Backup Central

I run backuppc on about 15 computers and one networked Buffalo drive in a small museum. I've had it working well for about a year on an old computer running Centos 5.6 despite not knowing a great deal about Linux and networking, just the IT guy by default. The clients are mostly Windows XP, some Vista and Windows 7; also an iMac and a Centos web server. I've got DeltaCopy running on most of the Windows computers and use rsyncd; other windows use smb.

Last week I had occasion to change the DNS servers used by our router from those hosted by the network that controls our T1 line to OpenDNS when exploring a problem unrelated to backuppc. However, after making the change, I saw that a lot of the backups were failing due to slow ping times. When I increased the ping wait, they failed with messages like: Error connecting to rsync daemon at educationoffice:873: inet connect: Connection timed out. The xfer log on the Buffalo said: timeout connecting to 67.215.65.132:445, which is related to a OpenDNS.The linux and mac clients had no problems; they use rsync for xfer method. The one Windows 7 machine, which uses smb, also worked. Pings and nmblookups run from the command line in Mac OS 10.6.8 also were fine.

I changed the DNS servers back and everything is normal again.

Can someone explain what was going on just for my edification?

Mike





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On Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 11:10 AM, Michael Conner <mdc1952 < at > gmail.com> wrote:
I run backuppc on about 15 computers and one networked Buffalo drive in a small museum. I've had it working well for about a year on an old computer running Centos 5.6 despite not knowing a great deal about Linux and networking, just the IT guy by default. The clients are mostly Windows XP, some Vista and Windows 7; also an iMac and a Centos web server. I've got DeltaCopy running on most of the Windows computers and use rsyncd; other windows use smb.

Last week I had occasion to change the DNS servers used by our router from those hosted by the network that controls our T1 line to OpenDNS when exploring a problem unrelated to backuppc. However, after making the change, I saw that a lot of the backups were failing due to slow ping times. When I increased the ping wait, they failed with messages like: Error connecting to rsync daemon at educationoffice:873: inet connect: Connection timed out. The xfer log on the Buffalo said: timeout connecting to 67.215.65.132:445, which is related to a OpenDNS.The linux and mac clients had no problems; they use rsync for xfer method. The one Windows 7 machine, which uses smb, also worked. Pings and nmblookups run from the command line in Mac OS 10.6.8 also were fine.

I changed the DNS servers back and everything is normal again.

Can someone explain what was going on just for my edification?

That looks like you forgot to include your own domain in a 'search'
directive in your resolv.conf file when you changed nameservers. Or
you were using a local dns server that handles an unregistered/private
domain and switched to something that only knows registered domains.

--
Les Mikesell
lesmikesell < at > gmail.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Learn Windows Azure Live! Tuesday, Dec 13, 2011
Microsoft is holding a special Learn Windows Azure training event for
developers. It will provide a great way to learn Windows Azure and what it
provides. You can attend the event by watching it streamed LIVE online.
Learn more at http://p.sf.net/sfu/ms-windowsazure
_______________________________________________
BackupPC-users mailing list
BackupPC-users < at > lists.sourceforge.net
List: https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/backuppc-users
Wiki: http://backuppc.wiki.sourceforge.net
Project: http://backuppc.sourceforge.net/

Hi Michael,

OpenDNS by default returns their own internal server addresses for any
queries that don't resolve to a public IP. They do this so that they can
serve up their own search page (with ads, of course) when someone
mistypes a domain name. This behavior breaks a lot of stuff, including,
in this case, your backups.

If you have an actual account set up with OpenDNS, I think you can
disable this feature. Otherwise, use Google's public DNS: 8.8.8.8 and
8.8.4.4, which do not break DNS.

Hope this helps,

- R.

On Dec 19 2011 09:10 am, Michael Conner wrote:
I run backuppc on about 15 computers and one networked Buffalo drive
in a small museum. I've had it working well for about a year on an
old
computer running Centos 5.6 despite not knowing a great deal about
Linux and networking, just the IT guy by default. The clients are
mostly Windows XP, some Vista and Windows 7; also an iMac and a
Centos
web server. I've got DeltaCopy running on most of the Windows
computers and use rsyncd; other windows use smb.

Last week I had occasion to change the DNS servers used by our router
from those hosted by the network that controls our T1 line to OpenDNS
when exploring a problem unrelated to backuppc. However, after making
the change, I saw that a lot of the backups were failing due to slow
ping times. When I increased the ping wait, they failed with messages
like: Error connecting to rsync daemon at educationoffice:873: inet
connect: Connection timed out. The xfer log on the Buffalo said:
timeout connecting to 67.215.65.132:445, which is related to a
OpenDNS.The linux and mac clients had no problems; they use rsync for
xfer method. The one Windows 7 machine, which uses smb, also worked.
Pings and nmblookups run from the command line in Mac OS 10.6.8 also
were fine.

I changed the DNS servers back and everything is normal again.

Can someone explain what was going on just for my edification?

