Backup Central

hi everyone,

last night I have installed BackupPC 2.0.0beta1. the whole thing more or
less works (it'll need some more tweaking, I guess); I can backup shares
OK, but I can't get CGI interface to work properly. it opens up alright (I
get to see the left side where I can enter the hosts/users to query data),
but there data are not shown at all. what I get is: "Error: Unable to
connect to BackupPC server".

another error I'm getting is when I want to view data that are specific for
selected host. I get: "Error: Only privileged users can view log or config
files".

I can't figure out those two. documentation is OK, but what I miss is a
troubleshooting section, where errors are listed and possible causes and
solutions provided. otherwise the whole thing looks quite rigid.

TIA,

Mladen



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Mladen,

This is how I set mine up. First, my current setup:

Mandrake 9.1
Apache 2.0
AMD XP 1800+
128mb memory
Webmin 10.80
Samba

I ran the configure.pl and told it to run BackupPC as apache
I install to:

/home/backuppc
/home/backupdata

Location to install BackupPC_Admin

/var/www/cgi-bin

I check the authorities for BackupPC_Admin and make sure that Group
execute is set. chmod g+x BackupPC_Admin
I edit the config.pl file in the /home/backupdata/conf

I then added my first name as an administrator, I setup the folders I
wanted backed up and specified user name and
password to use to access the machine via smb.

Edit the /home/backupdata/conf/hosts file and put in a test host. I
used my Windows 2000 box called home-machine.

My host file has:

home-machine 0 support < at > drdos.zapto.org doug

Then copy the linux-backuppc file to /etc/init.d/backuppc
Make sure it has the Group execute bit is set. chmod g+x backuppc

I create a user name and password for Apache with the following command:

htpasswd -c /etc/httpd/conf/passwd doug (The -c option is only used
on the initial create of the passwd file)

In Webmin, under servers, Apache Webserver. Under Virtual Servers, I
select default server and then click on the /var/www/cgi-bin listing and
select access control. After that, enter the following:

Authentication realm name: ACCESS
Authentication type: Basic
All valid users: "Make sure this is selected"
User text file: /etc/httpd/conf/passwd

Save settings and restart Apache if necessary.

Then go into the /home/backuppc/bin
Type: ./BackupPC -d (Runs backuppc as a daemon)

Make sure Apache is running and bring up a browser.

If you are on the same machine as Apache/BackupPC the go to:

http://localhost/cgi-bin/BackupPC_Admin

Type your username and password.

You should be set at this point.

Doug


Mladen Zagorac wrote:

hi everyone,

last night I have installed BackupPC 2.0.0beta1. the whole thing more
or less works (it'll need some more tweaking, I guess); I can backup
shares OK, but I can't get CGI interface to work properly. it opens up
alright (I get to see the left side where I can enter the hosts/users
to query data), but there data are not shown at all. what I get is:
"Error: Unable to connect to BackupPC server".






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disoriented. TotalView can help you find your way. Available on major UNIX
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_______________________________________________
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http://backuppc.sourceforge.net/

last night I have installed BackupPC 2.0.0beta1. the whole thing more or
less works (it'll need some more tweaking, I guess); I can backup shares
OK, but I can't get CGI interface to work properly. it opens up alright (I
get to see the left side where I can enter the hosts/users to query data),
but there data are not shown at all. what I get is: "Error: Unable to
connect to BackupPC server".

Beyond Doug's excellent reply, you should verify that BackupPC is actually
running. What happens when you run:

/usr/local/BackupPC/bin/BackupPC_serverMesg status

another error I'm getting is when I want to view data that are specific for
selected host. I get: "Error: Only privileged users can view log or config
files".

This likely means that you don't have apache setup to authenticate the
user and set the REMOTE_USER environment variable. See Doug's notes
or look at the documentation some more.

Craig

Doug,

thanks a lot for this thorough explanation. it helped me get my
BackupPC_Admin up and running --- which means that I get to see the
interface all right, finally, I shall say.

however, as you could have expected when one problem is solved, 10 more
appear. as an admin of backuppc I get to see all the computers on the left
side of the BackupPC interface. although backups have been performed, and
compression has been set (but that's another problem, since files are just
mangled and not compressed) ... all the tables for all computers under
backup are completely empty. I have no idea why. what could possibly be
wrong? I'm sure it's something really obvious that I am missing.

one other thing ... on the BackupPC homepage there are several screenshots
of what BackupPC interface looks like. one of them shows browsing of backed
up files and another shows restoration procedure. I was never able to
access/see those screens. how can I access them? could it be that there is
something wrong with one of the installed perl modules?

I'm sure that all those problems have straight forward solutions, but I
suppose I'm not able to spot solutions.

