4 \section*{Bacula Frequently Asked Questions}
5 \label{_ChapterStart48}
6 \index[general]{Questions!Bacula Frequently Asked }
7 \index[general]{Bacula Frequently Asked Questions }
8 \addcontentsline{toc}{section}{Bacula Frequently Asked Questions}
10 These are questions that have been submitted over time by the
14 \ilink{the bugs section}{_ChapterStart4} of this document for a list
15 of known bugs and solutions.
19 \subsection*{What is Bacula?}
20 \item [What is {\bf Bacula}? ]
21 \index[general]{What is Bacula? }
22 {\bf Bacula} is a network backup and restore program.
24 \subsection*{Does Bacula support Windows?}
25 \item [Does Bacula support Windows?]
26 \index[general]{Does Bacula support Windows? }
27 Yes, Bacula compiles and runs on Windows machines (Win98, WinMe, WinXP,
28 WinNT, Win2003, and Win2000). We provide a binary version of the Client
29 (bacula-fd), but have not tested the Director nor the Storage daemon.
30 Note, Win95 is no longer supported because it doesn't have the
31 GetFileAttributesExA API call.
35 \subsection*{What language is Bacula written in?}
36 \item [What language is Bacula written in?]
37 \index[general]{What language is Bacula written in? }
38 It is written in C++, but it is mostly C code using only a limited set of
39 the C++ extensions over C. Thus Bacula is completely compiled using the
40 C++ compiler. There are several modules, including the Win32 interface, that
41 are written using the object oriented C++ features. Over time, we are slowly
42 adding a larger subset of C++.
45 \subsection*{On what machines does Bacula run?}
46 \item [On what machines does Bacula run? ]
47 \index[general]{On what machines does Bacula run? }
48 {\bf Bacula} builds and executes on RedHat Linux (versions RH7.1-RHEL
49 4.0, Fedora, SuSE, Gentoo, Debian, Mandriva, ...), FreeBSD, Solaris,
50 Alpha, SGI (client), NetBSD, OpenBSD, Mac OS X (client), and Win32
53 Bacula has been my only backup tool for over five years backing up 7
54 machines nightly (5 Linux boxes running Fedora Core, previously
55 RedHat, a WinXP machine, and a WinNT machine).
59 \subsection*{Is Bacula Stable?}
60 \item [Is Bacula Stable? ]
61 \index[general]{Is Bacula Stable? }
62 Yes, it is remarkably stable, but remember, there are still a lot of
63 unimplemented or partially implemented features. With a program of this
64 size (140,000+ lines of C++ code not including the SQL programs) there
65 are bound to be bugs. The current test environment (a twisted pair
66 local network and a HP DLT backup tape) is not exactly ideal, so
67 additional testing on other sites is necessary. The File daemon has
68 never crashed -- running months at a time with no intervention. The
69 Storage daemon is remarkably stable with most of the problems arising
70 during labeling or switching tapes. Storage daemon crashes are rare.
71 The Director, given the multitude of functions it fulfills is also
72 relatively stable. In a production environment, it rarely if ever
73 crashes. Of the three daemons, the Director is the most prone to having
74 problems. Still, it frequently runs several months with no problems.
76 There are a number of reasons for this stability.
79 \item The program was largely written by one person to date
81 \item The program is constantly checking the chain of allocated
82 memory buffers to ensure that no overruns have occurred. \\
83 \item All memory leaks (orphaned buffers) are reported each time the
85 \item Any signal (segmentation fault, ...) generates a
86 traceback that is emailed to the developer. This permits quick
87 resolution of bugs even if they only show up rarely in a production
89 \item There is a reasonably comprehensive set of regression tests
90 that avoids re-creating the most common errors in new versions of
94 \label{AuthorizationErrors}
95 \subsection*{I'm Getting Authorization Errors. What is Going On? }
96 \item [I'm Getting Authorization Errors. What is Going On? ]
97 \index[general]{Authorization Errors}
98 \index[general]{Concurrent Jobs}
99 For security reasons, Bacula requires that both the File daemon and the
100 Storage daemon know the name of the Director as well as its password. As a
101 consequence, if you change the Director's name or password, you must make
102 the corresponding change in the Storage daemon's and in the File daemon's
105 During the authorization process, the Storage daemon and File daemon
106 also require that the Director authenticates itself, so both ends
107 require the other to have the correct name and password.
