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#1 General matters » How to I get the latest version to update? » 2019-02-06 15:02:39
- chc-pr
- Replies: 1
I have seen the guide on updating xsibackup, but I cannot see how to get the latest files anywhere. Help much appreciated, thank you.
I am on 11.2.2 at present.
#2 Re: General matters » SMTP corruption? Best way to fix + other related issues » 2019-02-05 09:42:34
Follow up Q
Why does this line work
/vmfs/volumes/fxcn4_HDS0/xsi-dir/xsibackup --check-smtp=my.emal@address --use-smtp=2but when I test the connection from the menu it fails?
#3 Re: General matters » SMTP corruption? Best way to fix + other related issues » 2019-02-05 09:29:30
Oops :-)
Thanks. :-)
Actually, that reminds me of the time somone was battling with a portable VC server. They had tested it the previous night and all was working. After ~ 4 hours they said they didn't understand why there was no sound. I asked them "have you checked the external volume control?", they said "which one?", I said "this one" and turned it up ... this was a guy at BT labs in Martlesham, by no means a dummy ...
I've just checked, I did catch that in the actual file, the error was only in the note++ text ... phew ... :-)
#4 Re: General matters » SMTP corruption? Best way to fix + other related issues » 2019-02-05 08:52:47
Tah dah!
For the sake of anyone who might come across this at some future date, I can now advise EXACTLY how I have sorted this ... with much thanks to the support people!
Firstly, I didn't actually notice that the advice two posts ago was using port 587 until this morning, so I added the following to my /etc/vmware/firewall/service.xml file by
1) changing the file's permissions using chmod to 644
then adding
<service id='9999'>
<id>SMTPout-465</id>
<rule id='0001'>
<direction>outbound</direction>
<protocol>tcp</protocol>
<porttype>dst</porttype>
<port>587</port>
</rule>
<enabled>true</enabled>
<required>false</required>
</service>I left the earlier SMTPout-587 block unchanged, hence the rule id change to 0001
For the sake of anyone else, there were two issues with copying the code as posted.
1) the cut and paste included a windows CR-LF end-of-line rather than just a Posix LF
2) the second close quote as given used the 'proper' close quotes character rather than the simple " char. If you look carefully at the last code snippet in the admin's reply above, you can see this clearly if you compare the two quotes. Here it is as a code snippet again for easy reference
"SMTPout-587”Notice the close quote is different to the opening quote.
To ensure that I completely eliminated the Windows/Posix line end issues, I copied and pasted the text provided into note++ which made the additional LF char really obvious and helped me identify the offending " char. It also meant a minimum risk of typos. I then cut and pasted from the note++ text into the service.xml file.
I then reran the
esxcli network firewall ruleset set --ruleset-id="SMTPout-465"--enabled=true command changing it to reference the 465 port (for gmail access) as shown. This returned an apparent connection.
Don't forget to chmod back to 444 when done ...
I know most people who are doing this sort of stuff probably will not need any of the above pointing out, but just in case. Please don't take offense if any of this seems so obvious that you think I must be stupid :-)
#5 Re: General matters » SMTP corruption? Best way to fix + other related issues » 2019-02-04 11:10:05
Thank you, I really appreciate this suggestion.
Running ./xsibackup --check-smtp=some@email.com --use-smtp=2 yields ...
Using stored SMTP server info...
Found conf/smtpsrvs file...
Int value is not found
Firewall rule SMTPout-465 added...
Invalid Ruleset Id.
Int value is not found
SMTP probe:
GMail Module ::: The e-mail server [smtp.gmail.com] is not reachable at port [465]
Invalid Ruleset Id.
Firewall rule SMTPout-465 closed.
Killed
[root@fxcn4:/vmfs/volumes/5beaacc7-2506215d-5adb-300ed500100e/xsi-dir]As for
esxcli network firewall ruleset set --ruleset-id="SMTPout-587”--enabled=true I just get a
>prompt from which I cannot get out. I tried ctrl-c, quit, q, Q, ctrl-q, ; and : ... I can't think of anything else which might work.
