Koozali.org: home of the SME Server
Obsolete Releases => SME Server 8.x => Topic started by: smnirosh on August 26, 2015, 08:09:23 AM
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How to boot linux as "last known good configuration " as we do in windows . Or boot the server without saving last changed made? Pls help me
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What exactly is not working as it should?
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or, in other words, please explain your problem and not your solution, thank you
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Stefano, thanks for understanding the situation. I have tried to configure the server using "configure this server" console. But after few steps i feel with my little knowledge I cannot ho ahead. I went back and back then quit from it. Then server asking a restart. I am afraid of restarting will be a disaster to the network. Thats why i want to reset this server as it was before. Thanks
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well.. do you have the "good" parameters?
during server configuration steps you are asked a few things.. be sure to have the right ones.
restart your server, check if everything is working properly..
if not, login as root, and re-configure using the right ones, restart, you're done.
if you don't feel confortable, before "playing" with your production server, try everything on a VM.. install it, break it, try to make it work again.. that's the way you learn things :-)
in any case, we're here (and, IIRC, you know how to find me ;-) )
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Stefano, thanks for understanding the situation. I have tried to configure the server using "configure this server" console. But after few steps i feel with my little knowledge I cannot ho ahead. I went back and back then quit from it. Then server asking a restart. I am afraid of restarting will be a disaster to the network. Thats why i want to reset this server as it was before. Thanks
There's no way to do what you want to do, short of restoring from backup.
If you have changed something, it will need to be changed back. You can identify any changes you have made by viewing through /var/log/messages.
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If you have changed something, it will need to be changed back. You can identify any changes you have made by viewing through /var/log/messages.
That makes me wonder if there should be a separate log file for all db related actions.
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That makes me wonder if there should be a separate log file for all db related actions.
I don't think there is any need for a separate log. It is so easy to search for OLD and NEW.
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At the same time it would be so easy to create a separate db activity log. Could also provide a nice service manager panel with history. I believe we need to make it simple for newbies or inexperienced.
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an alternative idea could be to create a db backup each time console is started.. and, moreover, it colud be interesting to have a "create configuration backup" from the backup page in server-manager..
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Stefano, ur idea is good. I will try to configure backup. The "configure workstation backup" makes a backup with only settings of server?
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no.. it creates a full backup..
take a look here:
http://wiki.contribs.org/Backup_server_config#Cloning_a_server_for_Test_purposes.2C_using_inclusion_.26_exclusion_files
you can use this approach to create a backup of all conf files..
NOTE: please be aware that playing with conf files can break your server.. YMMV, that procedure was tested/used by me many times..
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But i thought about the media. We need a external hard disk first of all. I have no. I have space on the server itself and on a workstation within this domain. I am stucked
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After creating full bacup, can i use "selective file restore from workstation". Then i have ibay docs untouched. Because network users keep updating ibay
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yes, but restoring a db conf file is not enough to restore the prior situation..
please, explain what you are trying to do/achieve, in -vv mode (very, very verbose mode), TIA
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smnirosh
....I am stucked....
First of all your knowledge of sme server seems poor, so do not start doing procedures that you are unsure of or are guessing may have a satisfactory outcome.
LISTEN to the advice that the very knowledgeable people here are giving you, & slowly & completely read everything they have answered to you.
I think you are on the wrong approach trying to backup & do selective restore of files. You are likely to get your server in a much bigger mess & even an inoperative state if you restore files wrongly.
You would need to have a very good knowledge of sme server to know which files to restore to just get configuration information restored. Configuration data is held in numerous files, & some of that information correlates to data in other files, get them wrong, & your server may not work.
Note that you can safely run "Configure this server" anytime.
If you step through all the settings & do not change anything, & the system does a reboot, all your user data in ibays etc & email will still be there, these remain unchanged, even the configuration will remain unchanged, it is just that old configuration setting values will be replaced with the same new values.
As mentioned earlier by Charlie, you can see what changes you may have inadvertantly made, by going through the /var/log/messages log file, & review the configuration commands which will show OLD & NEW configuration entries.
It should be relatively straightforward to indentify any changes you made, if any were made.
If nothing changed, then the OLD & NEW settings will be the same.
Either way a reboot will not harm your server or the data it contains.
At worst you may need to re-run "Configure this server" & correct any incorrect setting, which are mainly relating to network connectivity & basic server settings etc.
If you backed out of the "Configure this server" process, then I would assume you have not changed anything (?)