109 If you have edited the conf files and modified any name or any password,
110 and you are getting authentication errors, then your best bet is to go
111 back to the original conf files generated by the Bacula installation
112 process. Make only the absolutely necessary modifications to these
113 files -- e.g. add the correct email address. Then follow the
114 instructions in the \ilink{ Running Bacula}{_ChapterStart1} chapter of
115 this manual. You will run a backup to disk and a restore. Only when
116 that works, should you begin customization of the conf files.
118 Another reason that you can get authentication errors is if you are
119 running Multiple Concurrent Jobs in the Director, but you have not set
120 them in the File daemon or the Storage daemon. Once you reach their
121 limit, they will reject the connection producing authentication (or
124 If you are having problems connecting to a Windows machine that
125 previously worked, you might try restarting the Bacula service since
126 Windows frequently encounters networking connection problems.
128 Some users report that authentication fails if there is not a proper
129 reverse DNS lookup entry for the machine. This seems to be a
130 requirement of gethostbyname(), which is what Bacula uses to translate
131 names into IP addresses. If you cannot add a reverse DNS entry, or you
132 don't know how to do so, you can avoid the problem by specifying an IP
133 address rather than a machine name in the appropriate Bacula conf file.
135 Here is a picture that indicates what names/passwords in which
136 files/Resources must match up:
138 \includegraphics{./Conf-Diagram.eps}
140 In the left column, you will find the Director, Storage, and Client
141 resources, with their names and passwords -- these are all in {\bf
142 bacula-dir.conf}. The right column is where the corresponding values
143 should be found in the Console, Storage daemon (SD), and File daemon (FD)
146 Another thing to check is to ensure that the Bacula component you are
147 trying to access has {\bf Maximum Concurrent Jobs} set large enough to
148 handle each of the Jobs and the Console that want to connect
149 simultaneously. Once the maximum connections has been reached, each
150 Bacula component will reject all new connections.
152 Finally, make sure you have no {\bf hosts.allow} or {\bf hosts.deny}
153 file that is not permitting access to the site trying to connect.
155 \label{AccessProblems}
156 \subsection*{Bacula Runs Fine but Cannot Access a Client on a Different Machine.
158 \item [Bacula Runs Fine but Cannot Access a Client on a Different Machine.
160 \index[general]{Cannot Access a Client}
161 There are several reasons why Bacula could not contact a client on a
162 different machine. They are:
165 \item It is a Windows Client, and the client died because of an improper
166 configuration file. Check that the Bacula icon is in the system tray and the
167 the menu items work. If the client has died, the icon will disappear only
168 when you move the mouse over the icon.
169 \item The Client address or port is incorrect or not resolved by DNS. See if
170 you can ping the client machine using the same address as in the Client
172 \item You have a firewall, and it is blocking traffic on port 9102 between
173 the Director's machine and the Client's machine (or on port 9103 between the
174 Client and the Storage daemon machines).
175 \item Your password or names are not correct in both the Director and the
176 Client machine. Try configuring everything identical to how you run the
177 client on the same machine as the Director, but just change the Address. If
178 that works, make the other changes one step at a time until it works.
179 \item You may also be having problems betwen your File daemon and your
180 Storage daemon. The name you use in the Storage resource of your
181 Director's conf file must be known (resolvable) by the File daemon,
182 because it is passed symbolically to the File daemon, which then
183 resolves it to get an IP address used to contact the Storage daemon.
184 \item You may have a {\bf hosts.allow} or {\bf hosts.deny} file that is
185 not permitting access.
