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Retrospect "Waiting for Media" backing up to ReadyNAS
I've been using Retrospect on my Windows PC for years. I'm currently at Retrospect 10.5 on Win10 x64. I recently bought my 3rd ReadyNAS, with all three in service. (An NV+, an Ultra 4, and now a 2...
Retrospect silently worked the other night, so I wanted to post an update. As I mentioned much earlier in this thread, I found a setting that let me connect as a different user.
In Retrospect 10.5 for Windows, it's here...
Configure -> Backup Sets
Select the backup set you are having issues with, then Properties, then the "Members" tab, then Properties again...
You should see a setting for Automatic Login..., where you can set a username and password.
I'm not sure, yet, if the username/password has to match anything. When I went back to check the settings so I could document it here, I realized I'd mistyped the username, yet it silently worked. Just for fun, I just now tried removing the password, and I should know tomorrow or the next day if it needs that. I suspect not, since my ReadyNAS is configured for anonymous read/write access.
It's been a long time since I used Retrospect. It came with some ReadyNASes many years ago. But there are some general Windows related things you can check. Are you using a mapped drive? If so, the Retrospect "user" (which you said was "System") must be able to see the mapped drive. Mapped drives are specific to users, so changing it to run with your credentials may help. But if you still run into problesm, you may beed to add a NET USE command to the task that starts Retrospect.
Thank you for the response. I'm not using a mapped drive; I'm using a UNC path to a folder on the ReadyNAS.
I also don't have a batch script to start Retrospect--it schedules itself--so it wouldn't be easy to add a NET USE command, I think.
And yes, the reason I'm using Retrospect is because I started using it (a much older version) when it came with one of my earlier ReadyNAS systems.
There have been some recent changes in Windows related to guest access.
Did you try FramerV's suggestion about adding credentials for the NAS in the Windows credential manager? Log into windows using Retrospect user's credentials.
Do you mean logging in as NT Authority\System? I don't know how to do that. I'm hoping my other approach will work, but perhaps you can explain how to login this way. Thank you!
bhpowell wrote:
Do you mean logging in as NT Authority\System? I don't know how to do that. I'm hoping my other approach will work, but perhaps you can explain how to login this way. Thank you!
Let's see if your approach works. I didn't realize earlier that you were using an MSA. You might see if you can run the service from a different account.
bhpowell wrote:Thank you for the response. I'm not using a mapped drive; I'm using a UNC path to a folder on the ReadyNAS.
I also don't have a batch script to start Retrospect--it schedules itself--so it wouldn't be easy to add a NET USE command, I think.
And yes, the reason I'm using Retrospect is because I started using it (a much older version) when it came with one of my earlier ReadyNAS systems.
It is unlikely that Retrospect "schedules itself". It is much more likely that it created a task in Windows Task Scheduler that does that. While you may not have created it, you can modify it.
I don't know of any way to log in as or otherwise add credentials to the "System" account outside of a Domain environment. But now that you have changed it to run under your credentials, you can add the necessary NAS credentials to your account if the problem persists. If your account is as an administrator, then local asset access shouldn't be an issue. But if your account is limited, you may not have access to everything you want backed up.
I have a standalone PC; I'm not running as part of a larger workgroup or domain.
Retrospect scheduled tasks are not scheduled through the Task Scheduler. Retrospect has a service named retrorun.exe, which runs as the SYSTEM user, and it is responsible for starting scheduled Retrospect tasks. I do not know how the "connect as" setting works--whether it changes the ownership of the Retrospect subtask, or if it just changes how the Retrospect subtask connects to the UNC fileshare. (Nor have I shown that it even works.)
Can you explain more about how I would use the Credential Manager to add Retrospect's access to the UNC share? I've never run this program, and I suspect it would mean adding a "Windows Credential" that is one of "Certificate-based", "Generic", or "Other Items".
One followup question: Since Retrospect is working fine connecting to the older ReadyNAS devices, should I see an existing credential that makes them work? Where would I see that?
Thanks for your help.
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