Cloud Backup:FAQ about ECS backup

How to delete backup data of an ECS file backup

1. Log on to the Cloud Backup console.

2. In the navigation pane on the left, choose Backup > ECS File Backup.

3. In the upper-left corner of the top navigation bar, select a region.

4. Find the ECS instance that you want to delete. In the Actions column, choose ┇ > Delete Backup.

5. In the dialog box that appears, click OK.

What to do if the ECS client fails to install with the message "Failed to initialize the client"

• Issue

  When you install a backup client on an ECS instance, the message "Failed to initialize the client" appears.

• Cause

  Antivirus software is installed on the ECS instance.

• Solution

  1. Stop the antivirus software.

     1. Log on to the ECS instance.

        For more information about how to log on to an ECS instance, see Connect to an instance.

     2. Check whether antivirus software is installed on the ECS instance.

     3. Stop the antivirus software.

  2. Uninstall and then reinstall the Cloud Backup client for ECS.

     1. Log on to the Cloud Backup console.

     2. In the navigation pane on the left, choose Backup > ECS File Backup.

     3. In the upper-left corner of the top navigation bar, select a region.

     4. Find the target ECS instance and choose ┇ > Uninstall Client in the Actions column.

     5. In the dialog box that appears, click OK.

        The client status changes to Uninstalling.

     6. After the uninstallation is complete, find the target ECS instance and choose ┇ > Reinstall Client in the Actions column.

        The client status changes to Installing. After the installation is complete, the status changes to Activated.

        Note

        If the issue persists, submit a ticket for support.

What to do if the Cloud Backup client for ECS fails to install with the message "Client installation timed out" or "Failed to start the client service"

This issue may occur because antivirus software is blocking the installation program. You can exit the antivirus software and then reinstall the client.

Why does a client verification error occur when I upgrade the Cloud Backup client for ECS?

This error may occur because the Cloud Backup client was uninstalled or the ECS instance was stopped. If the Cloud Backup client was uninstalled, reinstall it from the console. If the ECS instance was stopped, start the ECS instance.

What to do if the backup client fails to upgrade

• Issue

  The backup client fails to upgrade.

• Cause

  The backup client's upgrade service is not running.

• Solution

  Log on to the server where the backup client is located and start the upgrade service.

  1. Log on to the server where the backup client is located.

  2. Navigate to the directory where the upgrade service is located.

     • Linux

       • The default installation path for an older version of the backup client is /opt/alibabacloud/hbr/update.

       • The default installation path for a newer version of the client is /opt/alibabacloud/hbrclient/update.

     • Windows

       • The default installation path for an older version of the backup client is Local Disk (C) > Program Files > Aliyun Hybrid Backup Service > update.

       • The default installation path for a newer version of the client is Local Disk (C) > Program Files > Aliyun Hybrid Backup Service Client > update.

  3. Run the following command to restart the upgrade service.

     • Linux

       ./updater

     • Windows

       Run updater.exe to start the upgrade service.

What to do if client installation fails with the message "The AliyunECSAccessingHBRRolePolicy policy is not attached to EcsRamRole"

Go to the Cloud Resource Access Authorization page using the provided link and grant the required permissions. After the authorization is complete, reinstall the client.

After an ECS instance backup is complete, can I release the original ECS instance and then restore it by cloning?

Yes.

The backup point must be within its retention period. After you create an ECS instance backup job, Cloud Backup starts the job at the specified backup time. View the backup points in the backup history.

• If the source ECS instance exists, restore it directly. If the source ECS instance is released, restore it by cloning it to a new ECS instance.

• You are charged for the new ECS instance based on the ECS billing rules. For more information, see Pay-as-you-go for ECS.

• After you restore the data of an ECS instance to a specific point in time, any data written to the protected disk after that point in time is cleared. Perform this operation with caution.

For more information, see Restore an ECS instance.

What is the relationship between the anti-ransomware feature of Security Center and Cloud Backup?

Anti-ransomware (server data backup) is a data backup and recovery service that is jointly provided by Security Center and Cloud Backup to protect against ransomware intrusions. If a server or database is infected by ransomware, quickly restore the data.

