Resolved Plesk backup fills up usr partition

[Matt Grant]

I setup a nightly backup of my Plesk 12 server to my 1&1 provided FTP backup space to run at midnight. It ran last night an when I woke up the server was not accepting/sending email. I found out that the /usr partition was full (it is 2GB in size). I found a file in the /usr/local/psa/tmp/backupkDPRhA folder that was 224415334 in size. If that number is correct the backup is 224GB? The usr/local/psa/tmp/ folder is symlinked to ../var/tmp (lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Aug 28 23:22 tmp -> ../var/tmp), which has 364GB of free space. I tested the back up locally (not in the FTP repository) and it ran successfully and the backup size was 10GB.

I found this KB article, but I am not sure if it applies to my issue since the fix is for Plesk 8/9/10/11 (I am on Plesk 12.0.18 Update #18).
http://kb.odin.com/en/114415

Here is the part of the backup log that that seems to show an error. It looks like the error being generated is a code 2. I cannot find any information on what an error code 2 is. Can I symlink the usr/local/psa/tmp/PMM/tmp/ folder to somewhere on the /var partition?

[2014-10-07 21:29:39.546| 9003] INFO: Executing utility: /bin/sh -c -e /bin/tar\ --create\ --file\ /usr/local/psa/PMM/tmp/backupkDPRhA/mail_1410072108.tar\ --directory\ /tmp/repo_transport_tmp_ZLkM0P/\ --derefere$
[2014-10-07 21:30:18.739| 9003] INFO: The utility executed with the return code 2
[2014-10-07 21:30:18.741| 9003] INFO: The return code was
No output on STDOUT were performed by the utility
The output on STDERR was:
/bin/tar: /usr/local/psa/PMM/tmp/backupkDPRhA/mail_1410072108.tar: Wrote only 6144 of 10240 bytes
/bin/tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now

[2014-10-07 21:30:20.013| 9031] INFO: pmm-ras started : /usr/local/psa/admin/bin/pmm-ras --delete-dump --dump-specification=mail_info_1410072108.xml --session-path=/usr/local/psa/PMM/sessions/2014-10-07-210802.902
[2014-10-07 21:30:20.013| 9031] INFO: Repository '/var/lib/psa/dumps': Initializing...
[2014-10-07 21:30:20.013| 9031] INFO: Repository '/var/lib/psa/dumps': Initialized
[2014-10-07 21:30:20.046| 9031] INFO: Repository '/var/lib/psa/dumps': Delete backup mail_info_1410072108.xml
[2014-10-07 21:30:20.063| 9031] INFO: Repository '/var/lib/psa/dumps': Found 165 files for deleting
[2014-10-07 21:30:20.969| 9031] INFO: pmm-ras finished. Exit code: 0
[2014-10-07 21:30:21.555| 9032] INFO: pmm-ras started : /usr/local/psa/admin/bin/pmm-ras --rotate-dump --dump-rotation=7 --guid=7ac325fb-6c7a-4817-af2c-3f6d813b3dcf --dump-specification=/mail/mail_1410072108.tar $
[2014-10-07 21:30:21.679| 9032] INFO: Repository 'ftp://backupxxx.onlinehome-server.com': Initializing...
[2014-10-07 21:30:21.690| 9032] INFO: Repository 'ftp://backupxxx.onlinehome-server.com': Initialized
[2014-10-07 21:30:21.690| 9032] INFO: Repository 'ftp://backupxxx.onlinehome-server.com': Rotate file backups is started
[2014-10-07 21:30:21.810| 9032] INFO: Ftp init url ftp://backupxxx.onlinehome-server.com/mail
[2014-10-07 21:30:22.528| 9032] INFO: Repository 'ftp://backupxxx.onlinehome-server.com': Rotate file backups is finished
[2014-10-07 21:30:22.529| 9032] INFO: pmm-ras finished. Exit code: 0

I also have a Plesk 11.5 server and it runs the nightly backups without issue.

Any help or suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

 

[BoiseComputer]

I would go into your /etc/psa/psa.conf file and change the location of the DUMP_TMP_D folder. This is where it puts those files temporarily. I created a folder at /var/tmp/ to hold them since my /var/ is my biggest partition. This should solve your issue.

