backingup sims backupexec 11d

[skyline21]

Hi

 

i am trying to backup sims using the sql option with a remote agent installed on the sims server

 

 

but it will not backup the files

 

error message is

 

 

Database \master was not found, or could not be accessed.

Database \model was not found, or could not be accessed.

Database \msdb was not found, or could not be accessed.

Database \Northwind was not found, or could not be accessed.

Database \pubs was not found, or could not be accessed.

Database \sims was not found, or could not be accessed.

 

 

any ideas

[the.damon]

check:

 

https://forums.symantec.com/syment/board/message?board.id=115&message.id=7075#M7075

 

looks like sp4 hotfix could solve it if you are on sql 2000

[skyline21]

thanks for that i dont want to do that at the moment incase sims goes wrong.

 

can i back it up using a command line?

[Linfit]

Easy to do using command line. Just stop the service first to make sure the database files are not open, then start them again after the copy:

 

net stop sqlagent$sims

net stop mssql$sims

Copy /y /b "Location of .mdf file here" "Backup location Here"

Copy /y /b "Location of .ldf file here" "Backup location Here"

net start mssql$sims

net start sqlagent$sims

 

We run this batch file as a scheduled task every night. Then use BE remote agent to copy the backups to our tape drive. No SQL agent needed.

[skyline21]

Hi

thanks for that script will try it tonight

does that sims database include the finance?

 

once again thanks for the help

[cheesypete]

Doesnt resolve the issue, but it may ease your worries (in case you dont know about it) but you can backup SIMS from the System Manager before doing anything you arent sure of

[Linfit]

The finance database is two different files and the services are different.

You can start it and stop it using the net stop and net start command in the same way but the syntax depends on what the database instance is called.

 

Ours is:

net stop SQLANYs_SIMS_SQL_DB_Server

 

but the bit after the SQLANYs will vary from system to system depending how it was set up. Look in the Services list on the server and see what name is assigned to the SQL Anywhere service - thats what you need to use.

 

Like the main sims database, there are two files to copy, but their location and name may vary. By default, they are SIMS.db and SIMS.log

[m25man]

Now Im neither a Sims or SQL Expert but I have many years experience in this market sector.

 

As I have had to rebuild many a failed server, you become a little hardened to the many caveats and gotchas of users data storage methods.

 

It is normal practise to use the SQL Manager to perform regular Online backups to the SQL Backups folder.

These can be selected and backed up at anytime by any backup application without shutting the server or services down.

 

There are various backup utilities that exist that have special database aware agents that will allow backup of databases live and these do have a place.

 

Offline Backups can be made by scripting the services to stop, backup the whole lot and restart.

 

Other methods use Volume Shadow Copy Services to Snapshot the whole volume and archive this in a binary fashion, these include most CDP products such as Acronis, Veritas CDP which also provide effective recovery methods at a cost.

 

So here is my spanner in the works so to speak, SQL Databases use tables to store data. These tables in the most part are text based.

If your application stores binary files such as the kids photos in jpeg formats etc these tables are often skipped by the simpler backup applications due to the fact that that they just don't know how to handle them.

When you restore a table or database and there is an inconsistency due to binary tables being reported as missing or corrupt your screwed!

 

The last time I checked there are very few products claiming to be able to do this, Veritas's NetBackup product was one.

Being able to handle these types of tables is essential if you want to be able to restore just a few parts of a SQL system so using other 3rd party applications to backup your SIMS server might just be a waste of time and money as these products may never actually deliver a totally restorable version of a corrupt or damaged table anyway!

 

With the sudden upsurge in SQL based portals, there is now an urgency for SQL backup systems with truly granular restoration abilities and these are indeed begining to happen, albeit at a price.

 

So, IMOHO, using SQL manager to backup the DB several times a day to disk, enabling restoration in full to the last couple of hours would be a dam good idea.

Use a script to stop all SQL services and perform a full and complete off-line backup at least once a week.

 

Pay through the nose if you really must for a backup tool that guarantees that your data can be recovered right down to record level, if such a tool really exists!

 

Most people seem to spec thier SIMs servers pretty high and the instances of complete and utter hardware failure are actually quite small, the most common reason for doing a SIMs restore is corruption by updates, user or other means, so the ability to restore an earlier copy quickly with the smallest amount of re-entry needed is the best solution and clearly this can be done using just the native applications!

 

IF YOU HAVE 11D and a SQL Agent I would bet you will always end up restoring the previous days backup in full anyway in order to recover, and as this is achieved with native tools why bother!

[zag]

Working here ok with 10d SP4 if that's any help.

[AnnDroyd]

It is normal practise to use the SQL Manager to perform regular Online backups to the SQL Backups folder.

 

How do schedule such a backup to take place one per day, for example?

[sahmeepee]

How do schedule such a backup to take place one per day, for example?

 

The exact route depends on your version of sql server, but generally speaking you need to open the SQL Server management application and set up a maintenance plan.

 

Assuming you've migrated to SQL2005 by now, it lives at:

 

server\instance > management > maintenance plans - right-click - New maintenance plan

 

By default that will back up to the Backups folder as m25man said, so you just need to back up the .bak file(s) in there to tape afterwards.