Automatic Consolidation not working - True Image 2014
Hello,
I've been having issues with the "Automatic Consolidation" settings when using "Incremental" "Disk Backup". I have set "Number of backup versions exceeds" to 5 as to not fill up the backup drive, since it does not seem to be removing the old backups by itself (which i had previously selected). Now the problem i am having is that some computers are still keeping more than 5 backups, and others hang on the "Consolidating" stage at the end of the backup process. Also for those that have kept more than 5, i tried on a couple of them to set "Number of backup versions exceeds" to 2, and in this case it also hangs on the "Consolidating" stage. To clarify, by hang i mean the backup process keeps running saying "Consolidating" and never finalizes. I know for a fact this feature can work fine as i have used it in other offices i provide IT services for with the exact same version and build of Acronis True Image 2014, under the same type of environment.
A couple of the computers do work fine, but most have issues. As a result i have to constantly babysit backups and aren't even sure i can trust them.
I erased backup settings and re-created them twice so far, on all the workstations, and it keeps happening.
Environment:
- All computers running Acronis True Image 2014 Premium, Build 6673
- 1 Windows 2003 Server running on a Dell PowerEdge, Intel Xeon X3450 @ 2.66GHz, 8GB RAM, Backup drive is a Seagate External 3TB USB Drive
- 10+ Workstations (ranging between Intel Core 2 Duo with 3GB RAM to Intel Core i5 with 4GB RAM)
- LAN, ethernet, Cat5e, 100mbps network, all computers are connected to the same 24 port D-Link switch (non managed). Its a small office so the network cables are all under 20 meters in length.
- Backups are anywhere between 40-600GB per Workstation.
Thanks,
Alex Akrabov
This link can help. Note some of the PL?? links. Each of the PL?? links has something to offer in your situation.
The clue to your success is to understand how to set the backup scheme correctly the first time and leave it alone without any further changes.
Remember to "keep 5 recent version chains" means keep 5 fulls plus all the incrementasl with each chain. If keeping full +6 inc(chain length=7), then keeping 5 recents means keeping 5x 7 or 35 tib files before the first deletion is scheduled to occur.
Thanks for the information guys, i will look over the documentation within the next day or two and hopefully resolve my issue.
Grover's Guides are indeed very helpful, many thanks to him for putting them together. I believe i got the information i need from them.
I will stay away from consolidation options as suggested, this makes sence.
I have attached 2 images:
- http://forum.acronis.com/system/files/ti_current_config.png is as you can imagine how my settings are currently
- http://forum.acronis.com/system/files/ti_new_config.png is how i would like to configure it, are these settings OK? Any suggestions are welcome.
Considering the changes i will be making and according to my calculations i should have enough space on the backup drive for everything, as long as it keeps each backup to 12 files.
My question is, can i make changes to the settings of my current backups, or should i erase all of those and configure them from scratch?
In general terms I think the consensus here on the Forum would be to create new tasks and discard the old. It is possible to edit tasks but doing so can bring issues along with that.
I am sure Grover will chime in here on this as well.
I thought so too. The only issue ive had when re-creating tasks is the following:
- I erase a old backup setting which had 117 backups for example, erasing the settings in Acronis TI, and manually erasing the files on the server.
- I create a new task (giving it a new name, saving to the same network location), once it's completed it's first backup will all of a sudden tells me there are 117 versions, meaning its mixing it up with the old backup setting.
Aside from this are the settings I would like to set the new backups correctly configured http://forum.acronis.com/system/files/ti_new_config.png?
Thanks
Thanks Enchantech.
Alex,
In my opinion, the editing of a task is one of the biggest causes of problems with backup management. I recommend you avoid the edit--except may for scheduling changes. When task configuration changes needed, stop using the problem task and create a new task with a different name and point storage to a differenet folder or sub-folder. Each new task is to be have its own individual name and storage location. One folder can have many sub-folders with each sub-folder dedicated to a different task.
Your proposed backup scheme will work like this.
1 Full plus 5 incrementals equals 6 backups per chain. A new full will occur every 7th backup upon the prior completion of 6 backups.
"STore 2 recent verson chains" will retain 12 backups (2 chains x 6 files per chain) .
AFter 12 tib files have been retained, a new full (backup #13) will occur causing the 12 quota to be exceeded,
thus the completion of backup #13, will cause the immediate deletion of the oldest chain of 6 files.
thus, the automatic deletion of the oldest chain will occur after each future Full backup with never more than 13 newest files retained.
