GFI Mail Essentials

[hbalf1]

Hi
we have W2K SBS (all patched and SP'd) and backup Exec v9 for SBS. I installed GFI MAil Essentials for a disclaimer and now my backup fails as below:

OFO: Initialization failure on: "C:". Advanced Open File Option used: Veritas Volume Snapshot Provider (VSP).
OFO: Unable to get minimum quiet time window for physical volume.
OFO: Initialization failure on: "D:". Advanced Open File Option used: Veritas Volume Snapshot Provider (VSP).
OFO: Unable to get minimum quiet time window for physical volume.
OFO: Initialization failure on: "E:". Advanced Open File Option used: Veritas Volume Snapshot Provider (VSP).
OFO: Unable to get minimum quiet time window for physical volume.

Has any-one had this before, or knows a work around?
Thanks
Harry

 

[hbalf1]

hi
I tried setting the minimun wait for idle time in the OF Agent wizard down to 2 seconds, but this did not make a difference.
Harry

 

[ngagne]

Read the GFI manual. It tells you to exclude certain directories from backup and AV. This may be the cause of your problem.

 

[hbalf1]

ngagne
I have tired the exclusions, but they do not help either
Harry

 

[tfrey]

I have encountered this same issue and unfortunately have not exactly found a work around. I'm running both Mail Essentials & Mail Security on my Exchange 2K Server and am seeing the exact same thing when trying to do backups using BENT.
It appears that no matter what time-out/wait setting you set in BENT it makes no difference. Also it doesn't matter if you exclude the directories or not. I've been round & round with GFI and they are of no help.
Thus far, this is the only way that I've been able to get a complete backup.
Stop any GFI services and wait several minutes, then kick off the backup and all works fine. I have had issues however with the mail server crashing for no apparent reason so I am not comfortable with this method. Generally after the backup completes instead of restarting the services I restart the machine. Definitely not the ideal way of doing things. I created some pre/post scripts to run before & after the backups to automatically stop/restart the services but because of the unexpected crashes stopped trying this method also. What I actually did last night because I had two system crashes mid-stream during the backup was use NT Backup and backup to another network drive off of that machine, then backup that backup file using BENT. Again not the solution but perhaps another approach.
If anybody else has any thoughts/suggestions I'd like to hear them.

 

[Zelandakh]

If it is affecting C, D and E, it is unlikely to be GFi. I run it with BE quite happily without those errors. Export your GFi settings or copy the folders, uninstall it and then see what happens. Then you can always reinstall and drop the folders over the top afterwards.

Why are you backing up those folders? To get a DR server to restore from BE you'd need them up and running anyway. Could just do a sysvol backup plus specific stuff?

 

[jmcgregor]

I am having the same problem on a server that doesn't run mail essentials, I think it may just be a lack of RAM in the server. This server only has 256MB and is used for document management. I will upgrade it and see what happens. I wonder if your server has a shortage of RAM?
John McGregor

 

[partybus]

We are using Backup Exec from the last version 8. Remarkable issue is that this happens now and then; not always. Recently we discovered that one of the Service packs from Microsoft for W2k server issued a memory leak in our Mail server. This is a known issue. I compare with the message from jmcgregor that there can be a lack of memory or youmust diagnose your network traffic and network card settings. We use Intel Pro 1000 MT adapters; not upgraded with the last drivers and giving issues as well. I suggest to run GFI Lanquard to troubleshoot the network first. Let's keep updated.

 

[raz11]

I found the solution to the probelm, GFI by default is running with debug logging on, and thus is creating lots of activity. See their explanation on how to disable the debug logging:

When debug logging is enabled, MailEssentials will log information on each email which can be used for troubleshooting purposes. The debug logs will be located in the <GFI\MailEssentials\debuglogs> directory. When MailEssentials is working correctly, debug logging can safely be disabled.

Enabling and disabling debug logging in MailEssentials can be done from the registry as follows:

Stop the MailEssentials services and the IIS Admin service taking note of the dependencies stopped.
Open regedit (Start -> Run -> Type ‘Regedit’ and press Enter)
Change to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\GFI Fax & Voice\ME9\Config]
A dword value named ‘debug’ should be found in this location. If the value does not exist a new DWORD value called ‘debug’ should be created manually.
Change the ‘debug’ dword value as follows:
• To disable debug logging, change the ‘debug’ dword value to ‘0’
• To enable debug logging, change the ‘debug’ dword value to ‘1’
Close Regedit
Restart the services stopped in (1), including services dependant on the IIS Admin service


Now, there is still a file which is accessed quite often, called CHKLIC10.TXT, but if you reduce the min quite time to 3 seconds you can get the OFO to work. I guess this file has something to do with the license type, i am still at the demo period, maybe it goes away after purchase.

 

[hbalf1]

Raz11
Thanks, I will try it out and le tyou know (may take me some time.)
Harry

 

[Zelandakh]

i don't get it and am licenced. maybe that is the difference...