Topic: [Solved] How do you configure a Workstation Backup?

[LANMonkey]

I've tried everything that I figure you should have to do to make this work, but I get nothing but errors returned that are impossible to decipher.

I've tried using shares that should be available in Windows Home Server.  I've tried making shares available in Windows XP.

Very basically it seems like it should go like this:
 

• Go into Windows XP and make sure that you have File and Printer Sharing enabled.
• Find the file wish to share (we'll call it MyFolder.), right click it and open Properties.
• You should see a tab for "Sharing".  Select this tab and check the radio button "Share this folder".  Click OK to close the window.
• If you go to Network Places, you should be able to see the new folder there.  Using your computer name (we'll call it MyComputer), you should be able access the folder with //MyComputer/MyFolder.  If you open MyFolder in Network Places, that's what it will say in the address window.

 
That should be it for the XP machine.  In SME server, you enter either MyComputer or the IP address of MyComputer and MyFolder in the share folder space and choose a user that can log into the XP machine.
 
Is there anything else to do?  When I do this much, I get the error back,  "No directory for your host in shared folder. Maybe your host name is different from backup ones."  I don't understand this.  There should be a directory for my host in the shared folder?  The host name is different from the backup hosts?
 
Any and all tips or clues would be appreciated.

[David Harper]

What shows up in the logs when you try to run the backup?

[LANMonkey]

Which logs should I look in?

[mercyh]

In the Configure Workstation Backup screen in the Backup workstation settings field put the IP address of the workstation or server where the share is located.

In the Backup share field put in the share name this should be the same name you see in network neighborhood. (on a windows machine this is not necessarily the folder name you see in Explorer.)

Be sure to use a user on the workstation or server that has access to the share location for the Login Name and Password is fields.

It seems like it usually takes me a couple of tries to get the stars aligned and everything working correctly.

You did click allow network users to change my files when you set the share on the Windows machine?

[LANMonkey]

In the Configure Workstation Backup screen in the Backup workstation settings field put the IP address of the workstation or server where the share is located.

In the Backup share field put in the share name this should be the same name you see in network neighborhood. (on a windows machine this is not necessarily the folder name you see in Explorer.)

I think I understand that the share name can be different from the folder name.  Do these instructions contradict the outline I provide above?

Be sure to use a user on the workstation or server that has access to the share location for the Login Name and Password is fields.

How do I make sure that I've done that correctly?

You did click allow network users to change my files when you set the share on the Windows machine?

Where do I find that setting?

[Bud]

LanMonkey

sorry for the noob question, what backup application are you refering to, to use for the backup procedure: backupc ??

[LANMonkey]

What is backupc?

The backup procedure I am referring to is the one found in the remote interface, "http://<your server>/server-manager" under Administration where it says "Backup or Restore".  It is an option in the drop down menu at that page where it says "Select an Action" and the choice I make is "Configure Workstation Backup" and to confirm this type of backup, "Verify Workstation Backup".

[Bud]

Thanks for your reply LanMonkey

Did not see this option. great tool but it seems to be used for sme config backup only.

my question is that i need to backup 5 xp workstations with 4 shares each over a lan to the sme server. what in your opinion is the easiest way to do this without installing a client on each workstation. 

[mercyh]

FROM POST #1

That should be it for the XP machine.  In SME server, you enter either MyComputer or the IP address of MyComputer and MyFolder in the share folder space and choose a user that can log into the XP machine.

FROM POST #4

In the Configure Workstation Backup screen in the Backup workstation settings field put the IP address of the workstation or server where the share is located.

In the Backup share field put in the share name this should be the same name you see in network neighborhood.

Just wanted to make sure you were putting the IP address in WORKSTATION IP OR HOST NAME field and then the share name in the BACKUP SHARE FIELD


=========

The allow network users to change my files tick box is located on the Share tab in windows.

=======

When I do this much, I get the error back,  "No directory for your host in shared folder. Maybe your host name is different from backup ones."

When do you get this error? Is it whithin the configuration screen or is it in an e-mail when the job tries to run?

It sounds like for some reason the Backup program is not able to write to the share.

[LANMonkey]

The allow network users to change my files tick box is located on the Share tab in windows.

Where are you seeing this Share tab?  When I look for the Share tab, I right click the folder to be shared, select Properties and I get a new window with a "Sharing" tab.  I see no tick box there labeled "allow network users to change my files".  This is in Windows XP Pro.

All the error messages I am getting are on the configuration screen.  It never occured to me to look in the email for errors.  Whose email would I look in?  Admin?