189 \subsection*{My Catalog is Full of Test Runs, How Can I Start Over?}
190 \item [My Catalog is Full of Test Runs, How Can I Start Over? ]
191 \index[general]{My Catalog is Full of Test Runs, How Can I Start Over? }
192 If you are using MySQL do the following:
196 cd <bacula-source>/src/cats
203 If you are using SQLite, do the following:
207 Delete bacula.db from your working directory.
208 cd <bacula-source>/src/cats
215 Then write an EOF on each tape you used with {\bf Bacula} using:
219 mt -f /dev/st0 rewind
224 where you need to adjust the device name for your system.
227 \subsection*{I Run a Restore Job and Bacula Hangs. What do I do?}
228 \item [I Run a Restore Job and Bacula Hangs. What do I do?]
229 \index[general]{I Run a Restore Job and Bacula Hangs. What do I do? }
230 On Bacula version 1.25 and prior, it expects you to have the correct
231 tape mounted prior to a restore. On Bacula version 1.26 and higher, it
232 will ask you for the tape, and if the wrong one is mounted, it will
235 If you have previously done an {\bf unmount} command, all Storage daemon
236 sessions (jobs) will be completely blocked from using the drive
237 unmounted, so be sure to do a {\bf mount} after your unmount. If in
238 doubt, do a second {\bf mount}, it won't cause any harm.
241 \subsection*{I Cannot Get My Windows Client to Start Automatically? }
242 \item [I Cannot Get My Windows Client to Start Automatically? ]
243 \index[general]{Windows Auto Start}
244 You are probably having one of two problems: either the Client is dying
245 due to an incorrect configuration file, or you didn't do the
246 Installation commands necessary to install it as a Windows Service.
248 For the first problem, see the next FAQ question. For the second
249 problem, please review the \ilink{ Windows Installation
250 instructions}{_ChapterStart7} in this manual.
253 \subsection*{My Windows Client Immediately Dies When I Start It}
254 \item [My Windows Client Immediately Dies When I Start It]
255 \index[general]{Windows Client Dies}
256 The most common problem is either that the configuration file is not where
257 it expects it to be, or that there is an error in the configuration file.
258 You must have the configuration file in {\bf
259 c:\textbackslash{}bacula\textbackslash{}bin\textbackslash{}bacula-fd.conf}.
261 To {\bf see} what is going on when the File daemon starts on Windows, do the
266 Start a DOS shell Window.
268 bacula-fd -d100 -c c:\bacula\bin\bacula-fd.conf
273 This will cause the FD to write a file {\bf bacula.trace} in the current
274 directory, which you can examine and thereby determine the problem.
277 \item [When I Start the Console, the Error Messages Fly By. How can I see
279 \index[general]{Error Messages}
280 Either use a shell window with a scroll bar, or use the gnome-console.
281 In any case, you probably should be logging all output to a file, and
282 then you can simply view the file using an editor or the {\bf less}
283 program. To log all output, I have the following in my Director's
284 Message resource definition:
288 append = "/home/kern/bacula/bin/log" = all, !skipped
293 Obviously you will want to change the filename to be appropriate for your
297 \subsection*{My backups are not working on my Windows
298 Client. What should I do?}
299 \item [I didn't realize that the backups were not working on my Windows
300 Client. What should I do? ]
301 \index[general]{Backups Failing}
302 You should be sending yourself an email message for each job. This will avoid
303 the possibility of not knowing about a failed backup. To do so put something
308 Mail = yourname@yourdomain = all, !skipped
313 in your Director's message resource. You should then receive one email for
314 each Job that ran. When you are comfortable with what is going on (it took
315 me 9 months), you might change that to:
319 MailOnError = yourname@yourdomain = all, !skipped
324 then you only get email messages when a Job errors as is the case for your
327 You should also be logging the Director's messages, please see the previous
328 FAQ for how to do so.
331 \subsection*{All my Jobs are scheduled for the same time. Will this cause
333 \item [All my Jobs are scheduled for the same time. Will this cause
335 \index[general]{Schedule problems}
336 No, not at all. Bacula will schedule all the Jobs at the same time, but
337 will run them one after another unless you have increased the number of
338 simultaneous jobs in the configuration files for the Director, the File
339 daemon, and the Storage daemon. The appropriate configuration record is
340 {\bf Maximum Concurrent Jobs = nn}. At the current time, we recommend
341 that you leave this set to {\bf 1} for the Director.
