Cloud Backup How-tos & Troubleshooting

How to add another computer to the backup?

To add another computer, all you need to do is install Online Backup and Recovery Manager on the computer (provided your account is not limited to just one computer). Log in with your existing username and password, and then set up your backups.

OST files are the local cache for Microsoft Exchange mailbox data, and should not be backed up. If Outlook is not running, they can be backed up, but it is not useful because data resides on the Exchange server, and even if the file is lost, it will be downloaded from the server again. When Outlook is running, Windows will prevent our backup software from reading it by giving out a 0 byte-long file.

See details at Microsoft Support.

Error message

The selected task no longer exists

Steps to resolve

  1. Create again the missing Scm folder in %windir%System32LogFiles.

  2. Restart the computer.

If this does not help, try another solution.

Error message

File is encrypted or is not a database

Steps to solve

This error means that the Sstorage.db or the Protect.db database file is corrupted and needs to be rebuilt. For this:

  1. Close Online Backup and Recovery Manager (OBRM) and make sure it is not running in the background.

  2. In Windows Explorer, go to C:ProgramDataOnline Backup and Recovery Manager.

  3. Create a new folder with any name.

  4. Move both Sstorage.db and Protect_username_.db into the newly created folder.

  5. Open OBRM and select the data for backup again.

Behavior demonstrated at the backup report is caused by deduplication mechanism integrated in OBRM.

If a file with the same content was already backed up, the additional path to the file will be created in the cloud instead of redundant upload.

Cause: The files with the same hash located in different folders are included in the backup set.

File names can differ, but the content is identical.

At the same time, the Dashboard indicates cloud used space instead of transferred data.

Cloud used space increases in both cases, deduplication or upload.

During the deduplication, the files’ data is not transferred to the server.

Hence, the Dashboard shows the Uploaded files size value other than 0 bytes.

Backup event detailsBackup report
Backup event detailsBackup report

The indicator “Total Data Transferred” shows the amount of data that was actually transferred to the server after its compression/encryption.

For example, create a text file with 100 MB of not random data, but some symbols, that is 11111..., and back it up.

Monitoring will show the actual file size transferred to the cloud (100 MB), but the backup report—“Total Data Transferred” will show hundreds of kilobytes (after the encryption).

Error message

Account over quota (backup account is using more space than what is selected to backup)

Error description

A common reason for this growth is due to data that was backed up to the cloud, but was then removed from the local computer. By default, the backup is “archival” meaning anything protected will remain in the cloud unless manually deleted or unless a retention setting is configured.

Steps to solve

  1. Delete the data that is no longer needed from the cloud.

  2. On a Windows computer, start OBRM.

  3. Log in to your backup account.

  4. Click View/Restore.

  5. Right-click any computer, and then click Delete, or simply expand to delete folders or files on the right-hand side.

It will take about 5-10 minutes for the free space to open up after files are removed from the cloud. Log out from OBRM, and then log in again to see the changes.

Here is a quick video, which will show you how to delete files from the cloud:

 

 

To prevent such an overage occurring again, we recommend using a retention policy. This will help keep the local data and the cloud data in line with one another while still proving a grace period (X days), just if something is accidentally deleted.

The Retention Policy options can be found at the last portion of the backup configuration:

Retention policy

Error message

Exception of type 'System.OutOfMemoryException'

Error

Error description

System.OutOfMemoryException error means that the OBRM SAgent service consumed all the allocated memory.

The following factors cause this error:

  • too large backup set

  • limitation of memory usage on the 32-bit operating systems

Steps to resolve

Check the amount of the used memory on the affected device as follows:

  1. Press Win+R to open the Run dialog.

  2. Enter resmon in the Open box, and then press Enter.

    Resmon command

  3. In Resource Monitor, go to the Memory tab, and find the SAgent.Service.exe process.

    Resource Monitor

  4. Note the amount of memory used by the process.

  5. Update OBRM to the latest version, and then contact Infrascale Support.

Error message

Failed with packet size... check your internet connection

Steps to solve

To fix this error, check if SSL is enabled in Online Backup and Recovery Manager (OBRM):

  1. In OBRM, click Menu, and then click Advanced Options.

    Advanced options

  2. Click Security Options, and then select SSL Enabled.

    Security options

Also, there is a chance that you have some type of firewall blocking the backup service from accessing your files.

  1. Error message

    Cannot create a file when that file already exists. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x800700B7)

    Error

    Error description

    This may be caused by Windows Task Scheduler task for the current backup account username.

    The task has been incorrectly cached in the operating system. Because of this, it may or may not exist in the Task Scheduler tasks. In this case, you would be unable to complete the backup wizard.

    Steps to resolve

    To fix the issue for the affected username, you need to clean the Task Scheduler cache and fix the transaction log via the following steps:

    1. Check the OBRM task if that task is for problematic backup account via Taskschd.msc. Remove it if exist.

    2. Firstly, export and after that remove the following key using Registry Editor:

      %HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsNTCurrentVersionScheduleTaskCacheTreeOnline Backup and Recovery Manager%

      See details.

