Linux backup troubleshooting

Managed Linux backup error codes

If your Memset backups fail to complete successfully, you will receive a high level message with an error code. More details about what the error codes mean and the best way to get the problem resolved for you is below:

Error code 1: Permission denied. This error code means that we were unable to access your Memset server as the Linux root user over SSH using public-key authentication. If you receive this message, please double check the following:

• The Linux root user on your Memset server is enabled and permitted to login via SSH. The below settings will need to be set in your /etc/ssh/sshd_config file:

PermitRootLogin yes
PubkeyAuthentication yes

• The Memset administration public key will need to be in place in the authorized_keys file for the root user. The required public key needs to go in /root/.ssh/authorized_keys and can be downloaded from: http://www.memset.com/downloads/memset-admin.pub

Error code 2: Timeout error. This error is generated if your backups have failed to complete within 8 hours. If this is the first time that you have received this error or you can account for performance issues on your server throughout the backup operation, then we recommend you wait 24 hours to allow our backup server to try again. If you are regularly receiving this error, then we suggest that you create a ticket with our Support Team to look into the amount of data being backed up; investigate any potential bottlenecks and recommend an alternative solution if necessary.

Error code 6: Miscellaneous error. This error is generated when the backup process isn't able to complete for an unknown circumstance. The cause of this error could be due to a variety of reasons; An unhealthy filesystem, your Memset server becoming unavailable or a resource utilisation issue causing unexpected behaviour. If this is the first time that you have received this error, we recommend that you allow 24 hours to let our backup server try again. If you are receiving this error consistently, we suggest that you create a ticket with the Support Team to investigate for you.

No error code?

Under certain circumstances, you may receive a more generic error message such as "unknown error" or "permission denied" with no error code. These will likely be reported in your control panel if your backups haven't been run for some time. If you have one of these error messages, we recommend that you ensure your backups are enabled on the Memset server that has this error message, and allow our backup server to attempt another backup operation.

If you receive a further error message, It should provide much greater clarity about what the problem may be. If however, you are still unable to resolve your backup issue, please don't hesitate to create a ticket with our Support Team.