344 \subsection*{Can Bacula Backup My System To Files instead of Tape?}
345 \item [Can Bacula Backup My System To Files instead of Tape? ]
346 \index[general]{Backup to Disk}
347 Yes, in principle, Bacula can backup to any storage medium as long as
348 you have correctly defined that medium in the Storage daemon's Device
349 resource. For an example of how to backup to files, please see the
350 \ilink{Pruning Example}{PruningExample} in the Recycling chapter of this
351 manual. Also, there is a whole chapter devoted to \ilink{Basic Volume
352 Management}{_ChapterStart39}. This chapter was originally written to
353 explain how to write to disk, but was expanded to include volume
354 management. It is, however, still quite a good chapter to read.
357 \subsection*{Can Bacula Backup and Restore Files Greater than 2 Gigabytes?}
358 \item [Can Bacula Backup and Restore Files Greater than 2 Gigabytes in
360 \index[general]{Large file support}
361 If your operating system permits it, and you are running Bacula version
362 1.26 or later, the answer is yes. To the best of our knowledge all client
363 system supported by Bacula can handle files larger than 2 Gigabytes.
366 \subsection*{I want to stop a job. Is
367 there a better way than {\bf ./bacula stop} to stop it?}
368 \item [I Started A Job then Decided I Really Did Not Want to Run It. Is
369 there a better way than {\bf ./bacula stop} to stop it?]
370 \index[general]{Cancelling jobs}
371 Yes, you normally should use the Console command {\bf cancel} to cancel
372 a Job that is either scheduled or running. If the Job is scheduled, it
373 will be marked for cancellation and will be canceled when it is
374 scheduled to start. If it is running, it will normally terminate after
375 a few minutes. If the Job is waiting on a tape mount, you may need to
376 do a {\bf mount} command before it will be canceled.
379 \subsection*{Why have You Trademarked the Name
380 Bacula\raisebox{.6ex}{{\footnotesize \textsuperscript{\textregistered}}}?}
381 \item [Why have You Trademarked the Name
382 Bacula\raisebox{.6ex}{{\footnotesize \textsuperscript{\textregistered}}}?]
383 \index[general]{Bacula Trademark}
384 We have trademarked the name Bacula to ensure that all media written by any
385 program named Bacula will always be compatible. Anyone may use the name
386 Bacula, even in a derivative product as long as it remains totally compatible
387 in all respects with the program defined here.
390 \subsection*{Why is Your Online Document for Version 1.37 but the Released Version is 1.36?}
391 \item [Why is Your Online Document for Version 1.37 of Bacula when the
392 Currently Release Version is 1.36?]
393 \index[general]{Multiple manuals}
394 As Bacula is being developed, the document is also being enhanced, more often
395 than not it has clarifications of existing features that can be very useful
396 to our users, so we publish the very latest document. Fortunately it is rare
397 that there are confusions with new features.
399 If you want to read a document that pertains only to a specific version,
400 please use the one distributed in the source code.
403 \subsection*{Does Bacula really save and restore all files?}
404 \item [How Can I Be Sure that Bacula Really Saves and Restores All Files? ]
405 \index[general]{Checking Restores}
406 It is really quite simple, but took me a while to figure
407 out how to "prove" it. First make a Bacula Rescue disk, see the
408 \ilink{Disaster Recovery Using Bacula}{_ChapterRescue} chapter
410 Second, you run a full backup of all your files on all partitions.
411 Third, you run an Verify InitCatalog Job on the same FileSet, which
412 effectively makes a record of all the files on your system. Fourth, you
413 run a Verify Catalog job and assure yourself that nothing has changed
414 (well, between an InitCatalog and Catalog one doesn't expect anything).
