Hi,
I configured bacula to perform backup on a tape for every 2 days (1 tape for Monday & Tuesday, another tape for Wednesday & Thursday, and so on). These tapes will be recycled every 2 weeks.
Example:
Week 1, Monday & Tuesday = Tape A
Week 2, Monday & Tuesday = Tape B
Week 3, Monday & Tuesday = Tape A
.
.
I configured my pool with the following parameters:
Name = Cat1_SunMonW1
Pool Type = Backup
Recycle = yes # Bacula can automatically recycle Volumes
AutoPrune = yes # Prune expired volumes
Volume Retention = 12 days # tape recycle every 2 weeks
Volume Use Duration = 2 days # tape backups for 2 days
Recycle Current Volume = yes
Initially I set the Volume Retention to 14 days, but I reduced it to 12 days, just to be safe that the tape will definitely get recycled. Thing is, sometimes there are issues that cause the backup not running on time. Backup jobs got pending, and they ran at a later date. Sometimes the jobs got pending for a bit too long and this causes the number of days between the last written date and the incoming backup date to be less than 12 days. When this happens, the incoming backup job will not be able to run because the volume status is 'Used', and it is waiting for me to create a new label.
I have read in bacula documentation where it states:
If you want Bacula to stop using a Volume and recycle
it before it is full, you will need to use one or more additional
directives such as:
- Use Volume _Once_ = yes
- Volume Use Duration = ttt
- Maximum Volume Jobs = nnn
- Maximum Volume Bytes = mmm
I have set Volume Use Duration to 2 days, hoping that after 2 days, it will be marked as Used, and if in any way that the backup needs to be performed in less than 12 days, it will be automatically purged.
Unfortunately, this is not happening. The volume status is used, and I will have to create a new label in order to get the backup job to run (I prefer just to manually purge it). So what should I do to tell bacula to run the backup job, even when it hasn't exceed the retention period?
Thanks.