I would really appreciate it if someone could help me out with those.

rgds,

Mladen

At 08:22 PM 4/9/2003 -0400, Doug Lytle wrote:
Mladen,

This is how I set mine up. First, my current setup:

Mandrake 9.1
Apache 2.0
AMD XP 1800+
128mb memory
Webmin 10.80
Samba

I ran the configure.pl and told it to run BackupPC as apache
I install to:

/home/backuppc
/home/backupdata

Location to install BackupPC_Admin

/var/www/cgi-bin

I check the authorities for BackupPC_Admin and make sure that Group
execute is set. chmod g+x BackupPC_Admin
I edit the config.pl file in the /home/backupdata/conf

I then added my first name as an administrator, I setup the folders I
wanted backed up and specified user name and
password to use to access the machine via smb.

Edit the /home/backupdata/conf/hosts file and put in a test host. I used
my Windows 2000 box called home-machine.

My host file has:

home-machine 0 support < at > drdos.zapto.org doug

Then copy the linux-backuppc file to /etc/init.d/backuppc
Make sure it has the Group execute bit is set. chmod g+x backuppc

I create a user name and password for Apache with the following command:

htpasswd -c /etc/httpd/conf/passwd doug (The -c option is only used on
the initial create of the passwd file)

In Webmin, under servers, Apache Webserver. Under Virtual Servers, I
select default server and then click on the /var/www/cgi-bin listing and
select access control. After that, enter the following:

Authentication realm name: ACCESS
Authentication type: Basic
All valid users: "Make sure this is selected"
User text file: /etc/httpd/conf/passwd

Save settings and restart Apache if necessary.

Then go into the /home/backuppc/bin
Type: ./BackupPC -d (Runs backuppc as a daemon)

Make sure Apache is running and bring up a browser.

If you are on the same machine as Apache/BackupPC the go to:

http://localhost/cgi-bin/BackupPC_Admin

Type your username and password.

You should be set at this point.

Doug




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disoriented. TotalView can help you find your way. Available on major UNIX
and Linux platforms. Try it free. www.etnus.com
_______________________________________________
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Doug's reply is excellent indeed. I got the interface up and running, but
there are several pieces of the interface that I'm missing. as I have
already noted in reply to Doug's mail, I've spoted several screenshots of
what BackupPC interface looks like on the BackupPC homepage. one of them
shows browsing of backed up files and another shows restoration procedure.
I was never able to access/see those screens. how can I access them? could
it be that there is something wrong with one of the installed perl modules?
what could prevent viewing of that functionality?

when I run /usr/local/BackupPC/bin/BackupPC_serverMesg status, this is what
I get:
Got reply: ok

so, I suppose this is OK.

Doug also helped me solve the "Only privileged users can view log or config
files" error --- it was apache authentication related error. however, if I
understood the config.pl right, there is a variable
($Conf{BackupPCUserVerify}) that if set to 0 should disable authentication.
when I set it to 0, it does nothing for me. how does this work then? what
exactly does it check?

I guess that's it for now.

rgds,

Mladen


At 11:06 PM 4/9/2003 -0700, cbarratt < at > users.sourceforge.net wrote:
last night I have installed BackupPC 2.0.0beta1. the whole thing more or
less works (it'll need some more tweaking, I guess); I can backup shares
OK, but I can't get CGI interface to work properly. it opens up alright (I
get to see the left side where I can enter the hosts/users to query data),
but there data are not shown at all. what I get is: "Error: Unable to
connect to BackupPC server".

Beyond Doug's excellent reply, you should verify that BackupPC is actually
running. What happens when you run:

/usr/local/BackupPC/bin/BackupPC_serverMesg status

another error I'm getting is when I want to view data that are specific
for
selected host. I get: "Error: Only privileged users can view log or config
files".

This likely means that you don't have apache setup to authenticate the
user and set the REMOTE_USER environment variable. See Doug's notes
or look at the documentation some more.

Craig

Mladen,

What do you mean "mangled and not compressed"?

Are you sure you are getting valid backups? Any thing odd in either the
client or server log? How about the httpd log?

- Wade



-----Original Message-----
From: Mladen Zagorac [mailto:mladen < at > kud-fp.si]
Sent: Thursday, April 10, 2003 5:22 AM
To: Doug Lytle
Cc: backuppc-users < at > lists.sourceforge.net
Subject: Re: [BackupPC-users] Error: Unable to connect to BackupPC
server


Doug,

thanks a lot for this thorough explanation. it helped me get my
BackupPC_Admin up and running --- which means that I get to see the
interface all right, finally, I shall say.

however, as you could have expected when one problem is solved, 10
more
appear. as an admin of backuppc I get to see all the computers on the
left
side of the BackupPC interface. although backups have been performed,
and
compression has been set (but that's another problem, since files are
just
mangled and not compressed) ... all the tables for all computers under
backup are completely empty. I have no idea why. what could possibly be
wrong? I'm sure it's something really obvious that I am missing.

one other thing ... on the BackupPC homepage there are several
screenshots
of what BackupPC interface looks like. one of them shows browsing of
backed
up files and another shows restoration procedure. I was never able to
access/see those screens. how can I access them? could it be that there
is
something wrong with one of the installed perl modules?

