SIMS SQL Server 2005 re-install

[philserre]

In SIMS.net, System ¦¦ Tools, Create Backup works but the Tidy & Restore Backup windows just hang. Capita say I should reinstall SQL Server 2005 which I'd like to avoid unless necessary. Is there another way of fixing this? I've tried running SIMSSQLApplication.exe with no effect.

[superfletch]

Won't fix the problem (and you've probably already done this) but have you tried just tidying a few backups at once rather than lots in one hit?

 

Seems to help on some systems.

[philserre]

I don't get as far as seeing the backups in Tidy or Restore Backups windows. As soon as I select Tidy backups the system hangs. The same with Restore.

[superfletch]

Did you do that on the server hosting SIMS or from a Client? If a client then try from the server instead. If you interrogate the actual folder where the backups are stored are there loads of them?

(This folder will be on Server in Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.x\MSSQL\Backup)

 

You could try moving a large number of them to another location temporarily and see if this sorts out the problem? I can't find anything in the KB.

[philserre]

Problem solved thank you very much. I removed all the zip files from Backup and tried SIMS again. The system recognised that there were no files to tidy. I then reintroduced one zip file to the backup folder and ran tidy backups successfully. I then dropped them all back in and it failed. Two of the files are very big and are .BAK files. One of the zip files is much smaller than the others. When I removed these 3 files the system worked again. Could these 3 files be the result of a previously failed backup routine which has prevented some Tools features from working? Should the .BAK files be in the Backup folder at all? Thanks again, Phil

[superfletch]

I think but not sure, (please someone correct me if I'm way off here)...

 

SIMS can be backed up in more than one way via the utilities provided in the Binn folder, the non zipped files you can see are likely a result of:

 

A backup not designed to zip the files after backing them up, OR

 

A backup which times out whilst zipping the files (u see this on big DB's sometimes even when the Server spec is reasonably good). Because the zipping fails it leaves them in the backup folder in an unzipped state - fair enough as you want your backup available (as they are restored from the non zipped state anyway) but its a pain for storage.

 

You could set an automated script deployed by the task scheduler to backup the DB, and then create another batch, VB or autoit script which will (again using scheduled task) delete your SIMS backups once they are a certain number of days old.

 

SIMS causes me some major headaches, but I still like it.

 

SF

Edited October 13, 2008 by superfletch
Inadequate spelling

[philserre]

Thanks for the help with this. I may have interrupted a backup some months ago so that's probably where the files came from. I'll save them for a while and delete them when I'm sure they're dead.