Problem with Selector and excluging SQL Server data files

[tolson]

I have made a copy of the "All Files Except Cache files" Selector and added lines to exclude files matching *.ldf, *.mdf and *.ndf, but Retrospect is still trying to include these files and generates an error "...can't to read security information..." How can I setup the Selector to not ignore these files?

 

Thanks

 

Tom

[Mayoff]

The selector does not include security information, since that is backed up using a Microsoft API for Security Information backups.

 

The NTFS permissions are an "all or nothing" feature due to the way the Microsoft API functions.

[tolson]

I must be missing your point. Regardless of permissions to backup the file Retrospect should be able to ignore the file based on file name pattern matching. It doesn't appear that Retrospect is doing this correctly. The only API functions necessary to determine if the file exists and matches a file name pattern is FindFirstFile, FindNextFile and FindClose.

[awnews]

I tend to agree with Tom. Even if it is correct that backing up security info is an all-or-nothing and even if it's an MS API issue, RP should mask this "error" message if the selector blocks the file from being backed up at all. Showing this irrelevent "error" is just confusing the user. What's the point of reporting a permissions error for a file that isn't being backed up?

[Mayoff]

When doing a backup Retrospect does the following in the following order:

 

1) Scanning

2) Matching

3) Files are then excluded based on the selector

4) Copying

5) Building Snapshot

6) Copying Registry

7) Copying NTFS permissions

8) Comparing

 

The process involved in 1) excluding files and 2) Copying files is totally seperate from the process involved in copying NTFS permission. The Microsoft API used to copy the permissions does not know what files have been included or excluded from the backup. When a permission can't be copied, the Microsoft API reports an error, which is then written to the operations log.

 

 

[awnews]

I'm sure that's factually correct. But just because the MS API doesn't know any better doesn't mean that Retrospect and the log can't. What *should* be done is to either a) apply the selectors to the API messages also so that security errors are not displayed for files that are excluded from the backup or have the messages displayed as warnings while noting that the files themselves were excluded by selectors. Right now the message are scaring users for no good reason and resulting in unnecessary support questions...

 

Please consider passing that along as a suggestion.