Client deactivates itself

[jtburgess]

I have a powerbook running OS 10.4.8, and retrospect client 6.1.130.

 

I start the client and it says it is NOT active. I activate it, and it works fine for awhile ... that is, My server automatically backs it up (set to occur every 3 days). Three days later I when check the server it says the client is not visible on the network and so the next automatic backup fails. I check the client, and I'm back to square 1 - it has somehow deactivated itself.

 

Has anyone else seen anything similar to this?

 

I use 2 logins on this computer (one for personal, one for business). Could that affect Retrospect?

 

Any other ideas what might cause the client to become "inactive" without human intervention??

[CallMeDave]

Quote:

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Any other ideas what might cause the client to become "inactive" without human intervention??

 

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Unless this machine is sitting on a shelf, it's getting lots of human "intervention" as it's being used.

 

So you'll need to provide additional information.

 

First question; if you reboot the Macintosh, what is the status of the client as soon as the machine comes up?

 

Second question, does the machine in question go to sleep and wake up?

 

And last, for now, what is the physical network for the Powerbook (wired ethernet or wireless Airport)?

 

In advance of your further info, note that "active" is not a term used in the Retrospect Client application. That application has two radio buttons ("On" and "Off") as well as a Status field that can display multipe messages ("Off," "Not Running," "In Use by...," etc.). When you post, please be specific as to what you see and where you see it.

 

Dave

[rhwalker]

Quote:

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I use 2 logins on this computer (one for personal, one for business). Could that affect Retrospect?

 

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No.

 

What is the client named? (the exact full name as reported in Terminal)

Where is the client located? (the full path from / as reported in Terminal)

 

Here is the correct way it should be:

Code:

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rhwimac:~ rhwalker$ ls -ald /Applications/Ret*

drwxrwxr-x 3 root wheel 102 Jul 3 2005 /Applications/Retrospect Client.app

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If you have moved or renamed the client, then it will not be restarted on reboot.

 

What model of Macintosh computer do you have?

 

Russ

[Axiom]

I've seen this numerous times on our clients. The most common cause I've seen is that the root account is not enabled on the Mac. To enable root, open NetInfo Manager from /Applications/Utilities, then choose "Enable Root User" from the Security menu. (Although some claim you have to install the client while logged in as Root, installing under an administrator-level login is adequate as long as root is enabled on the system.)

 

You _may_ need to reinstall the Retrospect client before your situation improves. I have found this to sometimes be the case. On rare occasions, I actually have to reboot _between_ the uninstall and re-install before things go well.

 

Good luck, and let us know if you get it resolved!

[rhwalker]

Quote:

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I've seen this numerous times on our clients. The most common cause I've seen is that the root account is not enabled on the Mac.

 

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Respectfully, I disagree.

For security reasons, we have never had the root account enabled on any of our clients, and we have never had this problem.

 

The lack of root LOGIN account being enabled does not prevent any process (e.g., the Retrospect Client) from running as UID 0 (root). And it does not prevent you from running a shell as root, either. To try, do a

sudo sh

from any logged in user that is in the sudoers list or who has admin privileges, and you will get a Bourne shell running as root (do a SET and look at the UID).

 

In fact, many if not most of the daemon processes started by the boot process run as root. In Terminal, do a

ps axl

and look at all the first column (UID) entries that are zero. Make sure you open up your terminal window wide so that you can see the process names.

 

russ

[CallMeDave]

Quote:

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I've seen this numerous times on our clients.

 

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You've seen what, exactly, numerous times?

 

The original post in this thread was unclear.

 

That poster wrote: "I start the client and it says it is NOT active."

But "active" is not a word that is used in any of the Retrospect OS X Client.app buttons or dialogs.

 

So it's important to know, exactly, what the status of the Retrospect OS X Client software actually is when it exhibits unexpected behavior.

 

> The most common cause I've seen is that the root account is not enabled on the Mac.

 

That is, to use a somewhat unappreciated expression, Crazy Talk. There is NO need to set a root password on a Mac OS X machine in order to use the Retrospect OS X Client software. The software itself will run as a root process using unix capabilities that do NOT require an account password (Russ should be able to explain it; he knows unix well and he's much nicer then I am).

 

> Although some claim you have to install the client while logged in as Root...

 

Anyone making such a claim would be Wrong.

 

> You _may_ need to reinstall the Retrospect client before your situation improves

 

As often happens, after a single post lacking in specific information the original poster has yet to provide more details that were requested by other community members.

