1 % TODO: maybe merge all this FAQ in with the appropriate section?
2 % TODO: and use detailed indexing to help reader
4 \chapter{Bacula Frequently Asked Questions}
6 \index[general]{Questions!Bacula Frequently Asked }
7 \index[general]{Bacula Frequently Asked Questions }
9 These are questions that have been submitted over time by the
10 Bacula users. The following
11 FAQ is very useful, but it is not always up to date
12 with newer information, so after reading it, if you don't find what you
13 want, you might try the Bacula wiki maintained by Frank Sweetser, which
14 contains more than just a FAQ:
15 \elink{http://wiki.bacula.org}{http://wiki.bacula.org}
16 or go directly to the FAQ at:
17 \elink{http://wiki.bacula.org/doku.php?id=faq}
18 {http://wiki.bacula.org/doku.php?id=faq}.
21 \ilink{the bugs section}{BugsChapter} of this document for a list
22 of known bugs and solutions.
26 \section{What is Bacula?}
27 \item [What is {\bf Bacula}? ]
28 \index[general]{What is Bacula? }
29 {\bf Bacula} is a network backup and restore program.
31 \section{Does Bacula support Windows?}
32 \item [Does Bacula support Windows?]
33 \index[general]{Does Bacula support Windows? }
34 Yes, Bacula compiles and runs on Windows machines (Win98, WinMe, WinXP,
35 WinNT, Win2003, and Win2000). We provide a binary version of the Client
36 (bacula-fd), but have not tested the Director nor the Storage daemon.
37 Note, Win95 is no longer supported because it doesn't have the
38 GetFileAttributesExA API call.
42 \section{What language is Bacula written in?}
43 \item [What language is Bacula written in?]
44 \index[general]{What language is Bacula written in? }
45 It is written in C++, but it is mostly C code using only a limited set of
46 the C++ extensions over C. Thus Bacula is completely compiled using the
47 C++ compiler. There are several modules, including the Win32 interface, that
48 are written using the object oriented C++ features. Over time, we are slowly
49 adding a larger subset of C++.
52 \section{On what machines does Bacula run?}
53 \item [On what machines does Bacula run? ]
54 \index[general]{On what machines does Bacula run? }
55 {\bf Bacula} builds and executes on Red Hat Linux (versions RH7.1-RHEL
56 4.0, Fedora, SuSE, Gentoo, Debian, Mandriva, ...), FreeBSD, Solaris,
57 Alpha, SGI (client), NetBSD, OpenBSD, Mac OS X (client), and Win32.
59 Bacula has been my only backup tool for over seven years backing up 8
60 machines nightly (6 Linux boxes running SuSE, previously
61 Red Hat and Fedora, a WinXP machine, and a WinNT machine).
65 \section{Is Bacula Stable?}
66 \item [Is Bacula Stable? ]
67 \index[general]{Is Bacula Stable? }
68 Yes, it is remarkably stable, but remember, there are still a lot of
69 unimplemented or partially implemented features. With a program of this
70 size (150,000+ lines of C++ code not including the SQL programs) there
71 are bound to be bugs. The current test environment (a twisted pair
72 local network and a HP DLT backup tape) is not exactly ideal, so
73 additional testing on other sites is necessary. The File daemon has
74 never crashed -- running months at a time with no intervention. The
75 Storage daemon is remarkably stable with most of the problems arising
76 during labeling or switching tapes. Storage daemon crashes are rare
77 but running multiple drives and simultaneous jobs sometimes (rarely)
79 The Director, given the multitude of functions it fulfills is also
80 relatively stable. In a production environment, it rarely if ever
81 crashes. Of the three daemons, the Director is the most prone to having
82 problems. Still, it frequently runs several months with no problems.
