Windows Server - ntbackup schedule not working

Asked By Ben Bazian

08-Mar-07 05:05 AM

I have scheduled a backup on a Windows 2003 domain controller.  It is
scheduled to run at 11;00pm. When I look at the report in NT backup it
appears to launch the backup but the report is blank.  I am not seeing
anything in the event viewer.  If I go to the task and tell it to run the
scheduled task now the backup works just fine.

The server is logged in as administrator when the scheduled task launches.

Here is the scheduled tasks parameters.

C:\WINDOWS\system32\ntbackup.exe backup "@C:\Documents and
Settings\Administrator.BUSINESS\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Windows NT\NTBackup\data\Daily Diff.bks" /n "Diff Backup"
/v:no /r:no /rs:no /hc:on /m differential /j "Daily Diff" /l:f /M
Differential  /p "4mm DDS" /um

08-Mar-07 05:52 AM

Give yourself some eyes by scheduling the batch file below instead of
the normal ntbackup command:

@echo off
echo %date% %time% Start of task > c:\test.log
echo User=%UserName%, Path=%path% >> c:\test.log
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ntbackup.exe backup "@C:\Documents and
Settings\Administrator.BUSINESS\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Windows NT\NTBackup\data\Daily Diff.bks" /n "Diff Backup"
/v:no /r:no /rs:no /hc:on /m differential /j "Daily Diff" /l:f /M
Differential  /p "4mm DDS" /um 1>>c:\test.log 2>>&1
echo %date% %time% End of task >> c:\test.log

When you examine c:\test.log then all will become clear.

09-Mar-07 04:45 PM

Thanks.  I will give it a shot.

18-Mar-07 04:45 AM

Here is what I get in the text log but it still does not run automatically.
The report shows blank.  If I manually run the schedule it runs fine.

Fri 03/16/2007 21:00:00.04 Start of task
User=Administrator, Path=C:\Program Files\Windows Resource
Kits\Tools\;C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem
Fri 03/16/2007 21:33:02.12 End of task

18-Mar-07 06:07 AM

It is highly likely that you're looking at the wrong
report file. The task too 33 minutes to complete,
hence it was very busy for more than half an hour.
Which report did you examine? Give the full path
and file name time stamp of the report!


automatically.
Backup"
Backup"

18-Mar-07 06:56 AM

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator.BUSINESS\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Windows NT\NTBackup\data\backup07.log.  The timestamp is
3/16/2007 9:33pm.  It is an empty text file.  I access the report from the
ntbackup menu.  If I run the schedule I get another report in the same
directory with all the proper logging.

18-Mar-07 07:07 AM

You write "If I run the schedule I get another report in the same
directory with all the proper logging." I do not understand what
you're trying to say.

Invoke the scheduled task while you're actually logged on
as administrator. This will make the task visible and you will
see what it does during these 33 minutes.


Settings\Application
is
run
of

18-Mar-07 07:25 AM

If in invoke the schedule when logged in as administrator all works fine and
when going to the log I see the detail on the backup.  If I go the the
schedule and schedule it to run in a few minutes from now, it runs fine.  If
I have the schedule set to run at night it is not running.  I know this
makes no sense cause it makes no sense to me either. If it works it should
work.   The console is always logged in as administrator.  Hence, we know
the schedule works just not when it is scheduled to run at night.  The
schedule does appear to kick off at night, hence the creation of the empty
log and the logging info we get from the batch file you had me create.  If I
set the schedule to kick off in a few minutes from when I am editing it, I
get the same info in the log you had me generate and the job runs as
designed.

VERY WEIRD....

Am I making sense?

18-Mar-07 07:54 AM

See below.

and
If

*** What you report here contradicts your earlier report
*** in which you quoted the start and finish time of the
*** scheduled task.


*** To track down the cause of your problem you must
*** greatly simplify things. Here is what I would do:
*** 1. Use the ntbackup wizard to create a new backup job.
*** 2. The job should back up the folder c:\Test (which you
***     should create and populate with a few files).
*** 3. The job should write its data to c:\test.bkf rather than to tape.
*** 4. The ntbackup job file should be c:\job.bks.
*** 5. The job should be scheduled to run under a dedicated
***     account called "Schedule", which you must create
***     and which must have admin privileges.
*** 6. You must untick the box "Run only if logged on".
*** 7. You must examine the Task Scheduler log file after
***     the job has run.

The above method circumnavigates half a dozen traps that
you might have stepped into.

fine.
It
to
/M
instead

18-Mar-07 08:04 AM

Will give this a shot and get back to you.  Thanks for all your time.

20-Mar-07 07:14 AM

I am facing the same problem on my servers.I think it has to do with the RSM service not refreshing the 4mm DDS tape in its database .Maybe these links will help



http://support.microsoft.com/kb/239892

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/267574/



Lemme know if you get an alternate solution



thanks in advance

19-Apr-07 06:34 AM

Hi,

I am having a similar problem, the clue to your problem is you say the

I found KB Article KB927073 which talks about blank log files and the fact
that the console is logged in.

Is there anyway around the issue?  That is my question.  If I create a
Schedule account does this avoid the problem?  I am Going to give it a go to
see.

But does anyone at MS know of a way of fixing the problem as described in
KB927073 ?

Thanks

Ian

24-Apr-07 11:29 AM

I just solved this problem on my server but here is the catch. I was
trying to back up mapped drives. When you are not logged in the mapped
drives are not available. I put net use in the batch file and it
worked. I hope this helps someone figure out their problem. How I
figured this out was I ran the backup from the remote machine and
tried to backup to the removeable drive on the server which was shared
out. This time instead of a blank backup log I got one that read
removeable drive was not available when not logged in. I placed net
use in the batch file on the server and now the mapped drives are
backing up.

24-Apr-07 05:32 PM

Hi Sal,

Thanks for that.  My backup only consists of the local C: drive and the
server is just a file and print server, no exchange or anything like that.
Just plain vanilla backup...which "should" work ;-)

Ian.

24-Apr-07 05:32 PM

You must be careful when mapping shares in a scheduled jobs.
UNC coding is fine but if you map drive letters to shares then
you are likely to run into trouble.

27-Apr-07 04:46 AM

Don't use mapped drives. Use the UNC name for the drive/resource.....

Regards,
Hank Arnold