Topic: DAR frustration

[wires12]

Even thought the web GUI assures me:

Disk ARchive
SUCCESS    
Operation status report Success

It's a no go. /var/log/messages reports:

Code: [Select]

Mar 10 17:52:39 air14 e-smith-bg: Aborting program. User refused to continue while asking: /media/usbdisk/air14.local.com/daily/2012/03/09.1.dar is required for further operation, please provide the file.
The USB disk is mounted the here is part of the file structure:

Code: [Select]

[root@air14 daily]# pwd
/media/usbdisk/air14.local.com/daily
[root@air14 daily]# ls -l
total 56573760
-rw-rw-rw-  1 root admin 2097152000 Mar  9 14:29 2012.03.09.10.dar
-rw-rw-rw-  1 root admin 2097152000 Mar  9 14:31 2012.03.09.11.dar
-rw-rw-rw-  1 root admin 2097152000 Mar  9 14:32 2012.03.09.12.dar
-rw-rw-rw-  1 root admin 2097152000 Mar  9 14:34 2012.03.09.13.dar
-rw-rw-rw-  1 root admin 2097152000 Mar  9 14:35 2012.03.09.14.dar
-rw-rw-rw-  1 root admin 2097152000 Mar  9 14:37 2012.03.09.15.dar
-rw-rw-rw-  1 root admin 2097152000 Mar  9 14:38 2012.03.09.16.dar
-rw-rw-rw-  1 root admin 2097152000 Mar  9 14:40 2012.03.09.17.dar
-rw-rw-rw-  1 root admin 2097152000 Mar  9 14:42 2012.03.09.18.dar
-rw-rw-rw-  1 root admin 2097152000 Mar  9 14:43 2012.03.09.19.dar
-rw-rw-rw-  1 root admin 2097152000 Mar  9 14:16 2012.03.09.1.dar
What is going on? Is it really related to the difference in filenames (. vs /) ? Both the server I'm trying to restore to and the server the backup was made on have the same version of DAR:

Code: [Select]

[root@air14 daily]# yum info installed smeserver-dar2
Loading "smeserver" plugin
Loading "fastestmirror" plugin
Loading "protect-packages" plugin
Loading "installonlyn" plugin
Installed Packages
Name   : smeserver-dar2
Arch   : noarch
Version: 0.0.1
Release: 27.el4.sme
Size   : 257 k
Repo   : installed
Summary: Disk ARchive for SME Server

Is this a bug or something I don't understand?

TIA!

[janet]

wires12

I think you should report a bug

[CharlieBrady]

Even thought the web GUI assures me:

Disk ARchive
SUCCESS    
Operation status report Success

It's a no go.

Then you must report a bug. Obviously you do not think the software is performing correctly.

[wires12]

http://bugs.contribs.org/show_bug.cgi?id=6864
Hopefully it is in the right place. 2 replies to this thread, none to the bug report.

[Stefano]

wires12.. the bug is 2 days old.. and today is monday..

do you really expect people to be working during w.e.? for free?

[wires12]

No, I don't expect anything.

However I do expect a bit more civility.

It seems that the DAR2 contrib has been around for a while on SME. I can't imagine that something a simple as a disaster recovery would not work. Therefore I assumed I am doing something wrong.

I know all to well the problems of every user problem becoming a item in a bug list. That is why I think it is a good idea to air them here first and see if it is a common problem for which a workaround has been found or I'm doing something wrong. Since it seems to me Mary has a good handle on forum posts as soon as she suggested a bug report I made one.

My comment referenced that it seems more eyes are on the forum than the bug list. That is all. If you took it some other way I'm sorry.

[TerryF]

So it is clear we are looking at the Contrib Dar2 not the default dar backup/restore feature and you are attempting to do a disaster recovery restore to a different machine and sme server install.

Have you tried using dr recovery from the command line, /etc/e-smith/events/actions/dar2-dr-restore

If it is a restore using the dar2 server manager panel have you setup the new system to the same dar2 backup parameters first or tried what is described in the contrib under Manual restore of DAR2 configuration..

Just trying to get a better idea of what you are doing..

[wires12]

So it is clear we are looking at the Contrib Dar2 not the default dar backup/restore feature and you are attempting to do a disaster recovery restore to a different machine and sme server install.

That is correct. Both machines are recent 7.5.1 installs with all updates. They only have the Cacti and DAR2 contribs installed. More info is in the bug report linked above.
 

Have you tried using dr recovery from the command line, /etc/e-smith/events/actions/dar2-dr-restore

Didn't know that was an option. Seems to work. Bunches of files are flying by...

