3 % TODO: maybe merge all this FAQ in with the appropriate section?
4 % TODO: and use detailed indexing to help reader
6 \chapter{Bacula Frequently Asked Questions}
8 \index[general]{Questions!Bacula Frequently Asked }
9 \index[general]{Bacula Frequently Asked Questions }
11 These are questions that have been submitted over time by the
12 Bacula users. The following
13 FAQ is very useful, but it is not always up to date
14 with newer information, so after reading it, if you don't find what you
15 want, you might try the following wiki maintained by Frank Sweetser, which
16 contains more than just a FAQ:
17 \elink{http://paramount.ind.wpi.edu/wiki/}{http://paramount.ind.wpi.edu/wiki/}
18 or go directly to his FAQ at:
19 \elink{http://paramount.ind.wpi.edu/wiki/doku.php?id=faq}{http://paramount.ind.wpi.edu/wiki/doku.php?id=faq}.
22 \ilink{the bugs section}{BugsChapter} of this document for a list
23 of known bugs and solutions.
27 \section{What is Bacula?}
28 \item [What is {\bf Bacula}? ]
29 \index[general]{What is Bacula? }
30 {\bf Bacula} is a network backup and restore program.
32 \section{Does Bacula support Windows?}
33 \item [Does Bacula support Windows?]
34 \index[general]{Does Bacula support Windows? }
35 Yes, Bacula compiles and runs on Windows machines (Win98, WinMe, WinXP,
36 WinNT, Win2003, and Win2000). We provide a binary version of the Client
37 (bacula-fd), but have not tested the Director nor the Storage daemon.
38 Note, Win95 is no longer supported because it doesn't have the
39 GetFileAttributesExA API call.
43 \section{What language is Bacula written in?}
44 \item [What language is Bacula written in?]
45 \index[general]{What language is Bacula written in? }
46 It is written in C++, but it is mostly C code using only a limited set of
47 the C++ extensions over C. Thus Bacula is completely compiled using the
48 C++ compiler. There are several modules, including the Win32 interface, that
49 are written using the object oriented C++ features. Over time, we are slowly
50 adding a larger subset of C++.
53 \section{On what machines does Bacula run?}
54 \item [On what machines does Bacula run? ]
55 \index[general]{On what machines does Bacula run? }
56 {\bf Bacula} builds and executes on Red Hat Linux (versions RH7.1-RHEL
57 4.0, Fedora, SuSE, Gentoo, Debian, Mandriva, ...), FreeBSD, Solaris,
58 Alpha, SGI (client), NetBSD, OpenBSD, Mac OS X (client), and Win32.
60 Bacula has been my only backup tool for over seven years backing up 8
61 machines nightly (6 Linux boxes running SuSE, previously
62 Red Hat and Fedora, a WinXP machine, and a WinNT machine).
66 \section{Is Bacula Stable?}
67 \item [Is Bacula Stable? ]
68 \index[general]{Is Bacula Stable? }
69 Yes, it is remarkably stable, but remember, there are still a lot of
70 unimplemented or partially implemented features. With a program of this
71 size (150,000+ lines of C++ code not including the SQL programs) there
72 are bound to be bugs. The current test environment (a twisted pair
73 local network and a HP DLT backup tape) is not exactly ideal, so
74 additional testing on other sites is necessary. The File daemon has
75 never crashed -- running months at a time with no intervention. The
76 Storage daemon is remarkably stable with most of the problems arising
77 during labeling or switching tapes. Storage daemon crashes are rare
78 but running multiple drives and simultaneous jobs sometimes (rarely)
80 The Director, given the multitude of functions it fulfills is also
81 relatively stable. In a production environment, it rarely if ever
82 crashes. Of the three daemons, the Director is the most prone to having
83 problems. Still, it frequently runs several months with no problems.