Trying other procedures such as backup & selective restore will be much more difficult than just running "Configure this server" & making a correction.
Perhaps nothing has changed & there will be no unwanted effects after you reboot.
Please do not complicate your situation by doing other things that are not really warranted.
One thing for sure you should do first, is step through the "Configure this server" screens again, & write down every single setting & the current value displayed. It may take you 15 minutes, but at least you will have a seperate "paper based" record that you can refer to if necessary ie should you need to correct a inadvertantly or wrongly changed setting or two.
If there is a problem after the reboot that you are fearful of doing, then you can ask here for hints or tips regarding the correct setting choices, & advise us what the current settings are based on the written list you made.
THINK FIRST
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At the same time it would be so easy to create a separate db activity log.
Really? Perhaps you should create a NFR in the bug tracker and record your ideas there.
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If nothing changed, then the OLD & NEW settings will be the same.
No, if nothing changed there will be no OLD & NEW records.
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At worst you may need to re-run "Configure this server" & correct any incorrect setting, which are mainly relating to network connectivity & basic server settings etc.
Correct. Janet's advice is sound. That is a much safer way forward than to try to selectively restore files.
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As a tip:
you can make a backup of your complete configuration db with the following command:
config show > backup_27aug2015.txt
This will result in a plain text file you can archive off server. Same goes for all other db's
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As a tip:
you can make a backup of your complete configuration db with the following command:
config show > backup_27aug2015.txt
This will result in a plain text file you can archive off server. Same goes for all other db's
this is something that we could have in a cron each night, keep at least one week of backups. Ideally if we don't use an archive, it will be easier to compare change with a diff.
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Hi Charlie
No, if nothing changed there will be no OLD & NEW records.
OK then, I am sure you have a better understanding than me but....
As the system is asking that a reboot should be done, then the system at least "thinks" or "believes" that a change has been made, even though OP suggests no changes were made, so is it possible that no change was made by OP but the system still wants to do a reboot, or will a reboot only be requested if at least one change was made to at least one setting, even if changed to something different & then changed back to what it originally was ?
In that scenario will there be OLD & NEW records that are the same ?
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stephdl & RequestedDeletion
this is something that we could have in a cron each night, keep at least one week of backups. Ideally if we don't use an archive, it will be easier to compare change with a diff.
Does this really gain anything we do not already have.
The daily backup has the configuration db included, & that can be accessed from the archive if needed, & reviewed in much the same way if you really need to create a txt file ie
cat configuration > backup_28aug2015.txt
I have backups going back a year or more so can access the configuration db file & so on as at any time in the last couple of years, no extra files needed to do that.
This idea still does not answer or provide what smnirosh is originally asking/hinting for, ie the last known good configuration ala Windows style.
For that you would have to create a seperate txt file(s) or archived configuration database file (& anything else needed), every time a configuration change is made, & then incorporate that into some sort of GUI panel or text based graphic menu, quite a lot of work I would think.
I do not recall anyone ever asking for such a thing for over 10 years or more now, so not really a "big demand" request item.
Note that an earlier version of sme server, I think it was v4 & maybe as late as v5 or v6, did have a configuration only backup to floppy disk, so this has been done before.
I recall it was very useful for creating clone copies for test purposes etc, but it was phased out, I think the reason was that the basic data had become too big to fit onto a floppy disk.
So the code would be available from old sme server version archives, & such a backup would be easily saved to a small USB memory stick, similar to the console full backup to attached USB.
I think these discussions only promote the idea of OP (smnirosh) playing around with restoring the configuration db file & so on, whereas I had hoped people here would discourage smnirosh from doing so, & follow the path of doing the reboot & running "Configure this server" again, if needed.
At least Charlie agrees with me on this.
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Note that an earlier version of sme server, I think it was v4 & maybe as late as v5 or v6, did have a configuration only backup to floppy disk, so this has been done before.
I recall it was very useful for creating clone copies for test purposes etc, but it was phased out, I think the reason was that the basic data had become too big to fit onto a floppy disk.
So the code would be available from old sme server version archives, & such a backup would be easily saved to a small USB memory stick, similar to the console full backup to attached USB.
nowadays server can contain terabytes of data.. a restore from a backup can take hours, too many hours.. and if you had a crash and need to be online asap, the only way is to restore configuration, let the server start working (think about email) and then you can restore your data..
in other distros there's such a feature..
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First of all thanks to u all wasting time on my post.
