broken catalog file prevents grooming

[ctb2]

Grooming on a disk backup set is failing due to a broken catalog file. It's grooming by retrospect's defined policy.

 

Code:

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+ Executing Grooming at 11/29/2006 2:22 PM (Execution unit 1)

Grooming Backup Set Ocean...

Groomed 755.7 MB from Backup Set Ocean.

Grooming Backup Set Ocean failed, error -2241 (Catalog File invalid/damaged)

You must recreate the Backup Set's Catalog File.

See the Retrospect User's Guide or online help for details on recreating Catalog Files.

11/29/2006 4:26:03 PM: Execution incomplete

Duration: 02:03:29 (00:00:54 idle/loading/preparing)

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Recreating the catalog file for a disk backup set following the steps outlined in this knowledgebase article completes successfully.

 

Code:

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+ Executing Recatalog at 11/28/2006 12:41 PM (Execution unit 1)

To Backup Set Ocean...

The locked preference on the Snapshots is not preserved after a recatalog.

Please review the Snapshots in the Backup Set and make appropriate changes.

11/29/2006 12:38:46 PM: Execution completed successfully

Completed: 2396717 files, 743.3 GB

Performance: 575.7 MB/minute

Duration: 22:30:49 (00:30:39 idle/loading/preparing)

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but grooming still fails with the same error message in the log. Version data for the retrospect server is version 7.5.285, Driver Update and Hot Fix version 7.5.5.103. Space on the backup disk has been exhausted so any solutions that can fix the catalog file and allow grooming would be much appreciated. Worst case scenario is that we need to ditch the backup set and start from scratch.

[nekr0phage]

Hi,

 

After you complete the catalog rebuild are you able to perform verification of the backup set via Tools> Verify?

[ctb2]

Hi Foster, thanks for the reply. Verification of the backup set completed successfully. Are there any other methods of recreating the catalog file I should try?

[nekr0phage]

No, there is only one way to rebuild a catalog.

 

Do you re-lock some snapshots after you rebuild the catalog? Where are you saving the catalog file? Have you tried going to the backup set properties' snapshots tab and manually forgetting one or two snapshots?

 

I just noticed you're on an older build of 7.5, I would recommend running updates before you do anything else.

[ctb2]

No snapshots were relocked after rebuild. It is possible to manually delete a snapshot, but because grooming doesn't work that snapshot is never removed from the disk. I performed an upgrade to the latest version number and tried one last rebuild, but grooming still fails with a "catalog file damaged" error. At this point, because the disk will fill up soon, I'm going to erase the current back up set and start over. However, it would be nice to understand why the catalog file can't be fixed for grooming. I wouldn't like to make a habit of wiping the back up set.

[nekr0phage]

Quote:

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I wouldn't like to make a habit of wiping the back up set.

 

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Absolutely not - that rather defeats the whole purpose of grooming.

 

I'm sorry, I really couldn't say what is happening here. I would think the most likely opportunities for the catalog to take damage are during the read from the backup, in which case there is a problem with the backup that is not apparent otherwise, or while writing to the disk, which you should be able to reasonably well eliminate by saving the catalog to another drive. That is, unless it's not the drive itself, but the cable or controller that is causing the problem. However, if it were a problem with your hardware, I would think you'd see indications of that elsewhere.

[mauricev]

Quote:

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I would think the most likely opportunities for the catalog to take damage are during th

 

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Crashing of the Retrospect program reliably causes catalogs to become corrupted. Most often, the catalog is unusable, but I believe at other times, the corruption is subtle and not obvious until Retrospect runs into the corrupted portion (e.g, during grooming).