    3. Open Command Prompt, and enter the following command:

      fsutil resource setautoreset true c:

      (See details.)

    4. Restart the computer.

    5. Create the backup set again using the problematic user credentials and check the result.

    If the issue persists:

    1. First time, complete the Backup Wizard without the Back up automatically without user intervention option.

      Without option

    2. Second time, complete the Backup Wizard with Back up automatically without user intervention option.

      With option

Summary

Sometimes backup accounts are not created, hence, machines are not registered in the Dashboard after installing or deploying a custom MSI.

What to do if account is not created

  1. Make sure that, after the MSI installation, Windows user was logged out and logged on to the operating system, or the machine was rebooted.

    Logging out from Windows and then logging in (or reboot) is needed for a backup account to be created after MSI installation. This works in such manner because Custom MSI functionality was developed for using GPO deployment, and thecommand GPUPDATE /FORCE requires a reboot.

  2. Check if the log file AccountCreatorRunner_vX.X.X.log exists in C:ProgramDataOnline Backup and Recovery ManagerLogs.

    If so, submit the file to Infrascale Support or identify the reason why account failed to be created (explanations are provided below).

Typical causes of errors during account creation

  • Default User Quota set during configuration of MSI parameters exceeds the amount of unallocated space available for the CompanyPartnerDistributor under which the MSI is created.

    The screenshot shows correct settings when the quota for a new account is set as 50 GB and that is below the Remaining space—142 GB:

    Default user quota

    As MSI is valid by default during 1 month, the situation may happen that MSI is installed 20 days after it is created. By that time, the CompanyPartnerDistributor may have all cloud space allocated so the account will not be created. That is why it is advised to deploy it hereafter the generation.

    The error in AccountCreatorRunner_vX.X.X.log is following:

    ERROR AccountCreator - Attempt to set Entity quota what does not belong to allowed range.

    The suggestion is to generate a new MSI with the correct User Quota or increase the Quota for the CompanyPartnerDistributor.

  • A new backup account username that is generated according to the configured template matches a backup account username existing in our systems.

    The default template is {username}@{domain}.

    Templates

    {username}—will be the Windows user under which MSI is installed.

    {domain}—for the machines not connected to a domain, this will look like PC-NAME.local</code>; so at the each machine the username will be different: John@PC-NAME.local, Sarah@laptop.local

    For machines in a domain, the {domain} will look like mycompany.local or mycompany.com. If it is installed via GPO, every machine will be registered in the Dashboard under the same username, for example, DomainAdminUser@mycompany.local

    It is not required to use exactly {username}@{domain} in the template. The username and email may be literals, that is you can enter john-smith and john.smith@mycompany.com to the indicated fields so that a number of machines, where MSI is installed, will be registered under the same backup accounts (more than five machines is not advisable due to longer time for refreshing local databases).

    Or the username and email may contain both template parts and literals, that is {username}.PartnerName, {username}.EngineeringDep, {username}@{domain}-myorganization.

    Backup account usernames are unique across Cloud Backup. If the current Windows username is “User”, or “Admin”, or something like that, there is a very high possibility that such username already exists in Cloud Backup. Hence, the backup account will not be created, and AccountCreatorRunner_vX.X.X.log will contain the following error:

    ERROR AccountCreator - Password cannot be empty

    It does not mean directly that the password is empty. But it points to the fact that there is an account with the same username under another entity (Company/Partner/Distributor), so the system finds the account, but cannot retrieve its credentials to use them for logging into OBRM installed with MSI.

    The suggestion is to enter/add a unique name for Username Template.

Error message

Writer is in faulty state. Please restart Microsoft Exchange Writer service or reboot the computer.

Steps to resolve

To check the issue:

  1. Open Command Prompt as administrator, and then enter VSSadmin list writers.

    Check if the output includes the record regarding the Exchange writer, that is Microsoft Exchange Writer.

    • If the writer does not exist, check Services (services.msc) if the service “Microsoft Exchange Information Store” is running.

    • If the writer exists, check its state. If it is State: [9] Failed, schedule restarting of the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service.

      It may take time depending on the performance of the server and its load. It is actually the main Exchange service and it affects the emails: users are disconnected until service starts back.

  2. Check the state of the writer by VSSadmin list writers.

  3. If the service restart did not help, reboot the server.

Error message

The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect. Please see the application event log or use the command-line `sxstrace.exe` tool for more detail.

Error

Steps to resolve

  1. Open Control Panel, and go to Programs and Features.

  2. Find OBRM, right-click it, and click Repair.

    Repair application

  3. After the repair finished, start OBRM.

Error message

The file 'pathtoandnameoffile' is not a valid installation package for the product

Error

Error description

Occasionally, Windows installer requires the installation package for OBRM and, in most cases, the file is missing.

Steps to resolve

  1. Download Program Install and Uninstall troubleshooter, and open it.

  2. Follow the instructions in the troubleshooter to find and fix errors relating to OBRM.

Error message

Multiple connections to a server or shared resource by the same user, using more than one username, are not allowed. 
Disconnect all previous connections to the server or shared resource and try again

Error description

This issue is caused by a confusion/collision in network mapping by Windows. (See details.)

