Logs not clearing with circular logging enabled
I have running Exchange 2003 server. I have been having some issues with my backups so I enabled circular logging temporarily to keep the log files from growing till I resolve my backup problem. I have 2 information stores on different volumes with two transaction logs also on different volumes. On one of them the log files have not completely deleted. I have about 10 GB of log files still lingering from 3 weeks ago. What can I do to reclaim the space?
did you restart information store after enabling circular logging?
ASKER
Yes, I enabled circular logging on both storage groups and restarted the information store service. I tried with NTbackups but it did not clear all my logs.
you can just manually delete the log files as long as you have a good backup of your databases
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@Johan
Interesting observation, so if that is the case the creation date of the logs should be much older than either of the current creation of the two Information Stores.
Interesting observation, so if that is the case the creation date of the logs should be much older than either of the current creation of the two Information Stores.
Sorry for the verbiage.
My Information Store comment should have been Storage Groups.
My Information Store comment should have been Storage Groups.
Yes, it would show in the time stamps. I would run NTbackup onto a USB HDD or get an eval of backup exec, I think you can run bew for 60 days without a licence. Also rather than delete logs it would make sense to move them to a directory on the desktop or in the root.
I have used NTbackup for Exchange in the past with very positive results. Currently I am using Backup Exec 12.5 w/ Exchange Agents with very similar results.
If the poster has not made it a routine to backup then he should do ASAP and schedule this at least once a week.
This will keep the logs down.
Moving them does not address the issue. The user is experiencing lack of space because of these logs (whether there is an issue not purging or lack of backups). Which ever it is the moving just prolong it for a bit.
I am hoping it is the later of the two and a nice full backup will address his log growth.
If the poster has not made it a routine to backup then he should do ASAP and schedule this at least once a week.
This will keep the logs down.
Moving them does not address the issue. The user is experiencing lack of space because of these logs (whether there is an issue not purging or lack of backups). Which ever it is the moving just prolong it for a bit.
I am hoping it is the later of the two and a nice full backup will address his log growth.
ASKER
Thanks for the useful tips. I guess I should clarify things a little. We use FalconStor as part of our disaster recovery solution. It backs up our critical servers and then transmitts the data off site. The problem is that the version of FalconStor backup is not Exchange aware so it does not clear the logs after a backup. So I was using CA Arcserve 12.0 to backup my Exchange as well to clear the transaction logs which worked well for a while. Then I started having problems with Arcserve backing up one of the databases and the associated TR log was filling up and dismounting that particular information store which caused al ot of stress because users would complain. So I stopped using CA and started using NTbackup instead out to a USB drive. That caused some issues as well because the backup would take a very long time to run, over a day to run sometimes. So I just turned on circular logging on both databases. Before that I only had circular logging turned on for one database. So I notice that the tr logs for one of the databases, the one which never gave me problems is not clearing all of the logs and the one that was problematic is fine.
How would you restore your exchange db from your DR if the state of it is dirty since the service is not exchange aware?
I think you might need to rethink your exchange portion of your backups.
What is the size of your storage groups that it take a full day. My exchange backups take 12 hrs that is for 750 GB worth of data using Backup exec 12.5.
Could it be your USB bus is the bottleneck. What about another technology like Esata hdd or scsi tape.
I would try to resolve your CA issue before you go any further.
In the meantime I would run at least one full backup using NTbackup then incrementals to your USB device to keep logs at a minimum until you resolve your CA and your exchange in a clean state.
IMO You are going to run into issues the way you are doing thing now.
I think you might need to rethink your exchange portion of your backups.
What is the size of your storage groups that it take a full day. My exchange backups take 12 hrs that is for 750 GB worth of data using Backup exec 12.5.
Could it be your USB bus is the bottleneck. What about another technology like Esata hdd or scsi tape.
I would try to resolve your CA issue before you go any further.
In the meantime I would run at least one full backup using NTbackup then incrementals to your USB device to keep logs at a minimum until you resolve your CA and your exchange in a clean state.
IMO You are going to run into issues the way you are doing thing now.
ASKER
Understood. Thanks for the advice.
Are you running a backup with NTBackup to at least clear your logs?
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This is one of the errors I get:
Error AE9698
Exchange Server Error. HrESEBackupGetLogAndPatchF
Module:
Agent for Microsoft Exchange
Reason:
The Exchange server can not get the list of the log files or patch files.
Action:
Check the agent log or application event for detail.
And the other which is a warning is this:
Warning AW9622
Failed to back up [number] root public folders.
Module:
Agent for Microsoft Exchange
Reason:
This message indicates that a root public folder failed to be backed up.
Action:
For more information, view the logs generated by the agent on the Exchange Server.
--------------------------
Error AE9698
Exchange Server Error. HrESEBackupGetLogAndPatchF
Module:
Agent for Microsoft Exchange
Reason:
The Exchange server can not get the list of the log files or patch files.
Action:
Check the agent log or application event for detail.
And the other which is a warning is this:
Warning AW9622
Failed to back up [number] root public folders.
Module:
Agent for Microsoft Exchange
Reason:
This message indicates that a root public folder failed to be backed up.
Action:
For more information, view the logs generated by the agent on the Exchange Server.
--------------------------
Have you enabled circular logging on the PDB?
ASKER
I try to run NTBackup to clear my logs but it does not complete.
Should I have Volume Shadow Copy service started or not?
Should I have Volume Shadow Copy service started or not?
NTbackup will manage the why it backups the Inforamtion Store.
When if fails to you have an error or an eventlog that can add some insight to this.
When if fails to you have an error or an eventlog that can add some insight to this.
ASKER
OK. I just found out where the Ntbackup logs are written to. Let me see what info I can get there. Thanks
Also you might be better running NTBackup and purge the logs this way until you have a more solid way forwards.