415 Then do the unthinkable, write zeros on your MBR (master boot record)
416 wiping out your hard disk. Now, restore your whole system using your
417 Bacula Rescue disk and the Full backup you made, and finally re-run the
418 Verify Catalog job. You will see that with the exception of the
419 directory modification and access dates and the files changed during the
420 boot, your system is identical to what it was before you wiped your hard
422 Alternatively you could do the wiping and restoring to another computer
426 \subsection*{I want an Incremental but Bacula runs it as a Full backup. Why?}
427 \item [I did a Full backup last week, but now in running an Incremental,
428 Bacula says it did not find a FULL backup, so it did a FULL backup. Why?]
429 \index[general]{FULL backup not found}
430 Before doing an Incremental or a Differential
431 backup, Bacula checks to see if there was a prior Full backup of the
432 same Job that terminated successfully. If so, it uses the date that
433 full backup started as the time for comparing if files have changed. If
434 Bacula does not find a successful full backup, it proceeds to do one.
435 Perhaps you canceled the full backup, or it terminated in error. In
436 such cases, the full backup will not be successful. You can check by
437 entering {\bf list jobs} and look to see if there is a prior Job with
438 the same Name that has Level F and JobStatus T (normal termination).
440 Another reason why Bacula may not find a suitable Full backup is that
441 every time you change the FileSet, Bacula will require a new Full
442 backup. This is necessary to ensure that all files are properly backed
443 up in the case where you have added more files to the FileSet.
444 Beginning with version 1.31, the FileSets are also dated when they are
445 created, and this date is displayed with the name when you are listing
446 or selecting a FileSet. For more on backup levels see below.
448 \label{filenamelengths}
449 \subsection*{Do you really handle unlimited path lengths?}
450 \item [How Can You Claim to Handle Unlimited Path and Filename Lengths
451 when All Other Programs Have Fixed Limits?]
452 \index[general]{Path and Filename Lengths}
453 Most of those other programs have been around for a long time, in fact
454 since the beginning of Unix, which means that they were designed for
455 rather small fixed length path and filename lengths. Over the years,
456 these restrictions have been relaxed allowing longer names. Bacula on
457 the other hand was designed in 2000, and so from the start, Path and
458 Filenames have been kept in buffers that start at 256 bytes in length,
459 but can grow as needed to handle any length. Most of the work is
460 carried out by lower level routines making the coding rather easy.
462 Note that due to limitations Win32 path and filenames cannot exceed
463 260 characters. By using Win32 Unicode functions, we will remove this
464 restriction in later versions of Bacula.
467 \subsection*{What Is the Really Unique Feature of Bacula?}
468 \item [What Is the Really Unique Feature of Bacula?]
469 \index[general]{Unique Feature of Bacula}
470 Well, it is hard to come up with unique features when backup programs
471 for Unix machines have been around since the 1960s. That said, I
472 believe that Bacula is the first and only program to use a standard SQL
473 interface to catalog its database. Although this adds a bit of
474 complexity and possibly overhead, it provides an amazingly rich set of
475 features that are easy to program and enhance. The current code has
476 barely scratched the surface in this regard (version 1.38).
478 The second feature, which gives a lot of power and flexibility to Bacula
479 is the Bootstrap record definition.
481 The third unique feature, which is currently (1.30) unimplemented, and
482 thus can be called vaporware :-), is Base level saves. When
483 implemented, this will enormously reduce tape usage.
486 \subsection*{How can I force one job to run after another?}
487 \item [If I Run Multiple Simultaneous Jobs, How Can I Force One
488 Particular Job to Run After Another Job? ]
489 \index[general]{Multiple Simultaneous Jobs}
490 Yes, you can set Priorities on your jobs so that they run in the order you
492 \ilink{the Priority record}{Priority} in the Job resource.