85 There are a number of reasons for this stability.
88 \item The program is constantly checking the chain of allocated
89 memory buffers to ensure that no overruns have occurred. \\
90 \item All memory leaks (orphaned buffers) are reported each time the
92 \item Any signal (segmentation fault, ...) generates a
93 traceback that is emailed to the developer. This permits quick
94 resolution of bugs even if they only show up rarely in a production
96 \item There is a reasonably comprehensive set of regression tests
97 that avoids re-creating the most common errors in new versions of
101 \label{AuthorizationErrors}
102 \section{I'm Getting Authorization Errors. What is Going On? }
103 \item [I'm Getting Authorization Errors. What is Going On? ]
104 \index[general]{Authorization Errors}
105 \index[general]{Concurrent Jobs}
106 For security reasons, Bacula requires that both the File daemon and the
107 Storage daemon know the name of the Director as well as its password. As a
108 consequence, if you change the Director's name or password, you must make
109 the corresponding change in the Storage daemon's and in the File daemon's
112 During the authorization process, the Storage daemon and File daemon
113 also require that the Director authenticates itself, so both ends
114 require the other to have the correct name and password.
116 If you have edited the conf files and modified any name or any password,
117 and you are getting authentication errors, then your best bet is to go
118 back to the original conf files generated by the Bacula installation
119 process. Make only the absolutely necessary modifications to these
120 files -- e.g. add the correct email address. Then follow the
121 instructions in the \ilink{ Running Bacula}{TutorialChapter} chapter of
122 this manual. You will run a backup to disk and a restore. Only when
123 that works, should you begin customization of the conf files.
125 Another reason that you can get authentication errors is if you are
126 running Multiple Concurrent Jobs in the Director, but you have not set
127 them in the File daemon or the Storage daemon. Once you reach their
128 limit, they will reject the connection producing authentication (or
131 If you are having problems connecting to a Windows machine that
132 previously worked, you might try restarting the Bacula service since
133 Windows frequently encounters networking connection problems.
135 Some users report that authentication fails if there is not a proper
136 reverse DNS lookup entry for the machine. This seems to be a
137 requirement of gethostbyname(), which is what Bacula uses to translate
138 names into IP addresses. If you cannot add a reverse DNS entry, or you
139 don't know how to do so, you can avoid the problem by specifying an IP
140 address rather than a machine name in the appropriate Bacula conf file.
142 Here is a picture that indicates what names/passwords in which
143 files/Resources must match up:
145 \includegraphics{./Conf-Diagram.eps}
147 In the left column, you will find the Director, Storage, and Client
148 resources, with their names and passwords -- these are all in {\bf
149 bacula-dir.conf}. The right column is where the corresponding values
150 should be found in the Console, Storage daemon (SD), and File daemon (FD)
153 Another thing to check is to ensure that the Bacula component you are
154 trying to access has {\bf Maximum Concurrent Jobs} set large enough to
155 handle each of the Jobs and the Console that want to connect
156 simultaneously. Once the maximum connections has been reached, each
157 Bacula component will reject all new connections.
159 Finally, make sure you have no {\bf hosts.allow} or {\bf hosts.deny}
160 file that is not permitting access to the site trying to connect.
162 \label{AccessProblems}
163 \section{Bacula Runs Fine but Cannot Access a Client on a Different Machine.
165 \item [Bacula Runs Fine but Cannot Access a Client on a Different Machine.
167 \index[general]{Cannot Access a Client}
168 There are several reasons why Bacula could not contact a client on a
169 different machine. They are:
172 \item It is a Windows Client, and the client died because of an improper
173 configuration file. Check that the Bacula icon is in the system tray and the
174 the menu items work. If the client has died, the icon will disappear only
175 when you move the mouse over the icon.
176 \item The Client address or port is incorrect or not resolved by DNS. See if
177 you can ping the client machine using the same address as in the Client
179 \item You have a firewall, and it is blocking traffic on port 9102 between
180 the Director's machine and the Client's machine (or on port 9103 between the
181 Client and the Storage daemon machines).
182 \item Your password or names are not correct in both the Director and the
183 Client machine. Try configuring everything identical to how you run the
184 client on the same machine as the Director, but just change the Address. If
185 that works, make the other changes one step at a time until it works.
