Bacula Backup Tutorial

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Bacula backup tutorial - install, backup & restore

Updated 23 Apr 2013. This bacula backup tutorial is a step by step guide how to install Bacula, backup & restore Ubuntu and Windows using Bacula
- the prime open source and free industrial grade backup solution.
Then you finish this bacula tutorial, you will be able to use Bacula to backup & restore multiple servers and multiple operation systems using one or
multiple backup servers - Bacula easily scales to many hundreds of computers in a network.
Index :
Bacula 5 main components

Server Schema - the servers we are going to backup
How to Install Bacula - Linux Ubuntu and Windows
How to Configure Bacula
1. Bacula configure connections (test connections)
2. Bacula configure storage
3. Bacula configure schedules
4. Bacula configure messages
5. Bacula configure jobs (test backup jobs)
Restore files
Appendixes :
Appendix : Bacula console commands & management - you will need this
Appendix : Bacula concepts - read if you are new to bacula
Appendix : Bacula utility programs
Appendix : Bacula folders
Appendix : Bacula alternatives
Appendix : Common errors & solutions
Comments
Relevant Links :
Bacula homepage
Bacula 5.2.x main manual
Bacula main components

Bacula consist of 5 main parts :
Director daemon : Controls backup & restore operations. In /etc/bacula/bacula-dir.conf you configure Jobs, FileSets, Schedules etc.
Bacula Console : A command line program that allows you to interact with the Director daemon, eg. then you need to run a Restore job.
Storage daemon : The Director hands off the responsibility for writing and reading the physical backup media to the Storage daemon - in our
case the physical backup media are files (not tapes) on a harddrive, while the harddrive itself (not a tape drive) is our backup device.
File daemon : The File daemon is a program that must be installed on the machine to backup. The Directory communicates with the machines to
backup through the File daemons. The File daemon is responsible for the file system dependent parts of the backup and restore processes,
therefore the File daemon is specific to the OS - currently there is a Unix/Linux File daemon, a Windows File daemon and a Mac OSX daemon.
Catalog : A database that keeps records of all volumes, all jobs and all files in a way that allows the administrator to easily & quickly locate
files for restore across full, differential & incremental backups of multiple servers - the Catalog is what sets Bacula apart from your own
homegrown tar based backup system no matter how good you are.
Server schema
In this tutorial I am going to backup several servers, the following is the full server schema :
FQDN IP OS Bacula Comments

daemons
installed
Director,
All backup data are stored here and all the information about the backup
Catalog,
backup.favouritehosting.com 27.254.33.96 Ubuntu data are also stored here and both Director & Console are installed here as
Storage,
well - this is our backup server.
Console
web1.favouritehosting.com 27.254.33.57 Ubuntu Linux File Shows how to backup a linux web server.
db1.favouritehosting.com 27.254.33.58 Ubuntu Linux File Shows how to backup a MySQL database server.
Windows
win1.favouritehosting.com 27.254.33.65 Windows File Shows how to backup a windows server.
2008r2
Bacula can only be installed on a Linux OS (here Ubuntu), however Bacula can easily take backup of Windows and Mac OSX machines.
https://webmodelling.com/webbits/miscellaneous/bacula.aspx 1/40
How to Install Bacula

We have 4 servers to install on.
On the backup server we need to have :
The bacula director daemon (controlling backup, restore, pools, volumes, jobs, filesets etc).
The bacula console program (command line utility we use to communicate with the director, eg. start a restore job or purge a volume).
The bacula storage daemon (responsible for reading & writing the backup media, in our case backup media is the files that contains the
backups).
A MySQL server for the catalog database (Bacula can alternatively use postgresql or sqllite) - I will not go through how to install & configure
MySQL as if you install Bacula on an empty system, MySQL will be automatically installed for you. If you already have MySQL server installed
Bacula will prompt you if you want to let Bacula setup the database for you.
A mail sending program for sending backup & restore reports to your email account - Bacula comes with a small mail sender called bsmtp, which I
will use in this tutorial (so no need to install & configure an MTA).
Let's start the installation :
1. Install the backup server :

1. Log on to the backup server either on a local or remote terminal. Here I use Putty on a Windows dev box to log onto the backup server.
2. backup server shell> apt-get update : update your package information, so you will install the newest version of any package.
3. Simulate an install of bacula to see what is going to happen :
First on an empty system :
backup server shell> apt-get -s install bacula : MySQL and email capability are automatically installed and will
also be configured to some extent.
Second on a system already having MySQL and Postfix : (this is the actual system I am going to install on)
backup server shell> apt-get -s install bacula : MySQL and email capability are already available and it seems
we need to configure the whole thing ourselves.
4. backup server shell> apt-get install bacula : start the installation
5. You are prompted whether you want to create the a database, choose Yes.
6. You are prompted for the MySQL server root password.
7. You can supply a password for the bacula-director-mysql, I just leave it blank to get an autogenerated password.
8. backup server shell> dpkg -l | grep bacula : list the installed packages.
9. DONE - that concludes the package installation on the backup server.
2. Install a Linux File Daemon on the web server :
1. Logon to the web server either on a local or remote terminal. Again I use Putty on a Windows dev box to log onto the web server.
2. web1 shell> apt-get -s install bacula-fd : simulate (-s) an install of the bacula-fd (bacula file daemon) package to see
what's going to happen - 2 packages are going to be installed & configured.
3. web1 shell> apt-get install bacula-fd : start the actual installation
4. web1 shell> dpkg -l | grep bacula : confirm the 2 packages are installed.
5. DONE - bacula file daemon installed on backup target server.
3. Install a Linux File Daemon on the database server :
1. Do exactly the same as for the web server.
4. Install a Windows File Daemon on the windows server :
1. Log on to a windows server that you want to backup either locally or remote using eg. Remote Desktop.
2. From SourceForge.net download the bacula windows file daemon that match the version on your backup server (in my case it is 5.0.3).
3. On your windows server, double click the downloaded installation file to start the bacula file daemon installer.
4. Press the "Next" button.
5. Press the "I Agree" button.
6. Choose "Automatic" installation type and then press the "Next" button.
7. I choose only the "Client" component as I see no use for the windows local bacula CLI nor the BAT (I do think the BAT have
great potential though). Click the "Next" button.
8. Write the name that you later will give to the Bacula Director (I choose FH-dir for Favourite Hosting Director). Press the
"Install" button.
9. If you like, you can choose to write out a template for the Client{..} section to put in your bacula-dir.conf file on your backup
server, however it is more fun less helpful. Press the "Next" button.
10. Ok, you are finish installing the bacula file daemon on your windows server.
11. Navigate to Bacula main folder "C:\Program Files\Bacula" and look at the files, especially note the bacula-fd.conf file.
12. DONE - you are finish installing the bacula windows file daemon.
All necessary programs are now installed, it is time to start configuring the system.
How to Configure Bacula

Bacula configuration is done in 4 .conf files, one for each service :
bconsole.conf : /etc/bacula/bconsole.conf (on backup server) : configuring the Console program

Director section : Describing what Director this Console will access (where the Director is and what credentials to use for logon).
bacula-dir.conf : /etc/bacula/bacula-dir.conf (on backup server) : configuring the Director daemon
Director section : Describing this Director daemon.
Pool sections : You group multiple backup media (file volumes or tape volumes) into pools, eg. all tapes or files on which you store your
full backup may be grouped into one Pool, while all tapes or files on which you store your incremental backup may be grouped into another
Pool.
Job sections : We will have many backup & restore jobs, each of them is defined in a Job{..} section.
Schedule sections : A Job wil refer to one or more Schedule{..} sections defining when the Job will run.
Client sections : Describing the backup target machines (where they are and logon credentials). A Job will refer to one Client{..} section
defining on which machine the Job will run (in our case we need Client{..} sections for web1, db1 & win1).
FileSet sections : A Job will refer to one FileSet{..} section defining what files to backup on the Client or what files to restore.
Messages section : Here you can setup notification emails to your email address so you know what have happened, eg. if a backup job
succeeded
succeeded.
Catalog section : Describing the Catalog database (where the database is and logon credentials).
bacula-sd.conf : /etc/bacula/bacula-sd.conf (on backup server) : configuring the Storage daemon
Storage section : Describing this Storage daemon.
Director section : Authentication details for the Director that is allowed to control this Storage daemon.
Device section : Describing the backup device (in our case the backup device is a harddrive, but it could also be a tape drive).
Messages section : Setup which messages are sent back to the Director.
bacula-fd.conf : /etc/bacula/bacula-fd.conf (on client server) : configuring the File daemons - one for each backup target (here web1, db1 &
win1)
Client section : Describing this File daemon.
Director section : Authentication details for the Director that is allowed to control this File daemon.
Messages section : Setup which messages are sent back to the Director.
Bacula Configuring Connections

The first thing we want to achieve is to be able to use the Console to connect to the Director and the Director to connect to the Storage & 3 File
daemons.
Here is the official connection credentials overview. I have added the tables to show also the connection addresses :
Console :
bacula-dir.conf bconsole.conf
Director{..} Name == Director{..} Name
Director{..} Password == Director{..} Password
Director{..} DirAddress == Director{..} Address
Storage :
bacula-dir.conf bacula-sd.conf
Storage{..} Password == Director{..} Password
Storage{..} Address == Storage{..} SDAddress
File Daemon :
bacula-dir.conf bacula-fd.conf
Client{..} Password == Director{..} Password
Client{..} Address == FileDaemon{..} FDAddress
Ok, let's implement it :
1. backup server shell> cd /etc/bacula : navigate to the Bacula main folder.

2. backup server shell> ls -l : list all files in the Bacula main folder, especially note bacula-dir.conf, bconsole.conf & bacula-sd.conf (ignore
the bacula-fd.conf which we will not use since we do not backup anything on the backup server).
3. bacula-dir.conf : (on backup server)
1. backup server shell> nano /etc/bacula/bacula-dir.conf : open bacula-dir.conf on the backup server in the nano editor.
1. Edit the bacula-dir.conf Director{..} section :
Director {
Name = FH-dir : I have changed the name to FH-dir for Favourite Hosting Director.
DIRport = 9101 : Director will listen on this port, eg. the Console program must contact Director on this port.
QueryFile = "/etc/bacula/scripts/query.sql"
WorkingDirectory = "/var/lib/bacula"
PidDirectory = "/var/run/bacula"
Maximum Concurrent Jobs = 1
Password = "dir-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" : if you want to logon to the Director, you need to use
this password (eg. then using the Console program).
Messages = Daemon
DirAddress = 27.254.33.96 : changed from 127.0.0.1 (this is not strictly necessary, however it is necessary in other places,
so I like to use all global IP addresses). Update : it seems that in Bacula version 5.2.5 that bacula-dir.conf Director{}
DirAddres MUST be equal to bconsole.conf Director {} address, so if you change to global IP instead of localhost, you
should also do so in bconsole.conf.
}
2. Edit the bacula-dir.conf Catalog{..} section : (Bacula version 5.0.3 have an error in the generated bacula-dir.conf file in the
Catalog{..} section)
Catalog {
Name = MyCatalog
# Uncomment the following line if you want the dbi driver
# dbdriver = "dbi:sqlite3"; dbaddress = 127.0.0.1; dbport =
dbname = bacula; DB Address = ""; dbuser = "bacula"; dbpassword = "catalog-zzzzzzzzzzzz" : bacula version 5.0.3 have
quotes around dbname value "bacula", remove the quotes, otherwise the Director will not be able to connect to the database
(keep the other quotes around the DB Address, dbuser & dbpassword values).
}
3. Delete or out-comment ALL bacula-dir.conf Client{..} sections. If bacula-dir.conf have a Client{..} section that have invalid
references, the Director cannot start.
4. Create a bacula-dir.conf Client{..} section for web1 :
Client {
Name = web1 : this Client{..} section defines the web1 server, so I think web1 is a good name.
Address = 27 254 33 57 : the IP address of the web1 server
Address = 27.254.33.57 : the IP address of the web1 server.
FDPort = 9102 : the port on which the file daemon on web1 will be listening (that is: the port on which this director should
contact the file daemon).
Catalog = MyCatalog
Password = "web1-yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy" : password specific for web1 and must match the password specified in
bacula-fd.conf Director{..} section on the web1 server.
File Retention = 30 days
Job Retention = 6 months
AutoPrune = yes
}
5. Create a bacula-dir.conf Client{..} section for db1 :
Client {
Name = db1
Address = 27.254.33.58 : the IP address of the db1 server.
FDPort = 9102
Catalog = MyCatalog
Password = "db1-yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy" : password specific for db1 and must match the password specified in
bacula-fd.conf Director{..} section on db1.
AutoPrune = yes
}
6. Create a bacula-dir.conf Client{..} section for win1 :
Client {
Name = win1
Address = 27.254.33.65 : the IP address of the win1 server.
FDPort = 9102
Catalog = MyCatalog
Password = "win1-yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy" : password specific for win1 and must match the password specified in
bacula-fd.conf Director{..} section on win1.
AutoPrune = yes
}
7. Edit the bacula-dir.conf Storage{..} section : (there are 4 storage sections, however 3 of them are out-commented and not
interesting for us)
Storage {
Name = storage1 : I am going to use 2 devices (disks) for backup, so I like the name of this section to represent the disk
number of the device this section is going to point to.
# Do not use "localhost" here
Address = 27.254.33.96 : change localhost to the global IP of the storage server (even if the storage server is indeed
localhost).
SDPort = 9103 : the port on which to connect the Storage Daemon.
Password = "storage-ssssssssssssssssssssssss" : this password much match the bacula-sd.conf Director{..} section.
Device = disk1 : for each device (harddrive, DVD drive, tape drive) the Storage daemon uses for storage, there will be a
Device{..} section in the bacula-sd.conf file. Here we reference by name, disk1, the Device{..} section in bacula-sd.conf that
we want to use for selecting storage device (disk1 is here not an actual device but just a name pointing to a Device{..} section
in bacula-sd.conf).
Media Type = File : Bacula supports many different media types, eg. DDS-4 tapes, DVDs etc. We are using files to store the
backup data, so we specify the Media Type = File.
}
8. Edit the bacula-dir.conf JobDefs{..} section : (we don't want to define it now, but we need to edit some wrong references,
otherwise the Director cannot start)
JobDefs {
Name = "DefaultJob"
Type = Backup
Level = Incremental
Client = web1 : here we need to reference the name of one of our Client{..} sections, otherwise Director will not start.
FileSet = "Full Set"
Schedule = "WeeklyCycle"
Storage = storage1 : here we need to reference the name of our Storage{..} section, otherwise Director will not start.
Messages = Standard
Pool = File
Priority = 10
Write Bootstrap = "/var/lib/bacula/%c.bsr"
}
9. One of the bacula-dir.conf Job{..} sections contains a Client reference, set the value of that Client to web1 (we don't want to set
up the whole Job{..} section now, we just want to avoid an invalid reference to a Client{..} section that does not exist). If bacula-
dir.conf have a Job{..} section with invalid references, the Director cannot start.
2. Press ctrl+x and then y to exit the nano editor and save the bacula-dir.conf file.
3. backup server shell> service bacula-director restart : restart the Director daemon to apply the new configurations.
4. bconsole.conf : (on backup server)
1. backup server shell> nano /etc/bacula/bconsole.conf : open bconsole.conf on the backup server in the nano editor.
1. Edit the bconsole.conf Director section :
Director {
Name = FH-dir : Here you must use the same name you gave the bacula-dir.conf Director{} section (there the Director
defines itself).
DIRport = 9101 : The port on which the Console will contact the Director.
address = 27.254.33.96 : the address on which the Director runs (I changed address from localhost which in our case is not
strictly necessary, however I like to use all global IP addresses).
Password = "dir-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" : the password we together with the name use to logon
to the Director (must match the password in the bacula-dir Director{} section).
}
2. Press ctrl+x and then y to exit the nano editor and save the bconsole.conf file.
5. bacula-sd.conf : (on backup server)
1. backup server shell> nano /etc/bacula/bacula-sd.conf : open bacula-sd.conf on the backup server in the nano editor.
1. Edit the bacula-sd.conf Director section :
Director {
Name = FH-dir : the name of the Director that can administer this Storage daemon.
Password = "storage-ssssssssssssssssssssssss" : the password that the Director must use then administer this Storage
daemon. This password is also in the bacula-dir.conf Storage{..} section.
}
2 Edit the bacula-sd conf Storage section :
2. Edit the bacula sd.conf Storage section :
Storage {
Name = FH-sd : I use FH-sd for Favourite Hosting Storage Daemon. This name is also in the bacula-dir.conf Storage{..}
section.
SDPort = 9103 : The port on which this Storage daemon will listen (and therefore the port on which the Director must
contact this Storage daemon).
Pid Directory = "/var/run/bacula"
SDAddress = 27.254.33.96 : change 127.0.0.1 to global IP of the storage server.
}
3. Edit the bacula-sd.conf Device section : (there are many Device{..} sections, however only one is un-commented and that is the
one we are interested in)
Device {
Name = dis1 : this Device{..} section will specify a disk device to use for storage, since I use multiple disks, I think disk1 is
a suitable name. Also this Device{..} section is referenced by bacula-dir.conf Storage{..} section by name, disk1.
Media Type = File : on this device we will use files to store the backup data, therefore the Media Type = File.
Archive Device = /media/disk1 : here you specify the mount point of the actual device (the actual harddrive I want to use is
mounted as /media/disk1). You can also use just a folder to store your backup, it does not need to be a fresh disk.
LabelMedia = yes;
Random Access = Yes;
AutomaticMount = yes;
RemovableMedia = no;
AlwaysOpen = no;
}
4. Edit the bacula-sd.conf Messages section :
Messages {
Name = Standard
director = FH-dir = all : change to correct Director name, in my case to FH-dir.
}
2. Press ctrl+x and then y to exit the nano editor and save the bacula-sd.conf file.
3. backup server shell> service bacula-sd restart : restart the Storage daemon to apply the new configurations.
6. bacula-fd.conf on web1 :
1. web1 server shell> cd /etc/bacula : navigate to the Bacula main folder on the web1 server.
2. web1 server shell> ls -l : list all files in the Bacula main folder, especially note the important bacula-fd.conf file.
3. web1 server shell> nano /etc/bacula/bacula-fd.conf : open bacula-fd.conf on the web1 server in the nano editor.
1. Edit the bacula-fd.conf Director section : (defining what Director is allowed to control this this file daemon)
Director {
Name = FH-dir : the name I gave the Director in the bacula-dir.conf file.
Password = "web1-yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy" : this passwords needs to match the web1 Client{..} section in the
bacula-dir.conf file.
}
2. Note the bacula-fd.conf FileDaemon section : (identifies this file daemon, so it can be referenced by the Director)
FileDaemon {
Name = web1-fd : the default name, web1-fd, is exactly the name I want, so no need to change it.
FDport = 9102 : the port on which this file daemon will listen (so the Director needs to use this port to contact the file
daemon).
WorkingDirectory = /var/lib/bacula
Pid Directory = /var/run/bacula
FDAddress = 27.254.33.57 : changed from 127.0.0.1 as I like to use all global IP addresses (even though it is not necessary
here).
}
3. Edit the bacula-fd.conf Messages section :
Messages {
Name = Standard
Director = FH-dir = all, !skipped, !restored : Director name needs to be the same as specified in the first Director{..}
section, in my case FH-dir.
}
4. Save the bacula-fd.conf file (either directly if you use eg. nano or upload if you use ftp).
5. web1 server shell> service bacula-fd restart : restart the file daemon to apply the configuration changes.
7. bacula-fd.conf on db1 :
1. db1 server shell> cd /etc/bacula : navigate to the Bacula main folder on the db1 server.
2. db1 server shell> ls -l : list all files in the Bacula main folder, especially note the important bacula-fd.conf file.
3. db1 server shell> nano /etc/bacula/bacula-fd.conf : open bacula-fd.conf on the db1 server in the nano editor.
1. Edit the bacula-fd.conf Director section : (defining what Director is allowed to control this this file daemon)
Director {
Password = "db1-yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy" : this passwords needs to match the db1 Client{..} section in the bacula-
dir.conf file.
}
FileDaemon {
Name = db1-fd : the default name, db1-fd, is exactly the name I want, so no need to change it.
daemon).