84 There are a number of reasons for this stability.
87 \item The program is constantly checking the chain of allocated
88 memory buffers to ensure that no overruns have occurred. \\
89 \item All memory leaks (orphaned buffers) are reported each time the
91 \item Any signal (segmentation fault, ...) generates a
92 traceback that is emailed to the developer. This permits quick
93 resolution of bugs even if they only show up rarely in a production
95 \item There is a reasonably comprehensive set of regression tests
96 that avoids re-creating the most common errors in new versions of
100 \label{AuthorizationErrors}
101 \section{I'm Getting Authorization Errors. What is Going On? }
102 \item [I'm Getting Authorization Errors. What is Going On? ]
103 \index[general]{Authorization Errors}
104 \index[general]{Concurrent Jobs}
105 For security reasons, Bacula requires that both the File daemon and the
106 Storage daemon know the name of the Director as well as its password. As a
107 consequence, if you change the Director's name or password, you must make
108 the corresponding change in the Storage daemon's and in the File daemon's
111 During the authorization process, the Storage daemon and File daemon
112 also require that the Director authenticates itself, so both ends
113 require the other to have the correct name and password.
115 If you have edited the conf files and modified any name or any password,
116 and you are getting authentication errors, then your best bet is to go
117 back to the original conf files generated by the Bacula installation
118 process. Make only the absolutely necessary modifications to these
119 files -- e.g. add the correct email address. Then follow the
120 instructions in the \bsysxrlink{Running Bacula}{TutorialChapter}{main}{chapter} of
121 the \mainman{}. You will run a backup to disk and a restore. Only when
122 that works, should you begin customization of the conf files.
124 Another reason that you can get authentication errors is if you are
125 running Multiple Concurrent Jobs in the Director, but you have not set
126 them in the File daemon or the Storage daemon. Once you reach their
127 limit, they will reject the connection producing authentication (or
130 If you are having problems connecting to a Windows machine that
131 previously worked, you might try restarting the Bacula service since
132 Windows frequently encounters networking connection problems.
134 Some users report that authentication fails if there is not a proper
135 reverse DNS lookup entry for the machine. This seems to be a
136 requirement of gethostbyname(), which is what Bacula uses to translate
137 names into IP addresses. If you cannot add a reverse DNS entry, or you
138 don't know how to do so, you can avoid the problem by specifying an IP
139 address rather than a machine name in the appropriate Bacula conf file.
141 Here is a picture that indicates what names/passwords in which
142 files/Resources must match up:
144 \bsysimageH{Conf-Diagram}{Configuration Diagram}{}
146 In the left column, you will find the Director, Storage, and Client
147 resources, with their names and passwords -- these are all in {\bf
148 bacula-dir.conf}. The right column is where the corresponding values
149 should be found in the Console, Storage daemon (SD), and File daemon (FD)
152 Another thing to check is to ensure that the Bacula component you are
153 trying to access has {\bf Maximum Concurrent Jobs} set large enough to
154 handle each of the Jobs and the Console that want to connect
155 simultaneously. Once the maximum connections has been reached, each
156 Bacula component will reject all new connections.
158 Finally, make sure you have no {\bf hosts.allow} or {\bf hosts.deny}
159 file that is not permitting access to the site trying to connect.
161 \label{AccessProblems}
162 \section{Bacula Runs Fine but Cannot Access a Client on a Different Machine.
164 \item [Bacula Runs Fine but Cannot Access a Client on a Different Machine.
166 \index[general]{Cannot Access a Client}
167 There are several reasons why Bacula could not contact a client on a
168 different machine. They are:
171 \item It is a Windows Client, and the client died because of an improper
172 configuration file. Check that the Bacula icon is in the system tray and the
173 the menu items work. If the client has died, the icon will disappear only
174 when you move the mouse over the icon.
175 \item The Client address or port is incorrect or not resolved by DNS. See if
176 you can ping the client machine using the same address as in the Client
178 \item You have a firewall, and it is blocking traffic on port 9102 between
179 the Director's machine and the Client's machine (or on port 9103 between the
180 Client and the Storage daemon machines).
181 \item Your password or names are not correct in both the Director and the
182 Client machine. Try configuring everything identical to how you run the
183 client on the same machine as the Director, but just change the Address. If
184 that works, make the other changes one step at a time until it works.
185 \item You may also be having problems between your File daemon and your
186 Storage daemon. The name you use in the Storage resource of your
187 Director's conf file must be known (resolvable) by the File daemon,
188 because it is passed symbolically to the File daemon, which then
189 resolves it to get an IP address used to contact the Storage daemon.