Cloud Backup is a unified disaster recovery platform from Alibaba Cloud. It provides a simple, efficient, secure, and reliable public cloud data management service. You can use Cloud Backup to back up data, implement disaster recovery, and manage archive policies for Alibaba Cloud resources, such as ECS instances, ECS databases, file systems, NAS, and OSS. You can also use it for files, databases, virtual machines, and large-scale NAS in on-premises data centers.

When you enable the anti-ransomware feature for an ECS server in the Security Center console, Security Center installs a Cloud Backup client on the ECS server for data backup and restoration.

The anti-ransomware feature and the ECS file backup feature of Cloud Backup both use the hbrclient client. However, they differ in the installation directory and the product to which they belong, as described in the following table:

How do I delete snapshots after a released ECS instance is removed from the Cloud Backup console?

After a released ECS instance is removed from the instance backup console, the option to delete backup points is no longer available. To delete the backup data of the ECS instance, contact Cloud Backup support or join the DingTalk group for an online consultation.

• Cloud Backup Technical Support Group

  Obtain quick answers to questions about costs, features, and usage. Search for the public DingTalk group and join. The DingTalk group number is 88650005148.

• Cloud Backup Expert Support

  Technical experts provide on-site analysis to quickly resolve product issues. Click to contact Cloud Backup support. We recommend that you use Chrome. Add the DingTalk contact. The DingTalk ID is d37_g935gslgo.

Description of backup IDs in an instance backup

The following section describes the meaning of "Backup ID" in the instance backup history, disk backup history, and backup jobs, along with their relationships:

• A backup ID is a unique identifier. Each backup, whether it is an instance backup or a separate disk backup, has a unique backup ID.

• If a recovery point is created from an instance backup, the backup ID of the recovery point in the instance backup history (the instance backup ID) is associated with the backup ID of the recovery point in the disk backup history (the disk backup ID). One instance backup ID is associated with one or more disk backup IDs, forming a one-to-many relationship.

• The backup ID in a backup job is the snapshot ID.

If a client is uninstalled, how do I confirm which uninstalled clients still have backup data?

On the Restore Jobs tab, click Create Restore Job in the upper-left corner and specify a backup vault. This lets you view the backup data that is still within its retention period and the corresponding client information. Then confirm which uninstalled clients have retained backup data.

When I use ECS Backup Basic Edition, my server is attacked by ransomware. After I reinstall the operating system, the restore job remains in the "Pending" state. How do I resolve this issue?

Go to the ECS File Backup page and check the client status for the corresponding ECS instance. If the client status is "Stopped", you must install the client first. After the installation is complete, perform the restore operation using ECS Backup Basic Edition.

How do I view the incremental data of an ECS instance backup?

On the ECS Instance Backup page, view the total snapshot size for each day in the Backup Capacity History section. Viewing the incremental snapshot data for each server for the current day is not supported.

How do I change the resource group of a snapshot created by an ECS instance backup?

The ECS instance backup feature does not support specifying a resource group. Snapshots created by this feature belong to the default resource group. To change the resource group of a snapshot, use one of the following methods:

1. Change the resource group of the snapshot in the Snapshot console. For more information about this operation, contact the snapshot service.

2. Configure the automatic transfer feature in the Resource Management console. Note that this feature does not apply to consistency groups. For more information, contact the Resource Management service.

How do I delete a disk snapshot created by an ECS instance backup?

1. Log on to the Cloud Backup console.

2. On the ECS Instance Backup page, delete disk snapshots in one of the following two ways.

   • In the Actions column of the target ECS instance, click ┇ > Delete Backup Point, and then select a backup point to delete.

   • On the Instance Backup History tab, click a backup point to delete it.

     

     Important

     If the backup point cannot be deleted, the possible causes are as follows:

     • The "Keep at least one backup" option is enabled in the instance backup policy that is associated with the target ECS instance. As a result, the last backup cannot be deleted. We recommend that you first disable this option and then try to delete the backup again.

     • After "Backup Lock" is enabled in the instance backup policy that is associated with the target ECS instance, the instance backup point cannot be deleted before it expires. The backup data is automatically released after it expires.

Can the ECS file backup feature back up database files?