FDAddress = 27.254.33.58
}
Messages {
Name = Standard
Director = FH-dir = all, !skipped, !restored
}
5. db1 server shell> service bacula-fd restart : restart the file daemon to apply the configuration changes.
8. bacula-fd.conf on win1 :
1. Navigate to C:\Program Files\Bacula, the Bacula main folder on the win1 server.
2. In C:\Program Files\Bacula folder notice the important bacula-fd.conf file.
3. Open and edit the bacula-fd.conf file using your favourite windows text editor :
1 Edit the bacula-fd conf Director section : (defining what Director is allowed to control this this file daemon)
1. Edit the bacula fd.conf Director section : (defining what Director is allowed to control this this file daemon)
Director {
Password = "win1-yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy" : this passwords needs to match the win1 Client{..} section in the bacula-
dir.conf file.
}
FileDaemon {
Name = win1 : default Bacula installer will set the name to [hostname]-fd, however I here I just use the hostname, win1.
daemon).
WorkingDirectory = "C:\\Program Files\\Bacula\\working"
Pid Directory = "C:\\Program Files\\Bacula\\working"
# Plugin Directory = "C:\\Program Files\\Bacula\\plugins"
}
Messages {
Name = Standard
Director = FH-dir = all, !skipped, !restored
}
4. Save the bacula-fd.conf file.
5. Restart the file daemon service on win1 :
1. On the win1 server press the Windows Key + R to open the run box, write services.msc and press the "Ok" button to
launch the Services Manager.
2. In the Services Manager right click on "Bacula File Service" and choose "Restart" from the context menu.
Bacula Configuring Connections - Test
1. backup server shell> bconsole : start the console program and confirm that you can connect to Director.
2. *> status storage : test if you can connect.
3. *> status client : prompt for a client to connect to - try selecting web1-fd to see if you can connect.
4. *> list clients : you should be able to see the 3 clients web1, db1 & win1.
5. *> quit : quit Bacula Console to return to OS system prompt.
6. Just for the fun of it, let's confirm the clients using the Catalog database :
1. backup server shell> mysql -u bacula -pzzzzzzzzzzzz : logon to MySQL server using the bacula credentials specified in the bacula-dir.conf
Catalog{..} section (notice there is no space between -p and the password).
2. mysql> show databases; : lets see what databases the bacula user have access to.
3. mysql> use bacula; : set default database to bacula (bacula is the name of the Catalog database).
4. mysql> show tables; : lets see what tables are in the Catalog database.
5. mysql> select * from Client : and there you get exactly the same 3 clients we saw before using the bacula list clients
command.
6. mysql> quit : quit MySQL CLI prompt to return to OS system prompt.
Congratulations - your Bacula Console, Director and File Daemons should now be able to connect (however there is no backup going on yet).
Bacula Configuring Storage

On my backup server, I have 3 harddrives, here I am going to use 2 of them as bacula backup devices (the 3. harddrive I use for OS, Bacula, ad-hoc
backup etc.).
Indeed Bacula does support multiple storage devices, eg. store backup data on multiple harddrives spread over multiple backup servers. Unfortunately
Bacula does not natively support to treat multiple harddrives as one harddrive (it can be setup outside of bacula, but it is too cumbersome for my taste,
sere more here). Instead in bacula-sd.conf we need to specify a Device{..} section for each harddrive we want to use as a backup device - in our case
2 such Device{..} sections.
Ok, let's configure the storage :
1. bacula-sd.conf
1. backup server shell> nano /etc/bacula/bacula-sd.conf : open bacula-sd.conf on the backup server in the nano editor.
1. Edit the bacula-sd.conf Device{..} section :
Device {
Name = disk1 : on this device we will store backup of web1.
Media Type = File
Archive Device = /media/disk1 : mount point of the harddrive (if you use folders instead of harddrives, just specify a folder
here).
LabelMedia = yes; : then a new media volume (in our case a file inside which backup data is stored) is created, we want
Bacula to automatically give the volume (file) a name.
AlwaysOpen = no; : this directive is ignored for Media Type = File, therefore in our case yes or no is the same.
}
2. Create a second Device{..} section in the bacula-sd.conf file :
Device {
Name = disk2 : on this device we will store backup of db1 and win1.
Media Type = File
Archive Device = /media/disk2 : mount point of the harddrive.
LabelMedia = yes;
AlwaysOpen = no;
}
3 backup server shell> service bacula-sd restart : restart the storage daemon to apply the configuration changes
3. backup server shell> service bacula-sd restart : restart the storage daemon to apply the configuration changes.
2. bacula-dir.conf
1. Edit the bacula-dir.conf Storage{..} section :
Storage {
Name = storage1
Address = 27.254.33.96
SDPort = 9103
Password = "storage-ssssssssssssssssssssssss" : must match bacula-sd.conf Director{..} Password.
Device = disk1 : reference to the Device{..} section in bacula-sd.conf that use the harddrive mounted on /media/disk1.
Media Type = File
}
2. Create a new Storage{..} section in the bacula-dir.conf file : (if you have only 1 harddrive, you can still separate your backup jobs by
storing the volume files in separate folders if you should wish)
Storage {
Name = storage2
Address = 27.254.33.96
SDPort = 9103
Password = "storage-ssssssssssssssssssssssss" : must match bacula-sd.conf Director{..} Password.
Device = disk2 : reference to the Device{..} section in bacula-sd.conf that use the harddrive mounted on /media/disk2.
Media Type = File
}
3. Delete or out-comment all Pool{..} sections in bacula-dir.conf.
4. Create a new Pool{..} section in bacula-dir.conf : (here we group volumes for disk1, however we could also group volumes for full
backup and another group for incremental backup)
Pool {
Name = pool1
Pool Type = Backup
Recycle = yes : yes (default) means that purged Volumes will be recycled then Bacula finds no Volume that are appendable.
A purged Volume is a Volume that contains only expired Jobs & files and thus is not in the Catalog.
AutoPrune = yes : yes (default) means that Bacula will automatically apply the Volume Retention period then a new Volume
is needed (no appendable Volume exist in the Pool). Volume Pruning means to delete expired Jobs (older than Volume
Retention period) from the Catalog permitting possible recycling of the Volume.
Volume Retention = 61 days : I don't want to recycle the volumes before last writing to the volume is 2 month old (that way
I should be able to go 2 month back in time).
Maximum Volume Bytes = 25G : this is a tricky size, if the file is corrupted, the data cannot be restored so the file size should
be small, but on the other hand if you run out of backup space you will need to purge the volumes one at a time, so the volume
size should be big to avoid having to manually purging too many volumes.
Maximum Volumes = 19 : the harddrive is 500G, so I can have 20 volumes of 25G (but to avoid problems, I set it to 19)
Label Format = pool1- : volumes are now created automatic and labelled pool1-0000, pool1-0001 and so forth (if you have
different pools for your full and incremental backups, you would probably use a label format like Full- and Incr-).
Catalog Files = yes : yes (default) means that file names backed up will be written to the catalog database. If setting the
value to "no", then the catalog database will be much smaller, howerver it will not be possible to produce a catalog listing of
files backed up for each Job and the console restore command will not work.
Maximum Volume Jobs = 0 : zero (default) means no limit on the number of Jobs that can be written to the same Volume.
Maximum Volume Files = 0 : zero (default) means no limit on the number of files that can be written to the same Volume.
Volume Use Duration = 0 : zero (default) means no limit on the time that files can be written to the same Volume. A positive
value defines a limited number of days that a Volume can be written to starting from the first write.
}
5. Create a second new Pool{..} section in bacula-dir.conf : (to group volumes for incremental backup)
Pool {
Name = pool2
Pool Type = Backup
Recycle = yes
AutoPrune = yes
Volume Retention = 62 days : Then the last writing to a volume is more than 61 days old, Bacula is allowed to purge the
volume and recycle it if needed for storage space.
Maximum Volume Bytes = 25G : Each volume should be 25G.
Maximum Volumes = 19 : In this Pool we will have 19 volumes.
Label Format = pool2- : In this Pool (group of volumes), I want to prefix all volume names with pool2-
Catalog Files = yes
Maximum Volume Jobs = 0
Maximum Volume Files = 0
Volume Use Duration = 0
}
3. backup server shell> service bacula-director restart : restart the director daemon to apply the configuration changes.
For the storage daemon we have now configured 2 backup devices and for the director we have configured references to these devices as well as 2
pools (collection of volume files), one pool for each backup device.
Bacula Configuring Schedules

At it's most basic level, a schedule defines then to execute what, in our case then to execute a job (typically only backup jobs & verify jobs, not restore
jobs, are scheduled). In our case we are going to slightly complicate this very basic schedule for our backup jobs : (setting the backup level)
1. bacula-dir.conf
1. Create a new Schedule{..} section : (it's possible to define many Scedule{..} sections, however in our case we need only one)
Schedule {
Name = "MonthlyCycle"
Run = Level=Full on 1 at 2:05 : the 1. of every month at 2:05 I want to take a full backup.
Run = Level=Incremental on 2-31 at 2:05 : all other days of the month, I want to take an incremental backup.
}
3. backup server shell> service bacula-director restart : restart the Director to apply the new configurations.
Note that in the above Schedule{..} section we are for any job definition using the schedule actually overwriting the backup level property of the job by
saying that on the 1. of every month we want the level to be full and all other days we want the level to be incremental - this means that we don't need
to specify one job for full backup and another job for incremental backup with each their schedule, thus saving us one Job{..} section for each client.
While the above schedule is all we need in our setup, the Schedule section is actually a much more powerful construct with the ability to overwrite also
p, y p y
other job properties like Level, Pool, Storage & Messages. This fleksibility of the Schedule{..} section may often greatly reduce the amount of jobs that
we need to define.
Say that on a single backup device, you wanted to keep full backup in one pool and incremental backup in another pool, you could then have the
following schedule : (overwriting the pool to use depending on level).
Schedule {
Name = "MonthlyCycle"
Run = Level=Full Pool=MyFullPool on 1 at 2:05 : taking full backup using the MyFullPool for storage media.
Run = Level=Incremental FullPool=MyFullPool IncrementalPool=MyIncrPool on 2-31 at 2:05 : for incremental backup use MyIncrPool,
however if an incremental backup is upgraded to full (no prior full backup exists), then use MyFullPool.
}
Note that the Pool override does NOT apply if you run the job manually, in which case the Pool will be selected from the Job {} resource (or from you
manually modifying the Pool then executing a run)
Bacula Configuring Messages

We want to be able to overview how the jobs are running - imagine our backup jobs failed (it can fail for many reasons, eg. no more backup space or a
file daemon have crashed etc.) and we did not know about it and a month later we need to restore - that would be bad, very bad.
Bacula daemons all have the ability to send job execution information to various targets (log files, catalog, emailing, director), however Bacula also
makes it possible to aggregate all the information of a job in one report per job. Here I will setup messaging so that we are emailed one report per job
and also send that report to the Director so it is available using the Console program :
1. bacula-dir.conf
1. backula-dir.conf contains several Messages{..} sections, find the Messages{..} section with Name = Standard and edit it as following
:
Messages {
Name = Standard : the name by which a job can reference this section and thereby define the job report.
mailcommand = "/usr/lib/bacula/bsmtp -h localhost -f \"$Bacula$ \<[email protected]\>\" -s \"Bacula:
%t %e of %c %l\" %r" : command mailing the job report, the command have the following parts :
/usr/lib/bacula/bsmtp -h localhost : use bsmtp on host (-h) localhost to send the email.
-f \"$Bacula$ \<[email protected]\>\" : create from (-f) field "Bacula
[email protected]".
-s \"Bacula: %t %e of %c %l\" : create subject (-s) field "Bacula: [JobType] (-t) [Exit Code] (-e) of [Client] (-c)
[Level] (-l), eg. "Bacula: Backup OK of win1 Incremental".
operatorcommand = "/usr/lib/bacula/bsmtp -h localhost -f \"$Bacula$ \<[email protected]\>\" -s
\"Bacula: Intervention needed for %j\" %r" : command mailing maintenance needs.
mail = [email protected] = all, !skipped : using the mailcommand mail all message types except skipped to
[email protected] all (eg. incremental backup will skip files not changed since last backup - do not send me any
message that these files are not backup)
operator = [email protected] = mount : using the operatorcommand mail all messages of type mount to
[email protected].
console = all, !skipped, !saved : send all messages except of type skipped & saved to the console (these messages are held
by the console until you request watching them using the messages command).
#append = "/var/lib/bacula/log" = all, !skipped : I like to out-comment the log as I don't use it. If you keep the log file,
you need to delete it periodically (it would be great if it was possible to set a maximum size on the log file so that oldest
records are deleted then new records are appended).
catalog = all : send all messages to the catalog (bacula) database (in table Log). The records in the Log table are pruned
then the Job records are pruned so the table will not grow indefinetely. The Log table is typically used by reporting software,
but can also be searched the same way as the file log I just out-commented.
}
2. Install mail transfer agent (MTA)

Bacula comes with a mail user agent (MUA) called bsmtp. Default your Message {} section will use /usr/lib/bacula/bsmtp to try to connect to an
MTA on localhost as in the operator command above operatorcommand = "/usr/lib/bacula/bsmtp -h localhost ...". While bsmtp supports
connecting to an external MTA, I have not tried how to authenticate, so I recommend installing an MTA on the same host as your Director. Ubuntu
default installation does not come with any MTA, so if you have not installed an MTA on your Bacula Director host already, you need to install one
now :
1. backup server shell> nmap localhost : first check if any smtp daemon is already listening on port 25, if there are then an MTA is probably
already available and you can skip the next step.
2. backup server shell> apt-get install sendmail-bin : sendmail-bin is a small footprint well working MTA supporting both spools and
sockets.
Note that because of bsmtp capability to connect to an external host, bsmtp does not deliver messages to a spool service like /var/spool/mqueue,
but instead connect to your MTA directly using TCP (like in telnet localhost 25).
Bacula Configuring Jobs
There are 3 types of jobs, backup jobs, restore jobs and verify jobs. We will create one backup job and one restore job for each client (each server to
backup).
Then configuring a job, we need to specify quite a lot of job parameters :
On what client the job should run - we reference a Client{..} section.