190 \item You may have a {\bf hosts.allow} or {\bf hosts.deny} file that is
191 not permitting access.
195 \section{My Catalog is Full of Test Runs, How Can I Start Over?}
196 \item [My Catalog is Full of Test Runs, How Can I Start Over? ]
197 \index[general]{My Catalog is Full of Test Runs, How Can I Start Over? }
198 If you are using MySQL do the following:
202 cd <bacula-source>/src/cats
209 If you are using SQLite, do the following:
213 Delete bacula.db from your working directory.
214 cd <bacula-source>/src/cats
221 Then write an EOF on each tape you used with {\bf Bacula} using:
225 mt -f /dev/st0 rewind
230 where you need to adjust the device name for your system.
233 \section{I Run a Restore Job and Bacula Hangs. What do I do?}
234 \item [I Run a Restore Job and Bacula Hangs. What do I do?]
235 \index[general]{I Run a Restore Job and Bacula Hangs. What do I do? }
236 On Bacula version 1.25 and prior, it expects you to have the correct
237 tape mounted prior to a restore. On Bacula version 1.26 and higher, it
238 will ask you for the tape, and if the wrong one is mounted, it will
241 If you have previously done an {\bf unmount} command, all Storage daemon
242 sessions (jobs) will be completely blocked from using the drive
243 unmounted, so be sure to do a {\bf mount} after your unmount. If in
244 doubt, do a second {\bf mount}, it won't cause any harm.
247 \section{I Cannot Get My Windows Client to Start Automatically? }
248 \item [I Cannot Get My Windows Client to Start Automatically? ]
249 \index[general]{Windows Auto Start}
250 You are probably having one of two problems: either the Client is dying
251 due to an incorrect configuration file, or you didn't do the
252 Installation commands necessary to install it as a Windows Service.
254 For the first problem, see the next FAQ question. For the second
255 problem, please review the \bsysxrlink{Windows Installation Instructions}{Win32Chapter}{main}{chapter} in the\mainman{}.
258 \section{My Windows Client Immediately Dies When I Start It}
259 \item [My Windows Client Immediately Dies When I Start It]
260 \index[general]{Windows Client Dies}
261 The most common problem is either that the configuration file is not where
262 it expects it to be, or that there is an error in the configuration file.
263 You must have the configuration file in {\bf
264 c:\textbackslash{}bacula\textbackslash{}bin\textbackslash{}bacula-fd.conf}.
266 To {\bf see} what is going on when the File daemon starts on Windows, do the
271 Start a DOS shell Window.
273 bacula-fd -d100 -c c:\bacula\bin\bacula-fd.conf
278 This will cause the FD to write a file {\bf bacula.trace} in the current
279 directory, which you can examine and thereby determine the problem.
282 \item [When I Start the Console, the Error Messages Fly By. How can I see
284 \index[general]{Error Messages}
285 Either use a shell window with a scroll bar, or use the gnome-console.
286 In any case, you probably should be logging all output to a file, and
287 then you can simply view the file using an editor or the {\bf less}
288 program. To log all output, I have the following in my Director's
289 Message resource definition:
293 append = "/home/kern/bacula/bin/log" = all, !skipped
298 Obviously you will want to change the filename to be appropriate for your
302 \section{My backups are not working on my Windows
303 Client. What should I do?}
304 \item [I didn't realize that the backups were not working on my Windows
305 Client. What should I do? ]
306 \index[general]{Backups Failing}
307 You should be sending yourself an email message for each job. This will avoid
308 the possibility of not knowing about a failed backup. To do so put something
313 Mail = yourname@yourdomain = all, !skipped
318 in your Director's message resource. You should then receive one email for
319 each Job that ran. When you are comfortable with what is going on (it took
320 me 9 months), you might change that to:
324 MailOnError = yourname@yourdomain = all, !skipped
329 then you only get email messages when a Job errors as is the case for your
332 You should also be logging the Director's messages, please see the previous
333 FAQ for how to do so.
336 \section{All my Jobs are scheduled for the same time. Will this cause
338 \item [All my Jobs are scheduled for the same time. Will this cause
340 \index[general]{Schedule problems}
341 No, not at all. Bacula will schedule all the Jobs at the same time, but
342 will run them one after another unless you have increased the number of
343 simultaneous jobs in the configuration files for the Director, the File
344 daemon, and the Storage daemon. The appropriate configuration record is
345 {\bf Maximum Concurrent Jobs = nn}. At the current time, we recommend
346 that you leave this set to {\bf 1} for the Director.