[hawk]

Hi not sure if this will help i am assuming you are trying to backup a workstation to your sme server.

i have been using a dos comand called robocopy (similar to xcopy) very sucessfully for many years, you can create a batch file with the robocopy command to backup your files to the users mapped drive. then run the bat file in your schedule task, if interested i will send a copy of the bat file, the robocopy needs to be downloaded from microsoft and copied to the windows system32 folder works with XP or vista - very handy when replacing or changing users / computers very easy to restore / import email & data.

once all the workstations have finished backing up i then use dar2 to backup the server to another computer on the network and  / or an external hdd.

john

[LANMonkey]

Hi not sure if this will help i am assuming you are trying to backup a workstation to your sme server.

....

No, sorry.  I am trying to back up the SME server to a workstation (or windows server).  Thanks anyway.

[mercyh]

I cannot reproduce what you are seeing.

I have tried putting in an IP that does not have any shares. The backup configuration screen will accept this with no errors, however if I go into Verify Workstation Backup, it will show that there is no share available.

I have tried deleting all files from the backup share and then reselecting it in the backup configuration screen. This works fine and backups run.

When you create a backup it creates a directory on the share named tmp_dir This is where the backup job is stored until the backup completes. The job is then moved into a folder that is named the domain name of the server.

I still "think" your problem is that the share is mounting from the server but it does not have Write privileges.

Where are you seeing this Share tab?  When I look for the Share tab, I right click the folder to be shared, select Properties and I get a new window with a "Sharing" tab.  I see no tick box there labeled "allow network users to change my files".  This is in Windows XP Pro.

I am also using Windows XP pro. I have Simple File Sharing turned on in this case and that may be why I have this option. I would suggest using Simple File Sharing until you get this ironed out to eliminate this as the problem. Another thing to be aware of is if you have a firewall on the Windows workstation that could be blocking this.

All the error messages I am getting are on the configuration screen.  It never occured to me to look in the email for errors.  Whose email would I look in?  Admin?

When a backup attempts to run, an e-mail is sent to that admin account with either a success report or an error of why the backup didn't run. I was trying to understand how far in the process you were before you got the error.

[LANMonkey]

...

I am also using Windows XP pro. I have Simple File Sharing turned on in this case and that may be why I have this option. I would suggest using Simple File Sharing until you get this ironed out to eliminate this as the problem. ...

....

Where do you turn on Simple File Sharing?

[mercyh]

Where do you turn on Simple File Sharing?

Double Click My Computer go to Tools-folder options (in the "file" menu). Click the view tab and scroll clear to the bottom. Tick the Simple File Sharing (Recommended) tab.

This setting is not as secure as what you are currently using. It allows shares with no login accounts on the windows machine.

SME requires a valid user name and password on the windows machine before it will mount the share.

[LANMonkey]

Yes, I found it.

I checked it off, but the option did not show in my folder until I went through the File and Printer Sharing Wizard again.  To get that going, I brought up My Network Places and found "Set up a home or small office network" on the left margin.  When I went through that, option "allow network users to change my files" showed in the Sharing part of my Folder Properties.

So, I ticked off the box and ran the Configure Workstation Backup with the following inputs:

• I used the IP address of the Windows XP machine.
• I used the share name of the folder I designated to be shared
• I tried two different users on the XP machine.

And I am still getting an error back,
 
"Unable to mount workstation shared folder mount error 20 = Not a directory Refer to the mount.cifs( 8 ) manual page (e.g.man mount.cifs)"

[mercyh]

AH, Now we are getting somewhere. This is a different error then you had before.

This is where I usually have to fool around a bit with things to get it talking.

If you use another windows machine and browse with network neighborhood to the workstation you are trying to backup too, can you see the share and what is the name?

Mine looks like this: \\Royceh\sme_backup

In the SME configuration screen I have this,

Backup workstation settings

Workstation IP or hostname:  192.168.xxx.xxx 
(IP of workstation named Royceh)

Backup share:    sme_backup

Login name:     NameOfUserOnXpMachineWithRightsToThisFileLocation
   
Password is:    UsersPassword

[LANMonkey]

Yes, all those inputs look exactly the same as mine.

On this particular network, there is only the XP and SME server.  My LAN has two networks seperated by a router.  I have already confronted the fact that my other windows machines are unable to share files accross different networks.

Is there another way to test the connection from the SME's command line?