What files to backup (or restore) - we reference a FileSet{..} section.
When to execute the job - we reference a Schedule{..} section (a schedule is only necessary for jobs you want to execute automatically).
On what device (storage) to store the backup - we reference a Storage{..} section.
What group of volumes to store the backup - we reference a Pool{..} section (a pool is a group of volumes).
What type the job is (backup, restore or verify)
In case of type = backup then also what level to backup (full, differential or incremental).
In case of type = verify then also what to verify (lots of settings there).
What priority the job has compared to other jobs
Also since Bacula does not natively support treating multiple physical devices as one logical device (eg. by being able to specify multiple "Archive
D i " ithi D i { } ti ) ill dt d th b k l db ll d idi hi h j b hi h d i th t i j t t
Device" within one Device{..} section), we will need to spread the backup load by manually deciding which jobs run on which device - that is just not
smooth, but that is how we are going to do it :
1. bacula-dir.conf
1. Setup 2 collections of job properties (one for each backup device) so we don't have to write all these properties more than once :
1. Edit the bacula-dir.conf JobDefs{..} section : (there is default only one JobDefs{..} section)
JobDefs {
Name = "jobdefs1" : all jobs including the definitions setup here will be backed up to disk1.
Type = Backup :
Schedule = "MonthlyCycle" :
Storage = storage1 :
Messages = Standard :
Pool = pool1 : in our case we actually use this pool as we don't use the Schedule {..} section to overwrite the pool to
use.
Priority = 10 :
Write Bootstrap = "/var/lib/bacula/%c.bsr" :
}
2. Create a new bacula-dir.conf JobDefs{..} section : (to hold default values for all jobs that is associated with disk2)
JobDefs {
Name = "jobdefs2"
Type = Backup :
Schedule = "MonthlyCycle" :
Storage = storage2 :
Messages = Standard :
Pool = pool2
Priority = 10 :
Write Bootstrap = "/var/lib/bacula/%c.bsr" :
}
2. Setup the 3 backup jobs (one backup job for each client to backup) :
1. Create a new bacula-dir.conf Job{..} section :
Job {
Name = "web1-backup" : this job will run on web1 and is of type backup.
JobDefs = "jobdefs1" : include all job settings from jobdefs1.
Client = web1 : reference to the web1 Client{..} section to specify what client to run this job on (web1 server).
FileSet = "web1" : reference to the web1 FileSet{..} section to specify which files to backup on the client (which files
to backup on the web1 server).
}
Job {
Name = "db1-backup"
JobDefs = "jobdefs2"
Client = db1
FileSet = "db1"
}
Job {
Name = "win1-backup"
Client = win1
FileSet = "win1"
}
3. Setup the 3 restore jobs : (one restore job for each client that we may need to restore)
Job {
Name = "web1-restore"
Type = Restore" : specifying that this is a restore job.
Client = web1 : which client we want to restore.
FileSet = "web1" : what files we are restoring from.
Storage = "storage1" : on what device to find the backup files.
Pool = "pool1" : in what collection of volumes the backup files are stored.
Messages = "standard" : what messages to send where about the restore job.
Where = "/var/FHRestore" : where to restore the files to, here I restore to a folder /var/FHRestore on the web1 server.
}
Job {
Name = "db1-restore"
Type = Restore"
Client = db1
FileSet = "db1"
Storage = "storage2"
Pool = "pool2"
Messages = "standard"
Where = "/var/FHRestore"
}
Job {
Name = "win1-restore"
Type = Restore"
Client = win1
FileSet = "win1"
Storage = "storage2"
Pool = "pool2"
Messages = "standard"
Where = "C:/FHRestore" : notice that for windows clients, we still use the forward slashes navigating a folder structure
(though there is of course no beginning slash since windows does not have an equilavent to the linux root).
}
4. Setup the 3 FileSet{..} sections : (one for each client)
(A FileSet first of all consist of a list of directories & files to backup and a list of directories & files to exclude. However backup options
like compression, encryption & signatures are available)
1. Create a new bacula-dir.conf FileSet{..} section :
FileSet {
Name = "web1" : since we are defining what files to backup on web1 I think web1 is a good name for this FileSet
Name = web1 : since we are defining what files to backup on web1, I think web1 is a good name for this FileSet.
Include { : the Include subsection (there are also an Exclude subsection which we will not use).
Options { : different options can be specified for the Include subsection.
signature = MD5 : here we specify that the Catalog database should keep a signature of each file, which I
think is mostly useful with verify jobs and intrusion detection, however it is default so I keep it.
}
File = /var/www/clients : we want to backup the /var/www/clients folder (which is the parent folder for websites
on this server). Here I only specify one File property, however we can have as many File properties as we want (see the
win1 FileSet below).
}
}
FileSet {
Name = "db1"
Include {
Options {
signature = MD5
}
File = /var/FHDBDumps : on db1 all databases are backup once a day to this folder - so here we are actually
backup the backup.
}
}
FileSet {
Name = "win1"
Include {
Options {
signature = MD5
}
File = "C:/Websites" : I have some asp.net websites here.
File = "C:/Databases/Backup Auto" : I don't use a separate database server for my asp.net websites. All
databases runs on the same server and are backup daily to this folder - again here we are actually backup the backup.
}
}
Ok, that concludes the Bacula configuration - we should now have daily backup of our servers, however we better test if the backup jobs can actually
run.
Test backup jobs

Here we want to test :
That we can manually execute a job (using the run command).

That after the job have executed a job report is written and send to the Director.
That we receive an email with the same job report.
1. backup server shell> bconsole : start the Console program (to interact with the Director).
2. *> run : start the interactive prompt for running a job, you should see all jobs defined (I have a little more than in this tutorial).
3. Select Job resource (1-16):> 7 : I select 7 which on my system is win1-backup, you should select a number representing a backup
job on your own system. You are now presented with the job properties, in my case :
JobName: win1-backup
Level: Incremental
Client: win1
FileSet: win1
Pool: pool2
Storage: storage2
When: NOW
Priority: 11
4. OK to run? (yes/mod/no):> yes : you can change the job settings by writing mod, however if this is your first run with this FileSet
on this Client, then your backup level will automatically be upgraded from incremental to full.
5. *> messages : since we were alerted that we had messages, we wrote the messages command to display them. As we can see the
Director, FH-dir, have upgraded the backup level to full and ordered the Storage daemon to write to pool2 on disk2 and the Storage daemon, FH-
sd, have found a writable volume pool2-0008 in pool2 and is preparing the volume to receive data.
6. *> status dir : check out the current situation - showing scheduled, running and terminated jobs. Here we can see that the win1-
backup job is currently running. We can also see that there are more messages.
7. *> messages : get the latest messages which is from the win1 file daemon stating that a VSS (Volume Shadow Copy) snapshot is
being creating of the files to backup.
8. Wait a long time ...
9. *> messages : success, we got the last of the job report and it even terminates OK
10. *> status dir : and we can see the job in the "Terminated Jobs" table.
11. success, I got the report sent to my gmail account in which I have setup a Bacula label so I fast can select all emails from Bacula
and delete them (mostly you will just want to fast see the termination codes, OK or ERROR).
Congratulations - you are now able to execute backup jobs, being notified with execution reports and most likely your scheduling also works (though
that you can only test by waiting until next day or setting the clock appropriate in the schedule).
Restore files
The restore command is very fleksible enabling you to restore from backup latest version or older version of one or many files/folders for different
clients restoring the files to different targets. However I find that the 2 most common restore schenarios are :
We need to restore the latest version of one or more files - (eg. if the files have been deleted or overwritten by accident).
We need to restore the latest version of one or more files (eg. if the files have been deleted or overwritten by accident).
We need to restore an older version of one or more files - (eg. if the files have become virus infected unnoticed for some time).
Note that if you want to cancel an action, you press the dot key '.' - dot is the standard cancel command throughout the Console program.
Restore latest version

Restore type 5 "Select the most recent backup for a client".
1. backup server shell> bconsole : start the Bacula console program.
2. *> restore : start the interactive restore process. The Catalog MyCatalog is automatically selected and you are presented with 12
different ways to select from which JobIds you want to restore.
3. Select item (1 - 13):> 5 : select method 5 "Select the most recent backup for a client" which will prompt you to select what
client to restore.
4. Select the Client (1 - 12):> 9 : here I select the client web1 and the following is now happening :
1. The only appropriate fileset, web1, is autoselected.
2. The latest full backup JobId (84) and all subsequent incremental JobIds (87, 98, 107) are selected.
3. A folder/file tree with the latest version of each file is build - this tree is now ready for navigation and full or partial selection of folders &
files.
5. $> dir : we use dir to see what is in current folder, here we find a subfolder called var.
6. $> cd var : we use cd to change directory.

7. Continue browse the file tree until you arrive to some files/folders you want to restore.
8. $> mark web : we use mark to mark files or folders we want to restore, here we mark the "web" folder which contains 14,052 files.
We could now continue to browse the file tree and mark more folders or single files if we would like.
9. $> done : we use done to tell that we are finished selecting files. The restore dialog will now show what volumes and devices must
be online to fetch the files selected, however this have no meaning for disk based storage as volumes are (in theory) always online. Also we are
presented with a list of available restore jobs - the restore job we select will set various restore parameters, most importantly where to restore.
10. Select Restore Job (1-11):> 3 : here we select "web1-restore" which will define several appropriate properties of the restore job,
the most important are :
Restore Client: web1 : target server on which the restored files will be copied to.
Where: /var/FHRestore : path on the target server to where the restored files will be copied.
11. OK to run? (yes/mod/no):> yes : execute the job with its default parameters as we have defined them in the bacula-dir.conf file
(otherwise write mod to modify the parameters). Here the job gets the JobId 116.
12. *> messages : SUCCESS I expected to see only the preparing setup in the messages, however the job was terminated very fast
13. The job was also emailed my gmail account even though it was not clear from the above job parameter output that any messages
were associated with the job.
14. web1 server shell> cd /var/FHRestore : the part of the file tree restored (/var/www/clients/client1/web88/web) is copied to
/var/FHRestore. All you now need to do is to overwrite the existing files - done.
Restore an older version

Restore type 6 "Select backup for a client before a specified time".
1. backup server shell> bconsole : start the Bacula console program.
2. *> restore : start the interactive restore process. The Catalog MyCatalog is automatically selected and you are presented with 12
different ways to select from which JobIds you want to restore.
3. Select item (1 - 13):> 6 : select method 6 "Select backup for a client before a specified time" which will prompt you to
specify a time before which the newest JobIds should be selected.
4. Enter date as YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS :> 2012-06-07 04:00:00 4 days ago after the nightly backup at 2:05
5. Select the Client (1 - 12):> 9 : here I select the client web1 and the following is now happening :
1. The only appropriate fileset, web1, is autoselected.
2. The latest full backup JobId (84) and all subsequent incremental JobIds (87, 98) up to the specified time are selected. (notice that the
incremental backup running 2012-06-08 with JobId 107 is NOT selected if you compare with the JobIds from latest backup)
3. A folder/file tree with the latest version of each file is build - this tree is now ready for navigation and full or partial selection of folders &
files.
6. $> dir : we use dir to see what is in current folder, here we find a subfolder called var.
7. $> cd var : we use cd to change directory.

8. Continue browse the file tree until you arrive to some files/folders you want to restore.
9. $> mark web : we use mark to mark files or folders we want to restore, here we mark the "web" folder which contains 14,052 files.
We could now continue to browse the file tree and mark more folders or single files if we would like.
10. $> done : we use done to tell that we are finished selecting files. The restore dialog will now show what volumes and devices must
be online to fetch the files selected, however this have no meaning for disk based storage as volumes are (in theory) always online. Also we are
presented with a list of available restore jobs - the restore job we select will set various restore parameters, most importantly where to restore.
11. Select Restore Job (1-11):> 3 : here we select "web1-restore" which will define several appropriate properties of the restore job,
the most important are :
Restore Client: web1 : target server on which the restored files will be copied to.
Where: /var/FHRestore : path on the target server to where the restored files will be copied.
12. OK to run? (yes/mod/no):> yes : execute the job with its default parameters as we have defined them in the bacula-dir.conf file
(otherwise write mod to modify the parameters). Here the job gets the JobId 116.
13. *> messages : SUCCESS I expected to see only the preparing setup in the messages, however the job was terminated very fast
14. The job was also emailed my gmail account even though it was not clear from the above job parameter output that any messages
were associated with the job.
15. web1 server shell> cd /var/FHRestore : the part of the file tree restored (/var/www/clients/client1/web88/web) is copied to
/var/FHRestore. All you now need to do is to overwrite the existing files - done.
Restore a database
Restore a database
Restoring a database is straightforward :
1. Restore the appropriate database backup file using either of the approaches above.
2. Use the restored database file to restore your database the way you have always restored your database.
Bacula Console Commands & Management

