Cannot restore file/folder even with Retain Only Version 1825

[DavidB86]

Hello dear forum users!

We have TSM Version 6.2 and I thought we set the backups on our fileserver so that if a file get deleted, the last version would be retained for 1825 days.
But I am unable to restore a folder with files that were deleted ~30 days ago

why?

these are the settings:

tsm: ATNT17>q copy

Policy Policy Mgmt Copy Versions Versions Retain Retain
Domain Set Name Class Group Data Data Extra Only
Name Name Name Exists Deleted Versions Version
--------- --------- --------- --------- -------- -------- -------- -------
PD_Bxxx ACTIVE MC_35 STANDARD 14 1 14 90
PD_Bxxx ACTIVE MC_FILESERVER STANDARD 14 1 14 1,825
PD_Bxxx ACTIVE STANDARD STANDARD 2 1 30 60
PD_Bxxx PS_Bxxx MC_35 STANDARD 14 1 14 90
PD_Bxxx PS_Bxxx MC_FILESERVER STANDARD 14 1 14 1,825
PD_Bxxx PS_Bxxx STANDARD STANDARD 2 1 30 60
PD_Bxxx STANDARD STANDARD STANDARD 2 1 30 60

If I query who the Fileserver node is member of, MC_FILESERVER is in it:

SELECT DISTINCT(CLASS_NAME) FROM BACKUPS WHERE NODE_NAME = 'ATNT23'

CLASS_NAME
------------------
DEFAULT
MC_FILESERVER

where am I wrong?

thanks and best regards in advance!

 

[marclant]

Are you restoring from the GUI or command line?

If the GUI, you may be seeing this: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21157531
Essentially, the directory expired before the file, so the GUI can't display the directory even if the file exists, therefore you have to use the command line

 

[DavidB86]

Are you restoring from the GUI or command line?

If the GUI, you may be seeing this: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21157531
Essentially, the directory expired before the file, so the GUI can't display the directory even if the file exists, therefore you have to use the command line

I am using the GUI on the client node. I never used the CMD on a client. Truth to be told, I do not know how to use it, so I have to look it up.
But I do not see anything with it...

So it is safe to re-create the folder structure (without content), wait for the next backup, and then with the existing folder structure, I can browse in the deleted files back in a point of time?

The full folder path would be
"E:\Benutzerlaufwerke\01FALCF\Daten\Daten"
but if I enter
restore "E:\Benutzerlaufwerke\01FALCF\Daten\Daten\*" -inactive=yes -pick
it only returns
No objects on server match query....

 

[marclant]

If the command line doesn't see it. It's not there. It's only the GUI that can't display the directory tree if the parent directory is expired.

Maybe try in steps.
Dsmc restore "E:\Benutzerlaufwerke\*" -pick -su=no -inactive

Just keep increasing the path. Just to make sure you don't have a typo in the path.

 

[DavidB86]

It seems it is not there... even when I use the command -pitd to browse to the day before it was deleted

But I do not understand why.
Is there an error in the config? were the last version of the inactive files expired?
I see I cannot restore other folders (even "E:\Benutzerlaufwerke" itself) more than 3 months ago... so it is not working at all!

 

[marclant]

SELECT DISTINCT(CLASS_NAME) FROM BACKUPS WHERE NODE_NAME = 'ATNT23'

CLASS_NAME
------------------
DEFAULT
MC_FILESERVER

What is the management class of the files that are there? I see from your previous query that there are files in two management classes.

Maybe try to find the 10 oldest files and 10 oldest directories:
SELECT * FROM BACKUPS WHERE NODE_NAME='ATNT23' AND FILESPACE_NAME='\\atnt23\e$' and type='FILE' AND HL_NAME=' ORDER BY BACKUP_DATE DESC FETCH FIRST 10 ROWS ONLY
SELECT * FROM BACKUPS WHERE NODE_NAME='ATNT23' AND FILESPACE_NAME='\\atnt23\e$' and type='DIR' ORDER BY BACKUP_DATE DESC FETCH FIRST 10 ROWS ONLY

Check the management class they belong to, especially the files, directory only a concern with the GUI, not the command line.

restore "E:\Benutzerlaufwerke\01FALCF\Daten\Daten\*" -inactive=yes -pick
it only returns
No objects on server match query....

