Help needed with backup app on OS X Server

[tomdkat]

Hi! I'm helping someone make sure the backups their server runs are actually working, etc. When I looked at the server console, there were 10+ popups indicating a backup could not run since one was already running. There was a status indicator that seemed to be "spinning", so I think the back was hung or something.

I wasn't able to cancel the backup since the cancelation process seemed to "spin" like the backup itself. There were several software updates pending, so I started installing those but that process stalled after a long while.

So, how can I kill the backup app? Would it be a good idea to simply reboot the server? I don't know the specific version of OS X that's running, but I'm guessing it's either 10.3 or 10.4.

Peace...

[Kees Buijs]

Originally Posted by tomdkat

So, how can I kill the backup app? Would it be a good idea to simply reboot the server? I don't know the specific version of OS X that's running, but I'm guessing it's either 10.3 or 10.4.

Peace...

There is never a problem in FORCING a ABORT of an application system wise. But of course if you do so, the backup is for sure not reliable. If your backup is (and it should be) critical, than investigate why the system does not finis the backup before sitting back and thinking you have a proper backup.

Best is to abort all processes, make sure none are scheduled and start one manually. Than check if it will finish, and if not check the logs (if available) why it did not finish (or if it did finish, which files might be skipped and why).


Good luck, Kees

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by Kees Buijs

Best is to abort all processes, make sure none are scheduled and start one manually. Than check if it will finish, and if not check the logs (if available) why it did not finish (or if it did finish, which files might be skipped and why).

Sounds good. Not being a Mac user primarily, how do I force the backup app down? Do I open a terminal, find process and kill it via "kill" or is there an element in the GUI to kill apps for me?

I looked at /var/log/system.log and didn't see anything that jumped out at me, but I'll take another look when I can.

Peace...

[Kees Buijs]

Originally Posted by tomdkat

Sounds good. Not being a Mac user primarily, how do I force the backup app down? Do I open a terminal, find process and kill it via "kill" or is there an element in the GUI to kill apps for me?

I looked at /var/log/system.log and didn't see anything that jumped out at me, but I'll take another look when I can.

Peace...

Ofcourse in the GUI there is under APPLE the option Force Quit, but i expect that the backup app will not visible if run in the background.

You can go to the terminal and indeed kill apps in the linux way.


Good luck, kees

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by Kees Buijs

Ofcourse in the GUI there is under APPLE the option Force Quit, but i expect that the backup app will not visible if run in the background.

I don't know how the backup app was run but the status window does appear and I have seen "Backup" in bold next to the APPLE in the top menu bar, so maybe the "Force Quit" will work. I'll try that out.

You can go to the terminal and indeed kill apps in the linux way.

One problem I've run into when manually killing programs on Unix is killing one process won't necessary zap them all. I'll try the "Force Quit" option above and then the "kill" command and if that doesn't do it, I'll reboot the box.

Thanks again!

Peace...