Linux client doesn't list folder content

[r27]

Hello,

 

Here is situation: Retrospect 9 installed on Windows server 2008, backup goes to tapes using tape library. Retro Client installed on NAS (open-e). There are multiple shares configured on NAS. For some reason Retro Client lists only some folders/files (created long time ago) inside those shares. So I can't do full share backup because R Client doesn't see all available folders/files. It used to work for a couple of years and now it is broken. Unfortunately I don't have an  access to NAS box, only open-e support can fix files on root level and I am trying to help them. I am thinking that there is retro. database stored somewhere  and they have to remove it and restart client. Any ideas ? Suggestions ?

 

Thank you!

[Scillonian]

How much do you know about how file and folder permissions work on Linux?

 

The Retrospect Client will be governed by the Linux file and folder permissions on the NAS and not the Windows file and folder permissions for/of Windows machines accessing the shares. The Retrospect Client will need to be running as a user (or member of a group) that has at a minimum access rights to read all files on the NAS.

[r27]

How much do you know about how file and folder permissions work on Linux?

The Retrospect Client will be governed by the Linux file and folder permissions on the NAS and not the Windows file and folder permissions for/of Windows machines accessing the shares. The Retrospect Client will need to be running as a user (or member of a group) that has at a minimum access rights to read all files on the NAS.

Thanks for your reply.

 

I am certified EMC Isilon specialist. Managing linux based storage systems is my everyday job.

 

In this case permissions should't be the problem. Nothing changed since retro agent was setup and worked about 3 years. I think retro agent (I don't have cli access to NAS to make sure) is running under root account. Client lists only 5 folders from available 30 inside of share. All files/folders have the same permissions applied.

 

So my questions is how to force RetroClient to rescan folder under Linux or how to trash client preferences to force rescan ?

 

Thank you.

[Scillonian]

Your Linux experience is far beyond mine but with no CLI access to prove otherwise I would still suspect a permissions/ownership issue. I would want to see what is the difference in owner, group and permissions of the folders Retrospect can see and the folders it can't see.

 

Have you checked the 'Volumes' tab of the 'Configure > Clients' dialog on the Retrospect Server? What is selected here can affect what is available during a backup. If the missing folders are listed here but not selected they will not appear in the 'Volumes' database and therefore not be available for backup.

 

The Retrospect Client scans for files and folders every time a backup is run so no memory from one backup to another. (If InstantScan is enabled a database of files and folders does exist on Windows and Mac clients.)

 

If the Retrospect Client is being run with the '-exclude' option then the '/etc/retroclient.excludes' file contains a list of files and folders that will be excluded from the backup.

 

There is also a 'var/log/retroclient.log' file (and compressed archives) which details Client activities.

 

The following forum post has details of where the Retrospect Client 10 for Linux files are located: http://forums.retrospect.com/index.php?/topic/151969-uninstalling-v10-client-from-linux/

[r27]

Your Linux experience is far beyond mine but with no CLI access to prove otherwise I would still suspect a permissions/ownership issue. I would want to see what is the difference in owner, group and permissions of the folders Retrospect can see and the folders it can't see.

 

Have you checked the 'Volumes' tab of the 'Configure > Clients' dialog on the Retrospect Server? What is selected here can affect what is available during a backup. If the missing folders are listed here but not selected they will not appear in the 'Volumes' database and therefore not be available for backup.

 

The Retrospect Client scans for files and folders every time a backup is run so no memory from one backup to another. (If InstantScan is enabled a database of files and folders does exist on Windows and Mac clients.)

 

If the Retrospect Client is being run with the '-exclude' option then the '/etc/retroclient.excludes' file contains a list of files and folders that will be excluded from the backup.

 

There is also a 'var/log/retroclient.log' file (and compressed archives) which details Client activities.

 

The following forum post has details of where the Retrospect Client 10 for Linux files are located: http://forums.retrospect.com/index.php?/topic/151969-uninstalling-v10-client-from-linux/

 

I checked permissions multiple times, compared ACLs on available for backup folders with missing and everything looks exactly the same. 

 

Yes I checked Volumes, I can select available shares, but as I mentioned before content of those shares are incomplete. When I ran backup it only scans 600GB when share has 10TB. I don't use any additional options for backup. So no exclude on server side. I just installed clean Retrospect Server on different machine and faced same problem with this client. So the problem is definitely on client side. I also installed trial version of NAS OS and it works fine. Retrospect client can scan all the folders and will list all the files and folders. 

 

Not having an access to NAS at root level kills me. Open-E support is useless ( I am trying to be polite here). I wrote on they forum about my experience with they product and my post was declined by forum admin.