[mercyh]

exactly how are you getting the error you described. I cannot make my server throw an error at all in the configuration screen. It will even accept a non existant server IP addres.

You are not perhaps going into verify backup directly after configuration and getting this error?

I would suggest that you set the backup with a time 2 minutes later then the server time. Then watch the share on the windows machine and see what happens. You will either get an e-mail to admin that the job did not run, with the error, or you will see the job start writing to the share on the workstation.
(You will have to manualy refresh the window on the workstation to see the files added)

The Verify backup option will show the share but will not complete without errors unless a backup has been run (It shows all the files in a backup set).


 

[mercyh]

Another thing to try,

make sure the share name has no spaces and set a simple password on the user on the XP machine for testing. (no special characters and no spaces)

[LANMonkey]

This is what shows up in the mail:

Error while mounting Jay:SharedJay :
mount error: could not find target server. TCP name Jay/SharedJay not found
No ip address specified and hostname not found
Backup terminated: backup failed - status: 7424

==================================
DAILY BACKUP TO WORKSTATION REPORT
==================================
Backup started at Tue Feb 17 23:23:22 2009
Backup of mysql databases has been done.
Mounting backup shared directory Jay/SharedJay
*** No backup allowed or error during backup ***
Error while mounting Jay:SharedJay :
mount error: could not find target server. TCP name Jay/SharedJay not found
No ip address specified and hostname not found

[LANMonkey]

Here is the email from another attempt with the name corrected to the IP address:

Error while mounting 192.168.1.10:SharedJay :
mount error 20 = Not a directory
Refer to the mount.cifs( manual page (e.g.man mount.cifs)
Backup terminated: backup failed - status: 7424

==================================
DAILY BACKUP TO WORKSTATION REPORT
==================================
Backup started at Wed Feb 18 03:07:21 2009
Backup of mysql databases has been done.
Mounting backup shared directory 192.168.1.10/SharedJay
*** No backup allowed or error during backup ***
Error while mounting 192.168.1.10:SharedJay :
mount error 20 = Not a directory
Refer to the mount.cifs( manual page (e.g.man mount.cifs)

I should also say that I get the same above results whether the firewall is up or not, so I assume that the firewall has been properly set, else a mount could not be attempted.  And also, I've been to the mount.cifs manual page and it is no help.

[Craig Cabrey]

I realize that this is probably not what you want to here, but have you raised a bug?

You will get help directly from the developers and if it is a true bug, then the developers can include a fix in the next update.

BTW, be sure to post the bugzilla number here for future reference.

Craig

[mercyh]

Over here on the French side is a user that reported the same error.

http://forums.contribs.org/index.php/topic,38503.0.html

Using Google translation (I am sorry but I don't know french) it looks like that user fixed it by creating a  user with the proper access.

FOR TESTING PURPOSES ONLY

1. Create a new share that is a folder on C:\ on the windows machine, lets call it backup. You would now have a folder that looks like this C:\backup.

2. Share the folder with Windows file sharing tab with the share name of backup click the allow network user to change my files box.

3. Create a new administrative user in windows with the user name of backup and a password of backup1

4. Set the SME backup routine to point to the new share and use the backup user name and the password of backup1

5. Pour a little Snake Oil on the top of the server and massage gently  .

6. Set a backup to run in 5 minutes and see what happens.

**Be sure to delete your shares and account after this test if you do not wish to keep them.

If your windows share is in the Documents and Settings area of the Windows file system and it is created on a different user then the user used for the backup, The backup user may not have access rights to the directory. 

[LANMonkey]

I realize that this is probably not what you want to here, but have you raised a bug?

You will get help directly from the developers and if it is a true bug, then the developers can include a fix in the next update.

BTW, be sure to post the bugzilla number here for future reference.

Craig

How would this qualify as a bug?  mercyh has already demonstrated that she can do on her exact same systems what I can't do on mine.  Where is the bug?  If I can figure out how those who are successfully backing up SME to Windows workstations are different from my setup, then the problem is solved, there is no bug.

Is there anything else I can test on my setup or anything else I can report about my systems to get this going?

[LANMonkey]

Over here on the French side is a user that reported the same error.

....

mercyh, have you been able to reproduce this error?  You have already explained that you have successfully managed to use the Workstation backup option to a XP Pro machine.  Do I get that right?

[mercyh]

I have not been able to reproduce the error. I have not tried using a user that does not have access to the share.

I am almost certain that the problem is with configuration, however, if the test I outlined above fails I would call it a bug.

I would say anytime that two exact same setups do not return the same result a bug is suspected.