If it is a restore using the dar2 server manager panel have you setup the new system to the same dar2 backup parameters first or tried what is described in the contrib under Manual restore of DAR2 configuration..

I tried it both ways. Made a new entry and restored the db. Didn't seem to make a difference.

Just trying to get a better idea of what you are doing..

Thanks so much for you helpful reply. If I go the command line route is there any need to set up jobs or restore the db? What is the difference in outcome using the DAR2 contrib (dar2-dr-restore) vs the console admin menu item "8. Perform backup to a USB device"?

I have been using LTO tapes for years with good results but disk sizes are getting out of range for the affordable versions (LTO1&2). Is there any substantial difference in a dar2-dr-restore and a restore from tape?

[TerryF]

Thanks so much for you helpful reply. If I go the command line route is there any need to set up jobs or restore the db?

As I understand how it works no..but you are asked to supply a number of parameters which correspond to when setting up a backup job, Job name, //server/shared folder, etc etc backup date..all easy to do as long as you know them , try it, it works well..

Update:  I just did it on my home server, worked fine..

What is the difference in outcome using the DAR2 contrib (dar2-dr-restore) vs the console admin menu item "8. Perform backup to a USB device"?

They are different, from my understanding you can do more with the inbuilt DAR or the Contrib DAr2

I have been using LTO tapes for years with good results but disk sizes are getting out of range for the affordable versions (LTO1&2). Is there any substantial difference in a dar2-dr-restore and a restore from tape?

Sorry, out of my knowledge range...

Have you tried this on the new system you want to restore your backup to..

1.  On the NEW system Create a DAR2 backup job with your common parameters
2.  Carry out the backup of the basic system..
3.  Rename the backup dir to xxxx.old or similar
4.  Rename your backup dir from the old original server to that you used for the new systems backup..
5.  Go back into the new installs Server manager window, and select the "Backup" Disk Archive from the menu and select restore, follow the prompts
6. MOST IMPORTANT, it goes back to the Disk Archive manage window, BUT, the backup is running, you need to give it time to complete..

I have also just done the above on my home server, heart in mouth time, it worked OK..

So both restores worked fine..

The CLi was quicker, and you were shown what was happending on the console screen, doing it via the server manager was a little less intuative and you did not get any visual cuises as to what was happening, you can have a look in the log file messages, it shows the process..

Good Luck

[TerryF]

Excuse my poor spelling

This is the original thread when DAR2 was released in Beta..makes for interesting reading and increases understanding of the contrib..

[janet]

wires12

As the command line restore seems to work for you (at least I assume that's what your limited answer implies), and the web browser restore does not work, then perhaps you have a browser problem.
What browser did you originally use to open server manager & run the Disk Archive (DAR2) restore ?
Try a different browser ie Firefox (if not already being used).
I very vaguely recall something about filename issues (ie to do with .'s & /'s), but exactly where and what that was eludes me.

Didn't know that was an option. Seems to work. Bunches of files are flying by...

What exactly does that answer mean, more fully please ? ie did the restore work ?

[TerryF]

When you are asked to input the date of your Backup, what do you type?

2012/03/09 or 2012.03.09, do you set the disaster recovery settings as shown..

All simple things I know, but its often those that trip you up..

I have replicated your error message by entering the backup date in the form 2012/03/09

Mar 13 18:39:46 fageb6 e-smith-bg: Aborting program. User refused to continue while asking: /mnt/dar2/fagetest/xxxx.xxxx.dyndns.org/fagetest/2012/03/09.1.dar is required for further operation, please provide the file.

When the format is input as 2012.03.09 all is fine and the restore progresses.

You MUST do a reconfigure and reboot if restoring from the server-manager

This is also now in the bug tracker, wrong place..shrug..dunno

[wires12]

All simple things I know, but its often those that trip you up..

Simple things trip up a simpleton like me...

That was the problem! Force of habit put in / instead of . DANG!

The restore works both from the command line and the GUI if you put in the values in the correct syntax. I'm going to look at the original thread and hopefully it will fill in some gaps. The only thing I noticed missing after a restore is the historical data for Cacti. All the graphs were there (thank goodness!) but it appears to be a fresh start on data.

Sorry for the confusion and thanks for the help!

[Stefano]

The only thing I noticed missing after a restore is the historical data for Cacti. All the graphs were there (thank goodness!) but it appears to be a fresh start on data.

first of all you should find how and where cacti stores its data.. then you could add them to your backup