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Client uninstall problems


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Retrospect server 6.1.230 on OS X 10.5.6, 2 x 2.8 GHz Quad-Core, 3 GB 800 MHz DDR2.

 

Latest client installed on nearly all machines.

 

Client computers vary: Most are 2nd-generation MacBook Pros or new iMacs.

 

First problem: Just upgraded staff computer to new iMac, installed client 6.2.234 with no errors and added password. I can see this client using ARD. But when I get info on the Retro client app on this new iMac, it says 6.0.x. And I get -1028 error when trying to connect in Retrospect Client network settings (energy saver sleep setting for computer is "never"; confirmed computer has remained on for the duration of my troubleshooting [i.e., over several days]). Also confirmed date/clock is correct.

 

Further, old connection to this staff's IP is grayed out, so I can't "forget" it. Wondering if that's preventing me from connecting to the new, although have my doubts since it's a new IP (but same computer name...really have no clue whether this is an issue).

 

Second problem: When upgrading to client 6.2.234 on several machines, I got error message saying not all files/folders removed. Have restarted in safe mode, and from boot CD, same results.

 

For both problems, I'm wondering whether I can remove all Retrospect Client-related files manually. Is there a list of files somewhere? Clearly the installer is not working in some cases, so I'm stuck.

Edited by Guest
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How did you do the install? (be specific)

 

I infer you mean original installation, and in many cases I didn't do that. For new computers, I download the latest client from the EMC site and run install. Not really having problems with new machines, however.

 

How did you do the uninstall? (be specific)

 

Logged into user account. Launched client installer, selected "Uninstall" from pulldown, typed administrative password when prompted, let it run. Error messages occur after uninstall runs.

 

What client was on the machine before the update?

Various: 6.0.x, 6.1.x

 

Had Retrospect (not client) ever been installed on that machine?

No, never. Only clients.

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Well, you still haven't specifically answered my questions, so it's a bit hard to tell how you did the install/uninstall. The information I was needing was whether the install had been done by a "push" from Retrospect or by locally running the installer on the client, and, for the uninstall, what version of the installer's uninstall had been run.

 

Briefly, the client has a very different structure before client 6.2.x and after. Also, there are three possible complications:

 

(1) there was an initial problematic installer for the 6.2.x client that didn't work right in all situations, and a new install package was released without changing the version of the client. Seems like a support nightmare to me. Only way you can be sure that you have the "good" version is to re-download the installer for the 6.2.x client (within the last month would be OK).

 

(2) The installer for the 6.0.x client had a problem whereby it left the client setuid root and world writable. Some people fixed this by changing permissions or setting the "uchg" flag so that it couldn't be overwritten by a virus attempting to gain root permission. I don't know what you have here.

 

(3) There is an unsupported hack provided on the Retrospect site to shut down Retrospect client machines after a backup occurs if they are sitting at the login screen. I don't know whether you installed this.

 

Regardless, here are the manual uninstall steps.

 

(1) to get rid of the Retrospect client:

Quit the Retrospect client on the client machine. Drag the Retrospect client from the Applications folder to the trash, empty the trash. This will get rid of the client regardless of which version you had installed.

 

(2) Delete the following files, empty the trash:

/Library/Preferences/retroclient.state

/var/log/retroclient.history

/var/log/retropds.log

/Library/StartupItems/Retro*

 

(3) If you had installed the client shutdown hack, there will be a python script:

/Library/StartupItems/cShutdown.py

 

Delete it if it exists. The installation of this hack will have added three lines at the end of /etc/crontab that you need to edit and delete. I don't know whether you have any other changes to /etc/crontab, but here's what it will look like if only cShutdown.py changes were added:

$ cat /etc/crontab
# The periodic and atrun jobs have moved to launchd jobs
# See /System/Library/LaunchDaemons
#
# minute        hour    mday    month   wday    who     command
*/30    *       *       *       *       root    /Library/Preferences/cShutdown.py 
# This crontab has been modified by the cShutdown program.  
# If you edit it by hand, don't run cShutdown again.

Here is what the default /etc/crontab looks like:

# The periodic and atrun jobs have moved to launchd jobs
# See /System/Library/LaunchDaemons
#
# minute        hour    mday    month   wday    who     command

If your /etc/crontab has any additional lines other than the ones that might have been added by installation of the cShutdown.py hack, you need to preserve those additional lines but delete the three added by cShutdown.py installation. You should leave the permissions on /etc/crontab as follows:

$ ls -al /etc/crontab
-rw-r--r--   1 root  wheel  137 Mar 27  2007 /etc/crontab

If you don't have a preference for an editor to do this, I suggest the freeware "TextWrangler" from BareBones software (find by Google).

 

I think that should do it. Reboot. Run the uninstaller (uninstall from the installer menu) and you shouldn't get the "unable to remove files" message. Install the 6.2.x client, and you should be good to go.

 

Russ

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Thanks, Russ.

 

I've done all installs by downloading the client installer to the client machine (no "push" from Retrospect itself). The person who initially set up the Retro resources also just downloads the client installer. No unsupported hack was ever used (ugh; sounds gnarly).

 

Re "what version of the installer's uninstaller has been run"...You mean the uninstaller for a given installer could be different than the version indicated for the installer?? I don't think that's what you mean but it's how I read your response. Anyway, I've been using the latest installer/uninstaller: 6.2.234.

 

Thanks for the manual-deletion instructions. I'm pretty sure I was at the point where this will be the only solution. Much appreciated. I'll let you know how it turns out.

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.You mean the uninstaller for a given installer could be different than the version indicated for the installer?? I don't think that's what you mean but it's how I read your response.

What I meant was that the uninstaller for earlier versions of the client cannot uninstall the later versions. Retrospect client prior to 6.2.x had a different structure with a differently-named daemon, and installed differently (and thus had to be uninstalled differently). The uninstaller for the earlier versions cannot uninstall the later versions.

 

I tried to craft the manual uninstall instructions carefully so that it would work regardless of which client versions you had.

 

Russ

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