Moving a set of backup_jobs.conf configs from one ReadyNAS server to another (RN426 & RNDP400U)

[greg_t]

A used RN426 has come into my possession and I am going to make it my primary home file server.  I want to get my collection of backup configurations moved to it from my current server.

My home file server has been a ReadyNas box of some kind or another for years and years.  I have this new one as my primary and I use the previous box as backup.  Over the years I have created a bunch of backup scripts.  In years past, those scripts were always transferred by saving my configuration on one box and loading it on the new box.

Both boxes are running OS 6.10.8 (latest version to date).

For reasons probably related to machine architecture, I am unable to move the configuration from my Ultra 4 Plus to this RN426, getting an "Unrecognized Server Error" when I try.  I have tried moving all the configuration parameters and each of the custom sets, all get the same error.  So, I manually configured the new box for most things.  Probably a good exercise.

Backup scripts are a bit fiddly and I would rather not have to re-build each one manually.  I had hoped that copying over the /etc/frontview/backup_jobs.conf file to the new box would suffice, but it seems to be ignored.

Anyone done this successfully, or have thoughts about how it could be done?

[greg_t · Accepted solution]

The solution to my problem of transferring the backup job configurations from my Ultra 4 Plus to my RN426, both running OS6.10.8, turned out to have a number of elements. This is a summary so that the next person who needs to do this has a condensed narrative of my journey.

History: I have had Readynas boxes for over 15 yeas. I upgraded from my Infrant NV+ to an Ultra 4,upgraded that to OS6 using unofficial firmware, and then upgraded to my Ultra 4 Plus. I did this with the simple process of backing up the old config and restoring it to the new machine. When I wanted to upgrade to my RN426, this process failed to work, giving an "Unrecognized Server Error" when I attempted to do it.

Not wanting to spend too much time troubleshooting the mystery, I then manually configured the new machine to match the Shares and Networking configurations by hand. When it came to the backup configurations I hesitated to try and rebuild them by hand since there are all kinds of niggly little details in them that I honed over the years and I just wanted to port them over.

So, I unzipped the saved configuation from my Ultra 4 Plus and copied the /frontview/etc/backup_jobs.conf file to the same location on the new machine. No joy. @StephenB  mentioned that there is a database where these things are kept in Frontview, so thinking that some post-processing needed to be done after copying the config file I tried this:

• Logged out of Frontview
• Logged into the box using SSH as root
• Copied the config file to the /frontview/etc/backup_jobs.conf file
• Rebooted

This worked. I thought. The configurations looked fine, all scheduled with the same schedules.

But, the next morning I discovered that none of them had run.

The final step in the solution was to do the following for each Backup Configuration:

1. Open its settings
2. Clear the Schedule checkbox
3. Save the settings
4. Open the settings
5. Check the Schedule checkbox

That did the trick and everything is working now.

Thanks to @StephenB  for his help!

[StephenB]

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@greg_t wrote:

For reasons probably related to machine architecture, I am unable to move the configuration from my Ultra 4 Plus to this RN426, getting an "Unrecognized Server Error" when I try.  

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Likely the Ultra 4 Plus is running 4.2.x firmware.

It can be migrated to OS-6 if you want (though you'd need to upgrade the memory to at least 2 GB first - not expensive).

[greg_t]

Thanks, an important point.  I should have mentioned that both boxes are running OS 6.10.8 (the current latest) version of OS6.  I upgraded from 4.x a couple of old-equipment-transitions back.

I updated my note with this info.

[StephenB]

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@greg_t wrote:

I should have mentioned that both boxes are running OS 6.10.8 (the current latest) version of OS6.  

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Good to know.

Then backing up the config files, and then restoring them should have worked.  So there is some mystery here.

[greg_t]

That is what I thought, the file should have been sufficient.  Does Frontview load the file into a database or something?  Maybe I have to reboot.   I'll try that in the morning.

[StephenB]

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@greg_t wrote:

 Does Frontview load the file into a database or something?  

---

It is possible (there is a database).

Not something I've normally done - generally I've just re-done the config from scratch when setting up a new NAS.

[Sandshark]

While I've not done so in OS6.10.x, this has always worked for me (last done in 6.9.x)  But I was just "cleaning up" a multi-layer RAID with a factory default, so I was restoring to the same machine.

An Ultra4 and 424 are both Intel based, so the architecture shouldn't matter.  Is the data volume named differently?  That would definitely make a difference.

[greg_t]

OK.  Success.

It appears that copying the backup_jobs.conf file to /etc/frontview/ required a reboot to pull in the backup jobs.

Still not sure why the configuration files were not being accepted, but the backup jobs were the issue  and that is solved.

Thank you everyone for your ideas.

[greg_t · Accepted solution]

The solution to my problem of transferring the backup job configurations from my Ultra 4 Plus to my RN426, both running OS6.10.8, turned out to have a number of elements. This is a summary so that the next person who needs to do this has a condensed narrative of my journey.

History: I have had Readynas boxes for over 15 yeas. I upgraded from my Infrant NV+ to an Ultra 4,upgraded that to OS6 using unofficial firmware, and then upgraded to my Ultra 4 Plus. I did this with the simple process of backing up the old config and restoring it to the new machine. When I wanted to upgrade to my RN426, this process failed to work, giving an "Unrecognized Server Error" when I attempted to do it.

Not wanting to spend too much time troubleshooting the mystery, I then manually configured the new machine to match the Shares and Networking configurations by hand. When it came to the backup configurations I hesitated to try and rebuild them by hand since there are all kinds of niggly little details in them that I honed over the years and I just wanted to port them over.

So, I unzipped the saved configuation from my Ultra 4 Plus and copied the /frontview/etc/backup_jobs.conf file to the same location on the new machine. No joy. @StephenB  mentioned that there is a database where these things are kept in Frontview, so thinking that some post-processing needed to be done after copying the config file I tried this:

• Logged out of Frontview
• Logged into the box using SSH as root
• Copied the config file to the /frontview/etc/backup_jobs.conf file
• Rebooted

This worked. I thought. The configurations looked fine, all scheduled with the same schedules.

But, the next morning I discovered that none of them had run.

The final step in the solution was to do the following for each Backup Configuration:

1. Open its settings
2. Clear the Schedule checkbox
3. Save the settings
4. Open the settings
5. Check the Schedule checkbox

That did the trick and everything is working now.

Thanks to @StephenB  for his help!