I am getting near to the anawer if chalie answers the question of janets "OLD & NEW SETTINGS ARE SAME?" . Chalie give a clue. Thanks.
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smnirosh
An answer from Charlie to my question, is really just a theoretical answer, & does not greatly help or change your situation.
I am getting near to the anawer if chalie answers the question of janets "OLD & NEW SETTINGS ARE SAME?" . Chalie give a clue.
No one can tell you what has happened to your server except you.
You need to look at the messages log file, it is in /var/log/messages
or you can view the messages log files in the server manager View log files panel.
I suggest you immediately review the messages log file, going back to the date & time in question when you ran the "Configure this server" routine.
Copy all the entries made around that time & review them for changes (or for no changes at all) ie look at OLD & NEW settings.
You can post all the entries here & we can review them.
You have to provide us the answer, & the answer is on your server in the messages log file.
That will reveal what changes, if any, were made.
Get on with it, either reboot & hope for the best, or review the log files for changes, & react accordingly.
At least you will know what changes were made & can manually change them back by running "Configure this server" again.
It is safe to do.
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smnirosh
Let's get you on the right track with a practical example. I did a little experiment on my test server to show what you should be looking for in the log files. I logged on to the console of my test server and changed one setting: the IP address of the server. Then I rebooted (as suggested in the console menu).
Now let's go and find the old setting and the new setting in the messages log.
Log in as root on your server and go to the /var/log directory:
cd /var/log
Now, dump the complete messages log on the screen but only get the lines containing the string "bootstrap-console-save/S00initialize":
cat messages | grep 'bootstrap-console-save/S00initialize'
In the case you've reconfigured and rebooted your server more than once you will get a lot of lines. But if you know on which day you changed the settings (e.g. 28th Aug.) you can filter those lines from the messages log by using:
cat messages | grep 'Aug 28' | grep 'bootstrap-console-save/S00initialize'
In our example, the output is not overwhelming:
Aug 28 11:54:24 joomla0 esmith::event[1747]: Running event handler: /etc/e-smith/events/bootstrap-console-save/S00initialize-default-databases
Aug 28 11:54:27 joomla0 /etc/e-smith/events/bootstrap-console-save/S00initialize-default-databases[1748]: /home/e-smith/db/configuration: OLD InternalInterface=interface|Broadcast|192.168.1.255|Configuration|static|Driver|e100|EthtoolOpts|wol -g|HWAddress|00:0f:fe:3c:e0:2b|IPAddress|192.168.1.10|NICBonding|disabled|NICBondingOptions|miimon=200 mode=active-backup|Name|eth0|Netmask|255.255.255.0|Network|192.168.1.0
Aug 28 11:54:27 joomla0 /etc/e-smith/events/bootstrap-console-save/S00initialize-default-databases[1748]: /home/e-smith/db/configuration: NEW InternalInterface=interface|Broadcast|192.168.1.255|Configuration|static|Driver|e100|EthtoolOpts|wol -g|HWAddress|00:0f:fe:3c:e0:2b|IPAddress|192.168.1.11|NICBonding|disabled|NICBondingOptions|miimon=200 mode=active-backup|Name|eth0|Netmask|255.255.255.0|Network|192.168.1.0
First, look at the date and time! You know when you first started changing the settings, I hope. We have 3 entries (they all have practically the same time stamp). Look at the second entry:
Aug 28 11:54:27 joomla0 /etc/e-smith/events/bootstrap-console-save/S00initialize-default-databases[1748]: /home/e-smith/db/configuration: OLD InternalInterface=interface|Broadcast|192.168.1.255|Configuration|static|Driver|e100|EthtoolOpts|wol -g|HWAddress|00:0f:fe:3c:e0:2b|IPAddress|192.168.1.10|NICBonding|disabled|NICBondingOptions|miimon=200 mode=active-backup|Name|eth0|Netmask|255.255.255.0|Network|192.168.1.0
Scroll to the right. Did you notice the word "OLD"? This line contains the old settings, i.e. the settings before you changed them in the console and rebooted. The settings are stored mostly as "parameter|value" pairs. Now, take a look at the "IPAddress" parameter and the IP-address value "192.168.1.10":
IPAddress|192.168.1.10
This was the old IP-address of the server.