The other advantage of raising a bug is that you get answers from the people that developed the system not just users. You also contribute back to the overall good of the software and the community if you actually have hit a bug that can be corrected.

I would say, Try the test. If it fails go to bugtracker.

PS> The gender of mercyh is male (at least my wife thinks so)

[LANMonkey]

I have not been able to reproduce the error. I have not tried using a user that does not have access to the share.

I am almost certain that the problem is with configuration, however, if the test I outlined above fails I would call it a bug.

....

Have you tried that exact procedure outlined above?  What do you mean you have not tried a user that does not have access to the share?  Is that what the above procedure does?

[mercyh]

Yes, I have tried the EXACT procedure above and it does work. I have NOT been able to reproduce your exact error I "think" your error is in configuration of the share either on the Windows machine or how the share is configured on the server.

The purpose of the above procedure is to test if a share built at the most simple level and a user with the highest privileges will work. Another thing that I didn't say which I would do is turn off ALL firewalls on the windows machine for the test.

It would be helpful to bring another workstation onto this network and test that the share is accessable.

======================

What do you mean you have not tried a user that does not have access to the share?

I have tried several things to reproduce your error. I have not tried the above.

The french user fixed this error message by creating a user with the correct permissions on his windows machine.

[LANMonkey]

Yes, I have tried the EXACT procedure above and it does work.

By "does work", do you mean it reproduced the error?

The french user fixed this error message by creating a user with the correct permissions on his windows machine.

And how do you do that?

[mercyh]

By "does work", do you mean it reproduced the error?

I do NOT mean that it reproduces the error. As I stated before I have been unable to reproduce the exact errror you describe.

By "does work" I mean that backups run successfully. I am trying to get you to setup a backup job with the least possible things that can go wrong. (such as share in a location that cannot be accessed by user, password that CIFS cannot use to mount the share with, etc.)

If you wish to see how the user in the other thread fixed his problem, you can copy the responses and then past them into google translator and translate them from French to English.

[LANMonkey]

I followed the TEST procedure exactly as prescribed and it worked.  I got my first backup.

Here is the procedure again,

1. Create a new share that is a folder on C:\ on the windows machine, lets call it backup. You would now have a folder that looks like this C:\backup.

2. Share the folder with Windows file sharing tab with the share name of backup click the allow network user to change my files box.

3. Create a new administrative user in windows with the user name of backup and a password of backup1

4. Set the SME backup routine to point to the new share and use the backup user name and the password of backup1

5. Pour a little Snake Oil on the top of the server and massage gently  .  Not necessary.

6. Set a backup to run in 5 3 minutes and see what happens.

Now, the question remains.  Why do my other users not see a directory?

There are some strange things I have observed.  When I created this new share in the test procedure, I looked in My Network Places and the folder showed up with a little bar underneath it indicating it -- I guess -- it was a network share.  None of the other shares I created had the bar.  And some of the other shares that had been created previous did have the bar on them at first, but later the bar disappeared and they showed up as regular folders.

I think it is pretty clear that the problem is in Windows and SME Server is completely innocent.  But it remains that if people are going to make use of the Workstation Backup, some documentation is going to have to provided that successfully guides people to some correct setup for them to perform on the Windows machine and, maybe, not just a client machine like Vista or XP, but also the new MS gizmo Windows Home Server.  This is really where I want to backup my SME Server.

[mercyh]

Ok, Now you start figuring out what needs to be done to make it work the way you want.

Your current setup is not secure. Simple file sharing allows access to the share with no password. If you get a virus running wild on your LAN it can spread through this share. I think that at this point you could put "user" for the user and "password" for the password in the server backup configuration and it would work (Simple file sharing does not actually require a valid login name.)

The next step I would try is to turn off simple file sharing and reboot the windows machine. If this is just a test server I would also reboot it to break any residual mount points. Leave the backup user on the windows machine and see if the backup will work.

[mercyh]

Where were your original shares located in the file structure on the windows machine?

[LANMonkey]

...

The next step I would try is to turn off simple file sharing and reboot the windows machine. If this is just a test server I would also reboot it to break any residual mount points. Leave the backup user on the windows machine and see if the backup will work.

I did this and the backup continues to work.  I also tried logging in to the test user which creates files that aren't there until the user logs in and the backup continued to work then too.

Where were your original shares located in the file structure on the windows machine?

That's another thing that was different.  The other user shares were all in user directories.