349 \section{Can Bacula Backup My System To Files instead of Tape?}
350 \item [Can Bacula Backup My System To Files instead of Tape? ]
351 \index[general]{Backup to Disk}
352 Yes, in principle, Bacula can backup to any storage medium as long as
353 you have correctly defined that medium in the Storage daemon's Device
354 resource. For an example of how to backup to files, please see the
355 \bsysxrlink{Pruning Example}{PruningExample}{main}{chapter} of the \mainman{}.
356 Also, there is a whole chapter devoted to \bsysxrlink{Basic Volume
357 Management}{DiskChapter}{main}{chapter} in the \mainman{}. This chapter was originally written to
358 explain how to write to disk, but was expanded to include volume
359 management. It is, however, still quite a good chapter to read.
362 \section{Can I use a dummy device to test the backup?}
363 Yes, to have a \emph{Virtual} device which just consumes data, you can use a
364 FIFO device (see \bsysxrlink{Stored configuration}{SetupFifo}{main}{chapter}
365 in the \mainman{}). It's useful to test a backup.
372 Archive Device = /dev/null
384 \section{Can Bacula Backup and Restore Files Bigger than 2 Gigabytes?}
385 \item [Can Bacula Backup and Restore Files Bigger than 2 Gigabytes?]
386 \index[general]{Large file support}
387 If your operating system permits it, and you are running Bacula version
388 1.26 or later, the answer is yes. To the best of our knowledge all client
389 system supported by Bacula can handle files bigger 2 Gigabytes.
392 \section{I want to stop a job.}
393 %% Is there a better way than "./bacula stop" to stop it?}
394 \item [I Started A Job then Decided I Really Did Not Want to Run It. Is
395 there a better way than {\bf ./bacula stop} to stop it?]
396 \index[general]{Cancelling jobs}
397 Yes, you normally should use the Console command {\bf cancel} to cancel
398 a Job that is either scheduled or running. If the Job is scheduled, it
399 will be marked for cancellation and will be canceled when it is
400 scheduled to start. If it is running, it will normally terminate after
401 a few minutes. If the Job is waiting on a tape mount, you may need to
402 do a {\bf mount} command before it will be canceled.
405 \section{Why have You Trademarked the Name Bacula?}
406 \item [Why have You Trademarked the Name
407 Bacula\raisebox{.6ex}{{\footnotesize \textsuperscript{\textregistered}}}?]
408 \index[general]{Bacula Trademark}
409 We have trademarked the name Bacula to ensure that all media written by any
410 program named Bacula will always be compatible. Anyone may use the name
411 Bacula, even in a derivative product as long as it remains totally compatible
412 in all respects with the program defined here.
415 \section{Why is the Online Document for Version 1.39 but the Released Version is 1.38?}
416 \item [Why is the Online Document for Version 1.39 of Bacula when the
417 Current Version is 1.38?]
418 \index[general]{Multiple manuals}
419 As Bacula is being developed, the document is also being enhanced, more
420 often than not it has clarifications of existing features that can be very
421 useful to our users, so we publish the very latest document. Fortunately
422 it is rare that there are confusions with new features.
424 If you want to read a document that pertains only to a specific version,
425 please use the one distributed in the source code. The web site also has
426 online versions of both the released manual and the current development
430 \section{Does Bacula really save and restore all files?}
431 \item [How Can I Be Sure that Bacula Really Saves and Restores All Files? ]
432 \index[general]{Checking Restores}
433 It is really quite simple, but took me a while to figure
434 out how to "prove" it. First make a Bacula Rescue disk, see the
435 \ilink{Disaster Recovery Using Bacula}{RescueChapter}{main}{chapter}
437 Second, you run a full backup of all your files on all partitions.
438 Third, you run an Verify InitCatalog Job on the same FileSet, which
439 effectively makes a record of all the files on your system. Fourth, you
440 run a Verify Catalog job and assure yourself that nothing has changed
441 (well, between an InitCatalog and Catalog one doesn't expect anything).