Now, look at the third line:
Aug 28 11:54:27 joomla0 /etc/e-smith/events/bootstrap-console-save/S00initialize-default-databases[1748]: /home/e-smith/db/configuration: NEW InternalInterface=interface|Broadcast|192.168.1.255|Configuration|static|Driver|e100|EthtoolOpts|wol -g|HWAddress|00:0f:fe:3c:e0:2b|IPAddress|192.168.1.11|NICBonding|disabled|NICBondingOptions|miimon=200 mode=active-backup|Name|eth0|Netmask|255.255.255.0|Network|192.168.1.0
Again, scroll right to see the word "NEW". Find the "IPAddress" parameter. Immediately, next to it you'll see the IP address "192.168.1.11".
So this tells us that the old IP-address set in the console was 192.168.1.10 and then it was changed in the console to 192.168.1.11.
This is a simple example. What you'll have to do is compare every parameter|value in the "new" line with the "old" line and find out what you did change, write those down and then carefully enter them in the console. Reboot your server and hopefully everything will be OK.
HTH
PS: a good system administrator keeps a log of *everything* he changes on his/her server(s).
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As the system is asking that a reboot should be done, then the system at least "thinks" or "believes" that a change has been made, even though OP suggests no changes were made, so is it possible that no change was made by OP but the system still wants to do a reboot, or will a reboot only be requested if at least one change was made to at least one setting, even if changed to something different & then changed back to what it originally was ?
If something was changed, and then changed back, then there will be two sets of NEW/OLD recorded in the messages log file, and the console will want to reboot the server, even though there are no overall changes in the configuration.
It's possible that there are problems in the code where it is making such change then re-change steps, so that it inappropriate reports changes and asks for a reboot. Reviewing the messages file is the only way to detect if that is what has happened.
In that scenario will there be OLD & NEW records that are the same ?
There will never be corresponding OLD & NEW which are the same. When a change is made and then reversed, there will be OLD/NEW/OLD/NEW, with the first OLD matching the second NEW.
Get on with it, either reboot & hope for the best, or review the log files for changes, & react accordingly.
Very good advice.
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Now let's go and find the old setting and the new setting in the messages log.
Frank, good approach to go through an example, but you need to go earlier in the messages log to find the changes you made in the console. You might need to look in an earlier messages.nnnnn file. Your analysis is looking at what took place after the system reboot. What you have showed is where the LocalIP setting is copied into the IPAddress property of the InternalInterface record. You need to find where the value was changed in the console, as that is what OP will need to find. Earlier you will see where the LocalIP value was changed from the console.
[Unfortunately you picked one of the very few items which is duplicated in the configuration database.]
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Frank, good approach to go through an example, but you need to go earlier in the messages log to find the changes you made in the console. You might need to look in an earlier messages.nnnnn file. Your analysis is looking at what took place after the system reboot. What you have showed is where the LocalIP setting is copied into the IPAddress property of the InternalInterface record. You need to find where the value was changed in the console, as that is what OP will need to find. Earlier you will see where the LocalIP value was changed from the console.
Point taken, Charlie. I looked again at my messages log files. A little bit earlier I saw these lines:
Aug 28 11:52:41 joomla0 /sbin/e-smith/console[3369]: /home/e-smith/db/configuration: OLD UnsavedChanges=no
Aug 28 11:52:41 joomla0 /sbin/e-smith/console[3369]: /home/e-smith/db/configuration: NEW UnsavedChanges=yes
Aug 28 11:52:41 joomla0 /sbin/e-smith/console[3369]: /home/e-smith/db/configuration: OLD LocalIP=192.168.1.10
Aug 28 11:52:41 joomla0 /sbin/e-smith/console[3369]: /home/e-smith/db/configuration: NEW LocalIP=192.168.1.11
Should he be looking for those pointers? Of course, my example was only for a change in IP address. If OP also changed other settings (Server/Gateway mode, ...) that's probably a more complicated story. But let's hope he learns from this.
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Dear frank VB, thanks for the help. but i cannot see any word such like that. im still paining from this situation. on web page it says "Warning: a reconfigure and reboot is required before proceeding! Failure to do so now may leave your system in an unknown state!"
my last effort is to full backup to a workstation. can i restore that backup later if there is any problem occured.
"Backup to Desktop" on server-manager is the best way to do this, i think. what are yours ideas my friends?
to me it is so tired of being bothering you all. But you don't stop answering to my post. that's a great help for me. thanks.