I should perhaps add that there were again multiple instances of the SMTPout456 service added again having previously cleared them out.
#6 Re: General matters » SMTP corruption? Best way to fix + other related issues » 2019-01-21 11:57:14
OK, Will do it today. Thanks
#7 Re: General matters » SMTP corruption? Best way to fix + other related issues » 2019-01-17 12:49:12
I have now deleted the offending Port references, rebooted the ESXi server to make sure that the revised firewall is properly loaded, but it is basically back to doing what it was when I first posted here namely ...
Error: you set the arguement --use-smtp, but you have not configured any server.
Configure the static entries for your SMTP servers in the config/smtpsrvs file or set eac
KILLED
Firewall rule SMTPout-added ... is not found
Invalid Ruleset ID.
Int value is not found
SMTP probe:
^[[0;31mPlain SMTP Module ::: The email server [] is not reachable at port []^[[0m
Invalid RulesetId.
<timestamp>| Firewall rule SMTPout-closed.#8 Re: General matters » SMTP corruption? Best way to fix + other related issues » 2019-01-17 11:45:16
:-) I strike again :-)
I'll delete and get back to you to confirm it sorted the issue ... or not as the case may be. Thanks again.
#9 Re: General matters » SMTP corruption? Best way to fix + other related issues » 2019-01-16 09:12:13
I think I may have found something. I issued the two commands that you mentioned above. I could see no ref to SMTPout-465 in ruleset list, but I did find MULTIPLE references to that rule id at the end of the config file - all with <rule id='0000'> set as shown below in the partial code snippet. There is at least two full scroll pages of this, I only included what I could get on one screen grab of text easily ... there is much more of the same.
<porttype>dst</porttype>
<port>465</port>
</rule>
<enabled>true</enabled>
<required>false</required>
</service>
<service id='9999'>
<id>SMTPout-</id>
<rule id='0000'>
<direction>outbound</direction>
<protocol>tcp</protocol>
<porttype>dst</porttype>
<port></port>
</rule>
<enabled>true</enabled>
<required>false</required>
</service>
<service id='9999'>
<id>SMTPout-465</id>
<rule id='0000'>
<direction>outbound</direction>
<protocol>tcp</protocol>
<porttype>dst</porttype>
<port>465</port>
</rule>
<enabled>true</enabled>
<required>false</required>
</service>
<service id='9999'>
<id>SMTPout-465</id>
<rule id='0000'>
<direction>outbound</direction>
<protocol>tcp</protocol>
<porttype>dst</porttype>
<port>465</port>
</rule>
<enabled>true</enabled>
<required>false</required>
</service>
<service id='9999'>
<id>SMTPout-465</id>
<rule id='0000'>
<direction>outbound</direction>
<protocol>tcp</protocol>
<porttype>dst</porttype>
<port>465</port>
</rule>
<enabled>true</enabled>
<required>false</required>
</service>
<service id='9999'>
<id>SMTPout-465</id>
<rule id='0000'>
<direction>outbound</direction>
<protocol>tcp</protocol>
<porttype>dst</porttype>
<port>465</port>
</rule>
<enabled>true</enabled>
<required>false</required>
</service>
</ConfigRoot>Should I just delete all these references and try again?
I should add that I also noted that at least one of the repetitions has no port number listed ...
<service id='9999'>
<id>SMTPout-</id>
<rule id='0000'>
<direction>outbound</direction>
<protocol>tcp</protocol>
<porttype>dst</porttype>
<port></port>
</rule>
<enabled>true</enabled>
<required>false</required>
</service>I bet that doesn't help either, especially as they all have the same service and rule id's
I await your advice with interest. Thank you for this help.
#10 Re: General matters » SMTP corruption? Best way to fix + other related issues » 2019-01-15 08:58:35
Thank you for taking the time to respond yet again. I do appreciate it.