 

Dave

[carmien]

I have exactly the same problem MacBook pro running OS 10.4.9 and retrospect client 6.1.130.and just like you:

 

I start the client and it says it is NOT active. I activate it, and it works fine for awhile ... that is, My server automatically backs it up (set to occur every day). The next day I when check the client it's now off and I'm back to square 1 - it has somehow deactivated itself. It seem s that this happens at every reboot.

 

 

Arrgh!

 

Stefan Carmien

[CallMeDave]

> It seems that this happens at every reboot.

 

Well, _does_ this happen at every reboot?

 

Pease re-read comment #95222 above about the language "active" not being used in the software that you're using; the words in the "status" field of the Retrospect Client application are most helpful in describing what's happening.

 

If the client doesn't start when the system starts, you have likely moved it from its default location in /Applications/

 

Dave

[rhwalker]

Quote:

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If the client doesn't start when the system starts, you have likely moved it from its default location in /Applications/

 

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Or you may have renamed the client.

 

russ

[carmien]

Ok, here is exactly what I see: the 'off' radio button in the top third panel is selected. I then turn it on by electing the 'on' button , but after a reboot the 'off' button is selected again.

 

Stefan

[carmien]

Hmmm, it is not in the Applicaitons folder but in utilites under appliciations. I did not change the name

 

 

Stefan

[carmien]

well, putting the cleint back into the appliciaons folder did it - it's runing fine now, but I don't like it - is there a plist or something that I can tell it that it's in another folder?

 

stefan

[rhwalker]

Quote:

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well, putting the cleint back into the appliciaons folder did it - it's runing fine now, but I don't like it - is there a plist or something that I can tell it that it's in another folder?

 

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You will have to edit, using an appropriate text editor (not Word) the shell file:

/Library/StartupItems/RetroClient/RetroClient

 

I suggest using BBEdit or its free cousin, TextWrangler, both from barebones.com

 

Change the path to the application that is started (note that there are two places that the path/name has to be changed). Preserve privileges (755) and owner:group (root:wheel).

 

Note that you will now have an unsupported configuration that may break with any future update, and you will have to manually install the client from now on - you will not be able to push the client from Retrospect.

 

Russ

[CallMeDave]

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... you will not be able to push the client from Retrospect

 

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???

 

You can never push a client install from Retrospect; all you can do is push a client _upgrade_ (via an rcu file). This ability should not be impacted by the client location on the drive.

 

I agree that the configuration will be "unsupported," but it should work fine.

 

Dave

[rhwalker]

Quote:

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You can never push a client install from Retrospect; all you can do is push a client _upgrade_ (via an rcu file).

 

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Whatever. I think it was clear from the context that I was talking about the rcu push.

 

Quote:

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This ability should not be impacted by the client location on the drive.

 

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I haven't tested that and can imagine a scenario where the client would do updates to the expected place, leaving the unupdated client as the one that launches on boot from the custom location. I didn't write the code and don't have access to the source. However, I will note that a "strings" on the Retrospect Client does not reveal any hardcoded path for the client location. But Retrospect could also push down the location into which it wants the client installed. I've seen stranger.

 

Russ

[CallMeDave]

An .rcu file doesn't install a completely new client application, it only makes changes to the client software to which it's connected. It's part of Retrospect's "downloadable services," and it depends only on communication with the client.

 

The default install location for the client application matters _only_ to the shell script in /Library/StartupItems/RetroClient/.

 

Just another reason to miss the passing of the Alias Manager in "Classic" Mac OS; used to be you could put an alias in System Folder:StartupItems: and then move the target file anywhere, and the system would still find it. Oh well, stability has its price...

 

Dave

[jtburgess]

Sorry I was imprecise - by active I meant the radio button ON was lit.

And when I check it again later, the OFF button is lit.

 

I have always had the root login enabled. Both accounts I mentioned are administrators.

 

Yes the machine often goes to sleep, and since I use it when travelling, wake-from-sleep is password protected.

 

I install retrospect in a subdirectory, as follows:

$ ls -l '/Applications/Retrospect 6.1/'

-rwxr-xr-x 1 jburgess staff 30597 Sep 20 2005 Read Me-Retrospect.htm

drwxrwxr-x 4 jburgess staff 136 Jul 29 2006 Retrospect

drwxrwxr-x 3 root wheel 102 Jul 29 2006 Retrospect Client.app

 

I'll try editing the Startup shell as suggested. That should do it. It does have a hard-coded path to /Applications (%^&*).

Thanks in advance!

[jclark]

I don't know the *actual* cause of the problem, but the solution I've found that has worked 100% for me, is:

Uninstall the client, reboot, then install the client again.

 

jeff