Steps to resolve

  • Use IP address instead of UNC path when adding a network location to backup.

    To obtain the IP address of a network location:

    1. Run Command Prompt as administrator, and ping a network folder or a network device.

      ping Server-SQL

    2. Use the retrieved IP address when adding a network location in OBRM.

      Network connection

  • Remove the mapped connections in Windows Explorer. Add connection to the backup configuration. Re-map to the local machine via Windows Explorer.

Error message

Backup failed for Server 'SQL_SERVER_INSTANCE_NAME'. Details: System.Data.SqlClient.SqlError: The server principal "NT AUTHORITYSYSTEM" is not able to access the database "DATABASE_NAME" under the current security context.

Error description

The error may occur when backing up a Microsoft SQL Server database using OBRM.

Steps to resolve

  1. Open Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio.

  2. Connect to the SQL Server instance SQL_SERVER_INSTANCE_NAME, where backed up databases run;

  3. In Object Explorer, go to Security › Logins.

    Logins

  4. Find NT AUTHORITYSYSTEM, right-click it, and click Properties.

    Login properties

  5. Go to User Mapping, select the required user database, select db_backupoperator, and then click OK.

    User mapping

  6. If several databases within the instance should be backed up, find them on the User Mapping page, select and add db_backupoperator role as at the previous step.

    User mapping

Restart the backup session, and check if it runs without problems for all selected databases.

  1. Check if the SQL Server VSS Writer is presented among other SQL services in Services (services.msc):

    VSS writers

    If the SQL Server VSS Writer is not appearing, check following:

    1. Shared Management Objects and Microsoft System CLR Types are installed.

    2. If the above components are installed, try to repair SQL Server installation.

  2. If SQL Server VSS Writer exists, but SQL backup option is not appearing in OBRM, check the state of the VSS writers:

    1. Open the Command Prompt as administrator, and enter the following command:

      VSSadmin list writers

      VSS list writers

    2. If the SQL Server VSS writer is present, note the output, and then provide it in the support ticket.

  3. If the SQL Server VSS writer is not present on the list, check following:

    1. Change the SQL server VSS Writer service to log in as administrator (domain administrator if the machine is under a domain).

    2. Restart the “SQL Server VSS Writer” service.

    3. Check if another backup software is installed, for example, Symantec Backup Exec 2010 (they may hide, “lock” or rename standard SqlServerWriter).

    4. Submit OBRM logs (Menu › Display logs).

Error message

ERROR Agent - System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException (0x80042318): Exception from HRESULT: 0x80042318 at Alphaleonis.Win32.Vss.WaitCheckAndReleaseVssAsyncOperation(IVssAsync* pAsync) at Alphaleonis.Win32.Vss.VssBackupComponents.GatherWriterMetadata() at SOSOnlineBackup.Client.Library.Core.ShadowCopy.VssBackup.Init(IVssImplementation VSSImpl) at SOSOnlineBackup.Client.Library.Core.ShadowCopy.VssBackup..ctor(Boolean componentMode, Guid VSSWriterId) at SOSOnlineBackup.SAgent.MSSql.MSSqlBackupPerformer.RunBackup() at SOSOnlineBackup.SAgent.Agent.#=qmgPA_v29nwyXxtvLf9bzHg==(IBackupSession #=qXhnlys$fBQFZDxm9B0T8qQ==)

Error description

The error can be found in the file SAgent.Service_vX.X.X.log in the application folders: C:ProgramDataOnline Backup and Recovery ManagerLogs or C:ProgramDataSOS Online BackupLogs.

Usually, the error code appears in Event Viewer.

Steps to resolve

Restarting the following VSS services may correct the issue: COM+ Event System Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider Windows Management Instrumentation Volume Shadow Copy.

Sometimes, re-registering the following VSS DLLs using the command-line prompt will help resolve VSS problems (requires reboot).

cd %systemroot%system32 
net stop VSS 
net stop swprv 
regsvr32 /s ole32.dll 
regsvr32 /s VSS_ps.dll 
regsvr32 /s oleaut32.dll 
VSSvc /register regsvr32 /s /i swprv.dll 
regsvr32 /s /i eventcls.dll 
regsvr32 /s es.dll 
regsvr32 /s stdprov.dll 
regsvr32 /s VSSui.dll 
regsvr32 /s msxml.dll 
regsvr32 /s msxml3.dll 
regsvr32 /s msxml4.dll 
net start swprv 
net start VSS

Once the DLLs are registered, reboot the server.

If any DLL cannot be registered, restart the server, and then register the DLL again.

Error message

Task Scheduler Error Value: 2147750687 - task already running

Error description

Every hour, the Task Scheduler service schedules tasks to be run over the next hour in a schedule window. If the start time of a task coincides with the end of the current schedule window and with the beginning of the next schedule window, then the task may be scheduled two times. In this situation, the task is scheduled at the end of the current schedule window and again at the beginning of the next schedule window.