442 Then do the unthinkable, write zeros on your MBR (master boot record)
443 wiping out your hard disk. Now, restore your whole system using your
444 Bacula Rescue disk and the Full backup you made, and finally re-run the
445 Verify Catalog job. You will see that with the exception of the
446 directory modification and access dates and the files changed during the
447 boot, your system is identical to what it was before you wiped your hard
449 Alternatively you could do the wiping and restoring to another computer
453 \section{I want an Incremental but Bacula runs it as a Full backup. Why?}
454 \item [I did a Full backup last week, but now in running an Incremental,
455 Bacula says it did not find a FULL backup, so it did a FULL backup. Why?]
456 \index[general]{FULL backup not found}
457 Before doing an Incremental or a Differential
458 backup, Bacula checks to see if there was a prior Full backup of the
459 same Job that terminated successfully. If so, it uses the date that
460 full backup started as the time for comparing if files have changed. If
461 Bacula does not find a successful full backup, it proceeds to do one.
462 Perhaps you canceled the full backup, or it terminated in error. In
463 such cases, the full backup will not be successful. You can check by
464 entering {\bf list jobs} and look to see if there is a prior Job with
465 the same Name that has Level F and JobStatus T (normal termination).
467 Another reason why Bacula may not find a suitable Full backup is that
468 every time you change the FileSet, Bacula will require a new Full
469 backup. This is necessary to ensure that all files are properly backed
470 up in the case where you have added more files to the FileSet.
471 Beginning with version 1.31, the FileSets are also dated when they are
472 created, and this date is displayed with the name when you are listing
473 or selecting a FileSet. For more on backup levels see below.
475 See also {\bf Ignore FileSet Changes} in the
476 \bsysxrlink{FileSet Resource definition}{FileSetResource}{main}{chapter} in the \mainman{}.
478 \label{filenamelengths}
479 \section{Do you really handle unlimited path lengths?}
480 \item [How Can You Claim to Handle Unlimited Path and Filename Lengths
481 when All Other Programs Have Fixed Limits?]
482 \index[general]{Path and Filename Lengths}
483 Most of those other programs have been around for a long time, in fact
484 since the beginning of Unix, which means that they were designed for
485 rather small fixed length path and filename lengths. Over the years,
486 these restrictions have been relaxed allowing longer names. Bacula on
487 the other hand was designed in 2000, and so from the start, Path and
488 Filenames have been kept in buffers that start at 256 bytes in length,
489 but can grow as needed to handle any length. Most of the work is
490 carried out by lower level routines making the coding rather easy.
492 Note that due to limitations Win32 path and filenames cannot exceed
493 260 characters. By using Win32 Unicode functions, we will remove this
494 restriction in later versions of Bacula.
497 \section{What Is the Really Unique Feature of Bacula?}
498 \item [What Is the Really Unique Feature of Bacula?]
499 \index[general]{Unique Feature of Bacula}
500 Well, it is hard to come up with unique features when backup programs
501 for Unix machines have been around since the 1960s. That said, I
502 believe that Bacula is the first and only program to use a standard SQL
503 interface to catalog its database. Although this adds a bit of
504 complexity and possibly overhead, it provides an amazingly rich set of
505 features that are easy to program and enhance. The current code has
506 barely scratched the surface in this regard (version 1.38).
508 The second feature, which gives a lot of power and flexibility to Bacula
509 is the Bootstrap record definition.
511 The third unique feature, which is currently (1.30) unimplemented, and
512 thus can be called vaporware :-), is Base level saves. When
513 implemented, this will enormously reduce tape usage.