[LANMonkey]

I tried the backup again with my other shares and now they work too.  And they all show up as folders with the little bar below in My Network Places too.  Maybe a reboot was all that was needed. 

[mercyh]

Would you be ready to write a howto on what you think would work consistantly?

Some points I would make.

1. Create the backup share at or near the root of the drive on the windows machine. Use a short filename with no spaces. Use a short share name with no spaces.

2. Configure a user with admin rights for the backup user name and password.

(I think some testing is need to determine how complicated this password can be)

[LANMonkey]

Yes, I'd be happy to write a HowTo on this.  I'll go through the permutations and especially with Windows Home Server, which I think is a natural companion to SME server.  But only because SME Server is free.  Windows Home Server is just cheap at about $160 retail and I got mine on eBay for about $120 shipping included.  It will take a couple of days at the very least.

[mercyh]

You can either request Wiki Access so you can do it yourself or you can PM me with the documentation once you have it complete and I can add it to the wiki.

For Wiki access go here: http://wiki.contribs.org/Help:Contents

PM:   rh at mercyh dot org

[dgs]

Some points I would make.

1. Create the backup share at or near the root of the drive on the windows machine. Use a short filename with no spaces. Use a short share name with no spaces.

2. Configure a user with admin rights for the backup user name and password.

(I think some testing is need to determine how complicated this password can be)

Your observations are very much in line with observations already reported in bugzilla, Workstation backup is easily upset by anything other than simple alpha strings.  http://bugs.contribs.org/show_bug.cgi?id=4850

I'll go through the permutations and especially with Windows Home Server, which I think is a natural companion to SME server.  But only because SME Server is free.

Why? I'm sorry but I don't see the advantages of WHS over any number of competent CIFS appliances. WHS is, as would be expected, structured very much in the Microsoft way, it is not designed to play nice with anything other than Windows workstations. There is lots of duplication of functionality with SME server, and no particular advantages in integration.

I am not panning WHS, it has a place, but I do not believe that place is in cohorts with an SME box or boxes.

[mercyh]

I looked at the bug you reference back in the beginning of this thread. I guess I am interested in approaching this in a HowTo or FAQ manner at this point. I would say it is outside the scope of SME development to fix limitations in CIFS. I personally always have to grapple with this the first time I setup a new server/backup share.

I personally have no interest in Windows Home Server, however I think that if we can get some setup ironed out that consistantly works with windows it may be helpful.

It may be useful to know that any backup share should be "simply" named and located not far from the drive root. It might also be helpful to know just how much access the backup user needs to have and how simple the password needs to be. After working with linux for a bit I have moved away from the "Make every user an Administrator so at least things will work" mentality of the windows world.

[dgs]

I looked at the bug you reference back in the beginning of this thread. I guess I am interested in approaching this in a HowTo or FAQ manner at this point. I would say it is outside the scope of SME development to fix limitations in CIFS. I personally always have to grapple with this the first time I setup a new server/backup share.

I agree it is probably outside the scope of SME as the problem lies within software developed elsewhere. I had suggested some modifications to the Wiki at the time which were immediately added.  (thanks Cactus for the help there) I guess some collective efforts and testing could help us provide help for others from within the documentation.

It may be useful to know that any backup share should be "simply" named and located not far from the drive root. It might also be helpful to know just how much access the backup user needs to have and how simple the password needs to be. After working with linux for a bit I have moved away from the "Make every user an Administrator so at least things will work" mentality of the windows world.

I agree with what you are saying. I guess in the wash up it comes back to all of us to contribute well written instructions and reports of the many gotchas we find along the way and to contribute to both bugzilla and the Wiki documentation.

[mercyh]

dgs,

can you post a link in this thread to the wiki location you are speaking about? If you have some backup instructions in there somewhere that you have been working on I would be interested in seeing it and possibly adding in the same location.

[dgs]

dgs,

can you post a link in this thread to the wiki location you are speaking about? If you have some backup instructions in there somewhere that you have been working on I would be interested in seeing it and possibly adding in the same location.

http://wiki.contribs.org/SME_Server:Documentation:Administration_Manual:Chapter10
Although I believe you have already read this. My initial problems / experiences all led to issues with using complex passwords the same as those I routinely use within SME. Upon further testing etc it appears the share name and path are equally sensitive and should be kept to simple ASCII names. I will try to update my notes to a readable (by others) form and submit these for addition to the documentation.

[mercyh]

Thanks for the link.

Yes I have read the manual through (And more than twice  ). However, either that has been added since the last time I read it or I kind of ignored it as I was using DAR2 at the time.