Steps to solve

See the hotfix by Microsoft.

Error message

Specified path, filename, or both are too long

Error description

Windows limits the length of the file path and the file name to 256 characters.

This error may be most likely to occur when doing a restore with the original file path option selected.

Steps to resolve

The solution below is an example of how the file path can be shortened.

  1. Create a folder on any disk, with only one letter in its name.

    For example, C:a, or D:b.

  2. In OBRM, click View/Restore.

  3. Select files and folders to restore, and then click Recover selected.

  4. In the Recover to dialog, select New location, and select the folder you created earlier.

  5. Clear Include original path, and then click OK.

Error message

This user cannot sign in because this account is currently disabled

Error description

The error pictured below refers to a Windows Account status being disabled.

In order for OBRM to connect to a shared/network folder the Windows account will need to be enabled.

The article linked below explains how the Guest account in Windows is usually disabled.

Check to see if this is why you are receiving the error, and make sure the account you are using is enabled.

See details on the Guest account status settings and security recommendations.

Error message

Unable to connect to server

Steps to resolve

Update OBRM to the latest version.

If OBRM is up-to-date, add the following files to the exceptions in your antivirus software or firewall.

  • C:Program Files (x86)Online Backup and Recovery ManagerLStorage.exe

  • C:Program Files (x86)Online Backup and Recovery ManagerSAgent.Service.exe

  • C:Program Files (x86)Online Backup and Recovery ManagerSMessaging.exe

  • C:Program Files (x86)Online Backup and Recovery Managersosuploadagent.exe

Error message

Unable to get size for file ...

Steps to resolve

Check if the file selected for backup exists in the source path.

  • If the file is in the source path, provide relevant permissions to the current Windows user, and then run the backup again.

  • If the file is missing:

    • Check if you moved it to a different location. If so, add the new location to the existing backup set, and then run the backup again.

    • Check if you deleted it. If so, remove the file from the existing backup set, and then run the backup again.

Sometimes when installing Online Backup and Recovery Manager (OBRM) 5.2 or later, you may see an error that reads something like:

Error message

A certificate chain processed, but terminated in a root certificate which is not trusted by the trust provider.

Error description

This error may show when installing OBRM 5.2 or later.

There may be a few reasons for this message to appear, and we would like to highlight the most possible ones and provide you with possible workarounds.

From what we have seen there seem to be two certificates that it could be having trouble with.

The first is the DigiCert Assured ID Root CA, which is the one we use for signing our installer. The second is the Microsoft Root Authority, used by Microsoft.

Steps to resolve

To check for the presence of these certificates:

  1. In the Control Panel, go to Internet Options › Content, and then click Certificates.

  2. In the Certificates dialog, go to Trusted Root Certification Authorities.

  3. Look for Microsoft Root Authority and DigiCert Assured ID Root CA.

  4. To confirm they are the correct versions, double-click each and check the serial number against the following:

    "DigiCert Assured ID Root CA" 
    0C:E7:E0:E5:17:D8:46:FE:8F:E5:60:FC:1B:F0:30:39 
    "Microsoft Root Authority" 
    00:c1:00:8b:3c:3c:88:11:d1:3e:f6:63:ec:df:40

If the versions do not match, you will have to uninstall and install them again. You can get the DigiCert one from this website. We were not able to find anywhere that Microsoft has made their certificate available for download. It should be installed by default on all systems from XP up. So if it is missing (and you did not do anything to specifically remove it), there may be something worse going on in Windows than not being able to install our agent. It looks like you may be able to get it from Windows updates, but we are not certain that this is the case. If not, then the best way to get the certificate will be to do a clean install of this version of Windows on another box than to export it from there and import it to this system.

The most likely reason for this issue to happen is Windows does not have necessary Windows update or hotfixes. That is especially the case for Windows Server 2003. Please install all the online and offline updates, including the ones mentioned in the articles that you can find here.

To import the certificate:

  1. In the Microsoft Management Console, go to File › Add/Remove Snap-in.

  2. Select Certificates from the available snap-ins, and then click Add.

  3. In the open window, select Computer account, and then click Next.

  4. Select Local computer, click Finish, and then click OK.

  5. In Microsoft Management Console, go to Certificates › Trusted Root Certification Authorities.

  6. Right-click Certificates, and select All Tasks › Import.

    Follow the instructions to import the certificate.

Other possible certificates needed are:

  • Verisign certificate ((necessary for the DR backup agent))

  • DigiCert certificate

  • GoDaddy

    To verify you have the correct GoDaddy root and intermediate certificates:

    1. In the Control Panel, go to Internet Options › Content, and then click Certificates.

    2. In the open window, go to Trusted Root Certification Authorities, and look for Go Daddy Root Certificate Authority – G2.

The thumbprint is 47beabc922eae80e78783462a79f45c254fde68b.

If that is not there, or it has a different thumbprint, you can go here and get the one labeled GoDaddy Class 2 Certification Authority Root Certificate – G2.