186 \item You may also be having problems between your File daemon and your
187 Storage daemon. The name you use in the Storage resource of your
188 Director's conf file must be known (resolvable) by the File daemon,
189 because it is passed symbolically to the File daemon, which then
190 resolves it to get an IP address used to contact the Storage daemon.
191 \item You may have a {\bf hosts.allow} or {\bf hosts.deny} file that is
192 not permitting access.
196 \section{My Catalog is Full of Test Runs, How Can I Start Over?}
197 \item [My Catalog is Full of Test Runs, How Can I Start Over? ]
198 \index[general]{My Catalog is Full of Test Runs, How Can I Start Over? }
199 If you are using MySQL do the following:
203 cd <bacula-source>/src/cats
210 If you are using SQLite, do the following:
214 Delete bacula.db from your working directory.
215 cd <bacula-source>/src/cats
222 Then write an EOF on each tape you used with {\bf Bacula} using:
226 mt -f /dev/st0 rewind
231 where you need to adjust the device name for your system.
234 \section{I Run a Restore Job and Bacula Hangs. What do I do?}
235 \item [I Run a Restore Job and Bacula Hangs. What do I do?]
236 \index[general]{I Run a Restore Job and Bacula Hangs. What do I do? }
237 On Bacula version 1.25 and prior, it expects you to have the correct
238 tape mounted prior to a restore. On Bacula version 1.26 and higher, it
239 will ask you for the tape, and if the wrong one is mounted, it will
242 If you have previously done an {\bf unmount} command, all Storage daemon
243 sessions (jobs) will be completely blocked from using the drive
244 unmounted, so be sure to do a {\bf mount} after your unmount. If in
245 doubt, do a second {\bf mount}, it won't cause any harm.
248 \section{I Cannot Get My Windows Client to Start Automatically? }
249 \item [I Cannot Get My Windows Client to Start Automatically? ]
250 \index[general]{Windows Auto Start}
251 You are probably having one of two problems: either the Client is dying
252 due to an incorrect configuration file, or you didn't do the
253 Installation commands necessary to install it as a Windows Service.
255 For the first problem, see the next FAQ question. For the second
256 problem, please review the \ilink{ Windows Installation
257 instructions}{Win32Chapter} in this manual.
260 \section{My Windows Client Immediately Dies When I Start It}
261 \item [My Windows Client Immediately Dies When I Start It]
262 \index[general]{Windows Client Dies}
263 The most common problem is either that the configuration file is not where
264 it expects it to be, or that there is an error in the configuration file.
265 You must have the configuration file in {\bf
266 c:\textbackslash{}bacula\textbackslash{}bin\textbackslash{}bacula-fd.conf}.
268 To {\bf see} what is going on when the File daemon starts on Windows, do the
273 Start a DOS shell Window.
275 bacula-fd -d100 -c c:\bacula\bin\bacula-fd.conf
280 This will cause the FD to write a file {\bf bacula.trace} in the current
281 directory, which you can examine and thereby determine the problem.
284 \item [When I Start the Console, the Error Messages Fly By. How can I see
286 \index[general]{Error Messages}
287 Either use a shell window with a scroll bar, or use the gnome-console.
288 In any case, you probably should be logging all output to a file, and
289 then you can simply view the file using an editor or the {\bf less}
290 program. To log all output, I have the following in my Director's
291 Message resource definition:
295 append = "/home/kern/bacula/bin/log" = all, !skipped
300 Obviously you will want to change the filename to be appropriate for your
304 \section{My backups are not working on my Windows
305 Client. What should I do?}
306 \item [I didn't realize that the backups were not working on my Windows
307 Client. What should I do? ]
308 \index[general]{Backups Failing}
309 You should be sending yourself an email message for each job. This will avoid
310 the possibility of not knowing about a failed backup. To do so put something
315 Mail = yourname@yourdomain = all, !skipped
320 in your Director's message resource. You should then receive one email for
321 each Job that ran. When you are comfortable with what is going on (it took
322 me 9 months), you might change that to:
