Rsync daily backup

alex4buba · 10-15-2023, 07:41 PM

I am using a HP Probook and have done a rsync executeb by task scheduler on KDE Neon Plasma.

I am using this script for the past 2 years and it just works, but recently, it works only at times. When it works, it produces one format of log file, when however i execute it manually, the same script produces another outpit format.

So, how do I find out, why it is not working at time - for example, the last 2 lines in the image I am attaching here of the 15th October, is manual execution, why it didn't work? The 2nd question is why the log out is changing format?

Thanks for any ideas

lucmove · 10-16-2023, 09:53 AM

I guess you have to share the script so maybe someone can spot the bug or suggest you insert some debugging statement.

michaelk · 10-16-2023, 10:43 AM

To add to pan64's post
As far as I know the default format for the date command is "+%a %b %e %H:%M:%S %Z %Y" which is what you see when you manually run your script. The task scheduler is a front end for cron which uses a different environment then executing from the command line so just a wild guess the locale time format maybe changing between the two. I don't know what version of cron plasma is using which sets some environment variables or if the scheduler sets any environment variables itself.

alex4buba · 10-16-2023, 07:50 PM

Hello friends

My main concern ofcourse is why my script is not working regularly, the date format is not a real concern.

Here below is my script

Quote:

GNU nano 6.2 anajob.sh M
#!/bin/bash
#To wake up the external drive
#partprobe /media/alexe/Elements

#get day of week
dow=$(/usr/bin/date "+%a")

# convert DOW to lower case i.e. Mon to mon
ldow=${dow,,}

/usr/bin/rsync -a /home/alexe/afolders/ /media/alexe/Elements/$ldow/
astatus=$?
/usr/bin/rsync -a /home/alexe/Desktop /media/alexe/Elements/$ldow/
dstatus=$?

[ $astatus -eq 0 ] && echo "$(date) My_Stuff rsync completed successfully" >> /home/alexe/Desktop/dailyBackup>

[ $dstatus -eq 0 ] && echo "$(date) Desktop rsync completed successfully" >> /home/alexe/Desktop/dailyBackup.>

As you can see, the job is executed to perform two tasks.

Hope someone can give me a hint

Cheers

michaelk · 10-16-2023, 08:13 PM

Save the actual exit status value as well as saving the stderr output if any to a file to see what is happening.

alex4buba · 10-16-2023, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michaelk

Save the actual exit status value as well as saving the stderr output if any to a file to see what is happening.

OK, I have no idea, how do I do that?

Many thanks

michaelk · 10-16-2023, 08:33 PM

Code:

/usr/bin/rsync -a /home/alexe/afolders/ /media/alexe/Elements/$ldow/ 2>/path/to/error.log
...
echo "$(date) My stuff status=$astatus Desktop status=$dstatus" >> /path/to/status.log

Normally when you execute a program from the command line both stderr and stdout are written to the terminal. The stream number for stderr is 2.

alex4buba · 10-17-2023, 01:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michaelk

Code:

/usr/bin/rsync -a /home/alexe/afolders/ /media/alexe/Elements/$ldow/ 2>/path/to/error.log
...
echo "$(date) My stuff status=$astatus Desktop status=$dstatus" >> /path/to/status.log

Normally when you execute a program from the command line both stderr and stdout are written to the terminal. The stream number for stderr is 2.

I never execute this via command line. When I run the script manually, I do it via the GUI interface
System Settings->Startup and Shut Down->Task scheduler->Daily Backup

So, how will I chane the script?

Please note, in the current script i have two jobs, but for this exercise, I can skip the Desktop job.

Thanks again

michaelk · 10-17-2023, 10:12 AM

Code:

#!/bin/bash
#To wake up the external drive
#partprobe /media/alexe/Elements

#get day of week
dow=$(/usr/bin/date "+%a")

# convert DOW to lower case i.e. Mon to mon
ldow=${dow,,}

/usr/bin/rsync -a /home/alexe/afolders/ /media/alexe/Elements/"$ldow"/ 2>/path/to/error.log
astatus=$?
/usr/bin/rsync -a /home/alexe/Desktop /media/alexe/Elements/"$ldow"/ 2>/path/to/error.log
dstatus=$?

if [ $astatus -eq 0 ]; then
   echo "$(date) My_Stuff rsync completed successfully" >> /home/alexe/Desktop/dailyBackup
else
   echo "$(date) My_Stuff rsync error $astatus" >> /home/alexe/Desktop/dailyBackup
fi

if [ $dstatus -eq 0 ]; then
   echo "$(date) Desktop rsync completed successfully" >> /home/alexe/Desktop/dailyBackup
else
   echo "$(date) Desktop rsync error $dstatus" >> /home/alexe/Desktop/dailyBackup

alex4buba · 10-18-2023, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michaelk

Code:

#!/bin/bash
#To wake up the external drive
#partprobe /media/alexe/Elements

#get day of week
dow=$(/usr/bin/date "+%a")

# convert DOW to lower case i.e. Mon to mon
ldow=${dow,,}

/usr/bin/rsync -a /home/alexe/afolders/ /media/alexe/Elements/"$ldow"/ 2>/path/to/error.log
astatus=$?
/usr/bin/rsync -a /home/alexe/Desktop /media/alexe/Elements/"$ldow"/ 2>/path/to/error.log
dstatus=$?

if [ $astatus -eq 0 ]; then
   echo "$(date) My_Stuff rsync completed successfully" >> /home/alexe/Desktop/dailyBackup
else
   echo "$(date) My_Stuff rsync error $astatus" >> /home/alexe/Desktop/dailyBackup
fi

if [ $dstatus -eq 0 ]; then
   echo "$(date) Desktop rsync completed successfully" >> /home/alexe/Desktop/dailyBackup
else
   echo "$(date) Desktop rsync error $dstatus" >> /home/alexe/Desktop/dailyBackup

The problem is, that when the script does not run, there is NO output, just nothing happens.
This in my mind, means that something is wrong in my KDE setup, noothing wrong with the script itself.

Any suggestions?
Thanks again

michaelk · 10-18-2023, 05:41 PM

Can you post a screenshot of your task scheduler?

alex4buba · 10-18-2023, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michaelk

Can you post a screenshot of your task scheduler?

Please see attached
Thank you

michaelk · 10-18-2023, 07:25 PM

Not much help there. Is your computer on 24/7 or is it on by 8:30 in the morning? cron jobs do not run if the computer is not running at the scheduled time. Otherwise you might want to consider using anacron instead. You can not select that exact runtime but it is guaranteed to run regardless of when the computer is turned on.

alex4buba · 10-18-2023, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michaelk

Not much help there. Is your computer on 24/7 or is it on by 8:30 in the morning? cron jobs do not run if the computer is not running at the scheduled time. Otherwise you might want to consider using anacron instead. You can not select that exact runtime but it is guaranteed to run regardless of when the computer is turned on.

The computer is ON 24/7 otherwise, how will any job run on it?

Thanks

michaelk · 10-18-2023, 07:48 PM

Have you checked the cron logs to see if the script is actually started. The only time you will see output from your script is if status is zero.

You can run jobs using anacron.