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Can't see /var


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I'm running SuSE 9.3 Pro on a Dell 2650 using the 7.5.111 client installed from the tar package.

 

The server is 7.5.251 running under Windows 2000 Server.

 

I can't see the contents of the var directory. This presents a problem since the only thing I really want to backup is the mail files on /var.

 

The /var directory is really a RAID container mounted as /var. Could that be the problem?

 

Code:


 joshua:/usr/local/dantz/client # mount -l

/dev/sda3 on / type reiserfs (rw,acl,user_xattr) []

proc on /proc type proc (rw)

sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw)

tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw)

devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,mode=0620,gid=5)

/dev/sda4 on /var type reiserfs (rw,acl,user_xattr) []

usbfs on /proc/bus/usb type usbfs (rw)

/dev/fd0 on /media/floppy type subfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,sync,fs=floppyfss,procuid)


 

(Sidenote: I know that I should have mounted /var with the notail option. I figure somday the server is going to be slow and users are going to complain. At that point I will change the mount options to buy time while I go looking for a new server. After that I prepare three envelopes smile.gif)

 

I called support about this same issue when I was running server and client 7. I got no response. I was really hoping 7.5 would be the fix.

 

Anyone have an idea?

 

Dan

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hi dan,

 

i can see /var on my Red Hat computer, and i can browse the contents too, i've been able to do this since a new version of the 7.0 client came out a while back. before, you could not do this as EMC had excluded the /var directory by default.

 

you should see /var as a separate volume in your case, like this:

 

joshua

|-/

|-/var

etc.

 

and then be able to highlight that /var directory and click, 'browse'. you say you can't see the contents, can you see the /var directory at all?

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I can see a /var but I think it is just the mountpoint. I can't see anything in it. Neither by browsing nor by previewing a backup.

 

Where would find exclusions? Is there documentation on the clients past the man pages? I'm having a hard time figuring out how it works. Just today I found what looks like a java client.

 

I have a test machine running SuSE 10. Next week I will install the client on it and see what happens.

 

Dan

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hi dan,

 

 

 

the /var you are seeing sounds like the right one. i have not seen a mountpoint that can't be browsed, but the most i've ever done with /var is given it a partition.

 

 

 

i don't belive you can look at the exclusions that are defaulted in the client, but there is a file called retroclient.excludes in the /etc directory:

 

 

 

http://kb.dantz.com/article.asp?article=5574&p=2

 

 

 

here is a list of the excluded files & such that i found in the knowledgebase:

 

 

 

http://kb.dantz.com/article.asp?article=8024&p=2

 

 

 

hth

 

 

 

Edited to Add: someone else posted good results with SUSE 10 here a while back. good luck.

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The retroclient.excludes is nothing but comments and /var looks like a normal directory.

 

Code:


 joshua:/etc # more retroclient.excludes

# Retrospect Client retroclient.excludes file

#

# Contact Information

#

# EMC Dantz

# 3003 Oak Road, 3rd Floor

# Walnut Creek, CA 94597

# 800.225.4880 or 925.948.9000

# customer_service@dantz.com

#

# Copyright 2000-2004 EMC Dantz

# www.emcdantz.com

#

# Use this file with the retrocpl -exclude option to prevent files and directories

# from being backed up by Retrospect.

#

# Example: Uncomment the following two lines to exclude the /root directory and the

# /etc/passwd file from backup when the retrocpl -exclude state is 'on'

#/root

#/etc/passwd

joshua:/etc # ll /var/

total 4

drwxr-xr-x 20 root root 496 Feb 17 11:13 .

drwxr-xr-x 21 root root 488 Mar 6 05:36 ..

 


 

I started doing my mail backup using rsync to a rsync server on a Windows machine. That didn't work out too well. My next attempt was mounting a Windows share using smbfs and rsync to that. That worked better but I don't know how to get rsync to give me a list of just failed files. Ideally appending to a logfile. (That is what I do with my Windows backups by using /LOG+ in robocopy.) I just get the "23" error code.

 

I should probably open another case but my experiences with Dantz support have been iffy.

 

Dan

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hi dan,

 

 

 

i went ahead and installed SUSE 9.2 on an old laptop to see if i could see /var. mine shows up fine. at this time i did not put /var on it's own partition, but i may try that later. when i browse /var, i see a 1k 'mail' file, and then:

 

 

 

adm

 

cache

 

games

 

lib

 

lock

 

log

 

opt

 

run

 

spool

 

tmp

 

X11R6

 

yp

 

 

 

seems like everything is there. i can dig into each of these folders all the way down.

 

 

 

i'll try some more tests & post more.

 

 

 

Edited to Add: this is a Dell Inspiron 5000, not exactly a beefy computer i know, but good for testing.

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Quote:

hi dan,

 

Quote:

I think the problem has more to do with crossing the mount point than it does with anything else.

 


 

i think you are correct. this may be something you should call support about.

 


 

I did. I was promised that "the unix guy" would call back but that never happened.

 

I should call again but I haven't been in the mood to deal with them.

 

Dan

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