326 MailOnError = yourname@yourdomain = all, !skipped
331 then you only get email messages when a Job errors as is the case for your
334 You should also be logging the Director's messages, please see the previous
335 FAQ for how to do so.
338 \section{All my Jobs are scheduled for the same time. Will this cause
340 \item [All my Jobs are scheduled for the same time. Will this cause
342 \index[general]{Schedule problems}
343 No, not at all. Bacula will schedule all the Jobs at the same time, but
344 will run them one after another unless you have increased the number of
345 simultaneous jobs in the configuration files for the Director, the File
346 daemon, and the Storage daemon. The appropriate configuration record is
347 {\bf Maximum Concurrent Jobs = nn}. At the current time, we recommend
348 that you leave this set to {\bf 1} for the Director.
351 \section{Can Bacula Backup My System To Files instead of Tape?}
352 \item [Can Bacula Backup My System To Files instead of Tape? ]
353 \index[general]{Backup to Disk}
354 Yes, in principle, Bacula can backup to any storage medium as long as
355 you have correctly defined that medium in the Storage daemon's Device
356 resource. For an example of how to backup to files, please see the
357 \ilink{Pruning Example}{PruningExample} in the Recycling chapter of this
358 manual. Also, there is a whole chapter devoted to \ilink{Basic Volume
359 Management}{DiskChapter}. This chapter was originally written to
360 explain how to write to disk, but was expanded to include volume
361 management. It is, however, still quite a good chapter to read.
364 \section{Can I use a dummy device to test the backup?}
365 Yes, to have a {\sl Virtual} device which just consumes data, you can use a
366 FIFO device (see \ilink{Stored configuration}{SetupFifo}).
367 It's useful to test a backup.
374 Archive Device = /dev/null
386 \section{Can Bacula Backup and Restore Files Bigger than 2 Gigabytes?}
387 \item [Can Bacula Backup and Restore Files Bigger than 2 Gigabytes?]
388 \index[general]{Large file support}
389 If your operating system permits it, and you are running Bacula version
390 1.26 or later, the answer is yes. To the best of our knowledge all client
391 system supported by Bacula can handle files bigger 2 Gigabytes.
394 \section{I want to stop a job.}
395 %% Is there a better way than "./bacula stop" to stop it?}
396 \item [I Started A Job then Decided I Really Did Not Want to Run It. Is
397 there a better way than {\bf ./bacula stop} to stop it?]
398 \index[general]{Cancelling jobs}
399 Yes, you normally should use the Console command {\bf cancel} to cancel
400 a Job that is either scheduled or running. If the Job is scheduled, it
401 will be marked for cancellation and will be canceled when it is
402 scheduled to start. If it is running, it will normally terminate after
403 a few minutes. If the Job is waiting on a tape mount, you may need to
404 do a {\bf mount} command before it will be canceled.
407 \section{Why have You Trademarked the Name Bacula?}
408 \item [Why have You Trademarked the Name
409 Bacula\raisebox{.6ex}{{\footnotesize \textsuperscript{\textregistered}}}?]
410 \index[general]{Bacula Trademark}
411 We have trademarked the name Bacula to ensure that all media written by any
412 program named Bacula will always be compatible. Anyone may use the name
413 Bacula, even in a derivative product as long as it remains totally compatible
414 in all respects with the program defined here.
417 \section{Why is the Online Document for Version 1.39 but the Released Version is 1.38?}
418 \item [Why is the Online Document for Version 1.39 of Bacula when the
419 Current Version is 1.38?]
420 \index[general]{Multiple manuals}
421 As Bacula is being developed, the document is also being enhanced, more
422 often than not it has clarifications of existing features that can be very
423 useful to our users, so we publish the very latest document. Fortunately
424 it is rare that there are confusions with new features.