Here are the commands I use the most : (full command list)
Daemon management :
backup server shell> service bacula-director restart : instead of restart you can use status, stop or start.
backup server shell> service bacula-sd restart : : instead of restart you can use status, stop or start.
client server shell> service bacula-fd restart : : instead of restart you can use status, stop or start.
backup server shell> bconsole : start the console
*> help : display the help menu.
*> version : display current Bacula version.
*> run : prompt for job to run - very important command.
*> restore : start the restore interactive prompt - very important command.
status-command :
*> status dir : displays todays terminated jobs, scheduled jobs and current jobs.
*> status storage :
*> status client : prompts to select a client to connect to and then displays list of jobs for that client.
*> status clients : connects to Storage daemon.
*> status jobs :
list-command : (used to show the content of the Catalog)
*> list jobs : list execution status of all jobs for some time back (eg. time run, how many files, how many bytes, what type of job
and exit code)
*> list job=JOBNAME list execution status of a specific job for some time back
*> list volumes :
*> list pools
*> list clients
*> list volumes
*> list volumes jobid=JOBID
*> list volumes jobname=JOBNAME
*> list volumes pool=POOLNAME
*> list files jobid=JOBID : list all files backed up for a specific job
show-command : (used to show the content of the Directors resource records as defined in bacula-dir.conf)
*> show devices
*> show storages
*> show pools
*> show clients
*> show jobs
*> show filesets
*> show schedules
Management commands :
*> purge : prompts for what to purge, most common a volume for which all records should be pruned and VolStatus changed to
Purged. Cannot be undone. After purging a volume, the jobs & files will be deleted from the catalog database and the volume record
itself will change VolStatus to Purged. Data is still in the volume, however Bacula may now recycle the volume (whiping out the data)
then a new volume is needed.
*> cancel :
*> update : prompts for what to update, eg. update pool will among other update volume retention periods for new volumes (existing
volumes will keep their retention periods, bacula.Media.VolRetention, however retention period for individual volumes can be updated
using update volume).
*> delete : prompts for what to delete (volume, pool or jobid). If deleting eg. a volume, the record will disappear in the catalog
database, however the volume file itself will not be deleted. If you have some test pools, this is also a consistent way to delete the
pool records from the database.
Delete Clients :
1. backup server shell> mysql -u USERNAME -pPASSWORD : log on to the local mysql server.
1. mysql> use bacula; : change database to bacula (the Catalog database).
2. mysql> delete from Client where Name = 'CLIENTNAME'; : delete the relevant record from the Client table.
3. mysql> quit : exit to system prompt.
2. backup server shell> dbcheck -f -b -c /etc/bacula/bacula-dir.conf : remove any orphane records from the Catalog database.
Delete FileSets :
1. backup server shell> mysql -u USERNAME -pPASSWORD : log on to the local mysql server.
1. mysql> use bacula; : change database to bacula (the Catalog database).
2. mysql> delete from FileSet where FileSet = 'FILESET'; : delete the relevant record from the FileSet table.
3. mysql> quit : exit to system prompt.
2. backup server shell> dbcheck -f -b -c /etc/bacula/bacula-dir.conf : remove any orphane records from the Catalog database.
Debugging bacula : (eg. why a daemon will not start)
backup server shell> tail -15 /var/log/bacula/log : shows the last 15 lines from the bacula log file.
backup server shell> service bacula-sd start -d100 : will start the Storage daemon with debug level 100 (default is zero).
Testing a new configuration file :
backup server shell> /etc/bacula/bacula-dir -t -c bacula-dir.conf : shows if the bacula director configuration file is syntactically correct
(the same can be done for SD & FD).
Bacula Concepts
In my experience the most difficult concepts to grasp are : pruning, purging and rentention periods. Let me fast explain these concepts here :
Purge >< Prune >< Delete : A purged Volume is a Volume that contains only expired Jobs & files and thus is not in the Catalog. Then pruning
a Volume, it means to delete expired jobs & files in the Catalog associated with that Volume. Since not all files & jobs within a Volume may be
expired, pruning a Volume does not guarantee the Volume will be purged. You can though purge a Volume which will delete all files and jobs from
the Catalog associated with that Volume whatever the timestamps on these records - that will guarantee a purged Volume.
Retention Periods : regards how long time Bacula keeps records in the Catalog database. Deleting Catalog file, job & volume records from the
Catalog database is called pruning. Then eg. a file record is deleted, it is not any more possible to browse the file using the standard restore
command.
File Retention : the period that Bacula will keep file records in the Catalog database. If AutoPrune is set to yes, then Bacula will delete file
records from the Catalog database after the file retention period (actually these records may be deleted earlier if the Job record to which
they belong have been deleted)
they belong have been deleted).
Job Retention : the period that Bacula will keep job records in the Catalog database. If AutoPrune is set to yes, then Bacula will delete job
records from the Catalog database after the job retention period (actually a job record may be deleted earlier if the volume on which the
job have been stored have been pruned).
Volume Retention : the period that Bacula will keep the volume records in the Catalog database after end time of the last job written to
the volume. If AutoPrune is set to yes, then Bacula will delete volume records from the Catalog database after the volume retention period
and also delete all jobs and file records associated with the volume. The physical volume can now be recycled (but will first be recycled if no
other volume is free to write).
Volume Status : (*> list volumes will show all your volumes and their status)
Append : volume is appendable so backup data can be written to this volume.
Full : volume is full so no more backup data can be written to this volume.
Purged : volume contains only expired jobs & files (no content in the catalog points to this volume) and so this volume can be recycled for
new backup data.
Error : some error have occured, the volume cannot be used to store backup data.
Recycle : I am not sure, I once had this status which prohibited backup. I tried to run a backup several times without luck, but then after
maybe an hour a backup changed the status to Append and everything worked again.
Used : volume cannot be used to store additional backup data and even if jobs & files stored is all expired, the volume will not change
status (to Append).
Archive :
Busy :
Cleaning :
Disabled :
Read-Only :
Appendix : Bacula utility programs

Sometimes disaster strucks and you may not be able to access the director using bconsole or the Catalog have been destroyed etc. In such cases there
are different utilities you can use to list and retrieve data from the raw volumes (full list of Bacula utility programs).
Disaster utilities :
bscan : Can scan a volume and rebuilding the catalog database with the files from the volume. Standard restore of the files within the
volume will then be possible. This is usefull in at least 2 scenarios :
The Catalog database have become damaged.
Information about the volume have been pruned from the Catalog database.
bextract : can extract files or file lists from volumes in case restore cannot be used.
bls : can do an ls-like listing of a bacula volume.
Other utilities :
bacula-web : a read-only web based interface to Director & Catalog showing real-time progress of jobs (Bacula-web homepage).
bweb : a web based interface to Director as a GUI alternative to the CLI Console.
Read more about Bacula disaster recovery here
Appendix : Bacula folders

/etc/bacula : bacula main folder on both backup server and linux backup clients. On backup server containing bacula-dir.conf, bacula-sd.conf,
bconsole.conf etc. On backup clients containing bacula-fd.conf.
/var/log/bacula : bacula log file is here.
/var/lib/bacula : bacula keeps email to be sent here.
/usr/sbin : seems to keep several daemons here.
/usr/lib/bacula : the bacula smtp daemon is here.
C:\Program Files\Bacula : bacula main folder on windows backup clients containing most notably the bacula-fd.conf file.
Appendix : Bacula alternatives

This comparision is a work in progress, email me if you want to help develop it.
DB Email
Name Free OS'es Comment
Integration Integration
Unix, Linux,
Bacula yes no no
Windows, Mac
Amanda yes Amanda is free, but comes in a commercial enterprise version sold by Zmanda.
Commvault no Likely among the best enterprise backup software
Quest Netvault no
Arkeia
Crashplan no
Symantic no
Netbackup
CA ARCserve
no
Backup
Tivoli Storage
no Is likely very expensive
Manager
EMC Networker no
HP Data
no
Protector
PerfectBackup+ no
Seems to be intended for personal use as it seems to be controlled from each

FreeFileSync yes Linux, Windows
computer instead of a central management.
Robocopy yes
SyncToy yes Windows Part of Microsoft Power Toys.
Retrospect no
A more detailed comparison of Bacula and other backup solutions here and here.
Another award based comparison by techtarget
Lastly I found this exceptional comparison half down the page by a guy called Mark : what-is-the-best-enterprise-backup-software.
Appendix : Common errors and solutions

1. shell> bconsole displays Connecting to Director xxx.com:9101 and then returns to system prompt.
2. shell> tail /var/log/bacula/log shows error Warning: Cannot bind port 9101: ERR=Cannot assign requested address: Retrying ...
Reason : Different problems may lead to error 1, however if you also have error 2, it is most likely because the directory address specified in
/etc/bacula/bconsole.conf does not correctly resolve.
Example : In bconsole.conf I had the address of the bacula director specified by a domain name, favouritehosting.com, but then I changed the IP of
favouritehosting.com and so bconsole would try to find the director on that new IP (which was a different server).
Say your bconsole.conf file look like this :
Director {
Name = localhost-dir
DIRport = 9101
address = favouritehosting.com : favouritehosting.com does not any longer resolve to the IP of the server that bacula director is installed
on.
Password = "secret"
}
Solution : In /etc/bacula/bconsole.conf change the address field to the correct IP, eg like this :
Director {
Name = localhost-dir
DIRport = 9101
address = 27.254.33.96 : ok, now I am sure to get the correct IP.
Password = "secret"
}
3. Bacula director service seems to crash less than a minute after starting it
Reason : There can be a lot of different reasons for this, so the most important is to try do debug the problem.
Debug example :
shell> tail -30 /var/log/bacula/log : check for any entry in the bacula log file
shell> /usr/sbin/bacula-dir -d 9 -c /etc/bacula/bacula-dir.conf start bacula-dir with debug (-d) maximum (9) using config file
(-c) /etc/bacula/bacula-dir.conf.
4. Director server cannot connect to client server JobId 0: Fatal error: bsock.c:134 Unable to connect to Client: web1-fd on 27.254.33.57:9102.
ERR=Connection refused.
Reason 1 : There is a firewall on the client server blocking port 9102 - go to Solution 1.
Reason 2 : no software is listening on port 9102 :
Reason 2a : bacula file daemon is not running - go to Solution 2a.

Reason 2b : bacula-fd.conf on the client server specifies localhost or 127.0.0.1 for FDAddress in the FileDaemon{..} section - go to Solution 2b.
Note that this problem cannot happen on a windows server, but is a very common problem on a linux server.
Solution 1 : unblock port 9102 on the client server
Unblock port 9102 on a windows server

1. Click on "Start | Administrative Tools | Windows Firewall with Advanced Security"
2. Select "Inbound Rules" and then click on "New Rule..." to create a new rule for Bacula.
3. Select "Port" for Rule Type and then click the "Next" button.
4. Set the port to 9102 and then click the "Next" button.
5. Select the default "Allow the connection" and then click the "Next" button.
6. Select the default which is all Profiles and then click the "Next" button.
7. Name the new rule Bacula and then click the "Finish" button.
8. Ok, the new rule called Bacula should appear in the list of inbound rules.
Unblock port 9102 on a Ubuntu server : (UFW : Uncomplicated FireWall : default iptables frontend in Ubuntu)
1. shell> ufw status verbose : display among other whether the UFW firewall is enabled and if it is also display all the the firewall rules.
2. shell> ufw allow 9102 : unblock port 9102 from all IP sources (this only have meaning if ufw is enabled).
Solution 2a : start the bacula file daemon : (I assume that bacula file daemon is actually installed on the client server).
Start the bacula file daemon on a windows server

1. On the win1 server press the Windows Key + R to open the run box, write services.msc and press the "Ok" button to
launch the Services Manager.
2. In the Services Manager right click on "Bacula File Service" and choose "Restart" from the context menu.
Start the bacula file daemon on a Ubuntu server
1 client server shell> netstat anp | grep 9102 : show what if anything is listening on port 9102 (it should show bacula-fd)
1. client server shell> netstat -anp | grep 9102 : show what if anything is listening on port 9102 (it should show bacula-fd).
2. client server shell> service bacula-fd status : show whether bacula file daemon is running.
3. client server shell> service bacula-fd restart : this will start or restart the bacula file daemon.
Solution 2b : edit bacula-fd.conf FileDaemon{..} section on the client server to specify global IP address:
On Windows : the problem cannot happen on a windows client.

On Linux :
1. client server shell> nmap localhost : this may show that something is listening on port 9102.
2. client server shell> nnap 27.254.33.57 : this should show that nothing is listening on port 9102.
3. client server shell> nano /etc/bacula/bacula-fd.conf : open bacula-fd.conf in the nano editor.
4. Edit the FileDaemon section :
FileDaemon {
Name = web1-fd
FDport = 9102
FDAddress = 27.254.33.57 : change FDAddress to the global IP address (not localhost or 127.0.0.1).
}
5. Press ctrl+x and then y to close nano and save the changes to bacula-fd.conf.
6. client server shell> service bacula-fd restart : restart the file daemon to apply the configuration changes.
7. client server shell> telnet 27.254.33.57 9102 : this time you should get through (remember to use your own IP address)
8. client server shell> telnet localhost 9102 : this should be refused.
5. 09-May 14:51 FH-Backup-dir JobId 0: Fatal error: Unable to authenticate with File daemon at "27.254.33.57:9102". Possible causes:
Passwords or names not the same or
Maximum Concurrent Jobs exceeded on the FD or
FD networking messed up (restart daemon).
Reason : Most likely your bacula-fd.conf Director{..} section (Password & Name) does not exactly match the values specified in bacula-dir.conf.
Solution : the following must be true : (values are case sensitive, also the Name value)
bacula-dir.conf Director{..} Name == bacula-fd.conf Director{..} Name

bacula-dir.conf Client{..} Password == bacula-fd.conf Director{..} Password
6. Cannot find any appendable volume.

7. *> status jobs displays Device xxx is not open and Device is blocked waiting to create a volume for:.
Reason 1 : If you get above error 6 or 7, the reason is most likely that there are no more space available on the backup device. Current volume (file)
is full, there is no space to create new volumes and due to volume retention periods no existing volume can be purged to allow for new data to be
written.
Reason 2 : especially the above error 7 can have other reasons than disk space shortage, eg. problems with the storage daemon.
Solution 1 : Long term solutions to this problem is to either increase the size of your device (bigger harddrive) or to reduce the volume retention
period (keep backup data for a shorter period before discarding them). However the here and now solution that will allow you to continue your backup
is to manually purge your oldest volumes :
1. shell> bconsole : start the Console if not already started.

2. *> purge : start the interactive purge program.
3. Select Volumes
4. You will now be allowed to select a volume to purge. Select your oldest volume and continue purging volumes until you have enough space.
Purging a volume means to remove information of the content of the volume from the Catalog, not actually deleting the content within the
volume. Also then purging a Volume, the VolStatus of the volume in the Catalog changes to Purged. If the volume you purge belong to a Pool
that have Recycle=Yes, then Bacula will automatically continue the backup not long after a volume have been purged.
Solution 2 : restart the bacula daemons :
1. shell> service bacula-sd restart

2. shell> service bacula-director restart
8. JOB-NAME is waiting for Client CLIENT-NAME to connect to Storage STORAGE-NAME
Reason 1 : Your firewall on the storage server is not allowing incoming traffic on port 9103 from your file daemon server (remember that the file
daemon will have to initiate contact to the storage daemon).
Reason 2 : The file daemon does not know the IP address of the storage daemon - this IP address I think is given to the file daemon by the director
from bacula-dir.conf Storage {} address, which under installation could be set to localhost (the Director does NOT translate localhost to actual IP
then giving the value to the file daemon).
Solution 1 : Be sure your firewall allow tcp traffic on port 9103 on the storage daemon server : here using UFW
storage daemon server shell> ufw status verbose : first see if the UFW firewall is enabled and if it is then list the rules.
storage daemon server shell> ufw allow proto tcp to any port 9101:9103 : here I allow all the bacula ports to any IP on on the storage
daemon server (I don't specify from what IP, so that is also any IP).
Solution 2 : Be sure to use global IP's and not localhost for daemon addresses :
1. Write your bacula configuration files so the following is true :

bconsole.conf Director {} address = GlobalIP of director server
bacula-dir.conf Director {} DirAddress = GlobalIP of director server
bacula-dir.conf Storage {} Address = GlobalIP of storage daemon server
bacula-sd.conf Storage {} SDAddress = GlobalIP of storage daemon server
2. Restart your daemons to apply the configuration changes : (normally director machine and storage daemon machine is the same machine)
1. director machine shell> service bacula-director restart
2. storage daemon machine shell> service bacula-sd restart
Comments
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report reply 30-Dec-2012 10:48
Thank you very much for this exhaustive guide on Bacula. As a result of your guide, I was able to understand and install this
wonderful software.
rex_ray
User type : Standard
Register : 2012-Dec-30
Topics : 2
Replies : 4
--------------
Hi rex_ray, you are welcome.
If you have any bacula related problems, post the problem here and I will help if I can.
Rasmus
User type : Admin
Topics : 0
Replies : 108
-------------- web fiddler by nature
Thanks for your offer. Am just taking my baby steps with Bacula as I have no previous experience working
with a Backup Software. By the way, Wish you a Very Happy & Prosperous New Year.
rex_ray
Topics : 2
Replies : 4
--------------
report reply 07-Jan-2013 06:42
Hi,
Thanks for the awesome guide.

Jimmy
-------------- I am backing up across a three drives. When the first drive gets full, how do i get get the job to continue on a second drive?
Thanks
Hi Jimmy,
To my knowledge it is unfortunately NOT possible for Bacula to automatically continue writing on a second harddrive
then the first harddrive is full.
Rasmus I think there are 2 solutions to involve more than 1 physical harddrive as backup device for Bacula :
User type : Admin
Register : 2012-Dec-21 1. Merge multiple physical harddrives into 1 virtual harddrive using eg. raid, OR
2. In bacula-sd.conf define a Device section for each harddrive.
Topics : 0 I think you can say that method 1 is the most space efficient method and if it was easy I think I would have used
Replies : 108 method 1, however in the above guide I have used method 2, please see the Bacula Configure Storage section.
--------------
For more info about backup to multiple disks, here are some explanation from the Bacula manual.
web fiddler by nature
Hi,
Thanks for your response.