I really think that what we are dealing with here does not come under the scope of the manual. I am wondering if it wouldn't be best to do a HowTo under something like "configure windows share for Workstation backup" and link it in the Tip box about CIFS.

Anybody have any input?

[dgs]

I really think that what we are dealing with here does not come under the scope of the manual.

I'm not sure either way. The manual is after all what we expect everyone to follow when configuring.

I am wondering if it wouldn't be best to do a HowTo under something like "configure windows share for Workstation backup" and link it in the Tip box about CIFS.

Ideally the possible problem can be pointed out from either location.  Reading through bugzilla it is obvious minds with skills far greater than mine (IE: the devs) are still thinking of possible solutions, but maybe the way around for the short to medium term is better documentation.

B2WS does work flawlessly once these gotchas are ironed out. So your suggestion of a how-to linked to the docs is probably the best suggestion.

[Bud]

I like the topic " How do you configure a Workstation Backup? "

My question still is : well how do you do a workstation backup?

Hope to get this solved soon  I need have regular backups of about 20 Windowz XP Workstations.

[mercyh]

Bud,

Have you posted in a new thread? I never even realized what the topic said because I was think the same way as the OP 


I would suggest you ask your question in a new thread with the topic something like "How do I backup windows workstations on SME"

[LANMonkey]

I like the topic " How do you configure a Workstation Backup? "

My question still is : well how do you do a workstation backup?

Hope to get this solved soon  I need have regular backups of about 20 Windowz XP Workstations.

Bud, the "Workstation Backup" being discussed here is a backup from the SME Server to a workstation.  You want to backup your workstation to SME Server, right?  That's another thread you should start.
 
And you should check out Windows Home Server that makes the job pretty seamless.  It does require client software to be installed, but it is a completely transparent process.  Actually Windows Home Server only allows 10 clients maximum.
 
And also, you should be seeing SME Server showing up as computer as a member of the workgroup that the rest of your LAN belongs to.  But only if you have assigned your SME Server to the same workgroup in the "Workgroup" part of the "Configuration" section in the website manager.  Once you have access that way, you can use Backup and Task Scheduler to create an automated backup system.  But you will have to do it computer by computer -- as far as I know.  I haven't actually done this myself.

[dgs]

I would suggest you ask your question in a new thread with the topic something like "How do I backup windows workstations on SME"

Bud, the "Workstation Backup" being discussed here is a backup from the SME Server to a workstation.  You want to backup your workstation to SME Server, right?  That's another thread you should start.
 

Hi bud, as suggested it is probably best you start a new topic and that would probably be most appropriate in the General section of the forum. Given it is probably more related to windows interaction with SME than with SME itself.

Although Backup to workstation is for backing up the SME server it may well prove the answer to how you backup your workstations or more correctly how you backup your work. Lateral thinking may well offer you a simpler and far more workable solution.

What are you trying to backup?
You mention Windows shares, have you considered whether workstation shares are the best way to store, use and share your work?

Whatever your needs, it is an interesting and often asked topic with no right answers.

[Bud]

Thanks for trying to help guys. I really appreciate it. Yes I have realised that the Backup Procedure mentioned here is for an sme to workstation backup. No Problem there.

I have used various apps like backuppc etc. to do backups for my workstations but i'm looking just for an easy sme linux app that will look at a workstation(s) shares eg: " c$ " or whatever and then without installing a "client" on the workstation, backup the folders, data etc. for that workstation. 

Any ideas?

Thanks again 

[dgs]

Thanks for trying to help guys. I really appreciate it. Yes I have realised that the Backup Procedure mentioned here is for an sme to workstation backup. No Problem there.

I have used various apps like backuppc etc. to do backups for my workstations but i'm looking just for an easy sme linux app that will look at a workstation(s) shares eg: " c$ " or whatever and then without installing a "client" on the workstation, backup the folders, data etc. for that workstation. 

Any ideas?

Thanks again 

Here's an idea.

Why not use the power of your SME server and use iBays for your shared storage.

Advantages are

• you do not need the workstations powered to access data from another computer.
• you have centralised control of access levels, groups and passwords
• a backup solution is already included in a base build of SME
• home shares offer each user a secure and private backup space

If you setup your server and workstations (must be pro versions) for domain log-on you can easily map common drive letters to your shares.

Just a suggestion, I know it's not exactly what you are after, but it will provide similar functionality to your request and a lot more features too.

Do you have any pressing reason for your shared data to remain on individual workstations?