426 If you want to read a document that pertains only to a specific version,
427 please use the one distributed in the source code. The web site also has
428 online versions of both the released manual and the current development
432 \section{Does Bacula really save and restore all files?}
433 \item [How Can I Be Sure that Bacula Really Saves and Restores All Files? ]
434 \index[general]{Checking Restores}
435 It is really quite simple, but took me a while to figure
436 out how to "prove" it. First make a Bacula Rescue disk, see the
437 \ilink{Disaster Recovery Using Bacula}{RescueChapter} chapter
439 Second, you run a full backup of all your files on all partitions.
440 Third, you run an Verify InitCatalog Job on the same FileSet, which
441 effectively makes a record of all the files on your system. Fourth, you
442 run a Verify Catalog job and assure yourself that nothing has changed
443 (well, between an InitCatalog and Catalog one doesn't expect anything).
444 Then do the unthinkable, write zeros on your MBR (master boot record)
445 wiping out your hard disk. Now, restore your whole system using your
446 Bacula Rescue disk and the Full backup you made, and finally re-run the
447 Verify Catalog job. You will see that with the exception of the
448 directory modification and access dates and the files changed during the
449 boot, your system is identical to what it was before you wiped your hard
451 Alternatively you could do the wiping and restoring to another computer
455 \section{I want an Incremental but Bacula runs it as a Full backup. Why?}
456 \item [I did a Full backup last week, but now in running an Incremental,
457 Bacula says it did not find a FULL backup, so it did a FULL backup. Why?]
458 \index[general]{FULL backup not found}
459 Before doing an Incremental or a Differential
460 backup, Bacula checks to see if there was a prior Full backup of the
461 same Job that terminated successfully. If so, it uses the date that
462 full backup started as the time for comparing if files have changed. If
463 Bacula does not find a successful full backup, it proceeds to do one.
464 Perhaps you canceled the full backup, or it terminated in error. In
465 such cases, the full backup will not be successful. You can check by
466 entering {\bf list jobs} and look to see if there is a prior Job with
467 the same Name that has Level F and JobStatus T (normal termination).
469 Another reason why Bacula may not find a suitable Full backup is that
470 every time you change the FileSet, Bacula will require a new Full
471 backup. This is necessary to ensure that all files are properly backed
472 up in the case where you have added more files to the FileSet.
473 Beginning with version 1.31, the FileSets are also dated when they are
474 created, and this date is displayed with the name when you are listing
475 or selecting a FileSet. For more on backup levels see below.
477 \label{filenamelengths}
478 \section{Do you really handle unlimited path lengths?}
479 \item [How Can You Claim to Handle Unlimited Path and Filename Lengths
480 when All Other Programs Have Fixed Limits?]
481 \index[general]{Path and Filename Lengths}
482 Most of those other programs have been around for a long time, in fact
483 since the beginning of Unix, which means that they were designed for
484 rather small fixed length path and filename lengths. Over the years,
485 these restrictions have been relaxed allowing longer names. Bacula on
486 the other hand was designed in 2000, and so from the start, Path and
487 Filenames have been kept in buffers that start at 256 bytes in length,
488 but can grow as needed to handle any length. Most of the work is
489 carried out by lower level routines making the coding rather easy.
491 Note that due to limitations Win32 path and filenames cannot exceed
492 260 characters. By using Win32 Unicode functions, we will remove this
493 restriction in later versions of Bacula.
496 \section{What Is the Really Unique Feature of Bacula?}
497 \item [What Is the Really Unique Feature of Bacula?]
498 \index[general]{Unique Feature of Bacula}
499 Well, it is hard to come up with unique features when backup programs
500 for Unix machines have been around since the 1960s. That said, I
501 believe that Bacula is the first and only program to use a standard SQL
502 interface to catalog its database. Although this adds a bit of
503 complexity and possibly overhead, it provides an amazingly rich set of
504 features that are easy to program and enhance. The current code has
505 barely scratched the surface in this regard (version 1.38).
507 The second feature, which gives a lot of power and flexibility to Bacula
508 is the Bootstrap record definition.
510 The third unique feature, which is currently (1.30) unimplemented, and
511 thus can be called vaporware :-), is Base level saves. When
512 implemented, this will enormously reduce tape usage.
