c4cbe96edcadab8e88be67ae195a45a958a88404370cdcb550315441ef","context":{"device_name":"AirPort Time Capsule","host":"root@192.168.0.225","requires_reboot":true},"message":"SSH is closed on AirPort Time Capsule. Enable SSH using AirPort ACP and reboot this AirPort device?","operation":"configure","presentation_id":"configure.enable_ssh_reboot","presentation_values":{"device_name":"AirPort Time Capsule","requires_reboot":true},"risk":"reboot","schema_version":1,"summary":"Enable SSH through AirPort ACP and reboot the AirPort device","title":"Enable SSH and reboot?"}
• Event: stage | configure | load_existing_config
• Event: stage | configure | ssh_probe
• Event: stage | configure | confirm_enable_ssh
• Event: log | configure |
  SSH is not reachable. Attempting to enable SSH on the device...
• Event: log | configure | Checking AirPort ACP on 192.168.0.225:5009...
• Event: stage | configure | acp_port_probe
• Event: error | configure | remote_error | No AirPort ACP service responded at this address: Could not connect to ACP on 192.168.0.225:5009. Check the device IP address or hostname.
• Event: stage | configure | load_existing_config
• Event: stage | configure | ssh_probe
• Event: stage | configure | confirm_enable_ssh
• Event: error | configure | confirmation_required | SSH is closed on AirPort Time Capsule. Enable SSH using AirPort ACP and reboot this AirPort device? | details={"action_title":"Enable SSH and reboot","confirmation_id":"fe50a41dea5baf082e992ce7048c1708fb68619ab42b0060a23e4a1326d84240","context":{"device_name":"AirPort Time Capsule","host":"root@192.168.0.225","requires_reboot":true},"message":"SSH is closed on AirPort Time Capsule. Enable SSH using AirPort ACP and reboot this AirPort device?","operation":"configure","presentation_id":"configure.enable_ssh_reboot","presentation_values":{"device_name":"AirPort Time Capsule","requires_reboot":true},"risk":"reboot","schema_version":1,"summary":"Enable SSH through AirPort ACP and reboot the AirPort device","title":"Enable SSH and reboot?"}
• Event: stage | configure | load_existing_config
• Event: stage | configure | ssh_probe
• Event: stage | configure | confirm_enable_ssh
• Event: log | configure |
  SSH is not reachable. Attempting to enable SSH on the device...
• Event: log | configure | Checking AirPort ACP on 192.168.0.225:5009...
• Event: stage | configure | acp_port_probe
• Event: error | configure | remote_error | No AirPort ACP service responded at this address: Could not connect to ACP on 192.168.0.225:5009. Check the device IP address or hostname.
• Event: stage | configure | load_existing_config
• Event: stage | configure | ssh_probe
• Event: stage | configure | confirm_enable_ssh
• Event: error | configure | confirmation_required | SSH is closed on AirPort Time Capsule. Enable SSH using AirPort ACP and reboot this AirPort device? | details={"action_title":"Enable SSH and reboot","confirmation_id":"f46a536453aaaddbc54f99f6acfd4090360cc81e5ccf115fedb07f9276c20217","context":{"device_name":"AirPort Time Capsule","host":"root@192.168.0.225","requires_reboot":true},"message":"SSH is closed on AirPort Time Capsule. Enable SSH using AirPort ACP and reboot this AirPort device?","operation":"configure","presentation_id":"configure.enable_ssh_reboot","presentation_values":{"device_name":"AirPort Time Capsule","requires_reboot":true},"risk":"reboot","schema_version":1,"summary":"Enable SSH through AirPort ACP and reboot the AirPort device","title":"Enable SSH and reboot?"}
• Event: stage | configure | load_existing_config
• Event: stage | configure | ssh_probe
• Event: stage | configure | confirm_enable_ssh
• Event: log | configure |
  SSH is not reachable. Attempting to enable SSH on the device...
• Event: log | configure | Checking AirPort ACP on 192.168.0.225:5009...
• Event: stage | configure | acp_port_probe
• Event: error | configure | remote_error | No AirPort ACP service responded at this address: Could not connect to ACP on 192.168.0.225:5009. Check the device IP address or hostname.
• Event: stage | configure | load_existing_config
• Event: stage | configure | ssh_probe
• Event: stage | configure | confirm_enable_ssh
• Event: error | configure | confirmation_required | SSH is closed on AirPort Time Capsule. Enable SSH using AirPort ACP and reboot this AirPort device? | details={"action_title":"Enable SSH and reboot","confirmation_id":"ed05b1fa041488cbd21fd3eb5ddd11eb3f2181f6994964d76c3a4ee03b94d56b","context":{"device_name":"AirPort Time Capsule","host":"root@192.168.0.225","requires_reboot":true},"message":"SSH is closed on AirPort Time Capsule. Enable SSH using AirPort ACP and reboot this AirPort device?","operation":"configure","presentation_id":"configure.enable_ssh_reboot","presentation_values":{"device_name":"AirPort Time Capsule","requires_reboot":true},"risk":"reboot","schema_version":1,"summary":"Enable SSH through AirPort ACP and reboot the AirPort device","title":"Enable SSH and reboot?"}
• Event: stage | configure | load_existing_config
• Event: stage | configure | ssh_probe
• Event: stage | configure | confirm_enable_ssh
• Event: log | configure |
  SSH is not reachable. Attempting to enable SSH on the device...
• Event: log | configure | Checking AirPort ACP on 192.168.0.225:5009...
• Event: stage | configure | acp_port_probe
• Event: error | configure | remote_error | No AirPort ACP service responded at this address: Could not connect to ACP on 192.168.0.225:5009. Check the device IP address or hostname.
• Event: stage | version-check | resolve_paths
• Event: stage | version-check | check_version
• Event: result | version-check | payload={"checked_url":"https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jamesyc/TimeCapsuleSMB/main/version.json","current_version":20213,"download_url":"https://github.com/jamesyc/TimeCapsuleSMB/releases/latest","latest_tag":"v2.2.7","local_version_code":20213,"message":"This version is no longer supported. Please update before continuing.","min_supported_version":20121,"schema_version":1,"should_block":false,"source":"cache","summary":"TimeCapsuleSMB is up to date.","update_available":false}

[yasirfaheem]

Did not know connecting to my company vpn would make the time capsule unreachable. That has never happened before. I was able to have Time Machine back up at the same time I was connected to my company's vpn.

[jamesyc]

I am traveling until July 1, expect slow responses until then.

[jamesyc]

@yasirfaheem Super interesting! So you're saying acp does not work over your company vpn, but Time Capsule backups work.

If you turn off the VPN, can you install TimeCapsuleSMB? After you install TimeCapsuleSMB, does Time Capsule backups work over VPN?

Added a warning to turn off VPNs in 5c1aab8

[yasirfaheem]

I am saying that before I found this project and used the app, I was able to be on my company VPN and still have Time Machine back up my Mac. After useing this project when i connect to my company vpn it will no longer time machine back while i am on the comany vpn. I have to log off the company VPN, then Time Machine will not fail to back up.

[jamesyc]

If you remove the backup disk from Time Machine settings, connect to VPN, and try to add it again, will that work?