I'm sure that all those problems have straight forward solutions, but I
suppose I'm not able to spot solutions.

I would really appreciate it if someone could help me out with those.

rgds,

Mladen

At 08:22 PM 4/9/2003 -0400, Doug Lytle wrote:
Mladen,

This is how I set mine up. First, my current setup:

Mandrake 9.1
Apache 2.0
AMD XP 1800+
128mb memory
Webmin 10.80
Samba

I ran the configure.pl and told it to run BackupPC as apache
I install to:

/home/backuppc
/home/backupdata

Location to install BackupPC_Admin

/var/www/cgi-bin

I check the authorities for BackupPC_Admin and make sure that Group
execute is set. chmod g+x BackupPC_Admin
I edit the config.pl file in the /home/backupdata/conf

I then added my first name as an administrator, I setup the folders I
wanted backed up and specified user name and
password to use to access the machine via smb.

Edit the /home/backupdata/conf/hosts file and put in a test host. I
used
my Windows 2000 box called home-machine.

My host file has:

home-machine 0 support < at > drdos.zapto.org doug

Then copy the linux-backuppc file to /etc/init.d/backuppc
Make sure it has the Group execute bit is set. chmod g+x backuppc

I create a user name and password for Apache with the following
command:

htpasswd -c /etc/httpd/conf/passwd doug (The -c option is only used
on
the initial create of the passwd file)

In Webmin, under servers, Apache Webserver. Under Virtual Servers, I
select default server and then click on the /var/www/cgi-bin listing
and
select access control. After that, enter the following:

Authentication realm name: ACCESS
Authentication type: Basic
All valid users: "Make sure this is
selected"
User text file: /etc/httpd/conf/passwd

Save settings and restart Apache if necessary.

Then go into the /home/backuppc/bin
Type: ./BackupPC -d (Runs backuppc as a daemon)

Make sure Apache is running and bring up a browser.

If you are on the same machine as Apache/BackupPC the go to:

http://localhost/cgi-bin/BackupPC_Admin

Type your username and password.

You should be set at this point.

Doug




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debugger
for complex code. Debugging C/C++ programs can leave you feeling lost
and
disoriented. TotalView can help you find your way. Available on major
UNIX
and Linux platforms. Try it free. www.etnus.com
_______________________________________________
BackupPC-users mailing list
BackupPC-users < at > lists.sourceforge.net
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/backuppc-users
http://backuppc.sourceforge.net/


-------------------------------------------------------
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for complex code. Debugging C/C++ programs can leave you feeling lost and
disoriented. TotalView can help you find your way. Available on major UNIX
and Linux platforms. Try it free. www.etnus.com
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Wade,

names of all files and directories are changed when I view them via the
terminal (location /backup/pc/$hosts/$files) and nothing is compressed
although I have set compression to 3. also, I cannot view the contents of
backup via the interface, as I have described in my mail.

I am pretty sure that I am getting valid backups, because all the files
that should be there are there and there is nothing weird in the log files
either (no errors in httpd error log and it looks like client and server
logs recorded completion of backups). that's why I thought that something
might be wrong with perl modules.

did anyone else happen to have the same problem (not being able to view or
restore backed up files via the web interface)? if anyone did, I'd be very
interested in discussing how they solved their problem.

rgds,

Mladen

At 11:14 AM 4/10/2003 -0500, Brown, Wade (MED, ASL) wrote:
Mladen,

What do you mean "mangled and not compressed"?

Are you sure you are getting valid backups? Any thing odd in either the
client or server log? How about the httpd log?

- Wade



-----Original Message-----
From: Mladen Zagorac [mailto:mladen < at > kud-fp.si]
Sent: Thursday, April 10, 2003 5:22 AM
To: Doug Lytle
Cc: backuppc-users < at > lists.sourceforge.net
Subject: Re: [BackupPC-users] Error: Unable to connect to BackupPC
server


Doug,

thanks a lot for this thorough explanation. it helped me get my
BackupPC_Admin up and running --- which means that I get to see the
interface all right, finally, I shall say.

however, as you could have expected when one problem is solved, 10
more
appear. as an admin of backuppc I get to see all the computers on the
left
side of the BackupPC interface. although backups have been performed,
and
compression has been set (but that's another problem, since files are
just
mangled and not compressed) ... all the tables for all computers under
backup are completely empty. I have no idea why. what could possibly be
wrong? I'm sure it's something really obvious that I am missing.

one other thing ... on the BackupPC homepage there are several
screenshots
of what BackupPC interface looks like. one of them shows browsing of
backed
up files and another shows restoration procedure. I was never able to
access/see those screens. how can I access them? could it be that there
is
something wrong with one of the installed perl modules?

