Topic: Backup is starting to scare me!

[NoTo]

Hi all,

First off, I have tried searching for a solution to this problem, but I've found nothing relevant so far. I may well have missed something, search does seem to return a whole load of stuff.

So, I use the built-in workstation backup to backup to a USB disk. I run a full on Sunday, and incremental each night. After my first backup some months ago, I test-restored for disaster recovery, and test restored an individual file. It worked fine. Each day I get the email telling me about the backup, and I get no errors.

So, today I went to Server Manager to restore an individual file. I selected "Selective file restore from workstation" and clicked Perform and the browser sat there for ages until eventually, some minutes later, I got a blank pane with Workstation selective file restore at the top and nothing else. The browser wasn't waiting as it had the word "Done" at the bottom left.

Have I done something wrong? There's a file I really need to restore, and it seems SME doesn't share my desire 

SME 7.4 with latest updates.

With thanks for any helpful pointers, or links to previous posts that I may have missed.

Graham

[mercyh]

Have you checked your backup location to be sure the backups are there? It almost sounds like the mount part of the restore did not complete, look in the messages log and see if there are any CIFS errors.

I would retry the Selective file restore from workstation after checking the logs. I have had this exact same result when doing test restores. When I try it again, it usually will pull up the backups and allow me to select the file to restore.

BE VERY CAREFUL to do the Selective file restore. If you accidently do a full restore, you will be reinstalling the server.

[NoTo]

Thankyou Mercyh for taking the time to reply. I double-checked all the files are there and they are on the external disk as they should be. I left it all for the night out of frustration, and this morning I re-tried and it performed as expected 

Alas, the incremental backup has not, for some reason, been backing up all the files created since the last backup. I have double-checked the logs and daily backup email, and no errors have been reported. I looked through for photos, spreadsheets etc that I created since last Saturday, and none are in the restore list.

I think I urgently need to find a new backup product that doesn't involve command line-only operation 

Huge thanks again, I appreciate your time.

Best regards,
Graham

[Stefano]

I think I urgently need to find a new backup product that doesn't involve command line-only operation 

Graham, if you feel something isn't working as expected, please raise a bug, thank you

[mercyh]

GrahamNR17,

Don't abandon this yet. We really need your input in the bugtracker on this.

Alas, the incremental backup has not, for some reason, been backing up all the files created since the last backup.

I don't know that I have actully tested the scenario you describe above. If you can test this and find it too be true, BY ALL MEANS RAISE A BUG. This is a rather serious error in the backup process................

I think I urgently need to find a new backup product that doesn't involve command line-only operation

????
Could you explain? I don't use the command line at all, only server-manager.

[NoTo]

Hi,

Yes, I'll happily raise a bug. Haven't done it yet as I want to be 100 percent sure of everything and ensure my procedures are strictly 'by the book' (I don't want to waste the developers time if I've made a stupid mistake).

I've created some new files today to see if they are backed up with the overnight incremental backup tonight, and I'll try to restore them tomorrow morning. In the meantime I've copied all the critical data to a PC, so I can relax a bit 

I'll report back tomorrow, either with my tail between my legs, or with a properly documented bug report.

Thanks for the help, it's good of you all to take the time.

Best,
Graham

[mercyh]

GrahamNR17,

One trick I have used with windows files is to share the ibays directory and the users directory. I then use windows backup on a windows workstation to back these shares up. This is only a way to get the data files backed up and will not help you reinstall the server if it gets crunked. It does give you a very quick way to restore a single file that has become corrupted or has been accidently deleted. DISCLAIMER: this is a grow your own solution and should only be used as a secondary backup for data files.

For a small pointer on how do the share look here:

http://wiki.contribs.org/User_homes_admin_access
I set "browseable = no"

so the share cannot be seen just by browsing to the server. I do the same thing with the ibays folder and then map a windows drive to each of these shares. this allows windows backup (or other such backup software) to backup the files on these shares



The gold standard here as far as I am concerned is AFFA running on a second server that can 'rise' to replace your current server in a matter of minutes. The downside is maintaining hardware and updates on two machines.

[NoTo]

I performed the above exercise last night and this morning, and I'm thrilled (and relieved!) to say, all the new files were present and restorable in the incremental backup. I went back to the previous incremental, and the expected files I was originally looking for were absent. I used both the selective restore and the DAR add-on in MC to look for the files.

I can only therefore put it down to a gremlin in that nights backup 

I will continue to monitor the backups and carry out spot-checks from time to time over the next few days and see if I get a repeat of the situation and report back.

In the meantime, I'm going to do as Mercyh suggests with an extra Windows backup to another device every few days as a safeguard (I guess you can't have too many backups!)

Thanks again for the advice you have all offered.

Best regards,
Graham

[janet]

GrahamNR17

I can only therefore put it down to a gremlin in that nights backup 

Backups can become corrupted for a variety of reasons, and that's why it's always good policy to have rotating media and/or multiple backup sets.

[NoTo]

I'm happy to report all backups and restore spot-checks have been perfect every day this week 

I have taken the advice here and instigated an extra backup of data files using Windoze Backup, and bought an extra two external hard disks for rotation.

Your assistance and wisdom has been much appreciated