I think maybe I have been less clear about where I am with this issue than I should have been, so I am going to clarify the current position in detail. Please assume unless it is included here that the afore mentioned is not happening any more.
You can take it that all actions were undertaken as 'root'. I am the only one with physical access to this server and it is entirely blocked by a firewall from the outside world, so I didn't bother setting up any other users. I also disable SSH (even though port 22 is blocked by the external firewall) except when I want to access the server myself - when I manage it locally and turn port 22 on - then conduct all work on teh server using a 'Putty' SSH session.
Summary of case
1) Installed XSIbackup-free version - worked perfectly
2) deleted XSIbackup-free version and installed XSIbackup-pro version. Initially seemed to work (I did not do a backup - only tested the email setup menu) but was unable to get a connection to my local mail server. Tried a few things but no success, then it suddenly stopped working hanging with the messages described earlier
3) Tried rebooting the ESXi server - didn't help
4) Uninstalled the XSIbackup-pro version and reinstalled it. Menu now seems to work again, but still not establishing a connection to my local server so I then reverted to using the gmail account (by manually editing the smtpsrvs file copying the REM'd gmail example to use my details) I had been using for the XSIbackup-free test install. I was still unable to establish a connection.
I then went back to the test script I was using with the XSIbackup-free version (which included the gmails details) and ran that. Once again, I failed to establish a connection to gmail.
I took the EXACT same script which failed to connect to gmail and changed only the references to the VM to backup (keeping the same backup destination path) and ran that on another ESXI server which still has a copy of XSIbackup-free and that script executed fully and perfectly including sending the email via gmail.
I can therefore positively eliminate any issue with the gmail account end.
The EXSi implementation on which XSIbackup-Pro is installed is version 6.7. The other install (XSIbackup-Free) is on a ESXi version 6.5 box. The 6.7 version worked perfectly with the original 'free' install. I guess it is possible that the issue is a corruption of some sort within the ESXi install itself, but I would rather not wipe the install and start again unless I have to ... obviously.
This is from my last test this AM using the new pro version installation ...
No errors detected in backup
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Int value is not found
Firewall rule SMTPout-465 added...
Invalid Ruleset Id.
Int value is not found
SMTP probe:
GMail Module ::: The e-mail server [smtp.gmail.com] is not reachable at port [465]
Invalid Ruleset Id.
Firewall rule SMTPout-465 closed.
Backup finishedSo some progress of sorts.
When I test the gmail settings using the menu I get the following before it hangs and I have to issue ^C to get the prompt back (which is also some progress on past days before I reinstalled as previously ^C was not responsive either.
lqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqk
x Checking server smtp.gmail.com:465... x
xqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqx
x Using stored SMTP server info... x
x Found conf/smtpsrvs file... x
x Int value is not found x
x Firewall rule SMTPout-465 added... x
x Invalid Ruleset Id. x
x Int value is not found x
x SMTP probe: x
x ^[[0;31mGMail Module ::: The e-mail server [smtp.gmail.com] is not reachable at port [x
x Invalid Ruleset Id. x
x 2019-01-15T08:34:29| Firewall rule SMTPout-465 closed. Clearly, something is missing.
I have also triple checked your last suggestions re smtpsrvs and sendmail files and both checked out OK.
I am kind of left scratching my head ...
#11 Re: General matters » SMTP corruption? Best way to fix + other related issues » 2019-01-14 14:02:09
That was my understanding ... but it doesn't seem to talk to TLS properly. Maybe its a bug somewhere in my mailserver.
Anyway, more pressing is that the issue with sending any emails and the menu is still not resolved with a complete clearout and reinstall. More confusing still is that the gmail account I was using is not working either since the move to the Pro version.
I have copies of some test scripts I used with the old free version that were proven to work fine. I cut and pasted this into a SSH session (as I had done successfully with the old 'free' install) and that worked (ie it did backup the VM apparently) right up until is was time to email the report when it crashed.
Thinking that maybe something had changed at gmail I tried the same script (modified to accommodate a different VM resident on that server) on another ESXi with the XSIbackup-free version install I have (I kept that as it was working just in case) and that worked flawlessly.
