Need help from other Network Administrators!
Have you ever asked a question so simple no one can answer it? I am running Echo Workstation Build 8398 on XP Professional workstations and a SBS 2008 Server. I want the users to be able to manually start a task to back up their computers to a network share but then have absolutely no access to it. If something needs restored I will do it. I don't want the users in there messing around with and/or deleting their backups. First off is this a strange, abnormal request?
Anyway... I created a network share (WrkstnBackups) and only gave domain administrators access to it. I know from doing it that one of the very last pages on writing a task is where you can enter credentials to access the network share. I would enter the domain administrator credentials. The user would never see the password so I felt it to be safe. This job would back the workstation up to the shared folder but wouldn't let the users browse to it and play with the backup. Just what I wanted.
But ... early on in writing the task is asks the user where he wants to back up and the name of the backup file. It won't let you past that page because the user doesn't have access to that share. So I guess the first obvious question is why would they let you supply credentials for the share on one of the last pages of the task but not let you get that far because to have to have credentials to the share to specify where to create the back in the first place. Seems like a pretty big flaw in logic.
That question absolutely floored three different techs in chat. All they finally came back with the response "because that is the way the program was designed". As everyone know that simply means they had no clue. Then we continued on and I asked where tasks get their credentials. I asked "is it stored with the task". The initial response was "no". Then there was a 45 minute delay and "I would like to correct my answer. Yes the credentials are stored with the task."
Then I asked "well if the credentials are stored with the task then why can't a normal user run a task I have written as administrator"? We were in an infinite loop at this point. Can any of you network administrators enlighten me on where a task gets its credentials and how to accomplish my original goal?
Thanks Mark. I found out when chatting with support that I had to be syntactically correct. By Admin you mean local administrator correct? Your definition of manual task makes sense. Here is another question that completely threw support for a loop as far as scheduled tasks... Let's say I log in to the workstation as a local administrator and create the task to run in the wee hours of the morning. Everyone logs off that workstation and goes home. In the wee hours of the morning the scheduled task starts. How does the task get its credentials?
I asked support if the credentials were stored with the task and was first told no. Then there was about 45 minutes of silence and the tech responded with "I wish to correct myself. The credentials are are stored with te task". So then I asked "If the credentials are stored with the task then shouldn't a local user (not local administrator) run the task and have it work? There was not response to that. I think I made them actually think about it.
There is no place in writing the task where it asks you for credentials as far as running the job. Even though I can't get support to answer this question (because they don't know) my guess would be that the credentials are "supplied" when scheduling the job i.e. when the job is scheduled it schedules it with the credentials of the person that scheduled it. Thoughts?
If that were the case your senario would fit. Since manual jobs do not use the Acronis Scheduler the only credentials available on a manual task would be the credentials of the user manually starting the task. The "Acronis Scheduler" would remember the credentials of the user that scheduled the job and invoke those credentials when the task kicks off. Is what I am saying and asking making any sense?
Jim,
You mention in your first post about scheduling a task - But ... early on in writing the task is asks the user where he wants to back up and the name of the backup file.
Why would you want the user to be able to do that in your scenario? Surely that is the Admin's role.
I think the answer to your problem might lie with fiddling with the Acronis Backup group user permission entries.
Hi Bodgy. I don't want the user to do anything but click on the pre-written task and run it. The initial question was with respect to a flaw in logic. I was the one writing the task logged in as this user. Acronis gives you the ability at the very end of the task to supply credentials to access the share but three screens before that its asks you where you want to back up and since the user doesn't have access to the share you can't get off that screen to the latter screen where you can supply credentials to access the share. Makes no sense to me.
The way I have done it before is logging in to the workstation as a domain administrator, write the task and supply valid credentials to the share, log out and log back in as the user. Then the user can manually run the task. It isn't working this time. When I log back in as the user and run the task it tells me I can't access the share even though I have supplied domain administrator credentials in the task to access it.
I have a feeling it can only be one of two things. 1) It is the first time I have tried it with Echo Workstation Build 8398 (larest and greatest) or 2) It is the first time I have tried it on a SBS 2008 server. The part about credentials used when the task runs was kind of an off shoot of the original question.
Hi Jim. are you using the trueimagecmd script? if yes then you should provide login/password for the share in the script. For example /net_user:domain\administrator and /net_password:password. That should (might) work.