AuditMaster Posted December 11, 2004 Report Share Posted December 11, 2004 Hello all, I've been using Retrospect on single machines and small peer based networks for sometime and have just installed a SBS in our organisation. Everything works fine except for backups of the Exchange Server (First group rather than mailboxes). I have a script to backup the Exchange server to an attached hard disk and I can run it manually (as a recycle or normal backup) and can schedule it for some future time(s). Now, If I leave myself logged on to the server (Administrator) and simply lock the console, then it runs just fine. However, if I logoff the server then when the backup runs, the server hangs. As far as I can tell it hangs (unresponsive) with no error message and does so very soon (a few seconds) after the script starts. As I say this ONLY happens if I have "logged off" the console. There is no error message, Retrospect suggests there has been a power failure after I reboot the server and nothing appears in the logs. Any thoughts? Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuditMaster Posted December 13, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2004 Sorry, should have added more details... Server is Windows 2003 SBS Retrospect 6.5.343 (SBS Edition) Backing upto a second HD Any help appreciated Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natew Posted December 16, 2004 Report Share Posted December 16, 2004 Hi Be sure to get Retrospect 6.0.350 from the Dantz updates site. Have you specified a user to run Retrospect as in the Retrospect security preferences? Thanks Nate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuditMaster Posted December 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2004 Thanks, I now have the latest versions and it runs as administrator. Did another test and exactly the same thing happens ie Scheduled script backing up the Exchange server makes the system unresponsive such that a reset is required. There are no entries in the log and the backup set becomes corrupted. Same script run with with the administrator logged on simply locked the console and everything works fine. This is specific to the exchange server (I can backup individual mailboxes no problem) and only when administrator is NOT logged on (therefore a scheduled backup). Absolutley no trouble when administrator is logged on and doing nothing Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natew Posted December 21, 2004 Report Share Posted December 21, 2004 Hi What are the values you have specified in the Retrospect security preferences? Thanks Nate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuditMaster Posted December 21, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2004 Thanks for trying to help... In preferences under security I have.. Always run retrospect as the specified user the username is Administrator the password is (secret) the domain is CMCONSULTING (Our domain) The terminal server session is NOT checked Administrator is, obviously, the administrator and has full rights. Scheduled scripts ran again last night perfectly (including the exchange server) as I had left administrator "logged on" to the server. A test during the day confirms that the system halt occurs ONLY when backing up Exchange (First Group) and ONLY if administrator is NOT logged on. Backing up everything else works fine even if administrator is not logged on and backing up Exchange works fine IF administrator is logged on. All backups are done via scripts that are "scheduled" to run at some time in the future Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natew Posted December 22, 2004 Report Share Posted December 22, 2004 Hmmmmmmm Is there another admin account you could use to run Retrospect as? You might also want to try unlicensing and relicensing the exchange server in the Retrospect volumes window. Thanks Nate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuditMaster Posted December 30, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2004 Sorry about the delay in responding. I have created another account that has full administrator priveleges and the current situation is now.... Normal backups of the Exchange server SEEM to be working. I have left a load of scheduled incremental (Normal) to run and they seem to be going OK at the moment. The only problem seems to be with Recycle backups which hang the server if someone (not sure wether i has to be administrator or the new account) is NOT logged on. Retrospect security is set to run under the new account (and the log shows it is running as that account), but when I am logged on as administrator it shows administrator as the retrospect user rather than the new account. Finally, How do I relicense the excahnge server to see if that works? Thanks Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natew Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Hi Open configure->volumes and right click on the exchange server to unlicense it. Nate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuditMaster Posted January 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2005 OK, I've relicensed, I've setup the security for another user,I've done everything I can think off and has been suggested. I have tried every combination I can think of! IF I leave a SCHEDULED, RECYCLE backup of EXCHANGE SERVER (First Group) and logoff the server. The server doesn't exactly crash, clocks keep running and other applications keep running, but to all intent and purposes the server hangs. We cannot connect to Exchange from clients, the clients do not "see" the server (except I CAN ping it) and CompanyWeb/Remote access does not work. When you try and logon at the server, nothing happens. I have to reboot. After rebooting, retrospect says something happened, probably a power failure and the backup set has become corrupted. Run the EXACT same scheduled, recycle backup but leave administrator logged on, even if its "Locked" the server, and everything is fine! HELP Please, this is driving me nuts! Thanks Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natew Posted January 27, 2005 Report Share Posted January 27, 2005 Hi Do the windows system logs give any errors when you try the backup with admin user logged out? So when you log in as the other user you have set Retrospect to run as will the backup run? Or do you have to be logged in as admin for it to work? Thanks Nate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuditMaster Posted January 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 It gets worse! Now any form of exchange backup, scheduled or immediate (started via a remote session) recycle or normal hangs the server. I am REALLY desparate now, so desparate I'll start another thread later. PLEASE anyone help? Thanks Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natew Posted February 3, 2005 Report Share Posted February 3, 2005 Hi Does the NT backup utility complete sucessfully or does that hang too? I'm starting to think the databases are corrupt or there is another problem on the machine. Perhaps a problem with user accounts or corruption in active directory? Thats one reason why scripted backups could have failed in the past. Thanks Nate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuditMaster Posted February 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2005 Hummm, Thanks for your continued help in this. I have tried an experiment and NT backups fail as well! I have been such a fan of Retrospect for so long that I didn't even consider using the "built in" backup as I knew I would use Retrospect. But yes, the NT back does hang the server it what appears to be the same way. Please don't say I'm going to have to rebuild the server, I'm afraid I'm rather new to SBS so I need "idiots" guides to makeing sure the right information gets into the right log. Thanks again, it looks like you've got close to the problem. Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natew Posted February 10, 2005 Report Share Posted February 10, 2005 Hi There are some utilities you can use to check the integrity of your exchange databases but they can be destructive. Its pricey since you are unsure about the process you may want to open a support ticket with microsoft. Thanks Nate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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