516 \section{How can I force one job to run after another?}
517 \item [If I Run Multiple Simultaneous Jobs, How Can I Force One
518 Particular Job to Run After Another Job? ]
519 \index[general]{Multiple Simultaneous Jobs}
520 Yes, you can set Priorities on your jobs so that they run in the order you
522 \bsysxrlink{the Priority record}{Priority}{main}{chapter} of the \mainman{} in
526 \section{I Am Not Getting Email Notification, What Can I Do? }
527 \item [I Am Not Getting Email Notification, What Can I Do? ]
528 \index[general]{No Email Notification}
529 The most common problem is that you have not specified a fully qualified
530 email address and your bsmtp server is rejecting the mail. The next
531 most common problem is that your bsmtp server doesn't like the syntax on
532 the From part of the message. For more details on this and other
533 problems, please see the \ilink{Getting Email Notification to
534 Work}{email} section of the Tips chapter of this manual. The section
535 \ilink{ Getting Notified of Job Completion}{notification} of the Tips
536 chapter may also be useful. For more information on the {\bf bsmtp}
537 mail program, please see \bsysxrlink{bsmtp}{bsmtp}{utility}{command} in the
541 \section{My retention periods don't work}
542 \item [I Change Recycling, Retention Periods, or File Sizes in my Pool
543 Resource and they Still Don't Work.]
544 \index[general]{Recycling}
545 \index[general]{Retention Periods}
546 \index[general]{Pool changes}
547 The different variables associated with a Pool are defined in the Pool
548 Resource, but are actually read by Bacula from the Catalog database. On
549 Bacula versions prior to 1.30, after changing your Pool Resource, you must
550 manually update the corresponding values in the Catalog by using the {\bf
551 update pool} command in the Console program. In Bacula version 1.30, Bacula
552 does this for you automatically every time it starts.
554 When Bacula creates a Media record (Volume), it uses many default values from
555 the Pool record. If you subsequently change the Pool record, the new values
556 will be used as a default for the next Volume that is created, but if you
557 want the new values to apply to existing Volumes, you must manually update
558 the Volume Catalog entry using the {\bf update volume} command in the Console
561 \label{CompressionNotWorking}
562 \section{Why aren't my files compressed?}
563 \item [I Have Configured Compression On, But None of My Files Are
565 \index[general]{Compression}
566 There are two kinds of compression. One is tape compression. This is done by
567 the tape drive hardware, and you either enable or disable it with system
568 tools such as {\bf mt}. This compression works independently of Bacula,
569 and when it is enabled, you should not use the Bacula software
572 Bacula also has software compression code in the File daemons, which you
573 normally need to enable only when backing up to file Volumes. There are
574 two conditions necessary to enable the Bacula software compression.
577 \item You must have the zip development libraries loaded on your system
578 when building Bacula and Bacula must find this library, normally {\bf
579 /usr/lib/libz.a}. On Red Hat systems, this library is provided by the
580 {\bf zlib-devel} rpm.
582 If the library is found by Bacula during the {\bf ./configure} it will
583 be mentioned in the {\bf config.out} line by:
592 \item You must add the {\bf compression=gzip} option on your Include
593 statement in the Director's configuration file.
597 \item [Bacula is Asking for a New Tape After 2 GB of Data but My Tape
599 \index[general]{Tape capacity}
600 There are several reasons why Bacula will request a new tape.
603 \item There is an I/O error on the tape. Bacula prints an error message and
604 requests a new tape. Bacula does not attempt to continue writing after an
606 \item Bacula encounters and end of medium on the tape. This is not always
607 distinguishable from an I/O error.
608 \item You have specifically set some size limitation on the tape. For example
609 the {\bf Maximum Volume Bytes} or {\bf Maximum Volume Files} in the
610 Director's Pool resource, or {\bf Maximum Volume Size} in the Storage
611 daemon's Device resource.
614 \label{LevelChanging}
615 \section{Incremental backups are not working}
616 \item [Bacula is Not Doing the Right Thing When I Request an Incremental
618 \index[general]{Incremental backups}
619 As explained in one of the previous questions, Bacula will automatically
620 upgrade an Incremental or Differential job to a Full backup if it cannot
621 find a prior Full backup or a suitable Full backup. For the gory
622 details on how/when Bacula decides to upgrade levels please see the
623 \bsysxrlink{Level record}{Level}{main}{chapter} in the \mainman{}.
