Mac Bkup: Retrospect Remote May Corrupt Server Data File (98097)

SUMMARY

If Retrospect Remote is processing a remote backup of a Macintosh running version 3.1 of Microsoft Mail for AppleTalk server, the backup may cause Mail to shut down the server. To prevent this problem, the administrator can do one of the following:

Configure Retrospect to not backup the server's System Folder or Extensions Folder. -or-
Configure Retrospect specifically to not backup Microsoft Mail Data. -or-
Ensure the Mail Server is not running at the time of the backup.

For more details on configuring Retrospect Remote, call Dantz Development at (510) 849-0293.

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft Mail Data is kept open to read from and write to while Mail is running. The Mail Server software needs to access the datafile when information is read, written, and deleted.

If another process attempts to access this file while it is open, Mail will usually respond by shutting down the server to prevent corruption. However, the server may stop responding or hang. Because Retrospect Remote will attempt to archive the datafile unless the administrator excludes it from the backup, the archive process will create this situation.

Administrators who want to have Retrospect back up the server datafile should utilitze the MS Mail Backup control panel device to provide an initial copy of the data file which Retrospect can archive later.

For example, MS Mail Backup can be configured to copy the server datafile to an external hard drive or AppleShare volume at midnight. Retrospect can then run and archive the external volume at 1:00 AM. The file that is archived will be named Mail Data Backup #x (where x is the number of the backup. If the administrator is keeping multiple backups, the lowest number is the most recent). Retrospect will be backing up a server datafile that was current as of midnight.

To correctly configure MS Mail Backup to copy the datafile to a different volume, refer to the "Network Manager's Guide" for Microsoft Mail for AppleTalk Networks.