Topic: Unable to Configure Workstation Backup in SME Server 8.0

[ras125]

I recently upgraded from SME 7.4 to 8.0. Until that point I had been able to perform daily backups to a usb hard drive via ‘Workstation Backup.’

After the upgrade, I got the message:
“Error while mounting /media/usbdisk:
Mount: can’t find /media/usbdisk in etc/fstab or etc/mtab”

I edited fstab. Now I can mount and umount /media/usbdisk without a problem.

However, when I go to “Configure workstation backup” in the SME Server Manager, the only ‘backup share’ available in the dropdown list is a directory called “My Passport”. Before the update to 8.0 ‘usbdisk’ was an option. If I try to run a backup job with “My Passport” selected I get an error.
How can I make “usbdisk” appear as an available share?

[janet]

ras125

Mount & unmount commands & USB detection are different in sme8.
I have it working OK on sme8, so read this
http://wiki.contribs.org/USBDisks
especially the bit re sme8.

Then undo (remove) all your settings re USB, & mount point etc, delete your backup job settings, and start again.

If still no go, then report back.

As part of the troubleshooting process you can see if your USB drive is properly detected by inserting the drive cable & then running
fdisk -l
then use the mount & umount commands providee in the USB howto to manually mount & unmount the drive.
If that works then backup should work.
If you cannot mount the drive manually then something is wrong or you are doing something wrong.

[ras125]

Thanks for your help

Doing fdisk -l the usb drive appears as:
/dev/sdc1

I modified fstab adding /media/usbdisk as the mounting point

mount and umount commands work. I can manually mount the drive and see its contents.

What are the settings re. USB, mount point and the backup settings that ought to be deleted for the backup to work?

Thanks for your help again and apologies if I ask the obvious.

[janet]

ras125

Have you ran an update on your 8.0 server ie
yum update

Is the USB backup drive connected to sme server when you are configuring the backup to workstation to
"local removable disk" ?
I see the mount point/label name of my USB backup disk, in my case USBBackup1

By the way I have no entry in my /etc/fstab file, that was required in sme7 but appears not to be required in sme8.

Exactly what mount & unmount commands are you using ?

What does fdisk -l detect your USB drive as ? You said /dev/sdc1 but also what label name.
Did you manually create the /media/usbdisk folder ?


I meant for you to disable the backup to workstation, perhaps then reboot, and then try setting up backup to workstation again.

[ras125]

mary

Thank you.

Everything seems to work now. I'll try to write I did plus answer your questions.

Didn't run an update on the 8.0 server. It's a secure network and cannot be connected to internet. I'm only running full version updates via CD.

I did create manually /media/usbdisk folder with the original installation, SME 7.0. It worked fine until the update to 8.0

The usb hard disks I'm using are Western Digital. They all come labeled from factory as "My Passport".  It seems that SME has a problem with the space in the name as two new directories appeared, once called "My" and another called "My Passport".

I ended up relabeling the disks to "usbbaackup". After disabling and enabling workstation backup and then rebooting everything worked fine. The mount point is now /media/usbbackup and that is what appears as default in "Configure workstation backup"

[chris burnat]

mary

Thank you.

Everything seems to work now. I'll try to write I did plus answer your questions.

Didn't run an update on the 8.0 server. It's a secure network and cannot be connected to internet. I'm only running full version updates via CD.

I did create manually /media/usbdisk folder with the original installation, SME 7.0. It worked fine until the update to 8.0

The usb hard disks I'm using are Western Digital. They all come labeled from factory as "My Passport".  It seems that SME has a problem with the space in the name as two new directories appeared, once called "My" and another called "My Passport".

I ended up relabeling the disks to "usbbaackup". After disabling and enabling workstation backup and then rebooting everything worked fine. The mount point is now /media/usbbackup and that is what appears as default in "Configure workstation backup"

This should be documented, please consider opening a bug under "documentation" at Bugzilla, in this way it will be hopefully added to the Wikis:
http://bugs.contribs.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=SME%20Server%20Documentation
Thanks.

[CharlieBrady]

This should be documented...

No, it should be fixed. Please create a bug, and hopefully someone will fix the problem. Shouldn't be hard to fix.

[chris burnat]

No, it should be fixed. Please create a bug, and hopefully someone will fix the problem. Shouldn't be hard to fix.

New ticket created in Bugtracker:
http://bugs.contribs.org/show_bug.cgi?id=7159
Please follow at Bugzilla

Note: we now have 100 confirmed and 61 unconfirmed Bugs waiting to be processed/fixed for sme8

[ras125]

Thank you, Chris and Charlie,

I am no expert in SME. Coming from the Windows world, my limited experience has been has been getting a CD and installing a system that is simpler and more stable. Thank you for all the work you do to make this happen.