The only difference is one is ESXi 6.5, the other (non-working one) 6.7 and a recent new install.
I think it may indeed be some permission somewhere, but I cannot see what or how as the install and SSH session are all as root. I think it might be a firewall issue ....
I don't want to do this, but maybe I need to uninstall fully again and reinstall the free version on the non-working ESXi and see if teh free version still works ... unless you have any other ideas ...
#12 Re: General matters » SMTP corruption? Best way to fix + other related issues » 2019-01-14 08:11:38
Well, I don't have the newer add ons to the SMTP spec now in mind, but, isn't that a feature on the server side upgrading non secure SMTP to a secured connection?
XSIBackup does indeed support TLS through OpenSSL if the server does.
I believe that STARTTLS is a little different to TLS, not too sure how, but everytime I have tried to use TLS to connect to the STARTTLS port it fails with pretty much every client I have tried. I have never had a STARTTLS option have any difficulty.
I don't actually know what the difference is, but there clearly is some difference.
#13 Re: General matters » SMTP corruption? Best way to fix + other related issues » 2019-01-11 08:16:46
Well, the GUI menu has been around for some months now and we have tried all sorts of things with it. But the field of possibilities in regards to interaction sequences is endless. You don't need to record your actions, we said just in case you remembered.
The errors you are suffering are very gross, as you can see, the SMTP module is not able to retreive the SMTP server info, which is very basic functioning. A reinstall should fix it. All main files should be overwritten and your config saved.
It could be some permission issue, but I guess that's the first thing your checked.
If you feel more comfortable by doing an installation from scratch, just use this procedure to completely remove any remains:
https://33hops.com/xsibackup-uninstall-procedure.html
Thanks. I will do that today (probably) or over the weekend. I am quite good at breaking software ... I seem to be able to find bugs no-one ever encounters ...
Still VERY happy with this product. Been using the free version for a couple of months and wanted to make use of some of the pro features (and wanted to support your work too), but I like to mess about with things and see what is possible before relying on it ... just curiousity really.
I very much appreciate the service you are providing. Thank you.
Oh and yes, there is no permission issue ... I have had it working earlier and then broke it by experimenting with settings :-)
One outstanding question, is STARTTLS on the horizon at all?
#14 Re: General matters » SMTP corruption? Best way to fix + other related issues » 2019-01-10 08:48:55
Your entry is O.K., please clarify: "Unfortunately, neither worked"
Do you mean you keep on getting?Plain SMTP Module ::: The email server [] is not reachable at port
Yes, I do mean that.
Why don't you just reinstall everything?, the installer will preserve your config files and RSA keys, just copy them somewhere as a backup. It'll take you just some seconds.
I'll do that. I think something has gotten corrupted somewhere.
The xsi-dir/va/logs/xsibackup.log file is empty. Is there another file I should be looking at?
Thanks for your help.
I know it is a corruption of some sort because when I was experimenting with the menu it was initially responding - and then it broke. Sorry, I didn't record my actions (I know, I know) ...
#15 Re: General matters » SMTP corruption? Best way to fix + other related issues » 2019-01-09 12:20:07
Here is the smtpconf entry I have
1;smtp.gmail.com:465;<myaccount>@gmail.com;<myaccount>@gmail.com;<myaccountPWD>;yes;TLS;0
2;mail2.my.domain:587;<myaccount>@my.domain;<myaccount>@my.domain;<myaccountPWD>;yes;TLS;0
with the appropriate data in the fields of course.
#16 Re: General matters » SMTP corruption? Best way to fix + other related issues » 2019-01-09 12:14:56
I tried that already last night I'm afraid. I completely deleted the entries, then added a new one ..
1st, I tried using the menu to creat e acomplete new one
2nd, I cleared it out again, copied the sample gmail entry and uncommented it, then amended the sample to reflect my own gmail account.
Unfortunately, neither worked.