To import the certificate:

  1. In the Microsoft Management Console, go to File › Add/Remove Snap-in.

  2. Select Certificates from the available snap-ins, and then click Add.

  3. In the open window, select Computer account, and then click Next.

  4. Select Local computer, click Finish, and then click OK.

  5. In Microsoft Management Console, go to Certificates › Trusted Root Certification Authorities.

  6. Right-click Certificates, and select All Tasks › Import.

    Follow the instructions to import the certificate.

Both of these need to be imported to the server with the issue, and installed to the trusted root certification authorities store. Once you do this, the system should be able to install the agents.

Microsoft has a program called Microsoft Root Certificate Program to distribute root certificates to Windows clients and devices. Microsoft published the list of members of the Root Certification Program on TechNet. This list is updated as new certificates are added to the program.

The Backup is not responding event means that the monitoring server does not receive backup progress events from the client. OBRM sends the events of this type every 10 minutes.

One missed event cause result in the Backup is not responding warning.

Two consecutively missed events result in the Backup is not responding error. This can be caused by a temporary internet connection issue or by an interruption of the Windows session, that is if the computer turned off, hibernated, or went to the sleep mode).

Please check your spam and junk folders. Every once in a while, Outlook (or whatever applicable mail client you use) will notice that an email from a particular address will repeatedly be sent. Outlook, not knowing if this email is “trusted” or spam, will just spam it.

If you see it in the spam folder, you can move it to the inbox and create a new rule to set it as “never spam”. Which, interestingly enough, needs to be updated now and again.

Other than this, what can happen, if you put in an email address in that field of the software that does not exist, it will block the email automatically. This is much rarer, as Partners usually have these emails setup beforehand, but it does happen.

Symptoms

Customer modifies a bunch of media files between backups and complains regarding longtime upload with every backup job. These files may be excluded from caching due to following reasons: a file name extension is skipped by IntelliCache in the configuration file or file size is not between 1 MB–5 GB default cache thresholds.

Steps to resolve

Modify caching skip list

By default, Online Backup and Recovery Manager (OBRM) does not cache files with the following extensions: .iso, .sys, .cab, .exe, .msi, .dll, .ocx, .bmp, .djvu, .gif, .ico, .jpeg, .jpg, .png, .psd, .264, .3gp, .aac, .aiff, .ape, .asf, .avi, .dat, .flac, .flv, .mkv, .mov, .moov, .movie, .mp21, .mp2v, .mp3, .mpeg, .mpeg4, .m2a, .m2v, .m4a, .m4e, .m4v, .md5, .mp4, .mp4v, .mpg, .mpg2, .mts, .ogm, .ogv, .ogx, .pmf, .mpe, .qt, .rm, .rmd, .rmp, .spf, .sp1, .sp2, .sp3, .sp4, .sp5, .sp6, .sp7, .sp8, .sp9, .spi, .spx, .swf, .ts, .vob, .webm, .wm, .wma, .wmv, .xvid, .7z, .ace, .arc, .arj, .bzip2, .cab, .gzip, .gz, .jar, .rar, .zip, .pdf, .wav, .edb, .log, .bak.

To include files with those extensions in caching, or to exclude files with other extensions from caching, follow these steps:

  1. Go to the folder where you installed OBRM, for example C:Program Files (x86)Online Backup and Recovery Manager.

  2. Open the SStorage.exe.config file in a text editor.

  3. Find the line beginning with <add key="UA_CacheSkipExtensions" value=.

  4. Add or remove the file name extensions as desired.

Change cached file size

Default minimum size of the file to include in caching is 1 MB (1024 kB).

Default maximum size of the file to include in caching is 5 GB (5242880 kB).

To change these values:

  1. Go to the folder where you installed Online Backup and Recovery Manager, for example C:Program Files (x86)Online Backup and Recovery Manager.

  2. Open the SStorage.exe.config file in a text editor.

  3. To change the minimum file size, find the line beginning with <add key="UA_IntelliCacheFloorThresholdInKB" value=, and set a new value.

  4. To change the maximum file size, find the line beginning with <add key="UA_IntelliCacheCeilingThresholdInKB" value=, and set a new value.

After all modifications, offsite Online Backup Service should be restarted to apply the changes.

Starting from OBRM 6.9, the size range of files, which should be processed by IntelliCache, can be specified via the client interface only. For this, in OBRM, go to Menu › Advanced options › Caching Options.

If a network device connected to an Apple computer is not uploading the selected files or folders to the cloud, there may be a protocol barrier. Check to see if the connection to the network device is listed as using AFP (AppleTalk Filing Protocol). If so, you will want to disconnect (eject) that network device and reconnect it using the SMB protocol.

To check the connection, right-click the network device in the side-bar of a Finder window and select Info. Make sure the General section is expanded. If the network device is connected via AFP, the first line will read something along the lines of Server: afp://SharedNAS. Disconnect the device by clicking the eject button to the right of the network device’s name in the side-bar of Finder. At that point, press Command+K in Finder to bring up the network connection window. In the text field, enter smb://[Path to Network Device], and then click Connect. Once reconnected, redefine the folder path in OBRM and retry the upload.