495 \subsection*{I Am Not Getting Email Notification, What Can I Do? }
496 \item [I Am Not Getting Email Notification, What Can I Do? ]
497 \index[general]{No Email Notification}
498 The most common problem is that you have not specified a fully qualified
499 email address and your bsmtp server is rejecting the mail. The next
500 most common problem is that your bsmtp server doesn't like the syntax on
501 the From part of the message. For more details on this and other
502 problems, please see the \ilink{ Getting Email Notification to
503 Work}{email} section of the Tips chapter of this manual. The section
504 \ilink{ Getting Notified of Job Completion}{notification} of the Tips
505 chapter may also be useful. For more information on the {\bf bsmtp}
506 mail program, please see \ilink{bsmtp in the Volume Utility Tools
507 chapter}{bsmtp} of this manual.
510 \subsection*{My retention periods don't work}
511 \item [I Change Recycling, Retention Periods, or File Sizes in my Pool
512 Resource and they Still Don't Work.]
513 \index[general]{Recycling}
514 \index[general]{Retention Periods}
515 \index[general]{Pool changes}
516 The different variables associated with a Pool are defined in the Pool
517 Resource, but are actually read by Bacula from the Catalog database. On
518 Bacula versions prior to 1.30, after changing your Pool Resource, you must
519 manually update the corresponding values in the Catalog by using the {\bf
520 update pool} command in the Console program. In Bacula version 1.30, Bacula
521 does this for you automatically every time it starts.
523 When Bacula creates a Media record (Volume), it uses many default values from
524 the Pool record. If you subsequently change the Pool record, the new values
525 will be used as a default for the next Volume that is created, but if you
526 want the new values to apply to existing Volumes, you must manually update
527 the Volume Catalog entry using the {\bf update volume} command in the Console
530 \label{CompressionNotWorking}
531 \subsection*{Why aren't my files compressed?}
532 \item [I Have Configured Compression On, But None of My Files Are
534 \index[general]{Compression}
535 There are two kinds of compression. One is tape compression. This is done by
536 the tape drive hardware, and you either enable or disable it with system
537 tools such as {\bf mt}. This compression works independently of Bacula.
539 Bacula also has compression code, which is normally used only when
540 backing up to file Volumes. There are two conditions for this
541 "software" to become enabled.
544 \item You must have the zip development libraries loaded on your system when
545 building Bacula and Bacula must find this library, normally {\bf
546 /usr/lib/libz.a}. On RedHat systems, this library is provided by the {\bf
549 If the library is found by Bacula during the {\bf ./configure} it will be
550 mentioned in the {\bf config.out} line by:
559 \item You must add the {\bf compression=gzip} option on your Include
560 statement in the Director's configuration file.
564 \item [Bacula is Asking for a New Tape After 2 GB of Data but My Tape
566 \index[general]{Tape capacity}
567 There are several reasons why Bacula will request a new tape.
570 \item There is an I/O error on the tape. Bacula prints an error message and
571 requests a new tape. Bacula does not attempt to continue writing after an
574 \item Bacula encounters and end of medium on the tape. This is not always
575 distinguishable from an I/O error.
576 \item You have specifically set some size limitation on the tape. For example
577 the {\bf Maximum Volume Bytes} or {\bf Maximum Volume Files} in the
578 Director's Pool resource, or {\bf Maximum Volume Size} in the Storage
579 daemon's Device resource.
582 \label{LevelChanging}
583 \subsection*{Incremental backups are not working}
584 \item [Bacula is Not Doing the Right Thing When I Request an Incremental
586 \index[general]{Incremental backups}
587 As explained in one of the previous questions, Bacula will automatically
588 upgrade an Incremental or Differential job to a Full backup if it cannot
589 find a prior Full backup or a suitable Full backup. For the gory
590 details on how/when Bacula decides to upgrade levels please see the
591 \ilink{Level record}{Level} in the Director's configuration chapter of
594 If after reading the above mentioned section, you believe that Bacula is not
595 correctly handling the level (Differential/Incremental), please send us the
596 following information for analysis:
599 \item Your Director's configuration file.