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smnirosh
The warning message you're seeing is maybe worrying you but rest asure your server is not about to explode. A good system administrator *never* panics (well almost). ;-)
Your primary task and first option is looking through the messages log files until you find what you should be looking for. You probably should be looking in earlier messages log files. There are different ones on my test server:
[root@joomla0 log]# ls -l mes*
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 32 Aug 28 12:48 messages -> /var/log/messages.20150828124825
-rw------- 1 root root 8300175 May 8 01:12 messages.20150501011203
-rw------- 1 root root 8235696 May 15 01:12 messages.20150508011202
-rw------- 1 root root 8229415 May 22 01:12 messages.20150515011203
-rw------- 1 root root 8244698 May 29 01:12 messages.20150522011203
-rw------- 1 root root 3383927 Jun 1 01:12 messages.20150529011203
-rw------- 1 root root 5853939 Jun 13 12:39 messages.20150601011203
-rw------- 1 root root 89110 Jun 13 12:48 messages.20150613123844
-rw------- 1 root root 1979760 Jun 15 01:12 messages.20150613124736
-rw------- 1 root root 970764 Jul 8 16:47 messages.20150615011203
-rw------- 1 root root 5172853 Jul 12 19:05 messages.20150708164632
-rw------- 1 root root 3109367 Jul 15 01:12 messages.20150712190428
-rw------- 1 root root 5166067 Aug 8 01:12 messages.20150715011203
-rw------- 1 root root 8100308 Aug 28 12:49 messages.20150808011203
-rw------- 1 root root 111202 Aug 28 15:20 messages.20150828124825
For the changes I made earlier I now had to look in the file "messages.20150808011203".
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Dear Frank FB, because of i don't remember what is the exact day of this tragedy happened to me, I am intending to do the thing i previously emphasized. what's you openion?
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Dear Frank FB, because of i don't remember what is the exact day of this tragedy happened to me, I am intending to do the thing i previously emphasized. what's you openion?
The messages log files go back several weeks if not to say months. Surely, you do remember in which week the mishap you encountered happened? You are the one sitting behind the console and only you can investigate those log files. We can only give you the necessary pointers.
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Ok. I will try my best. thanks
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smnirosh
Your attitude & approach is now bordering on the ridiculous. You are planning a big exercise of reinstalling the SME server operating system from DVD & then restoring from backup.
This is not necessary.
All you need to do is to just follow instructions & reboot your server as advised by the system message.
Most probably your server will reboot with the correct configuration.
If it does not & something does not work as expected, then run "Configure this server" & correct the setting. There are only about a dozen or so settings so it is not hard to establish all the correct settings.
Personally I could have fixed your server faster than the time it has taken to write all these posts to you.
This is a very minor issue & you are grossly exaggerating the severity or difficulty of fixing it.
If a worst case scenario develops where you are unable to reconfigure the correct settings, then you can look at reinstalling the OS & restoring from a known good backup.
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smnirosh
Your attitude & approach is now bordering on the ridiculous. You are planning a big exercise of reinstalling the SME server operating system from DVD & then restoring from backup.
This is not necessary.
keep quiet janet please :p
Indeed apart the fact that you have (huge) problems, I have not seen the description of your issues smnirosh, in generally we describe something which might (or not ) bring to the solution
Of course we are in fault also, because we were talking on other topics(I must admit my personal responsibility)
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If i make a full backup to a usb drive using server manager on sme server, can i restore back that backup file if any problem happened to server? This would reduce my time. Because they asking me what is this problem. Help me.
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once again, why do you want to restore your server, what is your problem. please describe it
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nowadays server can contain terabytes of data.. a restore from a backup can take hours, too many hours.. and if you had a crash and need to be online asap, the only way is to restore configuration, let the server start working (think about email) and then you can restore your data..
in other distros there's such a feature..
we could also do a list of all rpms installed and install them after the restoration of the db.
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smnirosh
If i make a full backup to a usb drive using server manager on sme server, can i restore back that backup file if any problem happened to server?
If you make a backup now, all you are doing is backing up the configuration settings "as they are", which means if you have changed them inadvertantly, then you will backup & then restore the undesired settings.
Note you will have to do a post upgrade & reboot after the restore, therefore it is simply unavoidable to reboot the server, you are really not thinking this through correctly.
You need to have a backup from BEFORE the time you (possibly) made configuration changes, but you said you cannot remember the date when you made the "reconfiguration error".
If the "new" backup you restore from has the undesired configuration, then you will still have to run "Configure this server".
You might as well just run "Configure this server" now, & see what happens, & probably save yourself a lot of time & unnecessary effort.