Ongoing Storage space needed for 3 fulls plus 10 incrementals
Excellent.
Finally, since it will be doing a full backup every 7th backup, what will happen in the case this full backup is still not done at the time next incremental backup is scheduled to run? I ask because a couple of the computers have 600GB+ of data to backup and that sometimes takes more than 24 hours (depending on network traffic), and i have the backups set to run daily.
Alex,
I don't know for sure. What I would expect to happen is that since only one can be running, the upcoming backup should go into queue and await the completion of the current backup. It might help if the Full were to occur on different days from differnet computers so that not all FULL occur on the same day.
That's a good idea, thanks for all the help.
Hello,
Another question GroverH. If a backup is still running when a computer is shut down, i believe this screen comes on: https://forum.acronis.com/ja/system/files/forum/2010/08/13816/shutdowno…
I am worried this might be an issue on days a full backup is scheduled to run (every 7th day). If some users shut down computers at the end of the workday and the backup is still not complete, will it complete? Is it's better to just instruct them to always keep computers on?
Also, how can i tell in Acronis True Image which one of the backup versions is the full one when i go to recover or to just monitor?
A backup in progress during a shutdown will fail and need to restarted manuall later, otherwise backup will wait until next scheduled time;
or can be configured to start over from beginning at next startup.
Other possibilities.
1. Remind user with a text message that backup is starting. Message can be delivered via Windows messaging or TrueImage Pre/Post Pre command propt.
2. Or use the TI Scheduleing Shutdown command to have the backup run each shutdown.
3. Or, Use a TI Pre/post Post Command to shut down the system every night automatically following completion of the backup.
Thanks for the info.
How can i tell in Acronis True Image which one of the backup versions is the full one when i go to recover or to just monitor?
The tib backup files inside the storage folder will be identified with "full" or "inc" or "dif" which will indicate the type of backup the tib files contains.
If you restore a backup, you will want to start over with new backup tasks and create new full and new inc.l
Once a restore has been made, the exisiting backups are out of synce to reuse of the same task.
Ill keep that in mind.
Best,
Alex
Hi again,
I have done as you recommended:
On the server, for each user/workstation:
1. I removed any old backup files from the shared folder i am backing up to
2. I deleted that folder
3. I created a new folder and shared it, using a different folder & share name
On the workstations:
1. I deleted the backup task in Acronis TI on each workstation
2. I created a new backup task with these settings: http://forum.acronis.com/system/files/ti_new_config.png
3. Ran the new backup
Most workstations backed up correctly this time (not recognizing any old backups) and under "Versions", after the 1st backup run it shows "1", which is good. I then ran these a second time and is shows "2", also correct.
Two of the backups which are bigger in size however showed more than 1 version after the first run.
For example, here: http://forum.acronis.com/system/files/acronisrecovererror_0.png
This backup showed 5 versions after the 1st run, and 6 versions after the 2nd run. As you can see in the folder, it looks like its performing the backup correctly (there are 2 files, 1 full and 1 inc), however if i click on "Recover" i get that error.
How can i get Acronis TI to permanently forget previous backup tasks this workstation has done? Seems deleting the task is not sufficient. I tried pasting that event code into http://kb.acronis.com/errorcode and it doesn't find anything.
Thanks,
Alex
The xml history file s out of sync. This is the cause of the numbers mismatach. Delete this xml file and start over as per below. Otherwise, do an uninstall, run the cleanup utility and reinstall.
To clear out all backup tasks so the history file starts over fresh. The tib files are not affected and remain untouched in their storage folders.
No tasks will remain and new tasks will need to be recreated. Remember, editing existing tasks are cause for the task to malfunction. Once the task is in use, make no further changes to the task. If changes needed, start a new task and stop using the old task.
How to delete the Archives.xml file
Prior to deleting the archives.xml file, Acronis has unofficially suggested that you first
01) Stop the program.
02) Stop all acronis services.
3) select "show hidden files and folders"
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/show-hidden-files#show-hidden
4) delete following folders:
C:\ProgramData\Acronis\Home\Database
C:\ProgramData\Acronis\TrueImageHome\ArchiveOptions
C:\ProgramData\Acronis\TrueImageHome\Database
C:\ProgramData\Acronis\TrueImageHome\Scripts
5) start Acronis services
6) start Acronis True Image 2014 and add backups
http://www.acronis.com/en-us/support/documentation/ATIH2014/#3504.html
7) check if it solves the issue
I'll try that, thanks.
That seems to have worked, you're a lifesaver!