Shadow Error when performing Backup

[ASTUK]

Hello all. I've inherited a BCM400 (4.0.2.21d) which we're having a problem with getting a clean Backup out of.

I've had a look at other peoples posts regarding the "Shadow Error" problem, which seems to suggest a dead/dying disk, but having performed a reboot tonight, and the system coming back up cleanly, but still not letting me take a Backup, I'm not sure in our scenario that it is a duff disk.

We do have support with BT in the UK for the BCM, but sadly, the support engineers are scratching their heads, and not being especially helpful. Avaya have cast the BCM400 into the great comms cupboard in the sky, and likewise have been 0% help.

Now, whilst attempting to take a backup of the unit. I've unselected all the options (IVR, CallPilot) etc, just to get a backup of the BCM bare "Core Telephony" system. When it gets to "Call Detail Recording : Gathering Data" it then halts and throws the "Shadow Error" (12021 alarm). I'm able to take an FTP copy of the Logs, and as i discovered, i managed to Push "some" of the CDR Data to my FTP Server, and selected the "Delete Files After Transfer" to see if this would clear the system out a bit to let me take a backup. No Dice. :-(

If i examine the log files, i see a whole stack of files in the /var/shadow/application/cdr folders dating back a few years. We have no use for CDR here (we don't monitor calls or any such, just use the phones in it's barest sense really, 1 CCR tree, CallPilot Mailboxes etc). I'd love to be able to just SSH in and whip those files out, but... nnsupport requires password of the day, and I've heard this can cost muchos deniro, plus the likelyhood of BT/Avaya actually letting me get that far (and I have asked them) isn't good either.

So, given the Shadow Error problem, and our desire to get a backup before something drastic does happen to our BCM, do I have any options available? I have got a replacement disk for the BCM400 (not sure about which version of software it has), but without a backup I'm loathed to swap the disk, only to lose my entire configuration (and my License Keys etc) and have to rebuild from scratch.

Has anyone else been in this situation? Any advice?

Kind Regards

Adrian

 

[ucxguy]

The location /var/shadow is actually a separate partition on the hard disk (specifically, it's /dev/sda7). This partition is used for one purpose only - to take a snapshot of the data that is to be backed up. It is supposed to be cleaned up once the backup is completed. My guess is that a failed backup left some old CDR files behind and these files unfortunately disallow the creation of a new snapshot.

On a freshly installed system, the partition contains nothing else but two empty directories - nn and lost+found. Thus, removing everything else that is present on the 7th partition should in theory resolve your issue (and also should be safe).

If it was my system, it would do the following:
1. Remove the hard drive from the BCM
2. Connect the drive to a SATA interface on a Linux machine (assuming you have already a SATA drive on that system, the BCM drive would then be /dev/sdb)
3. Mount the 7th parition of the BCM hard drive
mkdir /mnt/bcm
mount /dev/sdb7 /mnt/bcm
4. Remove all files under /mnt/bcm with the exception of the directories /mnt/bcm/nn and /mnt/bcm/lost+found
cd /mnt/bcm
rm -fR nn/* lost+found/* var .... (include all other directories/files that happen to be on that partition)
5. Unmount the BCM partition and remove the directory that you created for it
cd
umount /mnt/bcm
rmdir /mnt/bcm
6. Put the drive back into your BCM and try to do the backup again

To be safe, you may consider creating a backup of the BCM drive by cloning the current hard drive (using Acronis, Clonezilla, Ghost or some tool like that) and using the clone for your experiments.

Good luck!

 

[Firebird Scrambler]

Adrian the previous reply was very useful and full of interesting information. Were you able to do a backup without saving the CDR data?. It's the CDR data that fills up the backup files.

If you already have a previous backup, then it's possible to recover the licence file, or it can be obtained from the hard disk. Also the site ID can be obtained that way.[highlight #FCE94F][/highlight]

All the best

Firebird Scrambler
Meridian 1 / Succession and BCM / Norstar Programmer in the UK

http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbromley

If it's working, then leave it alone!.

 

[ASTUK]

Hi, thanks for that information, that was kind of my next course of action.

I tried various means of backing up without CDR information, but couldn't get it to backup without it. Likewise Push/Pulling the CDR information seperately didn't clear all of it out, so think mounting the disk in a seperate box is my next options. Just a quick query, before i try and crowbar the BCM400 out of the Telco Rack it's in, can the BCM 400 boot up of a Linux Live USB OS, to save me having to strip it out (unlikely i know but worth a check!).

We don't unfortunately have any previous backup (logs show that it did backup earlier in the year, but someone with twitch fingers must have removed the file from the network server it resided on)

We've got Acronis here, so I'm going to take a copy of the new 20Gb Hard Disk I have here, then image the old disk to the new one, and clear the files off that (leaving my original intact, just incase!) and see how that goes.

Now just need to get my Change approved, and get some outage time!

Thanks for the help guys

Adrian

 

[Firebird Scrambler]

If you want to contact me off line, then I can provide you with some more information.

All the best

Firebird Scrambler
Meridian 1 / Succession and BCM / Norstar Programmer in the UK

http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbromley

If it's working, then leave it alone!.

 

[ASTUK]

Great, any help would be much appreciated! Have sent a LI request..

Adrian Sahota

http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/adrian-sahota/6/603/518

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/adrian-sahota/6/603/518

 

[ucxguy]

Actually, it just occurred to me that - if my memory serves me - for BCM400, Nortel used 20GB PATA drives. My post above would be valid for BCM50R1 and up, which all use SATA drives. For BCM400, you'd have to connect the drive to a PATA controller - the drive would then appear under Linux as /dev/hda or /dev/hdb.