We do not recommend that you use the ECS file backup feature to back up database files, such as the .mdf and .ldf files of SQL Server. If you back up database files directly using the ECS file backup feature, a message may appear indicating that the file is occupied by another process, and the backup may fail. This is because database files are usually locked exclusively by the database management system (DBMS) at runtime to ensure data consistency and integrity. Directly backing up these locked files from the file system may not only fail but also result in inconsistent backup data, which affects the reliability of data restoration. To back up database files, we recommend that you use the database backup feature.

What do I do if remote replication for an ECS instance backup fails with the message "This disk has an unfinished copy task"?

• Issue

  When remote replication is performed for an ECS instance, the job fails and the console displays the message: "This disk has an unfinished copy task".

• Cause

  Remote replication is partially completed or fails. This may be because other related jobs are running when remote replication is performed. For example, a snapshot of the same disk is being replicated. This can cause resource preemption or operation conflicts, which affects the remote replication job.

  ECS instance backup automatically creates a backup job based on the backup time that you set. After the job is created, the system immediately runs the backup job. After the backup is complete, the system immediately performs remote replication if remote replication is configured. However, a backup job or remote replication job may fail in the following cases:

  • When a backup job is running, if a snapshot is being created for the same disk, the backup job for that disk may fail.

  • When a remote replication job is running, if a snapshot of the same disk is being replicated, the remote replication job for that disk may fail.

• Solution

  To ensure that backup jobs and remote replication jobs run smoothly, we recommend that you avoid performing other snapshot operations on the related disks during the backup period. This can reduce the possibility of job conflicts.

After you restore a SUSE system from an ECS instance backup, why does the new instance's /etc/hosts file contain SMT configuration information? How can you remove it?

• Issue

  After you restore a SUSE (SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5 64-bit) system using an ECS instance backup, the /etc/hosts file in the new instance contains the following configuration information related to the Software Maintenance Tool (SMT):

  # Added by SMT registration do not remove, retain comment as well
  mirrors-ssl.aliyuncs.com        mirrors-ssl.aliyuncs.com        mirrors-ssl

• Cause

  The SMT is a system maintenance and registration tool provided by Alibaba Cloud. During system restoration, the SMT service automatically adds related entries to the /etc/hosts file to configure the network access path for the ECS instance. This ensures that the instance can connect to the Alibaba Cloud traffic mirror source (mirrors-ssl.aliyuncs.com), which guarantees smooth system updates and package downloads.

• Solution

  If you confirm that the system does not require the SMT feature, run the systemctl disable guestregister command to disable the service. This operation does not affect the normal operation of the system and prevents the SMT service from automatically modifying the /etc/hosts file at startup. After you disable the service, the related SMT configuration information will no longer appear when you perform operations such as system cloning.

After I enable VSS, why does an ECS file backup job or a local file backup job time out and fail with the status "Expired" in the console? What are the causes and how do I resolve this issue?

• Issue

  After you enable Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS), an ECS file backup job or a local file backup job times out and fails. The status is displayed as "Expired" in the console.

  

• Cause

  The time required to create a VSS snapshot is affected by the system environment, such as high I/O load and the number of snapshots. If the process takes too long, the ECS file backup job or local file backup job times out and fails.

• Solution

  Check the system status as follows:

  1. Check whether the VSS service is running properly.

     1. Open the Services Manager (services.msc).

     2. Check whether the status of the VSS service is "Running" and the startup type is "Automatic".

     3. If the service is abnormal, try to restart it and check whether it is restored.

  2. Purge redundant VSS snapshots.

     An excessive number of locally retained VSS snapshots can cause delays when you create new snapshots.

     1. Open the command prompt with administrator permissions and run the following command to view existing snapshots:

        vssadmin list shadows

     2. Delete old snapshots that are no longer needed to free up system resources.

        Important

        VSS snapshots cannot be restored after they are deleted. Before you delete a snapshot, make sure that you no longer need to retain it.

  3. Evaluate the I/O load of the local disk.

     High disk load significantly affects snapshot creation performance. Avoid running backup jobs during peak business hours. We recommend that you run VSS backups during off-peak hours to reduce I/O conflicts.

  4. Check the Windows Event logs.

     Check the system logs for errors or warnings related to VSS.

     1. Open Event Viewer > Windows Logs > System.

     2. Filter for records with the event source VSS or VolSnap to analyze the specific cause of the error.