Veritas Backup Exec 9.0 - Backup job completes but won't stop
In the last week or so, 4 of the last 5 backup jobs have done this. According to the log, the backup goes thru all the files it's supposed to back up successfully. Then, instead of ending the job, it just sits there active until someone cancels it. Once it's been canceled, it's listed in the Job History as "Canceled, timed out", even though the automatic cancellation didn't occur.
I've done some searching here, Google, Veritas, Symantec, & other places and can't seem to find any clues. I suspect something has changed to cause this, but I can't figure out what. At least I can take heart in the fact that we are getting good backups, as long as someone cancels the active job after it finishes so the next night's job will run.
Any ideas are much appreciated. If you need more detail just ask and ye shall receive.
I don't ask questions here very often, so I can afford to be generous with the points, even though this is not urgent (or at least not nearly as urgent as it would be if the backups were actually failing).
Thanks in advance!
I've done some searching here, Google, Veritas, Symantec, & other places and can't seem to find any clues. I suspect something has changed to cause this, but I can't figure out what. At least I can take heart in the fact that we are getting good backups, as long as someone cancels the active job after it finishes so the next night's job will run.
Any ideas are much appreciated. If you need more detail just ask and ye shall receive.
I don't ask questions here very often, so I can afford to be generous with the points, even though this is not urgent (or at least not nearly as urgent as it would be if the backups were actually failing).
Thanks in advance!
cimmarian01
How long has this install been inplace? I use vertias backup exec since 8.0 to 10 latest relase and it never fails to flake out after 6 to 12 months. Kinda like a windows O/S. I know that not really good answer, but you can buck your config for veritas so it wont tkae you day to reconfigure.
Very interesting. Have you verified that you are running the latest version?
he stated 9.0
Don't they put out updates for 9.0?
I think that it is time to upgrade to a newer version. Trying to run an an older version is always a pain, since it is difficult to get proper support.
Have you checked the Veritas Knowledge base at all ?
I hope this helps !
Have you checked the Veritas Knowledge base at all ?
I hope this helps !
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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I have seen this happen quite often. It sounds like the bengine.exe might be hanging. Jobs will continue to run but you will encounter the problem you are describing. Have you tried restarting the BR services lately? If I am correct then you might have a problem with the backup exec engine restarting and you will need to kill the service.
PsTools:
http://download.sysinternals.com/Files/PsTools.zip
Download and extract these files to the root of C: then open up a command line and do the following:
C:\pskill bengine.exe
The services should continue to restart after the bengine is killed. If the problem continues let us know. Also as stated by everyone else make sure you have all updates and service packs installed as they have all be released to fix the many known issues in backup exec. When was the last time this server was rebooted?
PsTools:
http://download.sysinternals.com/Files/PsTools.zip
Download and extract these files to the root of C: then open up a command line and do the following:
C:\pskill bengine.exe
The services should continue to restart after the bengine is killed. If the problem continues let us know. Also as stated by everyone else make sure you have all updates and service packs installed as they have all be released to fix the many known issues in backup exec. When was the last time this server was rebooted?
Sorry "BR" should read "BE"
ASKER
Thank you all for responding.
BE was installed on this server originally in 2003; I believe it has been repaired/reinstalled at least once, when we replaced the tape drive, about a year and a half ago. The server O/S is Windows Server 2003 SP1, updates are fairly current but not up to the minute. The server is an IBM eSeries, I believe x235 (can't remember for sure; I almost always work on it remotely).
The specific version of BE is Version 9.00 Rev. 4454. To the best of my knowledge, this is the latest revision before 9.1; but I will double-check and see if there are any un-applied hotfixes. I have been reluctant to upgrade to 9.1 because of all the negative comments on it I've seen on the web (a number of people I've seen have removed 9.1 because of problems and reinstalled 9.0), and the owner of this server is not prepared at this time to spend the money to upgrade to 10d.
I did check the Veritas Knowledgebase, but if there's anything in there about this issue, I was unable to phrase the search properly to find it.
To be honest, I doubt that it's a version or hotfix issue because of the suddenness of the onset. Backups were running fine, then suddenly, on 11/29/06, this started.
I will check and restart the services, check on hotfixes, and reboot the server tonight (it was last rebooted about 10 days ago). I will also check on rindi's suggestion about hidden alert windows; that one's tickling a memory of something I've seen before, but I'm not sure what.
I'll let you know what I find out. Bear with me; this is a production server in an accountant's office, so I have to work around them and avoid downtime as much as possible.
Thanks!
BE was installed on this server originally in 2003; I believe it has been repaired/reinstalled at least once, when we replaced the tape drive, about a year and a half ago. The server O/S is Windows Server 2003 SP1, updates are fairly current but not up to the minute. The server is an IBM eSeries, I believe x235 (can't remember for sure; I almost always work on it remotely).
The specific version of BE is Version 9.00 Rev. 4454. To the best of my knowledge, this is the latest revision before 9.1; but I will double-check and see if there are any un-applied hotfixes. I have been reluctant to upgrade to 9.1 because of all the negative comments on it I've seen on the web (a number of people I've seen have removed 9.1 because of problems and reinstalled 9.0), and the owner of this server is not prepared at this time to spend the money to upgrade to 10d.
I did check the Veritas Knowledgebase, but if there's anything in there about this issue, I was unable to phrase the search properly to find it.
To be honest, I doubt that it's a version or hotfix issue because of the suddenness of the onset. Backups were running fine, then suddenly, on 11/29/06, this started.
I will check and restart the services, check on hotfixes, and reboot the server tonight (it was last rebooted about 10 days ago). I will also check on rindi's suggestion about hidden alert windows; that one's tickling a memory of something I've seen before, but I'm not sure what.
I'll let you know what I find out. Bear with me; this is a production server in an accountant's office, so I have to work around them and avoid downtime as much as possible.
Thanks!
ASKER
I've just found something interesting; in fact, I don't know how I missed it before. I was checking the event logs, and noticed that in the App log there are a number of Backup Exec informational events, spaced about 15 minutes apart starting each morning about the time the backup finishes and ending when the job is canceled. The events are Remove Media alerts.
I checked the job properties, and sure enough, the auto-eject media option was checked. I unchecked that option; we'll see how tonight's backup does.
If I remember correctly, something like this happened back when this server was new and we were first setting up the backup, although I think the symptoms were different. I think that's what rindi's suggestion was reminding me of.
I'll let you know what happens.
Thanks!
I checked the job properties, and sure enough, the auto-eject media option was checked. I unchecked that option; we'll see how tonight's backup does.
If I remember correctly, something like this happened back when this server was new and we were first setting up the backup, although I think the symptoms were different. I think that's what rindi's suggestion was reminding me of.
I'll let you know what happens.
Thanks!
ASKER
Well, the backup ran fine without the auto-eject option selected. (Don't know how that got turned on; I'll have to look into that...)
Rindi got the points because rindi's answer was closest to the mark and put me on the track to finding the problem.
Thanks all for your help!
Rindi got the points because rindi's answer was closest to the mark and put me on the track to finding the problem.
Thanks all for your help!
Your welcome