Either it will be OK (ie boot up with correct configuration), or you will have to correct a setting or two. This is not a hard or serious problem to fix, it's easy to fix.
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stephdl
Indeed apart the fact that you have (huge) problems, I have not seen the description of your issues....
It is described in this post
http://forums.contribs.org/index.php/topic,51899.msg264774.html#msg264774
smnirosh simply fears that the network will have problems after rebooting.
smnirosh does not have any stated problems at the moment except the fear of the unknown (what may or may not happen).
Saying there are "huge" problems is also a gross overstatement on your part (actually I hope you were joking but smnirosh probably does not understand that).
It is a very simple & easy problem to resolve, just do a reboot & see what happens. If something does not work, then run Configure this server & enter the correct parameters, obviously smnirosh will have to gather these from past log files or from someone with technical knowledge of the network & ISP at the location.
How do we convince or persuade smnirosh to do the reboot ?
Previous configuration settings will still be available from the log file if necessary, although the longer it takes to do this, the more chance there is that log files will get replaced & overwritten, so that old information could be lost. Time is of the essence.
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I would agree janet and yes it is hard to do humour with a language which is not my mother tongue.
I do prefer a reconfiguration and see what is broken instead of a backup restoration which can let your server broken.
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No, if nothing changed there will be no OLD & NEW records.
I thought about charlie's comment. Bcos i have tried to configure the server going few steps forward on server config. But i came back, thus no changes. Then there is no old and new records.
I thought something other than the thing I focus about. Now my fear is doubled. I checked lines in logs and that was so many logs and lines. Hiw can i go through all this lines with my limited time. What I remembered is, i tried to extend my ip range which is given by dhcp. I tried few things that time. Including server configuration. Some changes saved. Some were not. I am now wordless
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smnirosh
You have been told already by FrankVB how to check the log files, he gave you extensive instructions in this post
http://forums.contribs.org/index.php/topic,51899.msg264842.html#msg264842
If you do not know what to do, then either get help from a technician locally, or tell us the exact & detailed specific problem you have in carrying out his instructions. Saying "It does not work" or "I have limited time", is simply of no use around here.
Now my fear is doubled.
I really think you have to stop letting fear prevent you from moving forward here.
Changing some dhcp IP range is a minor issue. If it is wrong, it is easy to correct it just by running Configure this server again. The other settings that are shown on each page will remain unchanged (if you do not change them) & you just step through those pages, & you only change or correct the dhcp IP range (on that particular page), or whatever else you may need to correct.
You can see what the current dhcp IP range is by looking in server manager Review configuration panel, and write it down.
If it is not the same as that after doing a reboot, then run Configure this server, & correct it. SME is meant to be easy to use & simple to set up. This is really a no brainer here, so stop worrying.
It really should not take this much convincing & effort from us here to get you to do a simple thing such as a reboot. Come on please !
I am now wordless
Well we (at least I am) are now wordless. It's up to you. I suggest you reboot your server immediately.
If you have any problems afterwards, then start a new post telling us the specific problem, one problem per post please.
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Ok. I am now out of office. With all of ur support, the first task is on Monday to restart the server. Hope u all will be with me if any problem occurs. Thanks for all
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You need to let your time zone and starting business hour. Otherwise you also want to login to IRC #SMEServer on freenode.
As always, no guarantees!
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Should he be looking for those pointers?
Yes, that is exactly what he should be looking for. And if he finds any, go into the configure menu, reverse them, and continue through to the reboot.
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smnirosh
If you're nog getting anywhere with the messages log, it's time to get your feet wet. Go through the console and note all the current settings of your server (servername, domain, server/gateway mode, ip address, subnet, gateway, DHCP settings, etc...). Copy the 20 "messages.yyyymmddhhmmss" log files to a separate directory on your server so that you can safekeep them for analysis later if necessary (log files get overwritten after some time). Then reboot your server. Believe us, it will not come crashing down.
After rebooting (which could take a couple of minutes, so be patient), start testing your network. First test whether your server has internet connection. You can test this in the console: select the "3. Test Internet Access" menu item, it's a harmless test. If the test succeeds then proceed with (re)starting up a Windows client in your network. Does this client have internet connection? Yes, then that's good. If the client doesn't have a network connection, find out what IP address and subnet mask it is actually using and what gateway is set (you are familiar with the Windows command line, in particular the "ipconfig" command?). Use the "ping" command to ping the IP address of your server/gateway. Report back to the forum your findings, and as said earlier by others, be very verbose.
