4 \chapter{Messages Resource}
5 \label{MessagesChapter}
6 \index[general]{Resource!Messages}
7 \index[general]{Messages Resource}
9 The Messages resource defines how messages are to be handled and destinations
10 to which they should be sent.
12 Even though each daemon has a full message handler, within the File daemon and
13 the Storage daemon, you will normally choose to send all the appropriate
14 messages back to the Director. This permits all the messages associated with
15 a single Job to be combined in the Director and sent as a single email message
16 to the user, or logged together in a single file.
18 Each message that Bacula generates (i.e. that each daemon generates) has an
19 associated type such as INFO, WARNING, ERROR, FATAL, etc. Using the message
20 resource, you can specify which message types you wish to see and where they
21 should be sent. In addition, a message may be sent to multiple destinations.
22 For example, you may want all error messages both logged as well as sent to
23 you in an email. By defining multiple messages resources, you can have
24 different message handling for each type of Job (e.g. Full backups versus
27 In general, messages are attached to a Job and are included in the Job report.
28 There are some rare cases, where this is not possible, e.g. when no job is
29 running, or if a communications error occurs between a daemon and the
30 director. In those cases, the message may remain in the system, and should be
31 flushed at the end of the next Job. However, since such messages are not
32 attached to a Job, any that are mailed will be sent to {\bf
33 /usr/lib/sendmail}. On some systems, such as FreeBSD, if your sendmail is in a
34 different place, you may want to link it to the the above location.
36 The records contained in a Messages resource consist of a {\bf destination}
37 specification followed by a list of {\bf message-types} in the format:
41 \item [destination = message-type1, message-type2, message-type3, ... ]
42 \index[dir]{destination}
45 or for those destinations that need and address specification (e.g. email):
49 \item [destination = address = message-type1, message-type2,
51 \index[dir]{destination}
53 Where {\bf destination} is one of a predefined set of keywords that define
54 where the message is to be sent ({\bf stdout}, {\bf file}, ...), {\bf
55 message-type} is one of a predefined set of keywords that define the type of
56 message generated by {\bf Bacula} ({\bf ERROR}, {\bf WARNING}, {\bf FATAL},
57 ...), and {\bf address} varies according to the {\bf destination} keyword, but
58 is typically an email address or a filename.
61 The following are the list of the possible record definitions that can be used
62 in a message resource.
68 Start of the Messages records.
70 \item [Name = \lt{}name\gt{}]
72 The name of the Messages resource. The name you specify here will be used to
73 tie this Messages resource to a Job and/or to the daemon.
76 \item [MailCommand = \lt{}command\gt{}]
77 \index[dir]{MailCommand}
78 In the absence of this resource, Bacula will send all mail using the
81 {\bf mail -s "Bacula Message" \lt{}recipients\gt{}}
83 In many cases, depending on your machine, this command may not work.
84 However, by using the {\bf MailCommand}, you can specify exactly how to
85 send the mail. During the processing of the {\bf command} part, normally
86 specified as a quoted string, the following substitutions will be used:
90 \item \%c = Client's name
91 \item \%d = Director's name
92 \item \%e = Job Exit code (OK, Error, ...)
93 \item \%h = Client address
95 \item \%j = Unique Job name
98 \item \%r = Recipients
99 \item \%s = Since time
100 \item \%t = Job type (e.g. Backup, ...)
101 \item \%v = Volume name (Only on director side)
104 Please note: any {\bf MailCommand} directive must be specified
105 in the {\bf Messages} resource {\bf before} the desired
106 {\bf Mail}, {\bf MailOnSuccess}, or {\bf MailOnError}
107 directive. In fact, each of those directives may be preceded by
108 a different {\bf MailCommand}.
