retro1 Posted June 24, 2014 Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 What’s the best way to monitor Retrospect for serious problems? For instance if a computer completely stops backing up? Nearly all my systems run on a proactive schedule and I get multiple errors every day relating to computer’s not backing up. A lot of the time it’s simply down to the system not being active at that particular time when the proactive backup tries to run. It’s then usually picked up later that day or the following day, so it’s not something I need to worry about. What I’m after are the ones that I do need to worry about, the ones that haven’t backed up in a few days and have a permanent failure. How would I go about getting this information from Retrospect? The backup report just seems to show me if a client backed up last time it ran and doesn’t show me any history to work with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennart_T Posted June 24, 2014 Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 First of all, the clients that are off line when proactive script runs doesn't result in any error messages. However, if the client pulls the plug while the backup is actually running on that client, you get a -519 error. The backup report shows you how many days there are since the last successful backup ran on each client. At least it does in version 7.6, which is what I am running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jotrago Posted June 24, 2014 Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 Work with the Backup Report a bit more, it takes a bit of getting your head around it. As you say it does not give a comprehensive history of ALL backups, it would get too big and unwieldy. Instead Retrospect tries to show you what you need to know. In general it will show you the last successful backup, and any errors. ESPECIALLY NOTICE THE "Elapsed Days" column. This indicates the number of days since the last backup and is conveniently highlighted in red. Play with the options button (top left corner). you can filter for several variations. EG create report for Pro-active Backup, for the last 7 days showing unsuccessful backups, with / without Client Offline Errors Retrospect 9 has a very useful "Dashboard" which has 5 Panes summarising key aspects of Retrospect operations including a pane titled "Not Backed Up in the Last 7 Days" http://www.retrospect.com/en/blog/2014/03/27/inside_dashboard You might also want to consider installing the Reports Watcher utility. This reads in the Backup log and generates a very handy HTML report which can be simply opened in a web browser, or you can have Reports watcher insert it into an intranet webserver folder to make it accessible more widely. This report includes and unsuccessful backup page. See http://forums.retrospect.com/index.php?/topic/151132-reports-watcher-gone/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retro1 Posted June 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 Lennart I get a lot of -519 errors, that's really what I meant. Retrospects working on those machines but something prevented it from completing. These are the ones i'm interested in. JoTraGo where is this "Elapsed Days" Column? This sounds like it's exactly what i'm after. The only columns i'm seeing are: User/Volume Errors, Warnings Backup Set Script I’m running Multi Server version 8.5.0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennart_T Posted June 24, 2014 Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 -519 means the "network communication failed". This can have a lot of causes: Bad network. Client restarting computer. Client shuts down computer. Client pulls the network cable and takes the laptop to a meeting room. Client connects via VPN to remote site (which disconnect from the local network). That's what I can think of for the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retro1 Posted June 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 Indeed, it maybe something critical or may not. That's why I want a list of all computers that haven't backed up in x number of days. This way I can determine if a system just had a one off error (someone turned the comuter off) or if there's a persistant issue. Lennart do you see the "Elapsed Days" column in your backup report window? I think this would be the answer for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennart_T Posted June 24, 2014 Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 Yes, I see the elapsed days column. But I have an older version of Retrospect than you. Maybe your report has been configured not to show the column? (I don't even know if such configuration is possible, but please take a look.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jotrago Posted June 24, 2014 Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 You need to enable the "Performance Data Format " Report Layout in the Backup Report Options, it is then the Second column in the report and you get the duration, backup Speed and volume of data for each volume. Cool! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jotrago Posted June 24, 2014 Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 Retro1, so try this Reports > Backup Report Options > Report Layout = Performance Data Layout; Event Types = ProActive Backup Only; Event Dates ALL; or adjust to suit Show > Most Recent Successful Backups Including = Unchecked OK You should now get a list of your most recent successful backups with the Number of days Since they happened. You can now investigate any clients that are :- Missing altogether (No Backups) Excessive days since last good backup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retro1 Posted June 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 Ah now I see the columns, thanks JoTraGo. I've configured the report as you suggested but i'm only seeing a figure under elapsed days for systems that have backed up today\yesterday (either a 0 or a 1). The other systems just don't have anything listed next to them. For instance looking at one particular computer, if I look at the backup set for this system, under snapshot, the last time it created a snapshot was the 14/05/2014 yet it doesn't show anything under the elapsed days column. Shouldn't I be seeing figures next all these based on when they last backed up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennart_T Posted June 24, 2014 Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 For instance looking at one particular computer, if I look at the backup set for this system, under snapshot, the last time it created a snapshot was the 14/05/2014 yet it doesn't show anything under the elapsed days column. Shouldn't I be seeing figures next all these based on when they last backed up? That depends. Has the destination media set been forgotten (deleted) or recycled then you no longer see the number of days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jotrago Posted June 24, 2014 Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 You did set the dates to ALL ?? Also a snapshot occurs every time the backup runs, even when there is nothing to backup. The Sessions will show you what was actually backed on any occasion. Do the dates correlate any better with Sessions. Try changing the "Show > Most Recent Successful Backups" to Show > All Backups and / or Check the including boxes for Events where no data is copied and Client Offline errors Even set all the option to ALL to see the big picture and then narrow it down from there Also the backup report is constructed from the Backup Log, the size of which is controlled by Prefs > Notification > Logging > Log Size Limit, although I am sure it should go back further than a couple of days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retro1 Posted June 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 OK i'm going to monitor the backup report over the next few days to see what happens. I noticed today that one system has gone up to two days now. I appreciate your help guys, many thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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