Jimmy
-------------- I have tested using 2 disks listed in the device section.
The disks are 1TB each and the data being backed up is 1.8TB total.
I started a full backup job however once the 1st disk gets full, the job stops, waiting for more space.
Do you know how i can manually continue the backup to disk2(device2)?
Thanks
Jimmy
Hi Jimmy
I am sorry, I don't know if it is possible to continue manually on a second drive.
However, if your 1.8 TB data to backup is from multiple clients, then you could define your .conf files
Rasmus so that some of your clients backup on the first device and the other clients backup on the second
User type : Admin device.
If your 1.8 TB data to backup is from a single client, then it is less nice, but you could define 2
Topics : 0
Replies : 108 FileSets, the first FileSet include half of your client data and the second FileSet include the other half
-------------- of your client data. You would then need 2 Job definitions, one for each FileSet, and then let each Job
backup to each their device - I am unsure how that will look in a restore scenario, but my guess is
that it will be transparent.
Hey Im thankful, this is a great job, im having a big problem, when I perform a Back up all is good, but when im trying to
restore it, and I browse the file, nothing appears to be restores, back up says that 11.4 mb wash backed but none of the files
appear in from linux client or Windows, I dont have any issues related to conections or anything, everything just perform great
BvsDark but this! thank you ill be really glad if you can help me!
Register : 2013-Jan-31
Topics : 0
Replies : 1
--------------
BvsDark - Learning is what matters!
report reply 01-Feb-2013 10:44
Hi BvsDark
I understand your post as :

1) you actually have a backup
Rasmus 2) you have run a restore that terminated with success
User type : Admin
Register : 2012-Dec-21 3) you cannot find the files that you have restored
Topics : 0 Ad 3) Then you restore, you need to select a client, that is the machine to which you want to restore the files. You also
Replies : 108 have to select Where on that client to restore. Say that you took a backup of "/var/www" and you now restore the files
-------------- setting the Where value to "/myRestores" - your restored files will now be in "/myRestores/var/www" on the selected
client. If you want to restore directly to the same place as from where you backup the files, you will need to set the
Where value to "/".
Here is a picture from a restore job ready to run :
Also if you have not done already, be sure to go through the #bacula-restore section.
Hi,
My Backup Setup is as follows,
OS: CentOS 6.3 64 bit

rex_ray Bacula Version: 5.2.12 (Compiled from Source with MySQL support)
User type : Standard Backup Media: Hard Drive
Topics : 2
Am trying to backup a couple of folders on a Windows 2008 (64 Bit) Server. I have installed the latest 64 bit version of the file
Replies : 4 client
-------------- on the Windows server. Manually running a backup works perfectly. The problem arises when running the backup through the
scheduler.
I get the dreaded "Bacula cannot find any appendable volumes" error. There is more than enough space in the harddrive so
space shouldn't be a
problem. I new to Bacula can you please point out what am doing wrong here,
My Bacula Configuration,
Only the Relevant sections of 'bacula-dir.conf',
# Backing up single client machine only
Client {
Name = fin-hp-fd
Address = 10.10.0.91
FDPort = 9102
Catalog = MasterCatalog
Password = "password" # password for FileDaemon
File Retention = 30 days # 30 days
Job Retention = 6 months # six months
AutoPrune = yes # Prune expired Jobs/Files
AutoPrune = yes # Prune expired Jobs/Files
}
# File based Back up to hard drive
Storage {
Name = storage1
Address = 10.10.0.61 # N.B. Use a fully qualified name here
SDPort = 9103
Password = "password"
Device = hd1
Media Type = File
}
# My single Job defs config
JobDefs {
Name = "InternalStorage1"
Type = Backup
Client = fin-hp-fd
Storage = storage1
Schedule = "BackupCycle"
Messages = Standard
Write Bootstrap = "/var/bacula/working/%c.bsr"
Priority = 10
}
# Backing up only a couple of folders

FileSet {
Name = "Full Set"
Include {
Options {
signature = SHA1
}
File = E:/test
File = E:/test2
}
}
Job {
Name = "FinBackup"
JobDefs = "InternalStorage1"
Client = fin-hp-fd
Pool = "Full-Pool"
}
Schedule {
Name = "BackupCycle"
Run = Level=Full Pool=Full-Pool fri at 13:30
Run = Level=Differential Pool=Diff-Pool mon-thu at 13:30
Run = Level=Incremental Pool=Inc-Pool hourly at 0:05
Run = Level=Incremental Pool=Inc-Pool hourly at 0:45
}
# Recycle Full Volumes after 3 months
Pool {
Name = Full-Pool
Pool Type = Backup
Recycle = yes # automatically recycle Volumes
AutoPrune = yes # Prune expired volumes
Volume Retention = 3 months
Label Format = "Weekly-Full-${Year}-${Month:p/2/0/r}-${Day:p/2/0/r}-${Hour:p/2/0/r}-${Minute:p/2/0/r}"
Maximum Volumes = 12
}
# Recycle Differential Volumes after 14 days
Pool {
Name = Diff-Pool
Pool Type = Backup
Recycle = yes
AutoPrune = yes
Volume Retention = 14 days
Label Format = "Daily-Diff-${Year}-${Month:p/2/0/r}-${Day:p/2/0/r}-${Hour:p/2/0/r}-${Minute:p/2/0/r}"
Maximum Volumes = 7
}
# Recycle Incremental Volumes after 1 month
Pool {
Name = Inc-Pool
Pool Type = Backup
Recycle = yes # automatically recycle Volumes
Volume Retention = 1 month
Label Format = "Daily-Inc-${Year}-${Month:p/2/0/r}-${Day:p/2/0/r}-${Hour:p/2/0/r}-${Minute:p/2/0/r}"
}
My Bacula Storage Daemon Configuration, (only the relevant part)
Device {
Name = hd1
Media Type = File
Archive Device = /media/Linux
LabelMedia = yes; # lets Bacula label unlabeled media
AutomaticMount = yes; # when device opened, read it
AlwaysOpen = no;
}
Hi rex_ray
I can see you set maximum Volumes in your Pool definitions, so if your scheduler tries to start eg. a full backup and
there already are 12 Volumes in the full Pool and none of them are expired, then Bacula cannot continue and you will
Rasmus get the "Bacula cannot find any appendable volumes" error.
User type : Admin
If the maximum Volumes setting is not the problem, then please :
Topics : 0
Replies : 108 1. Specify if it is a full, incremental or differential job that fails through the scheduler or if it is all of them.
-------------- 2. If you have a report on the failed job, please post that report
3. Post the exact job properties then you run manually (so we can compare with the failed job report)
Hi,
Thank you for your help. This problem arises due to the 'Volume Retention Period = 1 month' specified in
the 'Inc-Pool'. With the incremental backup running every 15 mins and the retention period set too long, the
Anonymous volumes are not getting recycled and thus am getting this error. Secondly am dumping all the backups
-------------- (full,diff,inc) into a single folder (/media/Linux) which also adds to this problem. Now I have addedd different
storages to full, differential and incremental backups and tweaked the 'Volume Retention Period' appropriate
to the setup. But still I have many doubts with Bacula and hope to ask your help in clearing them in the
coming week. Once again thank you very much for your help.
Hi rex_ray
You are right, I realize now that in your Inc-Pool, you have :
Maximum volume jobs = 1

Maximum volumes = 20
Rasmus
User type : Admin Volume retention = 1 month
The above configuration means that if you run more than 20 jobs in 1 month, then you will run out of
Topics : 0 appendable volumes.
Replies : 108
-------------- Some solutions :
1. Reduce the retention period (not recommended, I think 1 month is good)

2. Increase maximum volumes (this may be the best solution, I want to try it out next time I
upgrade our backup system)
3. Set maximum volume jobs to zero and set a maximum volume bytes value (this is the solution
I currently use) :
Maximum volume jobs = 0
Maximum volume bytes = 25G #This size works for me
Maximum volumes = 20 #Here you need to adjust for how much data you have
Volume retention = 1 month
Solution 3 will give you the ability to run as many jobs as needed as long as the data does not
exceed 500 GB (25G x 20).
Hi,
Sorry for being late. I removed the 'Maximum Volumes' option from the 'Inc-Pool' Pool but kept the
Volume Retention at 7 days (i.e recycle the volumes after 7 days) The total size of the backup data is under
3.5 GB so I thought there is no need for the 'Maximum Volume Bytes' option. Also I want a new volume for
rex_ray each backup job so I used 'Maximum Volume Jobs = 1'. I read from a website that you have to keep Job, File,
User type : Standard Volume Retention periods the same like shown below for reliable file restoration. Can you please tell me your
Register : 2012-Dec-30 opinion on this.
Topics : 2
Replies : 4 Pool {
--------------
Job Retention = 1 month
File Retention = 1 month
Volume Retention = 1 month
}
Hi rex_ray
The documentation is not clear on how retention periods exactly works, especially it is unclear to
what extent the volume retention period guarantees a volume is not recycled. The following is what I
Rasmus believe to hold true :
User type : Admin
File retention period sets then file records in the Catalog database will expire.
Topics : 0 Job retention period sets the minimum time for job records in the Catalog database will
Replies : 108 expire. A job record in the Catalog database cannot expire if there are file records referencing
-------------- it.
Volume retention period sets the minimum time before physical volumes will expire
(however it may recycle before that, see below). A physical volume cannot expire if there are
job records in the Catalog database referencing it.
Bacula can only write backup to volumes with status Append. If Bacula needs to write backup and no
existing volumes are appendable, the following happens :
1. If auto labeling is true, Max volumes are higher than existing number of volumes and there are
sufficient space on the harddrive, Bacula will create a new volume and set the status to
Append.
2. If no new volume could be created, there is at least one volume with status Purged and Recyle
is set to Yes, then Bacula will recycle one of the purged volumes WHATEVER the volume
retention (that is a fact) and set the status to Append.
3. If no volume is purged and AutoPrune=Yes then Bacula will one last time prune all records in
the Catalog database to try to set a volume to status Purged, subsequently recycle it and set
the status to Append.
4. If no appendable volumes could be found or created, Bacula will throw the "Bacula cannot find
any appendable volumes" error.
To answer the question whether Volume, Job & File retention periods should be the same, I think it is
best as it is more easy to understand, however in large scenarios it gives meaning to lower the File
retention to avoid the Catalog database growing intolerably big (you can still restore jobs but not
individual files).
hello,
thank you very much for the awesome guide on bacula. anyway i have question, before completing install "apt-get install"
Anonymous package. i have error for bacula-directory-mysql, like "error 2002 (hy000): can't connect to local mySQL server through socket
-------------- '/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock' (2) "
it's that normal ??
i'm new for installing bacula. i'm trying install in ubuntu 10.04 on VMware now
thank you
Hi Anonymous (remember to logon before posting so you can get an email notification as soon as anyone replies to
your post)
Default Bacula will use MySQL server to host the Catalog database. If MySQL is not already installed on the system,
Rasmus then Bacula installation script should install MySQL server as part of the Bacula installation process - I have not tried
User type : Admin this option myself and this information, https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/bacula/+bug/712291, suggest it
Register : 2012-Dec-21 may be error prone.
Topics : 0
Replies : 108 So you should answer this question : Did you install MySQL server BEFORE installing Bacula ? or did you rely on the
-------------- Bacula installation script to install MySQL for you ?
I will recommend to :
1. Upgrade Ubuntu from your old 10.04 to a newer version if possible (be sure to have backup of ALL your user files
& data before upgrading so that in case of disaster, you can restore the server), see how to upgrade eg. here :
http://www.liberiangeek.net/2012/04/upgrade-to-ubuntu-12-04-from-ubuntu-10-04-via-the-terminal/
2. Install MySQL server :
shell> apt-get install mysql-client mysql server (you will be prompted to create a MySQL administrative
(root) password)
3. Check that MySQL is running : my guess is that a non-running MySQL server is the reason for your error.
shell> service mysql status
4. Check that you can login to Mysql :
shell> mysql -u root -p
5. Install Bacula :
shell> apt-get install bacula
The Bacula installation script will now bypass installing MySQL server, however you will be prompted :
1. Configure database for bacula-directory-mysql with dbconfig-common <- answer Yes
2. The password of the mysql administrative (root) account <- type in the root password
3. To create a password for bacula-directory-mysql (the bacula user) <- type in a password
Note that installing on VMware should not affect your installation, but I am not sure if a virtual machine is a good
choice for a backup server.
report reply 18-Mar-2013 15:28
Th k f th id h i fi t l k d t it i th ht "th ' i'll t h d d th t!!" b t l id it t it

Thanks for the guide, when i first looked at it, i thought "there's no way i'll get my head around that!!", but you laid it out quite
simply.
lennie I am, however encountering a problem. When I run the command "status storage" or "status client" (in bconsole), i get the
User type : Standard following error:
Register : 2013-Mar-18
Topics : 0 "status storage

Replies : 1 Automatically selected Storage: storage1
-------------- Connecting to Storage daemon storage1 at 127.0.0.1:9103
Failed to connect to Storage daemon storage1."

and
status client=
Automatically selected Client: xxxx-fd
Connecting to Client xxxx-fd at 127.0.0.1:9102
Failed to connect to Client xxxx-fd.
====
As you can see, I've been using 127.0.0.1 as my DirAddress (in all the config files) because bconsole refused to connect using
my global ip, so this may be the problem, but i've replaced 127.0.0.1 with both my local ip address and my global ip, but to no
avail.
Please help
Hi lennie
Let's try to solve the client connection. Please post the following 2 things here :
Rasmus 1. the full bacula-fd.conf file content (for your xxxx-fd client)
User type : Admin 2. the bacula-dir.conf Client {} section (for your xxxx-fd client)
Topics : 0 Also be sure to disable any firewall on the client machine and to restart both the director on the director machine
Replies : 108 and the file deamon on the client machine :
-------------- director machine shell> service bacula-director restart
client machine shell> service bacula-fd restart
Hi Rasmus,
Here's my bacula-fd.conf file

Anonymous #
-------------- # Default Bacula File Daemon Configuration file
#
# For Bacula release 5.2.5 (26 January 2012) -- ubuntu 12.04
#
# There is not much to change here except perhaps the
# File daemon Name to
#
#
# List Directors who are permitted to contact this File daemon
#
Director {
Name = presbyserver-dir
Password = "xxxx"
}
#
# Restricted Director, used by tray-monitor to get the
# status of the file daemon
#
Director {
Name = presbyserver-mon
Password = "xxxx"
Monitor = yes
#
# "Global" File daemon configuration specifications
#
FileDaemon { # this is me
Name = presbyserver-fd
FDport = 9102 # where we listen for the director
FDAddress =127.0.0.1
}
# Send all messages except skipped files back to Director

Messages {
Messages {
Name = Standard
director = presbyserver-dir = all, !skipped, !restored
}
and the bacula-dir.conf content:
Client {
Name = presbyserver-fd
Address = 127.0.0.1
FDPort = 9102
Catalog = MyCatalog
Password = "xxxx"
AutoPrune = yes
}
Thanks for assisting
update:
The command "status client" is now producing the following:

Anonymous
-------------- *status client=
Automatically selected Client: presbyserver-fd
Connecting to Client presbyserver-fd at 127.0.0.1:9102
presbyserver-fd Version: 5.2.5 (26 January 2012) i686-pc-linux-gnu ubuntu 12.04

Daemon started 19-Mar-13 09:45. Jobs: run=0 running=0.
Heap: heap=135,168 smbytes=13,265 max_bytes=13,352 bufs=48 max_bufs=49
Sizeof: boffset_t=8 size_t=4 debug=0 trace=0
Running Jobs:
Director connected at: 19-Mar-13 09:45
No Jobs running.
====
Terminated Jobs:
====
Hi lennie
Congratulations, your director now connects to your client (the last line "Terminated Jobs:" will start
to fill up then you have run some backup/restore jobs). Also note that your client "presbyserver-fd"
Rasmus get automatically selected because you have only one client defined (if you had more than one client
User type : Admin section in your bacula-dir.conf file, then you would get a list of clients to select from)
If you have still not got your director to connect to your storage daemon, then post the following 4
Topics : 0
Replies : 108 things here :
--------------
1. bacula-dir.conf Director {} section
2. bacula-dir.conf Storage {} section
3. bacula-sd.conf Director {} section (you likely have 2, I am interested in the section that does
NOT have the monitor property)
4. bacula.sd.conf Device {} section (if you have more than 1, then post them all)
Also be sure to restart your storage daemon :

storage machine shell> service bacula-sd restart
Hi Rasmus,
Thanks a lot, it seems like i'm now able to connect to the storage daemon. Here's my output when i run "status storage":
Anonymous status storage
-------------- Automatically selected Storage: storage1
Connecting to Storage daemon storage1 at 127.0.0.1:9103
presbyserver-sd Version: 5.2.5 (26 January 2012) i686-pc-linux-gnu ubuntu 12.04

Daemon started 19-Mar-13 14:06. Jobs: run=0, running=0.
Heap: heap=135,168 smbytes=16,068 max_bytes=16,186 bufs=61 max_bufs=63
Sizes: boffset_t=8 size_t=4 int32_t=4 int64_t=8 mode=0,0
Running Jobs:
No Jobs running.
====
Jobs waiting to reserve a drive:

====
Terminated Jobs:
JobId Level Files Bytes Status Finished Name
===================================================================
73 Full 0 0 Error 13-Mar-13 23:05 BackupClient1
74 Full 0 0 Error 13-Mar-13 23:10 BackupCatalog
78 Full 0 0 Error 15 Mar 13 23:10 BackupCatalog
====
Device status:
Device "disk1" is not open or does not exist.
Hi lennie
Congratulations again, it seems you have solved your connection problems (at least on localhost, then you start to
connect to remote File Daemons, be sure to remember to start by disabling any firewall on the client then testing the
Rasmus connection)
User type : Admin
Register : 2012-Dec-21 The error status for the Terminated Jobs is expected for the dates shown, since your Director could not connect to your
File Daemon nor your Storage Daemon.
Topics : 0
Replies : 108
-------------- The Device status : Device "disk1" is not open or does not exist. I think is also expected. First of all, a device not in use
will have the status : Device "disk1" is not open. However since at that time (17-Mar) your Director had not yet been
able to connect to your Storage Daemon, the Director have not been able to confirm whether disk1 exists - I guess that
is the reason for the last part : or does not exist.
Thanks Rasmus, you are a star! I'll go through the rest of the steps and let you know how it goes.
Thanks again!
Anonymous
--------------
report reply 15-Apr-2013 14:31
Great tutorial. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us

terraltech.com
alain
--------------
Best Bacula config tutorial ever available!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Riyaz
--------------
Hi, it's very good tutorial! I have got school project and I must backup Pc. If I use "Run" all is ok, but when I use "status
storage" it's
*status storage
Haxkers Automatically selected Storage: storage1
-------------- Connecting to Storage daemon storage1 at 192.168.1.100:9103
Failed to connect to Storage daemon storage1.