#17 General matters » SMTP corruption? Best way to fix + other related issues » 2019-01-09 10:55:35
- chc-pr
- Replies: 28
I have just installed the pro version and thought I'd have a play with the SMTP options to try to get the scripts to work with my on-site SMTP server. Unfortunately, when I tried using TLS it failed (as I find it usually does as I have STARTTLS enabled - so its not really surprising but I thought I'd try just on the off chance). It did try to connect, so it was sort of working, so I thought I'd experiment with a few other options - all changed via the menu.
This seems to have completely killed the SMTP function. When I try to connect to anything - even using the (appropriately amended) gmail entry in the smtpconf file I still get it reporting no port is found and no server is specified - which they are.
Specifically it says (in the case of the gmail test, but it makes no difference which server it is pointed at)
Error: you set the arguement --use-smtp, but you have not configured any server. Configure the static entries for your SMTP servers in the config/smtpsrvs file or set eac KILLED
Firewall rule SMTPout-added ... is not found
Invalid Ruleset ID.
Int value is not found
SMTP probe:
^[[0;31mPlain SMTP Module ::: The email server [] is not reachable at port []^[[0m
Invalid RulesetId.
<timestamp>| Firewall rule SMTPout-closed.|
where <timestamp> is the correct timestamp of the test.
(I would post a screen grab, but I cannot see how to attach a image file)
After that, the SSH session is completely frozen.
I have tried shutting down all the VMs and rebooting ESXi, which didn't work.
Any suggestions?
On the 'Other related issues' I wanted to know;
1 - if STARTTLS support is planned and if so on what timescale?
2 - Does a complete reinstall to the same server count a second download?
Thank you for your help.
#18 Re: General matters » Backup Error makes no sense. » 2018-12-10 15:18:26
Well, it was the last change I tried (sequentially) and it was the one which made it work ...
#19 Re: General matters » Backup Error makes no sense. » 2018-12-10 13:48:10
Thank's for the information ... I was already aware of the cut and paste issue - but it was worth reminding me. It did help me track down the problem (although it was not anything you actually suggested directly) as it caused me to look at the lines again more carefully.
It seems the backup-point MUST be enclosed in quotes. I must have removed them at some point and forgotten.
#20 General matters » Backup Error makes no sense. » 2018-12-10 11:00:44
- chc-pr
- Replies: 4
When I try to run a backup using (cut and pasted after pressing ctrl-C to kill the job)
[root@VMstor:~] --backup-point=/vmfs/volumes/NFS0/xsibaks/VMstorBAKs/LiveVMs \
> --backup-type=custom \
> --backup-vms=mail2-Prod-2017-07-28 \
> --date-dir=no \
> --snapshot=doquiesce \
> --smtp-srv=smtp.gmail.com \
> --smtp-port=465 \
> --mail-from=usr@gmail.com \
> --mail-to=me@my.domain \
> --smtp-usr=usr@gmail.com \
> --smtp-pwd="validatedPWD"
-sh: --backup-point=/vmfs/volumes/NFS0/xsibaks/VMstorBAKs/LiveVMs: not found
[root@VMstor:~] --test-mode=true
-sh: --test-mode=true: not found
[root@VMstor:~]
I get
###############################################################################
#
# (c) XSIBACKUP-FREE 11.0.1 | Backup for (c) VMWARE ESXi Hypervisor by 33hops.com
#
###################################################################################
XSIBackup PID: 1054470 VMstor.pchmt.net
Mon, 10 Dec 2018 10:52:36 +0000 IPv4: 172.16.1.31/255.255.255.0
VMware ESXi 6.5.0 build-4887370 (c) Rsync 3.1.0 as opt. dependency
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Backup Id: unknown Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E3-1220 V2 @ 3.10GHz
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alert: crontab is not installed for user root
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ADVICE: no SSD disks, please consider adding an SSD cache disk to improve performance
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sh: rsync: unknown operand
Backup user is: root
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The --backup-point string is a mandatory value
You have to set the variable --backup-type to some of the values described in the help
E-mail Warnings
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The e-mail report will not be sent because of the followig reasons:
The --mail-from string has not been set
The --smtp-srv string has not been set
The --smtp-port string has not been set
The --smtp-usr string has not been set, you need --smtp-usr if --smtp-auth is other than -none-
The --smtp-pwd string has not been set, you need --smtp-pwd if --smtp-auth is other than -none-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Error JOBSKIP1: the backup job will be skipped because some mandatory values are missing
Getting list of all VMs...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But here is the thing ...