110 The following is the command I (Kern) use. Note, the whole command should
111 appear on a single line in the configuration file rather than split as is
112 done here for presentation:
114 {\bf mailcommand = "/home/kern/bacula/bin/bsmtp -h mail.example.com -f
115 \textbackslash{}"\textbackslash{}(Bacula\textbackslash{})
116 \%r\textbackslash{}" -s \textbackslash{}"Bacula: \%t \%e of \%c
117 \%l\textbackslash{}" \%r"}
119 The {\bf bsmtp} program is provided as part of {\bf Bacula}. For
120 additional details, please see the
121 \ilink{ bsmtp -- Customizing Your Email Messages}{bsmtp} section of
122 the Bacula Utility Programs chapter of this manual. Please test any {\bf
123 mailcommand} that you use to ensure that your bsmtp gateway accepts the
124 addressing form that you use. Certain programs such as Exim can be very
125 selective as to what forms are permitted particularly in the from part.
127 \item [OperatorCommand = \lt{}command\gt{}]
128 \index[fd]{OperatorCommand}
129 This resource specification is similar to the {\bf MailCommand} except that
130 it is used for Operator messages. The substitutions performed for the {\bf
131 MailCommand} are also done for this command. Normally, you will set this
132 command to the same value as specified for the {\bf MailCommand}.
133 The {\bf OperatorCommand} directive must appear in the {\bf Messages}
134 resource before the {\bf Operator} directive.
136 \item [\lt{}destination\gt{} = \lt{}message-type1\gt{},
137 \lt{}message-type2\gt{}, ...]
138 \index[fd]{\lt{}destination\gt{}}
140 Where {\bf destination} may be one of the following:
146 Send the message to standard output.
150 Send the message to standard error.
153 \index[console]{console}
154 Send the message to the console (Bacula Console). These messages are held
155 until the console program connects to the Director.
158 \item {\bf \lt{}destination\gt{} = \lt{}address\gt{} =
159 \lt{}message-type1\gt{}, \lt{}message-type2\gt{}, ...}
160 \index[console]{\lt{}destination\gt{}}
162 Where {\bf address} depends on the {\bf destination}.
164 The {\bf destination} may be one of the following:
169 \index[dir]{director}
170 \index[general]{director}
171 Send the message to the Director whose name is given in the {\bf address}
172 field. Note, in the current implementation, the Director Name is ignored, and
173 the message is sent to the Director that started the Job.
177 \index[general]{file}
178 Send the message to the filename given in the {\bf address} field. If the
179 file already exists, it will be overwritten.
183 \index[general]{append}
184 Append the message to the filename given in the {\bf address} field. If the
185 file already exists, it will be appended to. If the file does not exist, it
189 \index[general]{syslog}
190 Send the message to the system log (syslog) using the facility specified in
191 the {\bf address} field. Note, for the moment, the {\bf address} field is
192 ignored and the message is always sent to the LOG\_DAEMON facility with
193 level LOG\_ERR. See {\bf man 3 syslog} for more details. Example:
196 syslog = all, !skipped
199 Although the {\bf syslog} destination is not used in the default Bacula
200 config files, in certain cases where Bacula encounters errors in trying
201 to deliver a message, as a last resort, it will send it to the system
202 {\bf syslog} to prevent loss of the message, so you might occassionally
203 check the {\bf syslog} for Bacula output (normally {\bf
207 \index[general]{mail}
208 Send the message to the email addresses that are given as a comma
209 separated list in the {\bf address} field. Mail messages are grouped
210 together during a job and then sent as a single email message when the
211 job terminates. The advantage of this destination is that you are
212 notified about every Job that runs. However, if you backup five or ten
213 machines every night, the volume of email messages can be important.
214 Some users use filter programs such as {\bf procmail} to automatically
215 file this email based on the Job termination code (see {\bf
218 \item [mail on error]
219 \index[general]{mail on error}
220 Send the message to the email addresses that are given as a comma
221 separated list in the {\bf address} field if the Job terminates with an
222 error condition. MailOnError messages are grouped together during a job
223 and then sent as a single email message when the job terminates. This
224 destination differs from the {\bf mail} destination in that if the Job
225 terminates normally, the message is totally discarded (for this
226 destination). If the Job terminates in error, it is emailed. By using
227 other destinations such as {\bf append} you can ensure that even if the
228 Job terminates normally, the output information is saved.
230 \item [mail on success]
231 \index[general]{mail on success}
232 Send the message to the email addresses that are given as a comma
233 separated list in the {\bf address} field if the Job terminates
234 normally (no error condition). MailOnSuccess messages are grouped
235 together during a job and then sent as a single email message when the
236 job terminates. This destination differs from the {\bf mail}
237 destination in that if the Job terminates abnormally, the message is
238 totally discarded (for this destination). If the Job terminates
239 normally, it is emailed.
