Past Backups Missing

[gasser]

I see past activities every day for the last several months, but when I go to the "Past backups" view, I only see a small fraction the backups.  I wanted to retrieve a particular file from a certain date, but I don't see that backup listed.  When I go to the Restore Assistant, and click the "More Backups" button, it shows me just a handful of additional backups--most are still missing.

 

So how do I get back a file from a particular date?

[Lennart_T]

Are you sure the backup is available? 

Are you sure the media set hasn't been recycled or deleted?

Are you sure the media set hasn't been groomed?

 

What kind of media set?

How often du you run backups?

How old is the backup you are trying to restore?

[gasser]

To keep things simple, here's an example:  In my Past Activities view, I see completed backups with no errors at 10pm for 5/28 and 5/27 (the script runs daily).  The media set is a USB-attached hard drive.  The media set is set to "Fast Catalog rebuild, no automatic grooming".  On the Past Backups view, I see my 3 source drives backed up to that media set, but only for 5/28.  When I go to the Restore Assistant, I don't see the 5/27 backup either.  Should I?

 

Now, I do see the 5/27 backup when I click the Retrieve button in the Past Backups view, but that option doesn't let me search for a particular file across different backups.

 

Perhaps I'm confused about the difference between retrieve and restore.  If I know exactly which file I want but don't know when I last modified it (e.g., if it was corrupted), I need to be able to see when the previous version of the file was backed up.  I may not know the date, so I need to be able to search for it across backups.

[Lennart_T]

First some vocabulary: You have a "Disk media set" with a USB-attached drive as a "member".

 

OK,

The past backups view normally lists only the last backup for each source.

In order to see older backups you should use "Retrieve".

THEN you should be able to search for your files and restore them.

[twickland]

If I know exactly which file I want but don't know when I last modified it (e.g., if it was corrupted), I need to be able to see when the previous version of the file was backed up.  I may not know the date, so I need to be able to search for it across backups.

For this type of restore, it's probably best to choose the option “Search for files in the selected media sets.” If you search only by the file name and source volume, you will see all instances of the file that were backed up, and can then easily choose the one you want to restore.