Script recommendations

[twinaxx]

Hi there!

 

I am working with Retrospect 6.1 for a workgroup of about 30 people. Some users take their machines home daily, some of the sales reps only bring their machines as little as once a month.

 

I am looking to have all these backed up, as well as the server itself and it's attached shares.

 

I have 2x 2TB external drives and a 1TB external RAID 1 (2x 1TB).

 

I have set up 3 scripts, running on alternating days (I tried as best as I could to stay with the towers of Hanoi idea).

 

Right now, all the end-users are backing up to one of the 2TB drives, originally using a script, then later using a backup server script, so the guys that are out of the office get backed up when they are in.

 

Then, I have the server and its attached external shares backing up to the second 2TB drive. The two scripts run on alternating days.. or should be.

 

The 1TB RAID 1 is to hold the really important data from the server shares.

 

I'm noticing the backup server script keeps running and looking for machines that aren't there, stopping the server backup script from running.

 

At this point, I'm trying to figure out what kind of scripts I should be using. Also, are there any advantages in merging the backup catalogue to the set?

 

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[twickland]

I'm noticing the backup server script keeps running and looking for machines that aren't there...

This is what's supposed to happen. Once Backup Server is running, it will only stop if you do so manually.

 

...stopping the server backup script from running.

This, however, should not happen. When Backup Server is running, regular scheduled scripts should run happily at their appointed times. (If Backup Server happens to be in the middle of a backup at the scheduled time, Retrospect will finish backing up that source volume before beginning the regular script.) We do this all the time without a problem.

 

My guess is that you probably have a corrupt "retrorunfile" or perhaps "Retro.Config."

 

Retrorunfile is responsible for autolaunching Retrospect and autorunning scripts. This is the easiest fix to try. With Retrospect not running, go to /Library/Preferences/Retrospect and drag retrorunfile to the trash. Launch Retrospect, log in, and then immediately quit. This will force creation of a new retrorunfile. See if this fixes your problem.

 

If it doesn't, there's a good chance that Retro.Config is hosed. Unfortunately, this file contains all your scripts, lists, custom selectors, etc. so if it's corrupt and if you don't have a good backup copy, you'll have to recreate all these by hand. It's located in the same folder as retrorunfile (/Library/Preferences/Retrospect). Again with Retrospect not running, drag Retro.Config to the desktop (so you can put it back if it turns out not to be corrupt). Launch Retrospect (you'll need to re-enter your license code) and start typing. You may want to create a couple of test scripts to make sure everything works as expected before you go through the trouble of retyping everything.

 

Also, are there any advantages in merging the backup catalogue to the set?

You're clearly talking about File backup sets here. If there is any advantage, it's almost certainly moot in your case. Combining the catalog in the same file with the data is only possible if the catalog is very small (<16 MB).