242 \index[general]{operator}
243 Send the message to the email addresses that are specified as a comma
244 separated list in the {\bf address} field. This is similar to {\bf
245 mail} above, except that each message is sent as received. Thus there
246 is one email per message. This is most useful for {\bf mount} messages
250 \index[general]{console}
251 Send the message to the Bacula console.
254 \index[general]{stdout}
255 Send the message to the standard output (normally not used).
258 \index[general]{stderr}
259 Send the message to the standard error output (normally not used).
262 \index[general]{catalog}
263 Send the message to the Catalog database. The message will be
264 written to the table named {\bf Log} and a timestamp field will
265 also be added. This permits Job Reports and other messages to
266 be recorded in the Catalog so that they can be accessed by
267 reporting software. Bacula will prune the Log records associated
268 with a Job when the Job records are pruned. Otherwise, Bacula
269 never uses these records internally, so this destination is only
270 used for special purpose programs (e.g. {\bf bweb}).
274 For any destination, the {\bf message-type} field is a comma separated
275 list of the following types or classes of messages:
280 \index[general]{info}
281 General information messages.
284 \index[general]{warning}
285 Warning messages. Generally this is some unusual condition but not expected
289 \index[general]{error}
290 Non-fatal error messages. The job continues running. Any error message should
291 be investigated as it means that something went wrong.
294 \index[general]{fatal}
295 Fatal error messages. Fatal errors cause the job to terminate.
298 \index[general]{terminate}
299 Message generated when the daemon shuts down.
303 \index[general]{notsaved}
304 Files not saved because of some error. Usually because the file cannot be
305 accessed (i.e. it does not exist or is not mounted).
309 \index[general]{skipped}
310 Files that were skipped because of a user supplied option such as an
311 incremental backup or a file that matches an exclusion pattern. This is
312 not considered an error condition such as the files listed for the {\bf
313 notsaved} type because the configuration file explicitly requests these
314 types of files to be skipped. For example, any unchanged file during an
315 incremental backup, or any subdirectory if the no recursion option is
320 \index[general]{mount}
321 Volume mount or intervention requests from the Storage daemon. These
322 requests require a specific operator intervention for the job to
327 \index[general]{restored}
328 The {\bf ls} style listing generated for each file restored is sent to
336 \index[general]{security}
337 Security info/warning messages principally from unauthorized
341 \index[general]{alert}
342 Alert messages. These are messages generated by tape alerts.
345 \index[general]{volmgmt}
346 Volume management messages. Currently there are no volume mangement
352 The following is an example of a valid Messages resource definition, where
353 all messages except files explicitly skipped or daemon termination messages
354 are sent by email to enforcement@sec.com. In addition all mount messages
355 are sent to the operator (i.e. emailed to enforcement@sec.com). Finally
356 all messages other than explicitly skipped files and files saved are sent
363 mail = enforcement@sec.com = all, !skipped, !terminate
364 operator = enforcement@sec.com = mount
365 console = all, !skipped, !saved
370 With the exception of the email address (changed to avoid junk mail from
371 robot's), an example Director's Messages resource is as follows. Note, the {\bf
372 mailcommand} and {\bf operatorcommand} are on a single line -- they had to be
373 split for this manual:
379 mailcommand = "bacula/bin/bsmtp -h mail.example.com \
380 -f \"\(Bacula\) %r\" -s \"Bacula: %t %e of %c %l\" %r"
381 operatorcommand = "bacula/bin/bsmtp -h mail.example.com \
382 -f \"\(Bacula\) %r\" -s \"Bacula: Intervention needed \
384 MailOnError = security@example.com = all, !skipped, \
386 append = "bacula/bin/log" = all, !skipped, !terminate
387 operator = security@example.com = mount
388 console = all, !skipped, !saved