The backup point is Valid. I can see it from the XSI control page, I can CD to that directory, I can add a directory from the command line, I can delete that directory using the web interface.
Further, I can manually run a CLI clone on the target VM to that backup-point
Similarly, the email settings are valid as I have successfully tested the same thing (also cut and pasted) using different test hardware.
Perplexed and confused.
Any ideas?
I am planning on getting the professional version but I want to resolve this (and do some further tests) before doing so. Very weird.
#21 Re: General matters » Missing cron file & will a move to xsibackup-pro require a new install » 2017-07-13 13:14:34
Thank you for your replies, but I did run --install-cron.
It was killed saying it did not have the requisite switches set - which is what is throwing me because if I understood the guides correctly the --install-cron instruction should generate a default set of cron tasks which can be amended/edited.
I am not getting those ... or at least I am not seeing them. I am confused, which is why I am thinking of starting again. When I first looked at this before I got distracted by another task, I was really very early on in my understanding of ESXI. I am still no expert by any stretch, but I am a lot better able to understand what is happening now than before so I am wondering if I messed something up before and if it would be better to just start again.
As for the (c)XSIBackup Classic man page - that is timing out for me with a bad gateway error (Just tried again .... Error 502 Ray ID: 37dc80084a626a07 • 2017-07-13 13:13:32 UTC
Bad gateway) ... hence the original post ...
#22 General matters » Missing cron file & will a move to xsibackup-pro require a new install » 2017-07-12 20:47:32
- chc-pr
- Replies: 2
I have tried to install xsibackup for the first time, but I do not have any cron file. It was a while ago I installed it and I cannot recall what I did now, so it is possible that I removed the file myself. Can I just delete the directory created to fully remove xsibackup and try again or is there anything special/else I need to do to fully remove it? Is there a crontab entry I need to edit/remove?
I tried crontab -e, but that crashed out ...
I really like the stuff I have read/seen on youtube, especially the pro version's Diff backups ... so once I have had a play and confirmed what I have read, I plan to move to the pro version, which brings up a related Q. Will that require a new download?
Any help much appreciated.
#23 Re: General matters » Noob Q - email issues. » 2017-05-09 07:00:57
Thanks. At least I have that confirmed. I will have to dig some more. Much appreciated.
#24 General matters » Noob Q - email issues. » 2017-05-05 07:32:33
- chc-pr
- Replies: 2
I have looked, but I cannot seem to find anything which resolves this issue. Probably just missing it, if so, sorry.
But, I have been following the video tutorials (great by the way) to get XSIBackup going, and all appears OK, but I get no emails.
This is the report which it produces within the PuTTY terminal (I have edited some specifics where that might be sensitive, otherwsie it is just a cut and paste) ...
2017-05-03T13:11:59| Opening port 587 for SMTPout-587 service...
sh: 0: unknown operand
220 <smtp.server>
250 Hello.
250-<smtp.server>
250-SIZE 20480000
250-STARTTLS
250-AUTH LOGIN PLAIN
250 HELP
334 'messy string'
334 'another messy string'
235 authenticated.
250 OK
250 OK
354 OK, send.
Firewall rule SMTPout-587 closed.
This looks like it should be working?
Using ESXi free version 6.5
I have checked the settings with my settings on Thunderbird, and tried sending an email from that using the same alias and the emails come through perfectly. I have also checked to see if the intrusion detection system has blocked the host (it has not).
Not really sure where to start with sorting this now, so any help would be appreciated. Thank you.
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