515 \section{How can I force one job to run after another?}
516 \item [If I Run Multiple Simultaneous Jobs, How Can I Force One
517 Particular Job to Run After Another Job? ]
518 \index[general]{Multiple Simultaneous Jobs}
519 Yes, you can set Priorities on your jobs so that they run in the order you
521 \ilink{the Priority record}{Priority} in the Job resource.
524 \section{I Am Not Getting Email Notification, What Can I Do? }
525 \item [I Am Not Getting Email Notification, What Can I Do? ]
526 \index[general]{No Email Notification}
527 The most common problem is that you have not specified a fully qualified
528 email address and your bsmtp server is rejecting the mail. The next
529 most common problem is that your bsmtp server doesn't like the syntax on
530 the From part of the message. For more details on this and other
531 problems, please see the \ilink{ Getting Email Notification to
532 Work}{email} section of the Tips chapter of this manual. The section
533 \ilink{ Getting Notified of Job Completion}{notification} of the Tips
534 chapter may also be useful. For more information on the {\bf bsmtp}
535 mail program, please see \ilink{bsmtp in the Volume Utility Tools
536 chapter}{bsmtp} of this manual.
539 \section{My retention periods don't work}
540 \item [I Change Recycling, Retention Periods, or File Sizes in my Pool
541 Resource and they Still Don't Work.]
542 \index[general]{Recycling}
543 \index[general]{Retention Periods}
544 \index[general]{Pool changes}
545 The different variables associated with a Pool are defined in the Pool
546 Resource, but are actually read by Bacula from the Catalog database. On
547 Bacula versions prior to 1.30, after changing your Pool Resource, you must
548 manually update the corresponding values in the Catalog by using the {\bf
549 update pool} command in the Console program. In Bacula version 1.30, Bacula
550 does this for you automatically every time it starts.
552 When Bacula creates a Media record (Volume), it uses many default values from
553 the Pool record. If you subsequently change the Pool record, the new values
554 will be used as a default for the next Volume that is created, but if you
555 want the new values to apply to existing Volumes, you must manually update
556 the Volume Catalog entry using the {\bf update volume} command in the Console
559 \label{CompressionNotWorking}
560 \section{Why aren't my files compressed?}
561 \item [I Have Configured Compression On, But None of My Files Are
563 \index[general]{Compression}
564 There are two kinds of compression. One is tape compression. This is done by
565 the tape drive hardware, and you either enable or disable it with system
566 tools such as {\bf mt}. This compression works independently of Bacula,
567 and when it is enabled, you should not use the Bacula software
570 Bacula also has software compression code in the File daemons, which you
571 normally need to enable only when backing up to file Volumes. There are
572 two conditions necessary to enable the Bacula software compression.
575 \item You must have the zip development libraries loaded on your system
576 when building Bacula and Bacula must find this library, normally {\bf
577 /usr/lib/libz.a}. On Red Hat systems, this library is provided by the
578 {\bf zlib-devel} rpm.
580 If the library is found by Bacula during the {\bf ./configure} it will
581 be mentioned in the {\bf config.out} line by:
590 \item You must add the {\bf compression=gzip} option on your Include
591 statement in the Director's configuration file.
595 \item [Bacula is Asking for a New Tape After 2 GB of Data but My Tape
597 \index[general]{Tape capacity}
598 There are several reasons why Bacula will request a new tape.
601 \item There is an I/O error on the tape. Bacula prints an error message and
602 requests a new tape. Bacula does not attempt to continue writing after an
604 \item Bacula encounters and end of medium on the tape. This is not always
605 distinguishable from an I/O error.
606 \item You have specifically set some size limitation on the tape. For example
607 the {\bf Maximum Volume Bytes} or {\bf Maximum Volume Files} in the
608 Director's Pool resource, or {\bf Maximum Volume Size} in the Storage
609 daemon's Device resource.