This is supposed to show all the active and inactive in that path. If you get no objects, that means that no files are backed up for that directory. Maybe recheck the include/excludes on ATNT23:
dsmc query inclexcl

 

[DavidB86]

Thanks for your input

I executed the SQL queries, but the 1st has an error (HL_NAME ?)
Also I exchanged DESC with ASC , to see the oldest 10

the oldest folder backup for example seems to be 2014-04-15:

NODE_NAME: ATNT23
FILESPACE_NAME: \\atnt23\e$
FILESPACE_ID: 2
STATE: INACTIVE_VERSION
TYPE: DIR
HL_NAME: \$RECYCLE.BIN\S-1-5-21-1123561945-1004336348-839522115-1107\
LL_NAME: $R9Z9G1X
OBJECT_ID: 47419874
BACKUP_DATE: 2014-04-15 00:20:45.000000
DEACTIVATE_DATE: 2014-12-19 00:38:07.000000
OWNER:
CLASS_NAME: MC_FILESERVER


In any case, the class shown is "MC_FILESERVER" which has the correct policy


If I execute query inclexcl on the client node, the cmd exits. but I see in the GUI some entries, but nothing that makes me suspect that a simple .xlsx file is not backed up over a couple of hundred days.
The normal backup a few days back is working fine.....

 

[marclant]

If I execute query inclexcl on the client node, the cmd exits.

Oh, you didn't start the CMD prompt as administrator, so it spawns a new window. Try this instead:
dsmc query inclexcl > c:\temp\inclexcl.out (assuming c:\temp exists)
Then just open c:\temp\inclexcl.out with nodepad.

The normal backup a few days back is working fine.....

That's odd given you received:

restore "E:\Benutzerlaufwerke\01FALCF\Daten\Daten\*" -inactive=yes -pick
it only returns
No objects on server match query....

If you open the GUI, click on Restore, click on View -> Display active and inactive. Then browse to that path, first do you see any files? If so, what's the oldest one and what it the management class.
Also in the GUI, if you click on Backup, browse to that path, you will see a red circle with a bar across any file or directory that is excluded.

 

[DavidB86]

OK, I am a bit troubled
The query inclexcl reports
ANS1102E An excessive number of command line arguments are passed to the program

But I did the GUI test.
If I browse to the path "E:\Benutzerlaufwerke\01FALCF\Daten" then I see files on the right-hand side which are in Mgmt Clas MC_FILESERVER (the good one in my opinion)
There is no red circle with a bar on the navigation panel, therefore it is not excluded from backup

 

[DavidB86]

But if I click "Point In Time" and try to navigate back 2-3 months, it does not show the path in the navigation folder-tree....

 

[marclant]

The query inclexcl reports
ANS1102E An excessive number of command line arguments are passed to the program

You need to be at a Windows Command Prompt in "C:\program files\tivoli\tsm\baclient" and not at a TSM CLI prompt.

There is no red circle with a bar on the navigation panel, therefore it is not excluded from backup

The red circle is in the backup window, not the restore window if there is one.

ut if I click "Point In Time" and try to navigate back 2-3 months, it does not show the path in the navigation folder-tree....

Right, that's because the directories are bound to the management class with the longest retention (RETEXTRA). So the directory can expire before the files as I mentioned earlier: https://adsm.org/forum/index.php?th...h-retain-only-version-1825.31099/#post-129078

But you as the technote says, you can still restore those files with the command line client. Or if you know the exact filename, you can use the "Find"

Note that find is slow if you have backed up a very large number of file, the command line is quicker.

restore "E:\Benutzerlaufwerke\01FALCF\Daten\Daten\*" -inactive=yes -pick

You have \Daten\Daten\ twice is that a typo? If so, that would explain no match found.

