Arcserve 2000 performing Full instead of Incremental backups 1

[dadragon]

Hi all,
I running arcserve 2000 on my NT4 sp6 server, I am using GFS rotation scheme. I have a job which (in theory!!) should run an incremental backup Mon-Thurs and a full on Friday. However its running a full backup every night??? If you look at the calendar view of the scheduled job it says that incremental jobs are scheduled for the next days etc. But the following morning the calendar shows a full backup scheduled again for that night. I have all up to date service packs for Arc serve installed. I have had lengthy conversations with their tech support only to be told at the end "keep an eye out for a patch!?!?!?!"
I have tried deleting and recreating the job but it still happens. The backup job is finished fully and says completed in the job status window, Whatdyareckon?????
Any one else had this issue or similar any ideas????
Thanks
Babula

 

[jimpames]

Install the driver for NT to print to a file (GENERIC/text only). Make this printer the default for now.
Bring up the Arcserve job queue manager and highlight the job in question.
On the bottom left of the screen there will be a job details tab.
Click into the job details window.
Right click the job details and print the text in the window to a file.
Post the text file here to Tek-Tips and I'll help you figure out where the trouble is.
Jim P. Ames

http://www.jimpames.com

jimpames@hotmail.com

 

[dadragon]

Hi James,
I haven't been able to post the file I think its to big so I have mailed it to your hotmail account.
Hope to have more luck there
Babula

 

[jimpames]

Barbara,
This is your ACTUAL scheme:

Auto Pilot Set Name : CTEL

Rotation Scheme Name : <5 day weekly incremental backup, full
backup on Friday, with GFS enabled>

Method
-------
Incremental, Based on Archive Bit

Sunday : No Backup

Monday : Incremental, Based on Archive Bit

Tuesday : Incremental, Based on Archive Bit

Wednesday : Incremental, Based on Archive Bit

Thursday : Incremental, Based on Archive Bit

Friday : Full Backup

Saturday : No Backup

The first time you run this job, it will run as a full.
When the job runs again on Mon-Thu, it will run as an incremental, IF THERE IS A SUCCESSFUL FULL ALREADY COMPLETED.
On Friday, it will run as a full.
If one of the targets FAILS, because of security problems, agent problems, network problems,or system availability problems, the flag to run as an incremental the next time will not be set.
The job will continue to run as a FULL until all of the targets have been backed up as a full.
There must be a FULL backup for the system to base the subsequent incrementals upon.
You have discovered an issue with jobs containing many targets. Examine your historic job logs closely, and I believe you will see that at least one or more targets is failing.
***********************************
To avoid this issue, create more jobs, with fewer targets each.
*******************************************
For instance, backup the C$ share instead of all of these individual shares.
*******************************************
Let me know what you think, and send me a job log.
*************
Another possibility is that some other program is resetting your archive bits - remote, but possible.
********************
As a tip, please keep in mind that the &quot;rotation scheme name&quot; is just that - a scheme name. It is not a definition of how the job will run, it is a tool to populate fields on the schedule tab. If someone sets all of the nights to run as fulls, and saves that scheme as &quot;incremental GFS&quot;, the jobs will still run as fulls. Do not be mislead by the &quot;scheme name field&quot;. This is just an informative tip for a confusing area of Arcserve, it really has nothing to do with your issue today.
Sincerely,
Jim Ames
Jim P. Ames

http://www.jimpames.com

jimpames@hotmail.com

 

[dadragon]

Hi James,
Thanks for the response, will take your advice and try splitting the job into four seperate jobs to see if that helps identify the problem.
I will be running a full monthly backup tonight and will set up seperate jobs on Monday, will keep you posted and will forward the logs.
Have a good weekend,
Thanks again for your help
Babs