Config might get lost when starting config-gui while destination drive is not present

[BlueLight]

(Not So) Simple Backup Suite 0.3.1
Lucid 10.04 32 bit fully updated

When nssbackup is used with an external usb hardrive a problem occurs if nssbackup is run with the destination drive not present. It falls back to the default /var/backup directory.
If on the next backup the usb drive is present it doesn't switch back to the custom destination directory but keeps the default.

I would expect nssbackup to check for an external destination (network or usb) and use it if present.What happen if I change the default destination directory to the usb drive? Where to do this?

[Anton (feenstra)]

On 23/08/10 03:03, BlueLight wrote:
> Public bug reported:
>
> (Not So) Simple Backup Suite 0.3.1
> Lucid 10.04 32 bit fully updated
>
> When nssbackup is used with an external usb hardrive a problem occurs if nssbackup is run with the destination drive not present. It falls back to the default /var/backup directory.
> If on the next backup the usb drive is present it doesn't switch back to the custom destination directory but keeps the default.
>
> I would expect nssbackup to check for an external destination (network
> or usb) and use it if present.What happen if I change the default
> destination directory to the usb drive? Where to do this?

AFAIK, nssbackup checks for existance of the destination directory, and
  if it does not exist does not perform the backup.

One alternative would be to put an autorun script on your USB stick that
launches (ns)sbackup when inserted (depends on your OS exactly how that
works).

--
Groetjes,

Anton
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[Jean-Peer Lorenz (peer.loz)]

Thank you for using nssbackup and reporting this issue.

I cannot confirm your described behavior. nssbackup works as follows:

start the configuration, plug in your external harddrive and specify a directory on the external drive as backup destination. Save your configuration.

When running a backup (scheduled or manual), it is checked for the presence of your custom backup destination and used. If the external disk (or whatever is specified) is not found, a message box appears which states: "Destination not found. Please make sure the path exists (e.g. by mounting external disk). You can retry or cancel...". You can now plug in your external disk and proceed or the backup is canceled after 300 sec if you do nothing. I think this is what you expect, isn't it?

Slightly different when opening the configuration. If you open the configuration again, without the external drive being present, another error message is showed: "Destination path not found. It is set to the default value. Check the value before you save your configuration." That is, the destination value is not saved to disk/modified on disk unless you save your configuration again. Closing the configuration without saving will result in no modification of your previous configuration/specified destination. Purpose of this behavior is not to support a non-existing destination path when modifying the configuration. The user is forced to set the destination to an existing path when he/she sets up a backup.

Does it work for you in this way?

What I see here, is maybe a feature request. The error message (or choices) that are shown when opening the configuration while the destination is unavailable could be improved. A problem might arise when starting the configuration gui just for running a backup and not for modifying settings.

P.S: As you might recognized, nssbackup and SBackup are finally re-merged. SBackup 0.11.x is identical with nssbackup 0.3.x. Development will take place in SBackup (to stop confusion) from now. So, you're invited to use SBackup from now. Thanks.

[suntania (ozerki)]

Well,

The way it works NOW: you get error message and then you have to click OK, plug in the missing media, reconfigure backup, run backup

only tech savvy people will put up with that.

The way it SHOULD run is: you get message informing that the media is missing and asking you to plug it in and to click "OK" button and the backup continues, or click "Cancel" which takes you to selection of another media, and maybe another button - "remind in x minutes".

Many people have external hard drives which are not plugged in all the time and getting an error (or not getting an error and not doing a backup)

People want GUI backup because they want the ease of use, and the current workaround IMHO is not much user-friendlier than using CLI.

[Anton (feenstra)]

Hi,

May I add something, that I stumbled on the other day. I do some of my
backups on an external disk at home. But I might at some point want to
review (and tweak) my settings while away from that disk (say, in a
spare 10 minutes in the train or so). Currently this is not possible,
since SBackup will complain about the missing backup destination, and
re-insert the default. Worse, if I didn't read the message carefully
enough (or not at all), and Save the configuration, I've messed up my
settings.

I think the message should give the user the option to keep the current
(correct) setting, or to change it (choose a new location), or set it to
default.

P.S., the same goes for my other backup setting, where the destination
is a server at the university that I can only reach from inside
(firewall protection).

This opens the problem that Jean-Peer raised, to make sure the backup
location is always a valid one when it is saved. Would it be good enough
to display a warning for a saving a destination location that cannot be
(currently) validated?

Alternatively, this may be a separate configuration option, something
like "allow un-tested destination location to be saved?".

Groetjes,

Anton.

[BlueLight (bluelight-auroville)]

Since sbackup and later nssbackup and much later nsbackup has been developed with a normal user in mind (as far as I understood) and since it deal with backups which I consider a VERY important thing to have an unnoticed backup failure needs to be avoided under any circumstances. For technicians like me to be called in if a user looses a config file is bothersome because it might be my mother-in-law or many other people whom I want or don't want to see too often.

If a backup is started or scheduled and it can't find the destination drive it should come up with a clear big red flashing warning and give the user a precise information what to do. And in case that doesn't happen not to loose the config file. A backup that is saved by default on the same harddrive is not a backup if that harddrive crashes.

I don't feel compfortable to configure Ubuntu machines with nssbackup when I know that the config file can be lost. External drives as Igor points outs rightly is the prefered backup medium for many Desktop users and all Notebook and laptop users. I believe that that is reason enough to take this issue further in the programming and find a solution.

[BlueLight (bluelight-auroville)]

I mean barinov2000 not Igor.