600 \item The output from {\bf list jobs} covering the period where you are
602 \item The Job report output from the prior Full save (not critical).
603 \item An {\bf llist jobid=nnn} where nnn is the JobId of the prior Full save.
605 \item The Job report output from the save that is doing the wrong thing (not
607 \item An {\bf llist jobid=nnn} where nnn is the JobId of the job that was not
609 \item An explanation of what job went wrong and why you think it did.
612 The above information can allow us to analyze what happened, without it,
613 there is not much we can do.
616 \subsection*{I am waiting forever for a backup of an offsite machine}
617 \item [I am Backing Up an Offsite Machine with an Unreliable Connection.
618 The Director Waits Forever for the Client to Contact the SD. What Can I
620 \index[general]{Backing Up Offsite Machines}
621 Bacula was written on the assumption that it will have a good TCP/IP
622 connection between all the daemons. As a consequence, the current
623 Bacula doesn't deal with faulty connections very well. This situation
624 is slowly being corrected over time.
626 There are several things you can do to improve the situation.
629 \item Upgrade to version 1.32 and use the new SDConnectTimeout record. For
634 SD Connect Timeout = 5 min
639 in the FileDaemon resource.
640 \item Run these kinds of jobs after all other jobs.
644 \subsection*{SSH hangs forever after starting Bacula}
645 \item [When I ssh into a machine and start Bacula then attempt to exit,
647 \index[general]{ssh hangs}
648 This happens because Bacula leaves stdin, stdout, and stderr open for
649 debug purposes. To avoid it, the simplest thing to do is to redirect
650 the output of those files to {\bf /dev/null} or another file in your
651 startup script (the RedHat autostart scripts do this automatically).
652 For example, you start the Director with:
656 bacula-dir -c bacula-dir.conf ... 0>\&1 2>\&1 >/dev/null
661 and likewise for the other daemons.
663 \label{RetentionPeriods}
664 \subsection*{I'm confused by retention periods}
665 \item [I'm confused by the different Retention periods: File Retention,
666 Job Retention, Volume Retention. Why are there so many?]
667 \index[general]{Retention Periods}
668 Yes, this certainly can be confusing. The basic reason for so many is
669 to allow flexibility. The File records take quite a lot of space in the
670 catalog, so they are typically records you want to remove rather
671 quickly. The Job records, take very little space, and they can be
672 useful even without the File records to see what Jobs actually ran and
673 when. One must understand that if the File records are removed from the
674 catalog, you cannot use the {\bf restore} command to restore an
675 individual file since Bacula no longer knows where it is. However, as
676 long as the Volume Retention period has not expired, the data will still
677 be on the tape, and can be recovered from the tape.
679 For example, I keep a 30 day retention period for my Files to keep my
680 catalog from getting too big, but I keep my tapes for a minimum of one
683 \label{MaxVolumeSize}
684 \subsection*{MaxVolumeSize is ignored}
685 \item [Why Does Bacula Ignore the MaxVolumeSize Set in my Pool?]
686 \index[general]{MaxVolumeSize}
687 The MaxVolumeSize that Bacula uses comes from the Media record, so most
688 likely you changed your Pool, which is used as the default for creating
689 Media records, {\bf after} you created your Volume. Check what is in
690 the Media record by doing:
698 If it doesn't have the right value, you can use:
708 \label{ConnectionRefused}
709 \subsection*{I get a Connection refused when connecting to my Client}
710 \item [In connecting to my Client, I get "ERR:Connection Refused. Packet
711 Size too big from File daemon:192.168.1.4:9102" Why?]
712 \index[general]{ERR:Connection Refused}
713 This is typically a communications error resulting from one of the
718 \item Old versions of Bacula, usually a Win32 client, where two threads were
719 using the same I/O packet. Fixed in more recent versions. Please upgrade.