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smnirosh (& all FYI)
I tried to emulate your problem (at least one of the changes you were able to advise us that you made).
I logged into the console as admin & ran Configure this server
I stepped through all the screens changing none, until the DHCP IP range screens.
I then changed the start IP from 192.168.3.10 to 192.168.3.11 & the end IP from 192.168.3.20 to 192.168.3.21.
Then I backed out of the process (repeatedly selecting back), right back to the console menu.
When I selected Exit, I then received the warning message about needing to reboot etc.
So this is the first log excerpt from /var/log/messages, which I obtained very easily from the server manager View log files page, & went to the very end of that file as this was the most recent event that was recorded. It correlates with the date entry for the time of day that I did this change.
Aug 30 10:15:30 pasta /sbin/e-smith/console[8975]: /home/e-smith/db/configuration: OLD UnsavedChanges=no
Aug 30 10:15:30 pasta /sbin/e-smith/console[8975]: /home/e-smith/db/configuration: NEW UnsavedChanges=yes
Aug 30 10:15:30 pasta /sbin/e-smith/console[8975]: /home/e-smith/db/configuration: OLD dhcpd=service|Bootp|deny|end|192.168.3.20|start|192.168.3.10|status|enabled
Aug 30 10:15:30 pasta /sbin/e-smith/console[8975]: /home/e-smith/db/configuration: NEW dhcpd=service|Bootp|deny|end|192.168.3.20|start|192.168.3.11|status|enabled
Aug 30 10:15:35 pasta /sbin/e-smith/console[8975]: /home/e-smith/db/configuration: OLD dhcpd=service|Bootp|deny|end|192.168.3.20|start|192.168.3.11|status|enabled
Aug 30 10:15:35 pasta /sbin/e-smith/console[8975]: /home/e-smith/db/configuration: NEW dhcpd=service|Bootp|deny|end|192.168.3.21|start|192.168.3.11|status|enabled
Then I logged in as admin again, & repeated the above process, but changed the start & end DHCP IP range settings back to original values ie 192.168.3.10 & 192.168.3.20
Here is the log excerpt showing that change
Aug 30 10:18:57 pasta /sbin/e-smith/console[9042]: /home/e-smith/db/configuration: OLD dhcpd=service|Bootp|deny|end|192.168.3.21|start|192.168.3.11|status|enabled
Aug 30 10:18:57 pasta /sbin/e-smith/console[9042]: /home/e-smith/db/configuration: NEW dhcpd=service|Bootp|deny|end|192.168.3.21|start|192.168.3.10|status|enabled
Aug 30 10:19:03 pasta /sbin/e-smith/console[9042]: /home/e-smith/db/configuration: OLD dhcpd=service|Bootp|deny|end|192.168.3.21|start|192.168.3.10|status|enabled
Aug 30 10:19:03 pasta /sbin/e-smith/console[9042]: /home/e-smith/db/configuration: NEW dhcpd=service|Bootp|deny|end|192.168.3.20|start|192.168.3.10|status|enabled
So if you are able to work out roughly what date you made changes, even if it is approximately between one date & another date a few days later, then at least you can look by date through the messages log file (& archived older versions) & find similar looking entries, which should then inform you what the original settings were.
Note that I only had to look in the most recent messages log file. Log files are rotated/archived when they get to a certain size/age & new ones are created, so you may need to look in older versions of the "messages" log files in order to find the changes you made, depending on how long ago (date) you made the changes, & how busy your server is (log entry activity).
eg in the server manager (what you are calling the web page), in View log files panel, in the Choose a log file to view field, it will display "messages" by default. If I click the arrow next to the file name displayed, I see a list of names, & if I scroll down just a little bit, there are many other iterations of the messages log file (ie older versions)
eg
the most recent
messages
& then older ones until the limit of archives retained is reached (oldest first, newest last)
messages.20150802220156
.......
messages.20150822011209
messages.20150825180350
messages.20150829011209
You can see the date displayed in year month day format immediately after the name eg
messages . 2015 08 25 xxxxxx
Mine go back a month or so, so you have a good chance of finding the changes you made, assuming it was only a week or so ago.
Your original post was dated August 26, 2015, 08:09:23 AM
So just go back through the various log files BEFORE that date & time (or your equivalent time in the part of the world you are in) & assuming you only made the changes in the few days before you posted your request, then you should be able to find what you are looking for.
