Forum ©XSIBackup: ©VMWare ©ESXi Backup Software

tom_tav

Member

Registered: 2019-08-06

Posts: 7

Internet access required?

Does XSIBackupFree require access to the Internet? Out hosts are blocked, if you start it there is a long waiting time and then a job killed message (sorry from memory, im not on the machine right now).

If i unblock the host on our firewall it works....

tom_tav

Member

Registered: 2019-08-06

Posts: 7

Re: Internet access required?

Checked it out .... Without internet connection it needs long time to start  and then after more then 1 minute

NOTICE: (c) XSIBackup kills any user launched jobs, make sure you don't overlap manual jobs
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Terminated
XSIBackup PID:          2119919 ....

it continues to do the backup job.

The question is, why?

Last edited by tom_tav (2019-08-08 10:17:05)

admin

Administrator

Registered: 2017-04-21

Posts: 2,072

Re: Internet access required?

It's probably the check for new versions, it has a 1 sec. timeout though
Set the [b]checkver[/b] variable to "no" in [b]conf/xsiopts[/b]

checkver=no

tom_tav

Member

Registered: 2019-08-06

Posts: 7

Re: Internet access required?

Thanks, i will check it out. But as said, sometimes its more then 1 minute till the above message is displayed.

When i start xsi the screen goes blank and stays like this for long time before your headers are displayed. ESXI has local lan nameserver, timerserver and so on access, so it should be ok from this side.

Could you tell me which protocol you use and to where it connects, then its more easy to test. Thanks a lot!

P.S. esxi 6.7u2 latest patch level

Last edited by tom_tav (2019-08-09 11:00:13)

admin

Administrator

Registered: 2017-04-21

Posts: 2,072

Re: Internet access required?

The only process that connects to the outside world is the new version check. It works over HTTP port 80, that should not cause that much delay though.

You might be observing two issues simultaneously and assuming that they are one. If you run a user job and kill it, it might take some time (some seconds) for all subprocesses to unload from memory. If you then run a new user job, you will see that message, as the new user job will kill any previously launched user job.

tom_tav

Member

Registered: 2019-08-06

Posts: 7

Re: Internet access required?

Made further checks with internet access blocked.

All times are from starting the command till first output. Screen gets blanked out almost immediately (1-2 seconds). I started the next command after the one before was finished:

./xsibackup --update-cron    ~1 minute
./xsibackup --update-cron    ~5 seconds
./xsibackup --update-cron   ~75 seconds
./xsibackup --update-cron   ~5 seconds

writing this post

./xsibackup --update-cron  ~5 seconds
./xsibackup --update-cron  ~more then one minute

enabling port 80 internet access on firewall

./xsibackup --update-cron ~2 seconds
./xsibackup --update-cron ~2 seconds
./xsibackup --update-cron ~2 seconds
./xsibackup --update-cron ~2 seconds
....

Last edited by tom_tav (2019-08-10 09:05:30)

admin

Administrator

Registered: 2017-04-21

Posts: 2,072

Re: Internet access required?

Have you set checkver=no in the conf/xsiopts file?

tom_tav

Member

Registered: 2019-08-06

Posts: 7

Re: Internet access required?

Yes. It is set to no.

Same like before.

5  seconds
1 minute (or so)
doing some thing else
5 seconds
waiting for 5 seconds after the last one was finished
1 minute again

allowing port 80 again

4 seconds
4 seconds
4 seconds
4 seconds

Well, it doesnt bother me so much, cause its just the crontab who has to wait But still strange

admin

Administrator

Registered: 2017-04-21

Posts: 2,072

Re: Internet access required?

Thank you for your feedback.
The block of code that manages this is at aprox line 275

if [ "${keyvalstr//--install-cron/}" != "${keyvalstr}" ]
then
    drawline
    installCron ${cronuser}
    drawline
    xsib_shutdown
fi

So when you use the [b]--update-cron[/b] argument, this code is invoked really early and then the program exits, XSIBackup does not even print the header for this task and the version check function is not even called.

The only network function that could be interfering in your case is maybe the hostname lookup, just wondering...

The thing is that we have blocked the HTTP client in different hosts and we can't reproduce your issue. The [b]--update-cron[/b] functionality works as expected with no delay.

tom_tav

Member

Registered: 2019-08-06

Posts: 7

Re: Internet access required?

Yes its strange, i didnt see any packets on the firewall too.... Anyways, it works and as long as crontab is not complaining

Thanks for your time!