====
You have messages.
*message
18-dub 12:46 FH-dir JobId 0: Fatal error: bsock.c:135 Unable to connect to Storage daemon on 192.168.1.100:9103.
ERR=Spojení odmítnuto
Can you help me please? propably I have problem with configuration.. My PC is DIR and SD.
Hi Haxkers
The error "Failed to connect to Storage daemon" is likely because of one of the following reasons :
Rasmus 1. The storage daemon is not running

User type : Admin 2. Firewall on the storage daemon server does not allow incoming traffic on port 9103 (default SD port)
3. Director cannot authenticate with storage daemon
Topics : 0
Replies : 108
-------------- ad1) Test if the storage daemon is running :
storage daemon machine shell> service bacula-sd status
If the storage daemon is NOT running then start it :
storage daemon machine shell> service bacula-sd start
ad2) Test if your firewall allows incoming traffic on port 9103 : (here is an example for UFW)
storage daemon machine shell> ufw status verbose
ad3) Be sure you have configured bacula-dir.conf and bacula-sd.conf correctly with regard to authentication :
bacula-dir.conf Director{..} Name == bacula-sd.conf Director{..} Name

bacula-dir.conf Storage{..} Password == bacula-sd.conf Director{..} Password
bacula-dir.conf Storage{..} Address == bacula-sd.conf Storage{..} SDAddress
And then restart your storage daemon :

storage daemon machine shell> service bacula sd restart
storage daemon machine shell> service bacula-sd restart
If you still cannot solve the connection problem then post the following 4 things here :
1. bacula-dir.conf Director {} section

2. bacula-dir.conf Storage {} section
3. bacula-sd.conf Director {} section (you likely have 2, I am interested in the section that does NOT have the
monitor property)
4. bacula-sd.conf Device {} section (if you have more than 1, then post them all)
Ok. I had problem with IP adress.

Now, when I use "status storage" :
Running Jobs:
Haxkers No Jobs running.
-------------- ====
Jobs waiting to reserve a drive:

====
Terminated Jobs:
JobId Level Files Bytes Status Finished Name
===================================================================
1 Full 0 0 Error 30-Mar-13 18:29 win1-backup
3 Full 0 0 Error 25-Apr-13 12:22 win1-backup
====
Device status:
Device "disk1" is not open or does not exist.
====
Used Volume status:

====
I want to backup data on my one HDD.
and here are configs:
Director {
Name = FH-dir
DIRport = 9101
QueryFile = "/etc/bacula/scripts/query.sql"
PidDirectory = "/var/run/bacula"
Password = "dir-123" # Console password
Messages = Daemon
DirAddress = 192.168.1.100
Storage {
Name = storage1
Address = 192.168.1.100
SDPort = 9103
Password = "storage-123"
Device = disk1
Media Type = File
}
Director {
Name = FH-dir
Password = "storage-123"
}
Device {
Name = disk1
Media Type = File
Archive Device = /media/disk1
LabelMedia = yes;
AlwaysOpen = no;
Hi Haxkers
Your posted configuration details look valid and also the result of the status storage command is expected :
You have tried to run 2 jobs but could not connect to storage daemon, so they failed, hence the 2 Error status
Rasmus codes
User type : Admin Device "disk1" is not open or does not exist is not an error message. Then your device is not in use it will always
display the message Device "disk1" is not open, however since your storage daemon have never actually used
Topics : 0 disk1, it's existence may never have been confirmed, I think that is the reason for the last part or does not exist.
Replies : 108
-------------- Since your Director can now connect to your storage daemon, try to run a job by issuing the run command and see how
it goes. If the job succeed, then try to issue the status storage command again, you should then get the device status
Device "disk1" is not open.
root@MrKaviar:/home/haxkers#
bconsole
Connecting to Director 192.168.1.100:9101
HAxkers 1000
-------------- OK: FH-dir Version: 5.0.2 (28 April 2010)
Enter a period to cancel a command.
* run
Automatically selected Catalog:

MyCatalog
Using Catalog "MyCatalog"
A job name must be specified.
The defined Job resources are:
1: win1-backup
2: win1-restore
Select Job resource (1-2): 1
Run Backup job
JobName: win1-backup
Level: Incremental
Client: win1
FileSet: win1
Pool: pool1 (From Job resource)
Storage: storage1 (From Job resource)
When: 2013-04-25 22:35:22
Priority: 10
OK to run? (yes/mod/no): y
Job queued. JobId=4

You have messages.
And i Message:
Error: dev.c:120 Unable to stat device /media/disk1:
ERR=No such file
Anonymous Warning: Device "disk1" requested by DIR could not be opened or does not exist.r directory
-------------- Error: dev.c:120 Unable to stat device /media/disk1: ERR=No such file or directory
Now... How Can I open my dikc 1?
To be sure it is not a permission problem, try to do the following :
1. shell> chmod 777 /media

2. shell> chmod 777 /media/disk1
Rasmus
User type : Admin , and then try to run a job again and see if the error persist.
Topics : 0 (If you solve the problem, it would be kind of you to post here what the problem was)
Replies : 108
--------------
report reply 10-May-2013 13:03
how are you going to restore a database server..
let say my fileset = /

aristotleahito
User type : Standard then use restore command > select a client > and the file name what if i just mark* and then type done
Register : 2013-May-10
Topics : 0
Replies : 2 is it possible? to restore the whole database server?
--------------
take your time!! coz time is gold!!

Hi aristotleahito
Hi aristotleahito
I don't know if this is possible or on what operating system it may be possible, however it is a very interesting question.
Rasmus I guess it could be testet to some extent by creating a couple of virtual servers, installing different operating systems
User type : Admin with different databases and then try it out.
Topics : 0 Until you know more, I would advise against this strategy. You better run some backup scripts for your database
Replies : 108 creating dump files and then have Bacula backup these dump files. (Schedule the database backup scripts using
-------------- crontab on Linux or Task scheduler on Windows)
Hello Friend,
Many thanks for a great tutorial. I am a newbie for bacula and your tutorial helped a lot in understanding.
Sam
User type : Standard I have installed bacula on Ubuntu 12.04 Server and tried running a backup job and here is the messages I have received. Please
Register : 2013-May-28 help me.
Topics : 1
Replies : 1 backup-sd JobId 11: Warning: mount.c:217 Open device "backup" (/backup) Volume "pool1-0001" failed: ERR=dev.c:568 Could
-------------- not open: /backup/pool1-0001, ERR=No such file or directory
---
Sam
Hi Sam
The error message states that /backup/pool1-0001 does not exists.
Rasmus 1) Confirm that /backup/pool1-0001 exists on the server on which your storage daemon is running.
User type : Admin
Register : 2012-Dec-21 1.1) If /backup/pool1-0001 does not exist, then it is possible that the file have been manually deleted from the file
Topics : 0 system, so that the record is still existing in the Catalog database - you will then need to use the delete command
Replies : 108 (from within bconsole) to get pool1-0001 out of the Catalog database.
--------------
1.2) If /backup/pool1-0001 exits, then confirm :
1.2.1) that everyone have full access to the /backup directory.
1.2.2) that Bacula have read & write access to the /backup/pool1-0001 file :
1.2.2.1) storage daemon server shell> ps aux | grep bacula-sd : will show you what user and what group the bacula-sd
process is executed under.
1.2.2.2) storage daemon server shell> ls -l /backup : will show you user & group access on all files under /backup.
report reply 07-Jun-2013 12:55
hi can you help me fix this error during backupcatalog
Could not stat "/etc/bacula/bacula.sql": ERR=No such file or directory

ariez
--------------
Hi ariez
It seems the error Could not stat "/etc/bacula/bacula.sql": ERR=No such file or directory often is a result of bacula not
having permissions to read bacula-dir.conf or to execute make_catalog_backup.pl.
Rasmus
User type : Admin There is a fine walkthrough of this problem here : http://dan.langille.org/2010/03/23/baccula-errors-with-500-backup-
catalog/
Topics : 0
Replies : 108
Rasmus - You're the man !! Thanks for such great assistance on Bacula .... No job so big or to small for you :-) Respect !!
Renier
Register : 2013-Jun-25
Topics : 0
Replies : 1
--------------
me accounting a problem , that when i hit the run command the default resources are shown. no updations
Plz do help
Plz do help...
Ish
--------------
Hi Ish
Then you execute the run command, you should see a list of Job resources - do you see such a list ?
Rasmus If you see the Job resources list, you can then select which Job to execute by writing the number corresponding to the
User type : Admin Job and then hit Enter - what happens after you have selected a Job resource ?
Topics : 0
Replies : 108
report reply 12-Jul-2013 22:01
Hi Rasmus,
Thanks for posting a nice bacula document. It really helped me.

RUK
-------------- I have some question, please help me finding my questions answer.
1. i want to know how to clear the JobIB queue in bacula. i use delete command using bconsle, it
tells me that deletion is done but when i check the status the jobid still present.
2. i want to set the maximum volume size to 100M ans maximum volume to 9. So now my question is that when this 9 voulme
finish does the bacula start over right the first backup or we need to provide the more backup space so that it can write data in
other file.
Hi RUK
ad 1) To clear a job from the job queue use the cancel command. After you execute the cancel command from
bconsole, bconsole will return a list of jobs in the queue (including current running jobs) - you can then select which job
Rasmus to cancel. If you choose a currently running job, it can take several hours for the job to cancel. You can make it faster
User type : Admin by exiting bconsole and restart the storage daemon (shell> service bacula-sd restart), however you will then lose the
Register : 2012-Dec-21 job queue (you can then run jobs manually, though keep in mind that manually runned jobs does not use the schedule
and any backup level and pool overriding in the scedule therefore does not apply).
Topics : 0
Replies : 108
-------------- As a side note, you cannot use the delete command to cancel jobs (the delete command is used to delete entries in the
Catalog database and have nothing to do with running or scheduled jobs).
ad 2) The answer to your question whether Bacula will overwrite existing volumes then all volumes are used and no
more volumes can be created depends on your pool settings. Especially you will need to set the following in your Pool
{} section :
Volume Retention = 61 days: Bacula will not recycle a volume before the retention period counting from the
last writing to the volume (the last writing is calculated using the Catalog database not the filesystem, therefore
purging a volume (delete all related records from the Catalog database) will make a volume recyclable. You may
want to accommodate the 61 days to something that fit's your data size and your storage size.
Recycle = yes : so that Bacula will automatically recycle purged volumes belonging to the pool (that is : delete
the volume content and set the volume status to Append)
AutoPrune = yes : so that Bacula will automatically apply the retention period then a new volume is needed and
no volume can be created or change status to Append.
These 3 settings does NOT guarantee that Bacula will reuse your oldest volume then all volumes are full. If your backup
fails because Bacula is not able to provide any appendable volume, you can manually purge the volumes you want to be
overwritten, just execute the purge command in bconsole and take it from there.
If you want to understand the exact Bacula procedure, please refer to this comment above :
http://webmodelling.com/webbits/miscellaneous/bacula.aspx?ml-d-mpids=22
Really Thanks to you !
I will keep posting you as i start working on bacula ....i must be having lots of questions.
RUK
-------------- Will you please explain me one more thing
In Pools function :
how these 2 values work
Maximum Volume Bytes

Maximum Volumes
Will you please explain and what you think before setting these 2 values.
Hi RUK
The files you backup are kept within volumes. If you backup to harddrives, then the harddrive is
called a backup device and the volumes are themselves just files on that harddrive - files into
Rasmus which the backup files are stored (if you backup to tape, then a volume is a tape and the tape drive
User type : Admin is the backup device)
Register : 2012-Dec-21 A pool is a group of volumes. You typically set volume properties on a group of volumes - that is :
you set the volume properties using the pool {} section. If you want some volumes with different
Topics : 0
Replies : 108 properties, you then create a second pool. Also the volume group (the pool) itself can have
-------------- properties, eg. auto creating volumes then needed.
Maximum Volume Bytes is a volume property specifying the maximum size of the volume
file - as backup files are stored within a volume file, the volume file will keep growing until
Maximum Volume Bytes.
Maximum Volumes is a volume group (pool) property specifying the maximum number of
volumes allowed in the group - as backup files are stored within volume files belonging to the
group and these volume files fill up new volume files needs to be added and in case of auto
creating volumes Bacula will keep adding them until either no more space on the harddrive or
until Maximum Volumes.
Sensible values for Maximum Volume Bytes and Maximum Volumes depend very much on different
factors and different storage strategies - an understanding of this can only come with experience.
However I will show you my full pool {} for one of my current backup solutions :
Pool {
Name = full
Pool Type = Backup
Recycle = yes # Automatically delete volume content and change volume
status to Append on pruned volumes
AutoPrune = yes # If no other volume can be create or appended then
automatically apply retention periods by deleting DB file, job & volume records
Volume Retention = 93 days # Wait 93 days after last writing to the volume file
before auto pruning the volume
Maximum Volume Bytes = 25G # Volumes sizes are not allowed to grow beyond 25
GB
Maximum Volumes = 30 # There can never be more than 30 volumes in the pool
Label Format = full- # Automatically create new volumes then needed (unless
there are 30 volumes)
Catalog Files = yes # Also write all files stored to the Catalog database
(otherwise individual files cannot be restored only jobs)
Maximum Volume Jobs = 0 # No restriction on how many jobs in a single volume
Maximum Volume Files = 0 # No restriction on how many files in a single volume
Volume Use Duration = 0 # No restriction on over how long time the volume can be
written
}
Thank you Very much Rasmus,
I have one more issue working with bacula.

RUK 1. I want to know that do we need to comment all the pools{} parameter session, before
-------------- creating our own pools{} session.
2. Could you please explain me, what is "BackupCatalog" ?,
how to access this backupcatalog ?
Is it mendatory to have backupcatalog, if i dont want to have backupcatalog, can i
comment out Job Catalog{} parameters.
Here is the file job catalog section.

# Backup the catalog database (after the nightly save)
Job {
Name = "BackupCatalog"
Level = Full
FileSet="Catalog"
Schedule = "WeeklyCycleAfterBackup"
# This creates an ASCII copy of the catalog
# Arguments to make_catalog_backup.pl are:
# make_catalog_backup.pl <catalog-name>
RunBeforeJob = "/etc/bacula/make_catalog_backup.pl MyCatalog"
# This deletes the copy of the catalog
RunAfterJob = "/etc/bacula/delete_catalog_backup"
Write Bootstrap = "/opt/bacula/working/%n.bsr"
Priority = 11 # run after main backup
}
Hi RUK
Let me first suggest you to login then posting, that way you will get an email
notification then a reply is written to your post.
Rasmus
User type : Admin Ad 1) You don't need to delete or out-comment the example pool {..} sections,
Register : 2012-Dec-21 the only harm they do is to clutter your bacula-dir.conf file (I prefer to delete them
myself though).
Topics : 0
Replies : 108
-------------- Ad 2) I always delete the BackupCatalog example Job from the bacula-dir.conf file.
Instead my standard database backup system will backup the catalog database. As
my database backup files are not only transfered to Bacula but are also directly
available for the last 7 days locally on the database servers, this system allows me
to restore the catalog database in less than 2 minutes using a standard routine (I
have had many databases in need of restore but never the Bacula catalog).
Hi Rasmus,
Now i have account :P

rukender_singh
User type : Standard Thanks for your reply.
Register : 2013-Jul-23 Will you please suggest me any good GUI tool for bacula monitoring.
Topics : 0
Replies : 3
--------------
Also Rasmas,
I have some problem understanding Pool concept.