You have an example of what to look for using my entries as a guide.
If you know how to do filtering of the log file (in the same View log files panel), then that may help you to narrow down the results, but be careful not to exclude what you are searching for by using inappropriate filtering conditions.
Good luck
Edit:
PS
In the View log files panel, you can put a single keyword in the Filter pattern (Optional) field
if you filter one at a time on
NEW
or
UnsavedChanges=yes
You will get the correlating abovementioned entries displayed
eg
with NEW as the filter term
......on my server a lot of other various unrelated entries and.....
Aug 30 10:15:30 pasta /sbin/e-smith/console[8975]: /home/e-smith/db/configuration: NEW UnsavedChanges=yes
Aug 30 10:15:30 pasta /sbin/e-smith/console[8975]: /home/e-smith/db/configuration: NEW dhcpd=service|Bootp|deny|end|192.168.3.20|start|192.168.3.11|status|enabled
Aug 30 10:15:35 pasta /sbin/e-smith/console[8975]: /home/e-smith/db/configuration: NEW dhcpd=service|Bootp|deny|end|192.168.3.21|start|192.168.3.11|status|enabled
Aug 30 10:18:57 pasta /sbin/e-smith/console[9042]: /home/e-smith/db/configuration: NEW dhcpd=service|Bootp|deny|end|192.168.3.21|start|192.168.3.10|status|enabled
Aug 30 10:19:03 pasta /sbin/e-smith/console[9042]: /home/e-smith/db/configuration: NEW dhcpd=service|Bootp|deny|end|192.168.3.20|start|192.168.3.10|status|enabled
or
with UnsavedChanges=yes as the filter term
Aug 30 10:15:30 pasta /sbin/e-smith/console[8975]: /home/e-smith/db/configuration: NEW UnsavedChanges=yes
With that info you can find the date & time when you made changes, & then run a complete unfiltered report on the same file & scroll down to the date & time in question & see all the entries you changed.
Good luck again
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we could also do a list of all rpms installed and install them after the restoration of the db.
I agree, 110%.. time for a NFR :-)
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finally we have come to a point with a fix idea. We not gonna restart the server until the all the current meetings finished. Then we gonna come back to this topic again. All the guys who involved this, please keep in touch with me. thanks again.
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smnirosh
Have you extracted the original configuration settings from the log file using method I described ?
If you have unknowingly changed something, then it will be very useful to have the original information available & allow you to quickly & easily correct any errors.
You should do this ASAP while that information is still in the log files.
The longer you wait the more risk you take of losing that information when log files get overwritten.
It is safe to do a reboot, no harm will come to your data.
Keep in mind your server could crash at anytime for other reasons, necessitating a forced shutdown & restart.
If your config is wrong, then the server may not startup with the settings you require & you will be in a panic situation then.
I repeat, it really is quite safe to do a Reconfigure & Reboot, all the data on your server is retained.
The only possibility of problems I see in your situation, is relating to basic network connectivity, & that can easily & quickly be fixed by running Configure this server & entering the correct values (which you can get from the log files now with a little effort on your part).
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Hi all my guys here, we restarted the server with deep fear in our hearts. It restarted without harm to status and remained the problem as it was. It is still saying "reconfigure and restart need".
We considered to restart this server for another reason. I will tell you that in a new thread.
To my opinion, i have to reconfigure this server with correct settings again.
Only fear about internet connection, DHCP, dns. Others are ok.
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smnirosh
....
we restarted the server ..... It restarted without harm to status and remained the problem as it was. It is still saying "reconfigure and restart need".
In server manager there is a panel that allows you to do a reconfigure & reboot, so I suggest you select that option, rather than just doing a restart (reboot) only.
Alternatively you can issue the following commands at the command prompt (log in as root)
signal-event post-upgrade
signal-event reboot
Then report the status of your server to us.
.....i have to reconfigure this server with correct settings again.
Only fear about internet connection, DHCP, dns.
Well firstly you are advised to retrieve those settings from log files (assuming you did change them), as per my instructions in this post
http://forums.contribs.org/index.php/topic,51899.msg264890.html#msg264890
Filtering the search as suggested should allow you to find log entries that relate to what you did.
Then at the command prompt log in as admin, select "Configure this server" from the admin console menu, & enter the correct values as you step through the screens, right to the very end & select reboot.
There is no other answer we can give you.
Please just do it, & stop reporting the same issue over & over without actually doing anything about it.
Thanks