Example:
# Backups directory
DUMP_D /var/lib/psa/dumps
DUMP_TMP_D /var/tmp

 

[Matt Grant]

Ok, I tried what you said and verified that the settings stuck and I ran the backup and it filled up the /usr partition again. The file that it created this time was located in the /usr/local/psa/PMM/tmp/backupstC0b4 called mail_1410121304.tar. The /usr partition is only 2GB and it is already 50% full before the backup started. Am I missing something? I stopped and restarted Plesk after i edited the psa.conf file.

Here is the entry in my psa.conf file

# Backups directory
DUMP_D /var/lib/psa/dumps
DUMP_TMP_D /var/tmp

I would go into your /etc/psa/psa.conf file and change the location of the DUMP_TMP_D folder. This is where it puts those files temporarily. I created a folder at /var/tmp/ to hold them since my /var/ is my biggest partition. This should solve your issue.

Example:
# Backups directory
DUMP_D /var/lib/psa/dumps
DUMP_TMP_D /var/tmp

 

[g4marc]

Hi, did you tryed this?
http://kb.odin.com/en/114415

 

[Matt Grant]

It doest say that it apples to Plesk 12. Why should I have to hack around on the operating system to make something that is built in and has worked on every previous version of Plesk that I have used?

Hi, did you tryed this?
http://kb.odin.com/en/114415

 

[Matt Grant]

Anyone??? I still cannot backup...

 

[BoiseComputer]

Connect with me on Google+. Go to www.google.com/+BrianAldridge and I can help you troubleshoot it if you would like.

 

[Matt Grant]

I just did the #30 update and it was supposed to fix some of the server backup issues and it is still filling up my /usr partition.

Can anyone help? I can run local backups, but any backup that is sent to the FTP repo for some reason is moved to the /usr partition before the upload and is filling it up instantly.

 

[BoiseComputer]

If you could find which folder is holding the backup file you could do a mount of that folder to a partition that has more space. For instance I don't allocate a lot of space to my /opt partition and it fills up with tmp files so I mount /opt/psa/tmp as /var/opt/psa/tmp. This places all of those files in the /var folder, but, the programs have no issues seeing it as /opt/psa/tmp. I found that static linking created issues with certain programs. Hopefully this helps a little.

Here is how I accomplished this in /etc/fstab :
/var/opt/psa/tmp /opt/psa/tmp auto bind

 

[Matt Grant]

The folder that is holding the backup before the upload is /usr/local/psa/PMM/tmp/backupxxxx so I should open /etc/fstab and add this line

/var/backups /usr/local/psa/PMM/tmp auto bind

Where do I put the line in my current /etc/fstab

/dev/md1 / ext3 defaults,noatime 1 1
/dev/sda2 none swap sw
/dev/sdb2 none swap sw
/dev/vg00/usr /usr ext4 defaults,noatime 0 2
/dev/vg00/var /var ext4 defaults,usrquota,noatime 0 2
/dev/vg00/home /home ext4 defaults,usrquota,noatime 0 2
#/dev/hdd/data /data ext4 defaults,usrquota,noatime 0 2
devpts /dev/pts devpts gid=5,mode=620 0 0
none /proc proc defaults 0 0
none /tmp tmpfs defaults 0 0


What I don't understand is, why did this start happening all of a sudden? The backups ran fine for months then all of a sudden would not complete. Every other Plesk server I have had since Plesk 7 have never had this issue before. Now with the latest and greatest it doesn't work. What causes the backup program to move the file after the backup is created. Why cant it just upload the backup where the backup was originally created?

If you could find which folder is holding the backup file you could do a mount of that folder to a partition that has more space. For instance I don't allocate a lot of space to my /opt partition and it fills up with tmp files so I mount /opt/psa/tmp as /var/opt/psa/tmp. This places all of those files in the /var folder, but, the programs have no issues seeing it as /opt/psa/tmp. I found that static linking created issues with certain programs. Hopefully this helps a little.

Here is how I accomplished this in /etc/fstab :
/var/opt/psa/tmp /opt/psa/tmp auto bind

 

[BoiseComputer]

I am thinking that your temporary dump location might be the issue. To fix this issue I edit my psa.conf file and changed the line DUMP_TMP_D to use /var/tmp instead. If you find that the DUMP_TMP_D uses /usr/local/psa/PMM/tmp you know that if you change this setting it will go to the /var/tmp folder instead. I created a folder named /var/tmp and then chmod it to 777 so tmp files can be created in it. Let me know if this works for you.