Changing the connection protocol may affect other applications. Most applications available both in Windows and macOS will not have trouble communicating over SMB. If there is a macOS-only, you will want to test it to make sure it functions properly.

Error description

Error 1920 during installation of Online Backup and Recovery Manager usually relates to permissions. The most common cause of this would be from an antivirus software or firewall.

Steps to resolve

Turn off your antivirus software and firewall, and install OBRM again.

If this does not help, uninstall Microsoft .NET Framework, and then install it again.

Issue description

The cause of the issue is that the installation of Online Backup and Recovery Manager from the DMG file and on the system with the certificate ‘Developer ID Certification Authority’ cause the installation to fail.

Steps to resolve

  1. Open Finder, and go to Applications › Utilities.

  2. Open Keychain Access.

  3. Click Login on the upper left, and then click Certificates.

  4. Double-click the Developer ID Certification Authority certificate.

  5. In Trust when using this certificate, set Use System Defaults.

Summary

This problem may be caused either by Online Backup and Recovery Manager (OBRM) backup service or WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation) problems. Also, the problem may be caused by the precedence of starting these services. WMI service should always start before OBRM backup service.

What to check

  1. Check if service “Offsite Online Backup Service” (sagentservice) runs under the proper user credentials.

    These should be either Local System credentials or credentials of a local administrator.

    • press Win+R, enter services.msc, and then click OK.

    • locate “Offsite Online Backup service” and click Properties (or check column “Log On As”)

      Service list

      Service properties

  2. Check if service “Windows Management Instrumentation” is running (in Services window opened at step 1):

    Service list

    If the service is not running, start it.

  3. Run the attached tool “ManagementEventWatcherTester” as Administrator to check if the WMI service works without issues.

    Run as administrator

    It will display a command line window with text “Started…”

    Event watcher

    • open Notepad, and the text “processStartEvent_EventArrived” should appear:

      Event start

    • close Notepad and the application will show processStopEvent_EventArrived.

      Event stop

      If the application does not show the above messages, there may be problems with WMI service on the machine.

      If everything works as described above, the problem may be caused by the precedence of starting these services. WMI service should always start before Offsite Online Backup Service.

  4. To change precedence (set dependency) of the starting services:

    1. Open the Command Prompt as administrator.

    2. Enter sc config 'sagentservice' depend=winmgmt, and then press Enter.

      The following message should appear: sc ChangeServiceConfig SUCCESS.

    3. More information is provided here.

  5. Restart the computer, and then check OBRM logs (SAgent.Service.log) if SAgentService does not return any errors.

Summary

If any errors appear at the fist step of Online Backup and Recovery Manager (OBRM) Exchange backup wizard (after entering Windows credentials to connect to the Exchange server—screenshots are provided below), it is needed to localize the problem: if it is an Exchange server issue or OBRM issue.

Exchange backup configuration

Sign-in credentials

Solution

You have to provide a test connection to the Exchange server via PowerShell (from the same machine where OBRM and Exchange is installed):

According to Microsoft knowledge base article:

  1. Open PowerShell (not Exchange PowerShell) and enter the following command:

    $UserCredential = Get-Credential

    The window will appear which asks you to enter credentials. Enter them in form of domainnamelogin, and password that you use to open Exchange Management Console.

    The user should be “Exchange administrator” and “local administrator” at the Exchange Server.

  2. Enter the following command:

    $Session = New-PSSession -ConfigurationName Microsoft.Exchange -ConnectionUri http://<ExchangeMachineFQDN>/powershell?serializationLevel=Full -Authentication Kerberos -AllowRedirection

    <ExchangeMachineFQDN> is fully qualified domain name of the exchange server, that is email.mytestcompany.com.

  3. If the command #2 ran successfully, enter:

    Import-PSSession $Session

    At this step, connection to Exchange Server is established.

  4. Enter the following command:

    Get-Mailbox

    The command will show all mailboxes available in the Exchange database.

  5. End session by entering the following command:

    Remove-PSSession $Session

If the same error appears when running the above commands, the issue is caused by the Exchange Server settings or Windows credentials used to connect to the Exchange server.

The next step is to save the error message and search for solutions in Microsoft knowledge base articles.

If the above test completes without errors but OBRM application is still reporting the same error, please, contact Support and provide screenshots of the error for further investigation.

Summary

If the recovery progress is showing the errors during the restore of some files, report the issue to Infrascale Support providing the details listed below.

Recovery progress Example of files failing to restore

What details to submit

Please, provide the following details to Infrascale Support for investigation:

  • Backup account username used to log in to OBRM.

  • The cloud device name, from which the files are failing to restore. For example:

    Device list

  • Screenshot with the failed files and a text document containing the errors and file paths. For example:

    Recovery progress

After you send this information, the Infrascale Support will contact you shortly.

You can sign in to both the backup account (from the Backup Accounts view) and the company account (from the Companies view) if you are using your partner credentials:

Sign in as backup account

But if you are already logged in as the company account (from the Companies view), then you will be unable to log in as the backup account. It is impossible to use “login as” option recursively.