625 If after reading the above mentioned section, you believe that Bacula is not
626 correctly handling the level (Differential/Incremental), please send us the
627 following information for analysis:
630 \item Your Director's configuration file.
631 \item The output from {\bf list jobs} covering the period where you are
633 \item The Job report output from the prior Full save (not critical).
634 \item An {\bf llist jobid=nnn} where nnn is the JobId of the prior Full save.
636 \item The Job report output from the save that is doing the wrong thing (not
638 \item An {\bf llist jobid=nnn} where nnn is the JobId of the job that was not
640 \item An explanation of what job went wrong and why you think it did.
643 The above information can allow us to analyze what happened, without it,
644 there is not much we can do.
647 \section{I am waiting forever for a backup of an offsite machine}
648 \item [I am Backing Up an Offsite Machine with an Unreliable Connection.
649 The Director Waits Forever for the Client to Contact the SD. What Can I
651 \index[general]{Backing Up Offsite Machines}
652 Bacula was written on the assumption that it will have a good TCP/IP
653 connection between all the daemons. As a consequence, the current
654 Bacula doesn't deal with faulty connections very well. This situation
655 is slowly being corrected over time.
657 There are several things you can do to improve the situation.
660 \item Upgrade to version 1.32 and use the new SDConnectTimeout record. For
665 SD Connect Timeout = 5 min
670 in the FileDaemon resource.
671 \item Run these kinds of jobs after all other jobs.
675 \section{SSH hangs forever after starting Bacula}
676 \item [When I ssh into a machine and start Bacula then attempt to exit,
678 \index[general]{ssh hangs}
679 This happens because Bacula leaves stdin, stdout, and stderr open for
680 debug purposes. To avoid it, the simplest thing to do is to redirect
681 the output of those files to {\bf /dev/null} or another file in your
682 startup script (the Red Hat autostart scripts do this automatically).
683 For example, you start the Director with:
687 bacula-dir -c bacula-dir.conf ... >/dev/null 0>\&1 2>\&1
692 and likewise for the other daemons.
694 \label{RetentionPeriods}
695 \section{I'm confused by retention periods}
696 \item [I'm confused by the different Retention periods: File Retention,
697 Job Retention, Volume Retention. Why are there so many?]
698 \index[general]{Retention Periods}
699 Yes, this certainly can be confusing. The basic reason for so many is
700 to allow flexibility. The File records take quite a lot of space in the
701 catalog, so they are typically records you want to remove rather
702 quickly. The Job records, take very little space, and they can be
703 useful even without the File records to see what Jobs actually ran and
704 when. One must understand that if the File records are removed from the
705 catalog, you cannot use the {\bf restore} command to restore an
706 individual file since Bacula no longer knows where it is. However, as
707 long as the Volume Retention period has not expired, the data will still
708 be on the tape, and can be recovered from the tape.
710 For example, I keep a 30 day retention period for my Files to keep my
711 catalog from getting too big, but I keep my tapes for a minimum of one
714 \label{MaxVolumeSize}
715 \section{MaxVolumeSize is ignored}
716 \item [Why Does Bacula Ignore the MaxVolumeSize Set in my Pool?]
717 \index[general]{MaxVolumeSize}
718 The MaxVolumeSize that Bacula uses comes from the Media record, so most
719 likely you changed your Pool, which is used as the default for creating
720 Media records, {\bf after} you created your Volume. Check what is in
721 the Media record by doing:
729 If it doesn't have the right value, you can use:
739 \label{ConnectionRefused}
740 \section{I get a Connection refused when connecting to my Client}
741 \item [In connecting to my Client, I get "ERR:Connection Refused. Packet
742 Size too big from File daemon:192.168.1.4:9102" Why?]
743 \index[general]{ERR:Connection Refused}
744 This is typically a communications error resulting from one of the
749 \item Old versions of Bacula, usually a Win32 client, where two threads were
750 using the same I/O packet. Fixed in more recent versions. Please upgrade.
751 \item Some other program such as an HP Printer using the same port (9102 in
755 If it is neither of the above, please submit a bug report at
756 \elink{bugs.bacula.org}{http://bugs.bacula.org}.