 

[Matt Grant]

You recommended this as a solution in October when I opened this thread and it still doesn't work. This is what my psa.conf file looks like:

# Backups directory
DUMP_D /var/lib/psa/dumps
DUMP_TMP_D /var/tmp

Mind you that I can make a local full server backup and the backup file never gets moved to the /usr partition. Why does it need to be moved there to upload it to the ftp repo?

I appreciate your time and help!

I am thinking that your temporary dump location might be the issue. To fix this issue I edit my psa.conf file and changed the line DUMP_TMP_D to use /var/tmp instead. If you find that the DUMP_TMP_D uses /usr/local/psa/PMM/tmp you know that if you change this setting it will go to the /var/tmp folder instead. I created a folder named /var/tmp and then chmod it to 777 so tmp files can be created in it. Let me know if this works for you.

 

[BoiseComputer]

Ok. So doing the fstab edit should work for you then. I usually create a folder that is similar structure so I remember where it goes.

/var/usr/local/psa/PMM/tmp /usr/local/psa/PMM/tmp auto bind

I create the same structure under /var/ since this is where my majority of space is. You can place it under any folder that you wish, but, I would not share it with another program. I don't know if /var/backups is being used by anything else. If not then "/var/backups /usr/local/psa/PMM/tmp auto bind" should be fine and you can put it at the end of the file. Just make sure you chmod the folder to 777. After you put that in there type "mount /usr/local/psa/PMM/tmp" and see if it mounts. You should see it listed when you type "df -ahl".

 

[Matt Grant]

Ok, I added the line to my fstab, created the folder with 0777 perms, mounted it and see it in a df -ahl. I am going to try and run the backup again to see what happens!

Will this change be persistent on reboot or do I need to do something else?

Fingers crossed!!!

Ok. So doing the fstab edit should work for you then. I usually create a folder that is similar structure so I remember where it goes.

/var/usr/local/psa/PMM/tmp /usr/local/psa/PMM/tmp auto bind

I create the same structure under /var/ since this is where my majority of space is. You can place it under any folder that you wish, but, I would not share it with another program. I don't know if /var/backups is being used by anything else. If not then "/var/backups /usr/local/psa/PMM/tmp auto bind" should be fine and you can put it at the end of the file. Just make sure you chmod the folder to 777. After you put that in there type "mount /usr/local/psa/PMM/tmp" and see if it mounts. You should see it listed when you type "df -ahl".

 

[Matt Grant]

It worked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you so much!!! I owe you a beer when I move from Kalifornistan to Idaho some day!

Ok. So doing the fstab edit should work for you then. I usually create a folder that is similar structure so I remember where it goes.

/var/usr/local/psa/PMM/tmp /usr/local/psa/PMM/tmp auto bind

I create the same structure under /var/ since this is where my majority of space is. You can place it under any folder that you wish, but, I would not share it with another program. I don't know if /var/backups is being used by anything else. If not then "/var/backups /usr/local/psa/PMM/tmp auto bind" should be fine and you can put it at the end of the file. Just make sure you chmod the folder to 777. After you put that in there type "mount /usr/local/psa/PMM/tmp" and see if it mounts. You should see it listed when you type "df -ahl".

 

[BoiseComputer]

Very good. I'm glad I could help.

 

[Piero Meloni]

Hi, I have to import backups saved to the external ftp provided by the provider, but I could not tell the folder where to save the backup so that I can then view it from the backup list handler so you can restore it, thank you.

 

[UFHH01]

Hi Piero Meloni,

your standart Plesk backup - folder is located at:

/var/lib/psa/dumps

... and is defined at your "/etc/psa/psa.conf"​

Your previous ( local ) domain - specific backups would be located at "/var/lib/psa/dumps/YOUR-DOMAIN.COM".

 

[Piero Meloni]

thank you so much

 

[Piero Meloni]

Hi, I have a multi-domain backup of 80gb zip in tar can you unpack it then read it in backup manager to restore every single domain? The file is in / var / lib / psa / dumps but is not read by the backup list manager
file: backup_1709192305.tar