About default grooming behavior

[joenashville]

So, i enable grooming on a backup set with a size-limit (either keep last n backups or Retro's policy)

 

And, the backup set reaches its size-limit.

 

Is this what happens?:

Starts deleting older versions of files that have changed through time.

Starts deleting copies of files that the client has deleted -perhaps oldest first.

 

And, it does this until there is room for the new session and stops?

 

 

[Mayoff]

It only keeps the X number of copies you picked in the grooming options

[joenashville]

Thanks. Just for clarity:

 

In create backup set wizard the heading asks "What to do when drive is full?"

 

I assume full could mean the set's size-limit has been reached. Yes?

 

Options are: 1)ask new disk, 2)keep last n backups, 3)keep according to policy.

 

Does option #2 really mean the set will never contain more than last n SNAPSHOTS? (note the term snapshots vs backups)

 

 

 

 

[Mayoff]

It will keep as many snapshots as will fit on the media. Once the media fills, then the oldest are removed until you only have X on the media.

[joenashville]

Hey thanks for you help I think I get it.

 

Here's some feedback to pass on to the powers that be:

 

The grooming part of the backup set wizard is confusing for this newbie.

 

And, these are my bosses files I'm grooming. Yikes!

 

1) The term grooming is never used. It should because it's used everywhere else.

 

2) The term backups is not specific. Every instance could/should be replaced with snapshots, I think.

 

I propose something like:

 

Grooming options: What should Retrospect do when the backup media is full or the size-limit has been reached?

 

1) No grooming, ask for new media.

2) For each source, delete all but the last n snapshots.

3) For each source, as needed, delete the oldest snapshots to make room for new snapshots. At a minimum, retain the last two snapshots of any given source.

 

 

I think I figured option #3 right -not sure.

 

If these are right, then what happens when a new snapshot is too big to retain the last n snapshots?

 

Will Retro stop deleting snapshots and notify me?

 

Thanks