758 Another solution might be to run the daemon with the debug option by:
762 Start a DOS shell Window.
764 bacula-fd -d100 -c c:\bacula\bin\bacula-fd.conf
769 This will cause the FD to write a file {\bf bacula.trace} in the current
770 directory, which you can examine to determine the problem.
772 \section{Long running jobs die with Pipe Error}
773 \item [During long running jobs my File daemon dies with Pipe Error, or
774 some other communications error. Why?]
775 \index[general]{Communications Errors}
776 \index[general]{Pipe Errors}
777 \index[general]{slow}
778 \index[general]{Backups!slow}
779 There are a number of reasons why a connection might break.
780 Most often, it is a router between your two computers that times out
781 inactive lines (not respecting the keepalive feature that Bacula uses).
782 In that case, you can use the {\bf Heartbeat Interval} directive in
783 both the Storage daemon and the File daemon.
785 In at least one case, the problem has been a bad driver for a Win32
786 NVidia NForce 3 ethernet card with driver (4.4.2 17/05/2004).
787 In this case, a good driver is (4.8.2.0 06/04/2005). Moral of
788 the story, make sure you have the latest ethernet drivers
789 loaded, or use the following workaround as suggested by Thomas
790 Simmons for Win32 machines:
793 Start \gt{} Control Panel \gt{} Network Connections
795 Right click the connection for the nvidia adapter and select properties.
796 Under the General tab, click "Configure...". Under the Advanced tab set
797 "Checksum Offload" to disabled and click OK to save the change.
799 Lack of communications, or communications that get interrupted can
800 also be caused by Linux firewalls where you have a rule that throttles
801 connections or traffic. For example, if you have:
805 iptables -t filter -A INPUT -m limit --limit 3/second --limit-burst 3 -j DROP
809 you will want to add the following rules {\bf before} the above rule:
812 iptables -t filter -A INPUT --dport 9101 -j ACCEPT
813 iptables -t filter -A INPUT --dport 9102 -j ACCEPT
814 iptables -t filter -A INPUT --dport 9103 -j ACCEPT
817 This will ensure that any Bacula traffic will not get terminated because
820 \section{How do I tell the Job which Volume to use?}
821 \item[I can't figure out how to tell the job which volume to use]
822 \index[general]{What tape to mount}
823 This is an interesting statement. I now see that a number of people new to
824 Bacula have the same problem as you, probably from using programs like tar.
826 In fact, you do not tell Bacula what tapes to use. It is the inverse. Bacula
827 tells you want tapes it wants. You put tapes at its disposition and it
830 Now, if you *really* want to be tricky and try to tell Bacula what to do, it
831 will be reasonable if for example you mount a valid tape that it can use on a
832 drive, it will most likely go ahead and use it. It also has a documented
833 algorithm for choosing tapes -- but you are asking for problems ...
835 So, the trick is to invert your concept of things and put Bacula in charge of
836 handling the tapes. Once you do that, you will be fine. If you want to
837 anticipate what it is going to do, you can generally figure it out correctly
838 and get what you want.
840 If you start with the idea that you are going to force or tell Bacula to use
841 particular tapes or you insist on trying to run in that kind of mode, you will
842 probably not be too happy.
844 I don't want to worry about what tape has what data. That is what Bacula is
847 If you have an application where you *really* need to remove a tape each day
848 and insert a new one, it can be done the directives exist to accomplish that.
849 In such a case, one little "trick" to knowing what tape Bacula will want at
850 2am while you are asleep is to run a tiny job at 4pm while you are still at
851 work that backs up say one directory, or even one file. You will quickly find
852 out what tape it wants, and you can mount it before you go home ...
854 \label{Password generation}
855 \section{Password generation}
856 \item [How do I generate a password?]
857 \index[general]{MaxVolumeSize}
859 Each daemon needs a password. This password occurs in the configuration
860 file for that daemon and in the bacula-dir.conf file. These passwords are
861 plain text. There is no special generation procedure. Most people just
864 Passwords are never sent over the wire in plain text. They are always
867 Security surrounding these passwords is best left security to your
868 operating system. Passwords are not encrypted within Bacula