To match your screenshot, try:
restore "E:\Benutzerlaufwerke\01FALCF\Daten\*" -inactive=yes -pick

 

[DavidB86]

Sorry for the misunderstanding. I thought it is easier to insert the command in the CLI directly.
But the outputfile does not show me any entry, that the path in question would be excluded
and there is
Include All *\...\*

So it should be ok?

In the Backup window there is no red circle in the path, so there should also be no problem

with the command line I see some results, but not the second "Daten" folder.
And this is no typo - the user said it definitely have been 2 times "Daten".
I only need the contents of
"E:\Benutzerlaufwerke\01FALCF\Daten\Daten\" but I do not see the 2nd "Daten" folder.

I try my luck with the "Find" function. Never used it actually because never had to...

thanks for all your input up to now!!

 

[marclant]

Try with:
query backup "E:\Benutzerlaufwerke\01FALCF\Daten\*" -su=yes -inactive

The -su=yes will give you the subdirectories too. So if there are files under a second Daten, you will see it. And that query will show you active and inactive, so if there is a 2nd Daten, you will see it.

 

[marclant]

It's also possible the files never got backed up. Check the dsmerror.log and dsmsched.log of that client for any errors during backup.

 

[marclant]

Oh, if you do not use PIT, you can use the GUI and showing active and inactive. That doesn't filter. So if you can't find the directory, it hasn't been backed up. It's only with PIT that the GUI has a limitation with expired directories.

 

[DavidB86]

Hello,
query backup "E:\Benutzerlaufwerke\01FALCF\Daten\*" -su=yes -inactive
does not show the 2nd Daten folder
also in the dsmsched.log I do not find Daten\Daten. Neither do I find anything in the dsmerror.log
... it is cursed! The user insists... and I know we should not trust users all the way but this one I can at least trust in this way, that he clearly carefully reads...

if it was existing, there should be at least 1 version backed up for 1825 days. If it is not, it should be in the log.

It seems there is something wrong in the configuration?

 

[marclant]

if it was existing, there should be at least 1 version backed up for 1825 days. If it is not, it should be in the log.

Unless the 2nd daten directory only existed between two backup cycles, but not during a backup. So this order:
backup done
directory created
directory deleted
another backup

And if at some point, you had a few failed backups, it means that it increases the time window where it could have been deleted before it got backed up.

From the info you shared, I see nothing wrong in your config, the only theory I have is that it was likely deleted from the filesystem before it was backed up. Which would explain why you do not see references to Daten\Daten in both the logs and query backup.

The only thing I know with certainty is that if you don't see it in query backup, it doesn't exist on the TSM Server, therefore you cannot restore it.

 

[marclant]

BTW, directories would only be kept for 30 days because they are bound to this management class:
PD_Bxxx ACTIVE STANDARD STANDARD 2 1 30 60

That's the management class with the longest retention (retextra). But even if the directory expired, the deleted files would still be kept for 1825 days and show up in query backup, but not in the GUI because the directory tree on the left is built from directories that exist on the TSM Server, so if the tree can't display, you can't see the files. You can still get them with the command line, if they exist, but they don't in your case which would indicate they were never backed up.

The other thing, how long have you had 1825 days for retdelete? Is there a chance the file is old enough that it predates this long retention?

 

[DavidB86]

Hello again,
I had an external consultant check it via remote session. He also says the settings are correct.
Also, the file does not exist in any backup.
It may be a bug, but there are other files from 2 years back still being in the backup (inactive files)

So it is not clear why it had happended, but it had happened. Maybe it is fixed in Version 7 so he says to try and update it...

thanks for your help!