In this case, you need to click the link Resume session as in the upper part, and then the option to log in as the backup account will be available:

Resume session

In other words you can use “login as” option only once. To use it again, you have to resume the session first.

To back up a network drive, follow these steps:

  1. Open Online Backup and Recovery Manager, and sign in to your Infrascale Cloud Backup account.

  2. Click Manage against File and Folder Backup.

  3. Select Do Not Scan when asked if you do not want to use automatic scanner.

  4. Select Add Network Connection.

  5. Add the server and share of the NAS in the format of \servershare, and then enter credentials required to access the NAS.

  6. Click Next, and then fill all required boxes.

    We recommend using the IP address when filling out the address for the network share. This will prevent any conflicts if there are any locally mapped drives to the same source.

Calculating the upload of a secure online backup is different than just uploading files to the cloud. With compression and encryption, this adds more time to the backup, but it is necessary to secure the data before and during transmission.

The pause during upload is normal. With large files, OBRM performs a streaming backup that compresses and encrypts 10 MB at a time, and then uploads them.

Other factors that can make online backup slower are:

  • antivirus or anti-spyware software

  • insufficient RAM

  • insufficient CPU power

  • heavy disk drive workload

  • upload speed is lower than the download speed

  • large backup sets with over 100,000 files

  • firewall settings

Cloud Backup requires the calculation of checksums. This helps ensure that your backups are efficient and complete as fast as possible.

The speed counter is an average counter and will be most accurate when backup is in the middle of a folder with similar file types. Smaller files will report slower speed since they finish faster and larger files report faster speeds. There is a greater disparity between this for users with fast upload connections.

There are sites like Speedtest to check your upload capability. The upload amount reported will help you establish an idea of what your connection is able to do. There are many factors in a connection that effect speed and this is just one of many ways to learn about your connection.

Below is an example of how Cloud Backup looks when calculating checksums.

Once in the middle of file transfer, you will see something like this:

Calculating checksums

The files found in ~/Library/Application Support/OnlineBackup are temporary files. The online backup software packages your data before upload. After the data has been backed up, the temporary files associated with your data are deleted. All temporary files in ~/Library/Application Support/OnlineBackup are automatically deleted once the online backup software is running and all files have been backed up. You can also manually delete the temporary files.

If you are looking to change the location of these temp files, you can create a symbolic link for the online backup folder and point it to another location on your computer.

ln -s path_to_new_temp_folder ~/Library/Application Support/OnlineBackup

When setting exclusions in inclusions in Online Backup and Recovery Manager, you will need to do so in the following format: *.extension.

Here is a screenshot with the exclusions properly mapped:

File excluding

The following commands can be used to uninstall and install again the offsite online backup service.

To uninstall winservice:

  1. Run Command Prompt as administrator.

  2. Run the following commands:

    sc stop sagentservice 
    sc delete sagentservice

To install winservice as Local System account:

  1. Run Command Prompt as administrator.

  2. Run the following commands:

    sc create sagentservice DisplayName="Online Backup Service" binPath="<PATH TO>SAgent.Service.exe" start=auto 
    sc failure sagentservice reset=0 actions=restart/1000/restart/1000/restart/1000

To install winservice as Network Service account:

  1. Run Command Prompt as administrator.

  2. Run the following commands:

    sc create sagentservice DisplayName="Online Backup Service" binPath="<PATH TO>SAgent.Service.exe" start=auto obj="NT AuthorityNetworkService" 
    sc failure sagentservice reset=0 actions=restart/1000/restart/1000/restart/1000

To start winservice, run sc start sagentservice.

You can restore backed up data to any Windows or macOS computer with Online Backup and Recovery Manager (OBRM).

The latest version of OBRM is available here.

Once logged in, click View/Restore. Then select a folder or a file you want to recover, right-click it and recover to a destination of your choice.

  1. Open Online Backup and Recovery Manager, and sign in to your Infrascale Cloud Backup account.

  2. Click View/Restore.

    View/Restore

  3. Find a folder or a file you want to recover, right-click it, and then click Recover.

    Recover folder

  4. Click New Location, and select your external drive.

    Recovery destination

  5. Click OK to start recovery.

To recover data backed up before specific date in Online Backup and Recovery Manager (OBRM) for Windows, follow these steps:

  1. Open OBRM, and sign in to your Infrascale Cloud Backup account.

  2. Click View/Restore.

    View/Restore

  3. Click Run Recovery Wizard.

    Recovery wizard

  4. Pick a date in calendar, and then click Next.

    Dates in bold are the actual dates when backups were performed.

  5. Select files or folders to recover, and then click Next.

    Select files and folders

  6. Select where to restore the data, and then click Finish.

    Recovery may take some time depending on the number of files, their total size, and internet connection speed.

In Online Backup and Recovery Manager for Windows:

  1. Click View/Restore.

  2. Select the desired device, file, or folder.

  3. Click Delete.

In the Infrascale Dashboard:

  1. On the Home page, click Cloud Data.

    • To delete a device, click x, and then click Delete.