612 \label{LevelChanging}
613 \section{Incremental backups are not working}
614 \item [Bacula is Not Doing the Right Thing When I Request an Incremental
616 \index[general]{Incremental backups}
617 As explained in one of the previous questions, Bacula will automatically
618 upgrade an Incremental or Differential job to a Full backup if it cannot
619 find a prior Full backup or a suitable Full backup. For the gory
620 details on how/when Bacula decides to upgrade levels please see the
621 \ilink{Level record}{Level} in the Director's configuration chapter of
624 If after reading the above mentioned section, you believe that Bacula is not
625 correctly handling the level (Differential/Incremental), please send us the
626 following information for analysis:
629 \item Your Director's configuration file.
630 \item The output from {\bf list jobs} covering the period where you are
632 \item The Job report output from the prior Full save (not critical).
633 \item An {\bf llist jobid=nnn} where nnn is the JobId of the prior Full save.
635 \item The Job report output from the save that is doing the wrong thing (not
637 \item An {\bf llist jobid=nnn} where nnn is the JobId of the job that was not
639 \item An explanation of what job went wrong and why you think it did.
642 The above information can allow us to analyze what happened, without it,
643 there is not much we can do.
646 \section{I am waiting forever for a backup of an offsite machine}
647 \item [I am Backing Up an Offsite Machine with an Unreliable Connection.
648 The Director Waits Forever for the Client to Contact the SD. What Can I
650 \index[general]{Backing Up Offsite Machines}
651 Bacula was written on the assumption that it will have a good TCP/IP
652 connection between all the daemons. As a consequence, the current
653 Bacula doesn't deal with faulty connections very well. This situation
654 is slowly being corrected over time.
656 There are several things you can do to improve the situation.
659 \item Upgrade to version 1.32 and use the new SDConnectTimeout record. For
664 SD Connect Timeout = 5 min
669 in the FileDaemon resource.
670 \item Run these kinds of jobs after all other jobs.
674 \section{SSH hangs forever after starting Bacula}
675 \item [When I ssh into a machine and start Bacula then attempt to exit,
677 \index[general]{ssh hangs}
678 This happens because Bacula leaves stdin, stdout, and stderr open for
679 debug purposes. To avoid it, the simplest thing to do is to redirect
680 the output of those files to {\bf /dev/null} or another file in your
681 startup script (the Red Hat autostart scripts do this automatically).
682 For example, you start the Director with:
686 bacula-dir -c bacula-dir.conf ... 0>\&1 2>\&1 >/dev/null
691 and likewise for the other daemons.
693 \label{RetentionPeriods}
694 \section{I'm confused by retention periods}
695 \item [I'm confused by the different Retention periods: File Retention,
696 Job Retention, Volume Retention. Why are there so many?]
697 \index[general]{Retention Periods}
698 Yes, this certainly can be confusing. The basic reason for so many is
699 to allow flexibility. The File records take quite a lot of space in the
700 catalog, so they are typically records you want to remove rather
701 quickly. The Job records, take very little space, and they can be
702 useful even without the File records to see what Jobs actually ran and
703 when. One must understand that if the File records are removed from the
704 catalog, you cannot use the {\bf restore} command to restore an
705 individual file since Bacula no longer knows where it is. However, as
706 long as the Volume Retention period has not expired, the data will still
707 be on the tape, and can be recovered from the tape.
709 For example, I keep a 30 day retention period for my Files to keep my
710 catalog from getting too big, but I keep my tapes for a minimum of one
713 \label{MaxVolumeSize}
714 \section{MaxVolumeSize is ignored}
715 \item [Why Does Bacula Ignore the MaxVolumeSize Set in my Pool?]
716 \index[general]{MaxVolumeSize}
717 The MaxVolumeSize that Bacula uses comes from the Media record, so most
718 likely you changed your Pool, which is used as the default for creating
719 Media records, {\bf after} you created your Volume. Check what is in
720 the Media record by doing:
728 If it doesn't have the right value, you can use:
738 \label{ConnectionRefused}
739 \section{I get a Connection refused when connecting to my Client}
740 \item [In connecting to my Client, I get "ERR:Connection Refused. Packet
741 Size too big from File daemon:192.168.1.4:9102" Why?]
742 \index[general]{ERR:Connection Refused}
743 This is typically a communications error resulting from one of the
748 \item Old versions of Bacula, usually a Win32 client, where two threads were
749 using the same I/O packet. Fixed in more recent versions. Please upgrade.