Mike






------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Learn Windows Azure Live! Tuesday, Dec 13, 2011
Microsoft is holding a special Learn Windows Azure training event for
developers. It will provide a great way to learn Windows Azure and
what it
provides. You can attend the event by watching it streamed LIVE
online.
Learn more at http://p.sf.net/sfu/ms-windowsazure
_______________________________________________
BackupPC-users mailing list
BackupPC-users < at > lists.sourceforge.net
List: https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/backuppc-users
Wiki: http://backuppc.wiki.sourceforge.net
Project: http://backuppc.sourceforge.net/

--
[__ Robert Sheldon
[__ Founder, No Problem
[__ Information technology support and services
[__ (530) 575-0278
[__ "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." -- Mahatma
Gandhi

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Learn Windows Azure Live! Tuesday, Dec 13, 2011
Microsoft is holding a special Learn Windows Azure training event for
developers. It will provide a great way to learn Windows Azure and what it
provides. You can attend the event by watching it streamed LIVE online.
Learn more at http://p.sf.net/sfu/ms-windowsazure
_______________________________________________
BackupPC-users mailing list
BackupPC-users < at > lists.sourceforge.net
List: https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/backuppc-users
Wiki: http://backuppc.wiki.sourceforge.net
Project: http://backuppc.sourceforge.net/

On Dec 19, 2011, at 11:28 AM, Rob Sheldon wrote:

Hi Michael,

OpenDNS by default returns their own internal server addresses for any
queries that don't resolve to a public IP. They do this so that they can
serve up their own search page (with ads, of course) when someone
mistypes a domain name. This behavior breaks a lot of stuff, including,
in this case, your backups.

If you have an actual account set up with OpenDNS, I think you can
disable this feature. Otherwise, use Google's public DNS: 8.8.8.8 and
8.8.4.4, which do not break DNS.

Hope this helps,

- R.

On Dec 19 2011 09:10 am, Michael Conner wrote:
I run backuppc on about 15 computers and one networked Buffalo drive
in a small museum. I've had it working well for about a year on an
old
computer running Centos 5.6 despite not knowing a great deal about
Linux and networking, just the IT guy by default. The clients are
mostly Windows XP, some Vista and Windows 7; also an iMac and a
Centos
web server. I've got DeltaCopy running on most of the Windows
computers and use rsyncd; other windows use smb.

Last week I had occasion to change the DNS servers used by our router
from those hosted by the network that controls our T1 line to OpenDNS
when exploring a problem unrelated to backuppc. However, after making
the change, I saw that a lot of the backups were failing due to slow
ping times. When I increased the ping wait, they failed with messages
like: Error connecting to rsync daemon at educationoffice:873: inet
connect: Connection timed out. The xfer log on the Buffalo said:
timeout connecting to 67.215.65.132:445, which is related to a
OpenDNS.The linux and mac clients had no problems; they use rsync for
xfer method. The one Windows 7 machine, which uses smb, also worked.
Pings and nmblookups run from the command line in Mac OS 10.6.8 also
were fine.

I changed the DNS servers back and everything is normal again.

Can someone explain what was going on just for my edification?

Mike


Rob,

Thanks for the info. What I would also like to know is where DNS at the router level is even involved in the process. Why is DNS involved in backuppc making a connection with most windows clients, and why doesn't it cause a problem for the unix and mac clients?

Mike


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Learn Windows Azure Live! Tuesday, Dec 13, 2011
Microsoft is holding a special Learn Windows Azure training event for
developers. It will provide a great way to learn Windows Azure and what it
provides. You can attend the event by watching it streamed LIVE online.
Learn more at http://p.sf.net/sfu/ms-windowsazure
_______________________________________________
BackupPC-users mailing list
BackupPC-users < at > lists.sourceforge.net
List: https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/backuppc-users
Wiki: http://backuppc.wiki.sourceforge.net
Project: http://backuppc.sourceforge.net/

On Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 1:40 PM, Michael Conner <mdc1952 < at > gmail.com> wrote:


Thanks for the info. What I would also like to know is where DNS at the router level is even involved in the process. Why is DNS involved in backuppc making a connection with most windows clients, and why doesn't it cause a problem for the unix and mac clients?

It should need dns to resolve any name unless you check the dhcp box
or use an IP in the ClientAliasName setting. Maybe it is working
correctly for the unix/mac targets. You can use 'dig < at > nameserver_ip
target_name' to diagnose your DNS servers.

--
Les Mikesell
lesmikesell < at > gmail.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Learn Windows Azure Live! Tuesday, Dec 13, 2011
Microsoft is holding a special Learn Windows Azure training event for
developers. It will provide a great way to learn Windows Azure and what it
provides. You can attend the event by watching it streamed LIVE online.
Learn more at http://p.sf.net/sfu/ms-windowsazure
_______________________________________________
BackupPC-users mailing list
BackupPC-users < at > lists.sourceforge.net
List: https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/backuppc-users
Wiki: http://backuppc.wiki.sourceforge.net
Project: http://backuppc.sourceforge.net/