Anonymous This is my bacula-dir.conf file Pool{} parameter configuration in
-------------- my test environment.
Pool {
Name = pool1
Pool Type = Backup
Recycle = yes # Bacula can automatically
recycle Volumes
Volume Retention = 61 days # one year
Maximum Volume Bytes = 1G
Label Format = pool1-
Catalog Files = yes
}
Here in this pool configuration my "Maximum Volume Bytes is
1G" and "Maximum Volumes is 20". It means that i would be
having 1GB backup file. once this 1GB fills then it will creat
another pool label and start writing in the new pool label.
Ex: my current pool label is pool1-0002, once backup file in this
pool level exceeds to more than 1GB, it will create another label
i.e pool1-0003, am i right ?
But, in my test environment i m facing some problem i.e
[root@rukender]# ls -ltrh /backup/

total 1.2G
-rw-r-----. 1 root root 1.2G Jul 23 01:05 pool1-0002
As u can see, in my test machine, pool1-0002 exceed to more

than 1GB, but still i have only one label, but there must be
another pool label once it axceed to 1GB, why there is no other
new pool label i.e pool1-0003?
Hi Anonymous
You have understood the concepts correctly and I

would be equally confused seeing the 1.2GB pool1-
Rasmus 0002 file. I have never experienced a similar situation
User type : Admin myself, the volume sizes have always stopped exactly
Register : 2012-Dec-21 on the byte at maximum volume bytes. I think there is
something at play cheating us, eg. maybe the volume
Topics : 0
Replies : 108 size was above 1 GB before your pool definition was
-------------- recognized by Bacula or something like that.
ya, you are right i m still confused.
i want to tell you that initially when i start

rukender_singh configuring the bacula-dir.conf time at that
User type : Standard time i put the Maximum Volume Bytes as
Register : 2013-Jul-23 20GB. But after clearifying the concept of this
i changed it to 1GB. Maybe this is the reson
Topics : 0
Replies : 3 ?, also if it is the reson than could you please
-------------- help me to fix it.
one more thing is that why my pool cycle

start from pool1-0002 why not form pool1-
0001?
Indeed an earlier bacula-dir.conf file have

most likely been the reason. To clean up the
mess, I would suggest to use the delete
command from within bconsole to delete all
Rasmus your volumes (don't delete your volume files
User type : Admin directly on the filesystem - your Catalog
Register : 2012-Dec-21 database would then not be consistent with
your files). Also keep in mind all backup done
Topics : 0
Replies : 108 so far will be lost.
--------------
After cleaning up restart your daemons :
shell> service bacula-director restart
shell> service bacula-sd restart
client shell> service bacula-fd restart
(different if your client is windows)
Then run a full backup.
report reply 02-Aug-2013 12:32
Hi Rasmus,
I tried to follow you, I tried Delete

rukender_singh option from my bconsole. first it ask
User type : Standard me what i want to delete then i gave
Register : 2013-Jul-23 it my Volume name, then it gave me
4 option in between i choose to
Topics : 0
Replies : 3 delete pool and then it was asking
-------------- for pool name which i want to
delete. All this task performed
sucessfully but still i m able to see
my pool in my storage location, its
not deleted from the storage area.
Will you tell me the way how to fix

this problem, so that once the
backup pool reach to its limit it will
start writing to the new pool ID
automatically
Hi Ruk
Account good
Rasmus Unfortunately Bacula is not strong on the no-pay GUI side or at

User type : Admin least it was not 3 years ago. If I were to explore the no-pay GUI
Register : 2012-Dec-21 options for Bacula, I would start here : http://www.bacula-
Topics : 0 web.org/
Replies : 108
Hi rukender_singh
Your original problem was that you had a volume file bigger
than the maximum volume bytes set for the pool to which the
Rasmus volume belong. Most likely that had happened because you
User type : Admin have had a different maximum volume bytes setting earlier. To
Register : 2012-Dec-21 remove the volume that was too big, you should from inside
bconsole have issued the delete command and then deleted the
Topics : 0
Replies : 108 volume (by selecting volume and then the pool to which the
-------------- volume belongs). Instead it seems you have tried to delete a
pool. I am not sure what it is you see in your storage area, I
guess it is your volume files you can see, however also note
that even if you delete pool records from the database, the pool
will be recreated from your bacula-dir.conf if not deleted from
there (I don't think such a recreated pool will pick up the old
volume files though, but I am not sure).
Right now your bacula system is likely in a mess. However I

think that you should try again from within bconsole to delete
all volumes and then AFTER that delete all volume files from the
filesystem - this will hopefully make your catalog database and
filesystem consistent again.
report reply 03-Sep-2013 16:59
Hi Rasmus,
I have a problem in bacula. When i m trying to take a

Rukender first time backup bacula took full backup. Till here its
-------------- good.
But, when i m trying to take incermental backup by
adding 1MB file in the backup folder at that time
bacula is again taking full backup instead of backuping
only 1MB file it backup all the files in incremental
backup.
Please help me to solve this problem.
here output of status client command form bconsole.
1 Full 0 0 Error 06-Mar-13 08:23
snmpagent2-Backup
3 Full 992 197.7 M OK 06-Mar-13
08:27 snmpagent2-Backup
4 Incr 993 199.0 M OK 06-Mar-13
5 Incr 992 199.0 M OK 06-Mar-13
Hi Rukender
I am a couple of days late with the answer. If

you still have the problem, then compare
Rasmus datetime stamps on the files you backup
User type : Admin using :
Register : 2012-Dec-21 1) shell> ls -l
2) shell> ls -c : especially if ls -c shows
Topics : 0
Replies : 108 identical datetime stamps on your files, you
-------------- may have another process running that touch
your files making Bacula include all files in
the incremental backup.
Hi Rasmus,
Thanks for your reply!
Rukender I have some questions please try to

-------------- help me.
1. If i start talking backup for a
system and after sometime i made
changes in bacula-dir.conf file and
change some pool setting, then in
this case how can i start taking full
backup with the new confiuration
and deleting all the previous
backup. How it will be possible and
how to perfom this task
sucessfully.Please explain for me in
little brief.
I tried it from my side but not
sucessfull to perfom.
2. how to clean all my previous

JOBID using DELETE command from
bconsole, i tried it from side it ask
me for which jobid i want to delete
but if i gave the jobid nothing
happen, that jobid still shows up in
the list.
Help..
When i start the console program (bconsole), i can't connected to director.
root@olop-Aspire-V3-471G:~# bconsole
olop Connecting to Director 192.168.1.4:9101
User type : Standard I use ubuntu 12.04
Register : 2013-Jul-19 Can you help me? Thanks before..
Topics : 0
Replies : 2
--------------
Hi olop
To resolve connection problems between bconsole and Bacula Director, you can try the following steps :
Rasmus 1) If bconsole is NOT installed on the same machine as Director, then try to disable any firewall on both the bconsole
User type : Admin machine and especially on the Director machine to determine whether the connection problem lay with the firewall - in
Register : 2012-Dec-21 fact : don't enable any firewall before you have solved the connection problem.
Topics : 0
Replies : 108 2) Your bconsole must contact the Director using the Director Name, Password and IP - if any of these mismatch, then
-------------- the bconsole will be unable to connect. The 2 config files that you need to compare are bacula-dir.conf (on the
machine on which the Director is installed) and bconsole.conf (on the machine on which the bconsole is installed -
most often that is the same machine). In both config files you need to look for the Director {..} section :
bacula-dir.conf Director {..} Name == bconsole.conf Director {..} Name

bacula-dir.conf Director {..} Password == bconsole.conf Director {..} Password
bacula-dir.conf Director {..} DirAddress == bconsole.conf Director {..} Address
3) Director shell> service bacula-director status : test if the Director service is actually started (if not, then shell>
service bacula-director start)
4) telnet the Director from your bconsole machine :

bconsole shell> telnet 192.168.1.4 9101 : if you can telnet, then there is no firewall problem and you have also double
confirmed that Director is running (you quit telnet by holding ctrl and pres ])
5) run nmap to see what ports are available :

bconsole shell> nmap 192.168.1.4
director shell> nmap localhost
hi rasmus.. have you tried using webacula? thanks using postgresql? thanks
aristotleahito
Register : 2013-May-10
Topics : 0
Replies : 2
--------------
take your time!! coz time is gold!!
Hi aristotleahito. I have never tried to use webacula nor postgresql with bacula. While I am a happy CLI cowboy myself,
I definitely think a web based GUI could be valuable for many - if you try it you are most welcome to post your
experience with webacula here.
Rasmus
User type : Admin
Topics : 0
Replies : 108
Hi..
I want to make my bacula email notifications on backup and restore
olop My configuration is
User type : Standard messages {
Register : 2013-Jul-19 Name = Standard
mailcommand = "/ usr / lib / bacula / bsmtp-h localhost-f \" \ (Bacula \) \ <[email protected]\> \ "-s \" Bacula:%
Topics : 0
Replies : 2 t% e of% c% l \ "% r"
-------------- operatorcommand = "/ usr / lib / bacula / bsmtp-h localhost-f \" \ (Bacula \) \ <[email protected]\> \ "-s \"
Bacula: Intervention needed for% j \ "% r "
mail = situmorang.olop @ gmail.com = all,! skipped
operator = situmorang.olop @ gmail.com = mount
console = all,! skipped,! saved
# append = "/ var / lib / bacula / log" = all,! skipped
catalog = all
}
for mailcommand and operatorcommand i use [email protected],

for mail and comman i use [email protected]
but it not works, email not sending..
can you help me?
Hi olop
I can see you have configured the operatorcommand to connect to an MTA (Mail Transfer Agent) on localhost - you
should be sure that you actually do have an MTA on localhost, to test you can try the following :
Rasmus
User type : Admin
Register : 2012-Dec-21 shell> dpkg -l | grep mail : look for mail related packages (likely only works on debian based OS)
shell> telnet localhost 25 : test if any daemon is listening on port 25
Topics : 0 shell> helo localhost : to be sure that the daemon is an MTA issue the helo command
Replies : 108
shell> nmap localhost : another way to test what daemons are listening on what ports
--------------
shell> mail "test body" -s "test subject" [email protected] : sending an email from the command line
to confirm that mail actually can be sent
Hi Rasmus,
First of all, thank you very much for this wonderful tutorial that helped me a lot in my installation and configuration of Bacula
Nacho backup system. After doing some tests successful backup and restoration I found a problem on a Windows server, which
User type : Standard approximately two hours after the start of Job, it disrupts the connection. I solved this problem by adding a Heartbeat Interval in
Register : 2013-Sep-06 the bacula-sd.conf and bacula-fd.conf ... So my question is, if it is possible to resume a Job that has been interrupted by this or
another cause.
Topics : 0
Replies : 1
-------------- PS: Thanks again and sorry for my basic english.
Cheers!
Hi Nacho
It is to my knowledge NOT possible to resume a job and I would recommend NOT to fiddle with the bacula database
JobStatus fields in order to get Bacula to resume a job.
Rasmus
User type : Admin Better to accept you have a failed job and start again. If your heatbeat solution does not solve the problem with lost
Register : 2012-Dec-21 connections, then try to split the bacup job up in 2 or 3 backup jobs each having less to backup.
Topics : 0
Replies : 108 I have no installations with more than 2 TB of data to backup, so I work with relatively small data, however if your
-------------- data are big, maybe it would be a good idea to look into virtual full backup, see more here
: http://www.bacula.org/de/dev-manual/New_Features.html.
Hello. I followed your tutorial everything seems to be working fine. I using VM to make tests.I am using a Windows & VM and A
Ubuntu Server as clients. For the ubuntu backup I used label and I performed the backup with sucess but there is a file with the
label and I can't cd into it to see the files that have been backed up. On the windows client I did not used label and I am using a
Joe mounted drive but I don't see any backup files for it. Can you explain how Bacula stores the backup files and how can have
-------------- access to it and restore? Thannks.
Hi Joe
The files you want to backup from various clients are stored within volumes. In case you use a harddrive or directory
for backup device, your volumes are themselves files - so your backup files are stored within volume files and these
Rasmus volume files are stored on your backup device (most typically the backup device will be just a directory).
User type : Admin
Register : 2012-Dec-21 The storage daemon is responsible for handling backup devices. In case the backup device is either a harddrive or a
directory (most typically), the volumes will be files, while if the backup device is a tape drive, the volumes will be tapes.
Topics : 0
Replies : 108
-------------- Your backup device is appointed in bacula-sd.conf in the Device{..} section as "Archive Device".
Here is a device section from one of my own bacula-sd.conf files:

Device {
Name = disk1
Media Type = File
Archive Device = /bacula
LabelMedia = yes;
AlwaysOpen = no;
}
, you can see that the volume files are stored in the directory "/bacula" on the server on which the storage daemon is
running (the storage daemon is running on our backup server of course).
backup server shell> cd /bacula : navigate to the backup device folder (your backup folder may be in a different path).
backup server shell> ls -lh : list all the volume files.
(Note that you cannot directly use the volume files for restore, you will of course need to issue the restore command
from within the bconsole prompt).
I have a question about the possibility of expiring jobs. Not in the sense of a job that has run successfully and needs to be aged
out of the catalog, but a job in the queue that's ready to be run.
pquesinb I've got Bacula backing up a number of virtual machines to LTO tape but occasionally the backup doesn't run for some reason,
User type : Standard office is closed so the employee doesn't change the tape, etc. What subsequently happens is the job gets queued up and then
Register : 2014-Jan-07 runs later when the tape is changed, several jobs might start running during the day while files are open and in use instead of at
night when they're supposed to. Is there a way to keep from queuing those jobs up or expire them if they don't start within say,
Topics : 0
Replies : 2 an hour or so?
--------------
Thanks and keep the great info coming.
- Phil
Hi pquesinb
I am not aware of a setting to automatically cancel a job in case the job have not started within a set time after it is
sceduled to run.
Rasmus
User type : Admin However, I think you can setup a cron job that executes a script to cancel any queue (eg. running 7 o'clock each
Register : 2012-Dec-21 morning). Here is a link to a guy who have written such a script : http://www.cyberwizzard.nl/gentoo-linux/144-kill-all-
waiting-backup-jobs-in-bacula.html.
Topics : 0
Replies : 108
--------------
Hi pquesinb
Ok, I just found the setting, it is called Max Start Delay and needs to be set in the Job resource (or JobDefs).
Rasmus You can find the description here : http://www.bacula.org/5.2.x-

User type : Admin manuals/en/main/main/Configuring_Director.html#SECTION001430000000000000000 (search the page for Max Start
Register : 2012-Dec-21 Delay)
Topics : 0
Replies : 108
Hi Rasmus,
Thank you!
pquesinb
User type : Standard That setting works quite well, although it appears to have one limitation:
Register : 2014-Jan-07 The first job will start even if the right tape isn't available, then will complete once the tape is changed (the
next day or whenever). The rest of the jobs will then cancel out. The cron job would likely be a good way to
Topics : 0
Topics : 0
Replies : 2 deal with that.
--------------
This isn't a big problem for us since the first job queued is a very small backup job, only a couple-hundred
MB. The next job after that is the big one, which will use a significant chunk of the tape's remaining capacity.
Thanks for finding that!
Cheers,
- Phil
Very good tutorial !
All is clear, you help me so much !