750 \item Some other program such as an HP Printer using the same port (9102 in
754 If it is neither of the above, please submit a bug report at
755 \elink{bugs.bacula.org}{http://bugs.bacula.org}.
757 Another solution might be to run the daemon with the debug option by:
761 Start a DOS shell Window.
763 bacula-fd -d100 -c c:\bacula\bin\bacula-fd.conf
768 This will cause the FD to write a file {\bf bacula.trace} in the current
769 directory, which you can examine to determine the problem.
771 \section{Long running jobs die with Pipe Error}
772 \item [During long running jobs my File daemon dies with Pipe Error, or
773 some other communications error. Why?]
774 \index[general]{Communications Errors}
775 \index[general]{Pipe Errors}
776 \index[general]{slow}
777 \index[general]{Backups!slow}
778 There are a number of reasons why a connection might break.
779 Most often, it is a router between your two computers that times out
780 inactive lines (not respecting the keepalive feature that Bacula uses).
781 In that case, you can use the {\bf Heartbeat Interval} directive in
782 both the Storage daemon and the File daemon.
784 In at least one case, the problem has been a bad driver for a Win32
785 NVidia NForce 3 ethernet card with driver (4.4.2 17/05/2004).
786 In this case, a good driver is (4.8.2.0 06/04/2005). Moral of
787 the story, make sure you have the latest ethernet drivers
788 loaded, or use the following workaround as suggested by Thomas
789 Simmons for Win32 machines:
792 Start \gt{} Control Panel \gt{} Network Connections
794 Right click the connection for the nvidia adapter and select properties.
795 Under the General tab, click "Configure...". Under the Advanced tab set
796 "Checksum Offload" to disabled and click OK to save the change.
798 Lack of communications, or communications that get interrupted can
799 also be caused by Linux firewalls where you have a rule that throttles
800 connections or traffic. For example, if you have:
804 iptables -t filter -A INPUT -m limit --limit 3/second --limit-burst 3 -j DROP
808 you will want to add the following rules {\bf before} the above rule:
811 iptables -t filter -A INPUT --dport 9101 -j ACCEPT
812 iptables -t filter -A INPUT --dport 9102 -j ACCEPT
813 iptables -t filter -A INPUT --dport 9103 -j ACCEPT
816 This will ensure that any Bacula traffic will not get terminated because
819 \section{How to I tell the Job which Volume to use?}
820 \item[I can't figure out how to tell the job which volume to use]
821 \index[general]{What tape to mount}
822 This is an interesting statement. I now see that a number of people new to
823 Bacula have the same problem as you, probably from using programs like tar.
825 In fact, you do not tell Bacula what tapes to use. It is the inverse. Bacula
826 tells you want tapes it wants. You put tapes at its disposition and it
829 Now, if you *really* want to be tricky and try to tell Bacula what to do, it
830 will be reasonable if for example you mount a valid tape that it can use on a
831 drive, it will most likely go ahead and use it. It also has a documented
832 algorithm for choosing tapes -- but you are asking for problems ...
834 So, the trick is to invert your concept of things and put Bacula in charge of
835 handling the tapes. Once you do that, you will be fine. If you want to
836 anticipate what it is going to do, you can generally figure it out correctly
837 and get what you want.
839 If you start with the idea that you are going to force or tell Bacula to use
840 particular tapes or you insist on trying to run in that kind of mode, you will
841 probably not be too happy.
843 I don't want to worry about what tape has what data. That is what Bacula is
846 If you have an application where you *really* need to remove a tape each day
847 and insert a new one, it can be done the directives exist to accomplish that.
848 In such a case, one little "trick" to knowing what tape Bacula will want at
849 2am while you are asleep is to run a tiny job at 4pm while you are still at
850 work that backs up say one directory, or even one file. You will quickly find
851 out what tape it wants, and you can mount it before you go home ...