I'm sure that all those problems have straight forward solutions, but I
suppose I'm not able to spot solutions.

I would really appreciate it if someone could help me out with those.

rgds,

Mladen

At 08:22 PM 4/9/2003 -0400, Doug Lytle wrote:
Mladen,

This is how I set mine up. First, my current setup:

Mandrake 9.1
Apache 2.0
AMD XP 1800+
128mb memory
Webmin 10.80
Samba

I ran the configure.pl and told it to run BackupPC as apache
I install to:

/home/backuppc
/home/backupdata

Location to install BackupPC_Admin

/var/www/cgi-bin

I check the authorities for BackupPC_Admin and make sure that Group
execute is set. chmod g+x BackupPC_Admin
I edit the config.pl file in the /home/backupdata/conf

I then added my first name as an administrator, I setup the folders I
wanted backed up and specified user name and
password to use to access the machine via smb.

Edit the /home/backupdata/conf/hosts file and put in a test host. I
used
my Windows 2000 box called home-machine.

My host file has:

home-machine 0 support < at > drdos.zapto.org doug

Then copy the linux-backuppc file to /etc/init.d/backuppc
Make sure it has the Group execute bit is set. chmod g+x backuppc

I create a user name and password for Apache with the following
command:

htpasswd -c /etc/httpd/conf/passwd doug (The -c option is only used
on
the initial create of the passwd file)

In Webmin, under servers, Apache Webserver. Under Virtual Servers, I
select default server and then click on the /var/www/cgi-bin listing
and
select access control. After that, enter the following:

Authentication realm name: ACCESS
Authentication type: Basic
All valid users: "Make sure this is
selected"
User text file: /etc/httpd/conf/passwd

Save settings and restart Apache if necessary.

Then go into the /home/backuppc/bin
Type: ./BackupPC -d (Runs backuppc as a daemon)

Make sure Apache is running and bring up a browser.

If you are on the same machine as Apache/BackupPC the go to:

http://localhost/cgi-bin/BackupPC_Admin

Type your username and password.

You should be set at this point.

Doug




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and
disoriented. TotalView can help you find your way. Available on major
UNIX
and Linux platforms. Try it free. www.etnus.com
_______________________________________________
BackupPC-users mailing list
BackupPC-users < at > lists.sourceforge.net
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/backuppc-users
http://backuppc.sourceforge.net/




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for complex code. Debugging C/C++ programs can leave you feeling lost and
disoriented. TotalView can help you find your way. Available on major UNIX
and Linux platforms. Try it free. www.etnus.com
_______________________________________________
BackupPC-users mailing list
BackupPC-users < at > lists.sourceforge.net
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http://backuppc.sourceforge.net/

already noted in reply to Doug's mail, I've spoted several screenshots of
what BackupPC interface looks like on the BackupPC homepage. one of them
shows browsing of backed up files and another shows restoration procedure.
I was never able to access/see those screens. how can I access them? could

These screen only appear after a successful backup. And, you have to click on the PC Summary and then the host
you'd like to view. If the host has never backed up, it will be listed as such.


it be that there is something wrong with one of the installed perl modules?
what could prevent viewing of that functionality?

This is also possible. I've gotten used to installing ALL developement libs as a matter of course. Also, after installing
I made sure to go into the 'Install Programs' section and did a search for anything that had perl, zlib or zip and installed
it.

when I run /usr/local/BackupPC/bin/BackupPC_serverMesg status, this is what
I get:
Got reply: ok

so, I suppose this is OK.

Yes, this means that it's running.


Doug also helped me solve the "Only privileged users can view log or config
files" error --- it was apache authentication related error. however, if I
understood the config.pl right, there is a variable
($Conf{BackupPCUserVerify}) that if set to 0 should disable authentication.


This check is to make sure that the BackupPC_Admin cgi is being run as the user you defined (In the case Apache). You may mistakenly run
the cgi as root and this may be bad, it would show you an error in this event.

Doug






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compression has been set (but that's another problem, since files are just
mangled and not compressed) ... all the tables for all computers under

By default, the configure.pl will show a compression level of 3 if the ZLib(I think it's ZLib) library is installed, or 0 if not.


Doug






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