Anonymous
-------------- Thanks a lot
best regards
a new bacula's user
Dear Rasmus,
26-Feb 15:05 FH-dir JobId 3: No prior Full backup Jobrecord found.

avecsi
User type : Standard 26-Feb 15:05 FH-dir JobId 3: No prior or suitable Fullbackup found in catalog. Doing FULL backup.
Register : 2014-Feb-26
Topics : 0 26-Feb 15:05 FH-dir JobId 3: Start Backup JobId 3,Job=BackupClient1.2014-02-26_15.05.26_06

Replies : 3
-------------- 26-Feb 15:05 FH-dir JobId 3: Using Device"disk1"
26-Feb 15:05 FH-sd JobId 3: Volume "pool1-0001"previously written, moving to end of data.
26-Feb 15:05 FH-sd JobId 3: Ready to append to end ofVolume "pool1-0001" size=616 26-Feb 15:05 lmic-w-p-app01-fd JobId
3:Fatal error: VSS API failure calling "InitializeForBackup".ERR=Unexpected error. The error code is logged in the error log file.
26-Feb 15:05 lmic-w-p-app01-fd JobId 3: Fatal error: VSSwas not initialized properly. ERR=The operation completed
successfully.
26-Feb 15:05 lmic-w-p-app01-fd JobId 3: Error: VSS APIfailure calling "BackupComplete". ERR=Object is not initialized;called
during restore or not called in correct sequence.
26-Feb 15:05 lmic-w-p-app01-fd JobId 3: Fatal error: VSSAPI failure calling "GatherWriterStatus". ERR=Object is notinitialized;
called during restore or not called in correct sequence.
26-Feb 15:05 FH-sd JobId 3: Job write elapsed me = 00:00:05, Transfer rate = 0 Bytes/second 26-Feb 15:05 FH-dir JobId 3: Error: Bacula FH-
dir 5.2.5
Build OS: x86_64-pc-linux-gnu ubuntu 12.04
JobId: 3
Job: BackupClient1.2014-02-26_15.05.26_06
Backup Level: Full (upgraded from Incremental)
Client: "lmic-w-p-app01-fd"5.2.10 (28Jun12) Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard Edition Service Pack1
(build 7601), 64-bit,Cross-compile,Win32
FileSet: "Full Set" 2014-02-2614:20:59
Pool: "pool1" (From Jobresource)
Catalog: "MyCatalog" (FromClient resource)
Storage: "storage1" (From Jobresource)
Elapsed time: 5 secs
Priority: 10
FD FilesWritten: 0
SD FilesWritten: 0
FD BytesWritten: 0 (0 B)
SD BytesWritten: 0 (0 B)
Rate: 0.0 KB/s
SoftwareCompression: None
VSS: yes
Encryption: no
Accurate: no
Volumename(s):
Volume SessionId: 2
Andrew
Volume SessionTime: 1393425613
Last VolumeBytes: 1,034 (1.034 KB)

avecsi
User type : Standard Non-fatal FDerrors: 2
Topics : 0 SD Errors: 0
Replies : 3
-------------- FD terminationstatus: Error
SD terminationstatus: Canceled
Termination: *** Backup Error ***
I got this message in email. This is the first time I would like to test the backup. The agent has access to the files .
Could you please help me out where should I search?
/var/log/bacula/log has the same message,what i received in email
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi avecsi
Your windows OS is probably 64 bit and the VSS (Volume Shadow Copy) service on a 64 bit system cannot be
used from a 32 bit process. If therefore your Bacula win-client is the 32 bit version, you will get the above
Rasmus error (I think).
User type : Admin
Register : 2012-Dec-21 Be sure you have installed the Bacula 64 bit win-client.
Topics : 0
Replies : 108
Thanks. That was the problem.

Great tutorial.
avecsi Without bacula how can I restore the backup?

User type : Standard Bacula created a pool1-0001.gz file.
Topics : 0
Replies : 3
--------------
Andrew
Good to hear you got the problem solved.
With regard to restoring, you are under normal circumstances not supposed to restore from
Bacula volumes by other means than Bacula. However there are several Bacula tools that
Rasmus can look inside your volumes, especially "bextract" is a tool that can restore files from
User type : Admin Bacula volumes.
Topics : 0
Replies : 108
Quite honestly, this is the best basic tutorial I have read for Bacula. There are so many articles that teaches you how to install
but as soon as the article gets thru running services, you are left off not knowing config file descriptions. Because of this article I
was able to understand Bacula in single day. 1 or more days i'll be able to go deep down to advance configuration. Thanks for
Rock this sample tutorial....
--------------
Hi,
I have a problem when restore a file from bconsole:
mmar 23-jul 09:47 bacula-dir JobId 2611: Fatal error: Socket error on Store end command: ERR=Conexión reinicializada por la
User type : Standard máquina remota
Register : 2014-Jul-23 23-jul 09:47 bacula-sd JobId 2611: Error: bsock.c:382 Socket is terminated=1 on call to client x.x.x.x:9102
Topics : 0
Replies : 1 and then the bacula service on client disable so I have to start again.
--------------
Could you help me?
Thanks!
Hi mmar
From your error messages, it apparently look like a network problem.
Please follow this procedure :
Please follow this procedure :
1. Disable all firewalls on director server, storage server and client machine
Rasmus
User type : Admin 2. Director server shell> bconsole
Register : 2012-Dec-21 3. *> status storage (depending on your configuration you will have different options)
4. *> status client (depending on your configuration you will have different options)
Topics : 0
Replies : 108 If you get any error, please post here. If you get no errors, then try to re-enable any firewall and see if the error is
-------------- because of a firewall setting.
29-Sep 16:11 bacula-dir JobId 0: Fatal error: postgresql.c:227 Unable to connect to PostgreSQL server. Database=bacula
User=bacula
Possible causes: SQL server not running; password incorrect; max_connections exceeded.
siddhartha0111 29-Sep 16:11 bacula-dir ERROR TERMINATION
User type : Standard Please correct configuration file: /etc/bacula/bacula-dir.conf
Register : 2014-Sep-29
Topics : 0
Replies : 1
--------------
Hi siddhartha0111
I have never tried to install bacula with PostgreSQL and I have never seen the error you got.
Your error also suggest that you need to edit your bacula-dir.conf file, however this file does NOT contain the
Rasmus credentials for your catalog nor is the bacula-dir.conf file related to any of the 3 possible causes mentioned in the error
User type : Admin message.
Also I think the debugging and best course of action would depend on whether your bacula installation is new.
Topics : 0
Replies : 108 If your bacula installation is new, I would advice you to remove your installation and then reinstall using MySql, please
-------------- follow the installation instructions carefully
report reply 14-Nov-2014 03:57
Hi, im using bacula 5.2.6,

im trying to connect bconsole with director and its display..
connecting to director x.x.x.x:9101,
bella@UTM and then its return to system prompt.
--------------
what is the problem and solution?
thanks..
Hi Rasmus
I am a newbie in Linux. I am trying to backup two servers, Alfresco and Moodle in my office. (I live in Bangkok too!)
I really appreciate your great easy to understand guild on bacula. I have followed you guild and succeeded in backup job.
viroteb However when I tried to restore, some errors occured.
User type : Standard The restore job description in bacula-dir.conf is as follows:
Job {
Topics : 0
Replies : 2 Name ="alfresco-restore"
--------------
Type = Restore
Client=alfresco
FileSet="alfresco"
Storage ="storage1"
Pool ="pool1"
Messages = Standard
Where =/var/bacula-restores
Job {
Name ="moodle-restore"
Type = Restore
Client=moodle
FileSet="moodle"
Storage ="storage2"
Pool ="pool2"
Messages = Standard
Where =/var/bacula-restores
# List of files to be backed up
FileSet {
Name ="alfresco"
Include {
Options {
signature = MD5
File =/opt/alfresco-5.0.b/alf_data
FileSet {
Name ="moodle"
Include {
Options {
signature = MD5
File =/var/www/moodledata
The error messages are as follows:
5-Dec 16:51 bacula-dir JobId 52: Error: Bacula bacula-dir 5.2.6 (21Feb12):
Build OS: x86_64-pc-linux-gnu ubuntu 14.04
JobId: 52
Job: alfresco-restore.2014-12-15_16.51.02_04
Restore Client: alfresco
Start time: 15-Dec-2014 16:51:04
End time: 15-Dec-2014 16:51:04
Files Expected: 0
Files Restored: 0
Bytes Restored: 0
Rate: 0.0 KB/s
FD Errors: 2
FD termination status:
SD termination status:
Termination: *** Restore Error ***
Could you guild me how to solve this problem?
Some additional information related to my previous problem,

when I run restore command as follows:
Select the Client (1-3): 1
viroteb Automatically selected FileSet: alfresco
User type : Standard +-------+-------+----------+-------------+---------------------+------------+
Register : 2014-Dec-18 | JobId | Level | JobFiles | JobBytes | StartTime | VolumeName |
+-------+-------+----------+-------------+---------------------+------------+
Topics : 0
Replies : 2 | 33 | F | 4,250 | 180,981,416 | 2014-12-07 23:05:03 | pool1-0004 |
-------------- | 47 | D | 1,087 | 101,980,894 | 2014-12-14 23:05:03 | pool1-0004 |
| 50 | I | 480 | 59,747,632 | 2014-12-15 12:45:18 | pool1-0004 |
| 53 | I | 358 | 39,140,893 | 2014-12-15 23:05:03 | pool1-0004 |
| 55 | I | 475 | 62,895,786 | 2014-12-16 23:05:02 | pool1-0004 |
| 57 | I | 396 | 61,164,226 | 2014-12-17 23:05:02 | pool1-0004 |
| 59 | I | 522 | 64,506,300 | 2014-12-18 16:58:08 | pool1-0004 |
+-------+-------+----------+-------------+---------------------+------------+
You have selected the following JobIds: 33,47,50,53,55,57,59
Building directory tree for JobId(s) 33,47,50,53,55,57,59 ...

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
6,193 files inserted into the tree.
You are now entering file selection mode where you add (mark) and
remove (unmark) files to be restored. No files are initially added, unless
you used the "all" keyword on the command line.
Enter "done" to leave this mode.
cwd is: /
$ dir
---------- 0 root root 0 1970-01-01 07:00:00 /opt/
$ mark
No files marked.
$
$
It seems that there are no file in the /opt directory. Though I have defined it in the bacula-dir.conf as previously shown.
FileSet {
Name = "alfresco"
Include {
Options {
signature = MD5
}
File = /opt/alfresco-5.0.b/alf_data
}
}
Please guide me on how to solve this problem.
Viroteb
Hi viroteb
Sorry for the 2 month waiting (I have been extremely busy). Hopefully you have already solved your problem, however
if your question is still relevant, I would like to see your backup job definitions (not your restore job defintions) and I
would also like to see your pool definitions.
Rasmus
User type : Admin
Topics : 0
Replies : 108
Hi
Anonymous
--------------
Hello,
Very thanks to this helpful tutorial. I have configure bacula and it works well. Now, i want to back up the databases of remote
servers but i don't know how to do? Please, i need your help.
florek
Register : 2015-Jul-18
Topics : 0
Replies : 2
--------------
Hello everyone,
I have configured my bacula to use secure communications with TLS encryption. So, I have create my own Certificate authority
and certificate and keys for my bacula server and clients. I have just started by the the tls communications between bconsole
florek and the director, in order to come out with difficulties. But I have encountered this problem (in the prompt command) when
User type : Standard running the bconsole command:
Register : 2015-Jul-18
Connecting to Director bacula:9101
Topics : 0
Replies : 2 TLS negotiation failed
-------------- Director authorization problem.
Most likely the passwords do not agree.
If you are using TLS, there may have been a certificate validation error during the TLS handshake.
Please see http://www.bacula.org/en/rel-manual/Bacula_Freque_Asked_Questi.html#SECTION003760000000000000000 for
help.
and in the file /var/log/bacula.log, we have:

20-Jul 01:21 bacula-dir: ERROR in authenticate.c:403 TLS negotiation failed.
20-Jul 01:21 bacula-dir: ERROR in authenticate.c:418 Unable to authenticate console "*UserAgent*" at client:127.0.0.1:36131.
Here is my configuration files (only tls part):

/etc/bacula/bacula-dir.conf
Director {
TLS Enable = yes
TLS Require = yes
TLS Verify Peer = yes
TLS Allowed CN = "bacula"
TLS CA Certificate File = /etc/bacula/keys/ca.crt
TLS Certificate = /etc/bacula/keys/director.crt

TLS Key = /etc/bacula/keys/director.key
}
/etc/bacula/bconsole.conf
Director {
Name = bacula-dir
DIRport = 9101
address = bacula
Password = "dir_bacula"
TLS Enable = yes
TLS Require = yes
TLS CA Certificate File = /etc/bacula/keys/ca.crt
TLS Certificate = /etc/bacula/keys/console.crt
TLS Key = /etc/bacula/keys/console.key
}
}
Please, I need your help.
report reply 15-Oct-2015 07:55
Hello,
I am French and i have a problem with the installation of Bacula.

Anonymous I want to install Bacula Client on a Windows 8.
-------------- First, i Install bacula-win64-5.2.10, the installation doesn't go to the end. The last screan freeze.
Second, The service Bacula doesn't want to start.
Can you help me.
Thanks
Michel Escudié
Tengo Problemas con Bacula en el estado de la ONU ranura de almacenamiento del heno Que Me Dicen: No se encuentra en el
catálogo. Slot = 3 InChanger establece en cero. Tengo 2 drive de almcenamiento 24 ranuras pero no las reconoce todas.
Anonymous Status | Media Type | Pool |

-------------- ------+------------------+-----------+----------------------+--------------------|
1| VXS002L6 | Full | LTO-6 | FullPool |
2*| VXS003L6 | Append | LTO-6 | DifPool |
3*| VXS004L6 | ?| ?| ?|
4*| VXS005L6 | ?| ?| ?|
Tengo Problemas con Bacula en el estado de la ONU ranura de almacenamiento del heno Que Me Dicen: No se encuentra en el
catálogo. Slot = 3 InChanger establece en cero. Tengo 2 drive de almcenamiento 24 ranuras pero no las reconoce todas.
Anonymous Status | Media Type | Pool |

-------------- ------+------------------+-----------+----------------------+--------------------|
1| VXS002L6 | Full | LTO-6 | FullPool |
2*| VXS003L6 | Append | LTO-6 | DifPool |
3*| VXS004L6 | ?| ?| ?|
4*| VXS005L6 | ?| ?| ?|
Hi
I want to back up microsoft office documents in chinese characters like 苹果.docx or 苹果.xlsx. My backup is working fine however
johnny it cannot backup chinese files.
Register : 2016-Aug-04
The error code is Could not stat"/home/it/20mount/group/July/??.docx": ERR=No such ﬁle or directory
Topics : 0
Replies : 1 Any ideas? I think it has something to do with utf-8 but I am not sure how
--------------
I am using ubuntu 10.04 , bacula version 5.0.1 , mysql server 5.1.73
report reply 13-Oct-2016 16:39
Dear Sir,
I meet a problem with bacula. I am a new user who use it. I meet an error when I delete all backup and backup again I can
Anonymous backup only one host - other few hosts can not backup. I need you help and how can I backup it again like the first time of
-------------- backup.
I am looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Thank in advance!
Ratha
Hi Friends i have installed the bacula along with webmin. I have configured the server and client,Now backups are
working fine. I have problem with volume pool retention. I have configure volume pool as 2 days. but its not retaining.
can any body suggest where am doing the mistake
Balaraju G
--------------
Excellent tutorial
Brad Thompson
--------------
I am testing Bacula and I have noticed a strange thing on linux based clients; Windows clients - OK. It has occurred
only in BAT (bconsole, OK). The backup and restore work fine but the Folders (Files) are not shown on the Restore
(bRestore) page. When I tried to restore somthing an error pops up: Can't create the restore list.
Anonymous No errors detected in the log file (as far as nothing has happened). If you give me some clues how to troubleshoot this
-------------- issue I will much appreciate it. Thanks.
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3/26/2018 Bacula backup tutorial

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I am a danish programmer living in Bangkok.

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Bacula backup tutorial - install, backup & restore

Bacula 5 main components

Bacula main components

FQDN IP OS Bacula Comments

How to Install Bacula

On the backup server we need to have :

Let's start the installation :

1. Install the backup server :

6. You are prompted for the MySQL server root password.

5. Press the "I Agree" button.

How to Configure Bacula

bconsole.conf : /etc/bacula/bconsole.conf (on backup server) : configuring the Console program

Bacula Configuring Connections

Ok, let's implement it :

1. backup server shell> cd /etc/bacula : navigate to the Bacula main folder.

Pid Directory = /var/run/bacula

Bacula Configuring Connections - Test

2. *> status storage : test if you can connect.

Bacula Configuring Storage

Ok, let's configure the storage :

Bacula Configuring Schedules

Bacula Configuring Messages

2. Install mail transfer agent (MTA)

Bacula Configuring Jobs

Then configuring a job, we need to specify quite a lot of job parameters :

On what client the job should run - we reference a Client{..} section.

Test backup jobs

That we can manually execute a job (using the run command).

Restore latest version

1. backup server shell> bconsole : start the Bacula console program.

6. $> cd var : we use cd to change directory.

Restore an older version

1. backup server shell> bconsole : start the Bacula console program.

7. $> cd var : we use cd to change directory.

Bacula Console Commands & Management

Appendix : Bacula utility programs

Read more about Bacula disaster recovery here

Appendix : Bacula folders

Appendix : Bacula alternatives

Commvault no Likely among the best enterprise backup software

Seems to be intended for personal use as it seems to be controlled from each

SyncToy yes Windows Part of Microsoft Power Toys.

Another award based comparison by techtarget

Appendix : Common errors and solutions

Reason 2 : no software is listening on port 9102 :

Reason 2a : bacula file daemon is not running - go to Solution 2a.

Solution 1 : unblock port 9102 on the client server

Unblock port 9102 on a windows server

Start the bacula file daemon on a windows server

On Windows : the problem cannot happen on a windows client.

bacula-dir.conf Director{..} Name == bacula-fd.conf Director{..} Name

6. Cannot find any appendable volume.

1. shell> bconsole : start the Console if not already started.

Solution 2 : restart the bacula daemons :

1. shell> service bacula-sd restart