720 \item Some other program such as an HP Printer using the same port (9102 in
724 If it is neither of the above, please submit a bug report at
725 \elink{bugs.bacula.org}{http://bugs.bacula.org}.
727 Another solution might be to run the daemon with the debug option by:
731 Start a DOS shell Window.
733 bacula-fd -d100 -c c:\bacula\bin\bacula-fd.conf
738 This will cause the FD to write a file {\bf bacula.trace} in the current
739 directory, which you can examine to determine the problem.
741 \subsection*{Long running jobs die with Pipe Error}
742 \item [During long running jobs my File daemon dies with Pipe Error, or
743 some other communications error. Why?]
744 \index[general]{Communications Errors}
745 \index[general]{Pipe Errors}
746 \index[general]{slow}
747 \index[general]{Backups!slow}
748 There are a number of reasons why a connection might break.
749 Most often, it is a router between your two computers that times out
750 inactive lines (not respecting the keepalive feature that Bacula uses).
751 In that case, you can use the {\bf Heartbeat Interval} directive in
752 both the Storage daemon and the File daemon.
754 In at least one case, the problem has been a bad driver for a Win32
755 NVidia NForce 3 ethernet card with driver (4.4.2 17/05/2004).
756 In this case, a good driver is (4.8.2.0 06/04/2005). Moral of
757 the story, make sure you have the latest ethernet drivers
758 loaded, or use the following workaround as suggested by Thomas
759 Simmons for Win32 machines:
762 Start \gt{} Control Panel \gt{} Network Connections
764 Right click the connection for the nvidia adapter and select properties.
765 Under the General tab, click "Configure...". Under the Advanced tab set
766 "Checksum Offload" to disabled and click OK to save the change.
768 Lack of communications, or communications that get interrupted can
769 also be caused by Linux firewalls where you have a rule that throttles
770 connections or traffic. For example, if you have:
774 iptables -t filter -A INPUT -m limit --limit 3/second --limit-burst 3 -j DROP
778 you will want to add the following rules {\bf before} the above rule:
781 iptables -t filter -A INPUT --dport 9101 -j ACCEPT
782 iptables -t filter -A INPUT --dport 9102 -j ACCEPT
783 iptables -t filter -A INPUT --dport 9103 -j ACCEPT
786 This will ensure that any Bacula traffic will not get terminated because
789 \subsection*{How to I tell the Job which Volume to use?}
790 \item[I can't figure out how to tell the job which volume to use]
791 \index[general]{What tape to mount}
792 This is an interesting statement. I now see that a number of people new to
793 Bacula have the same problem as you, probably from using programs like tar.
795 In fact, you do not tell Bacula what tapes to use. It is the inverse. Bacula
796 tells you want tapes it wants. You put tapes at its disposition and it
799 Now, if you *really* want to be tricky and try to tell Bacula what to do, it
800 will be reasonable if for example you mount a valid tape that it can use on a
801 drive, it will most likely go ahead and use it. It also has a documented
802 algorithm for choosing tapes -- but you are asking for problems ...
804 So, the trick is to invert your concept of things and put Bacula in charge of
805 handling the tapes. Once you do that, you will be fine. If you want to
806 anticipate what it is going to do, you can generally figure it out correctly
807 and get what you want.
809 If you start with the idea that you are going to force or tell Bacula to use
810 particular tapes or you insist on trying to run in that kind of mode, you will
811 probably not be too happy.
813 I don't want to worry about what tape has what data. That is what Bacula is
816 If you have an application where you *really* need to remove a tape each day
817 and insert a new one, it can be done the directives exist to accomplish that.
818 In such a case, one little "trick" to knowing what tape Bacula will want at
819 2am while you are asleep is to run a tiny job at 4pm while you are still at
820 work that backs up say one directory, or even one file. You will quickly find
821 out what tape it wants, and you can mount it before you go home ...