    • To delete a file or folder:

      1. Click the desired device.

      2. Locate a file or a folder.

      3. Click Manage against the file or folder.

      4. Click Delete.

It will take from 30 min to 1 hour to free up space on the device after files are removed from the cloud.

By default, there is no limit on the file versions stored in the cloud for the File and Folder Backup and the Advanced Folder Backup (with Forever Save policy).

Backup accounts, which use our cloud servers, are not affected by many file versions since only one MAX Baseline is calculated against their used space.

Nevertheless, if needed, the company, partner, and distributor accounts can use special tools to clean up old and deprecated file versions from other backup accounts.

You can remove or limit file versions stored in the cloud either at the backup account level or at the entity (company, partner, distributor) level.

File versions management at the backup account level

  1. Sign in to your account in the Infrascale Dashboard.

  2. Go to Endpoint Backup › Backup Accounts.

    Menu item

    The consolidated backup accounts page opens.

  3. Find a backup account to clean the file versions in the cloud for.

  4. Click Actions (Actions icon) in the last column against the backup account record, and then click Cleanup Account.

  5. Select the protected devices associated with the backup account to clean the cloud data for.

  6. On the Versions tab:

    • To clean file versions for all backups, select Keep latest X versions of files, and enter the number of file versions to keep.

    • To clean file versions for Microsoft Exchange Server backups, select Keep latest X versions of Exchange backup, and enter the number of file versions to keep.

    • To clean file versions for Microsoft SQL Server backups, select Keep latest X versions of SQL backup, and enter the number of file versions to keep.

    Clean account action

  7. Click Delete to clean the file versions.

    The system will keep the specified number of versions of each protected file stored in the cloud, and remove all other versions.

File versions management at the entity level

  1. Sign in to your account in the Infrascale Dashboard.

  2. Go to Settings › Backup Accounts.

    Menu item

    The page with global settings for backup accounts opens.

  3. Select Limit the number of the latest file versions in the cloud, and enter the desired number of file versions to limit to.

    This limits the number of versions of each protected file stored in the cloud for all direct backup accounts and backup accounts in sub-companies.

    Limit versions

  4. Click Save to apply changes.

It is possible to import previously recovered PST files to Microsoft Exchange Server.

The operations may differ depending on the Exchange Server version:

Note, that for the command:

New-ManagementRoleAssignment Role "Mailbox Import Export" User Administrator

one should use valid domain administrator credentials.

New-ManagementRoleAssignment Role "Mailbox Import Export" User mydomainAdministrator

After the command is completed, close and re-open the Exchange Management Shell.

For New-MailboxImportRequest, UNC path is required (SMB share on the local machine, other machine or NAS at the local network).

New-MailboxImportRequest -FilePath \esp-ho-ex2010apstjohn.smith.pst -Mailbox john.smith

General pattern

New-MailboxImportRequest -FilePath \SHARENAMEFolderfilename.pst -Mailbox mailbox_name_or_alias

If a file is placed in a non-shared folder, that is C:Usersadministrator.mydomaindesktop, try the following command:

New-MailboxImportRequest -FilePath \127.0.0.1C$Usersadministrator.mydomainDesktopjohn.smith.pst -Mailbox john.smith

Check the power settings for your computer. Windows users can search Power Options at the Start menu. You want to make sure that your computer is not going into a Standby, Sleep, Hibernate, or any mode which the computer CPU is at rest (screen monitor off is OK).

If the machine is in the Hibernate mode (or shut down), a scheduled backup will not run even after the machine is turned on. Backup application will wait for the next scheduled run time.

If the machine is in the Sleep (Standby) mode at the scheduled time, the backup task will not wake it up automatically by default. After a customer wakes the machine up, the “postponed scheduled backup” will start immediately.

Easiest Solution
Change OBRM scheduled backup time to run when the computer is most likely to be fully powered on. Press Configure (wrench icon) at main screen to and click Next twice to reach the schedule settings.
Advanced User option
Open Windows Task Scheduler and choose OBRM task. Change the settings to wake the computer from the Sleep mode.

  1. Click Configure next to File and Folder Backup.

  2. Select Do not scan, and then click Next.

  3. Select files and folders you want to back up, and then click Next.

  4. In the Backup Schedule group, select End At, set the time, and then click Finish.

If you do not want to run backup right after configuring, clear Back up at the end of this wizard.

From now on, this backup will end at the specified time even if it does not complete backing up any selected files and folders.

The size of a shared file or folder should be less than 2000 MB.

To share your backed up file or folder:

  1. Sign in to your Infrascale Dashboard account, and click Cloud Data.

  2. Find a folder or a file you want to share.

  3. Click Manage (Actions icon), and then click Share.

  4. Fill in all boxes, and then click Share.

The person you shared a file or a folder with will receive an email with a link to the shared file/folder.

To stop sharing a file or a folder:

  1. Sign in to your Infrascale Dashboard account, and click Shared Data.

  2. Click Unshare in the Actions column against the file or folder you want to stop sharing.

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