Why do my Plesk site backups not run at the scheduled time?!

TheEternalNocturnal · Jun 13, 2013

Hi all,

I am fighting an ongoing backup issue on four Linux Plesk 11.0.9 servers (recently upgraded from Plesk 9.5.4, which also had the same problems) where the backups run all day instead of at their scheduled times.

All the backups are set to run between midnight and 6am within the Plesk GUI, but what seems to happen is that every day, around 10-11am, the backups all kick off at once causing a high server load. The server becomes unresponsive until all these backup processes have subsided, whereupon the server returns to normal. Whilst this is happening, top -c reveals multiple plesk_agent_manager processes running.

If I kill these processes, the server starts to return to normal... except the processes then start themselves back up again! The only way to get through this is to let Plesk do what it wants to do, which takes anything from ten minutes to an hour.

This doesn't happen every day on every server, but it seems to happen to at least one server nearly every day!

I have tried many many things, but recently I've tried the following to control when the backups could run -

1/ First I amended the scheduled times inside /etc/cron.d/plesk-backup-manager. By default it's scheduled to run backupmng at 8,23,38 and 53 mins past every hour. So I restricted the hours it could run, from midnight to 7am. No effect - all backup jobs still kick off at once as described above.

2/ So on one server I took the step of setting up a cron job to rename /usr/local/psa/admin/bin/plesk_agent_manager at 7am, so the backups simply cannot run, and rename it back again at midnight. This prevented the backups running... they stopped completely. Despite several reboots the backups simple failed to start back up again, until about three days later when they unexpectedly kicked back into life again causing the same problem. At this point I disabled them and instead switched to taking a daily full server backup (using /usr/local/psa/bin/pleskbackup server, which incidentally runs weekly on all eight of my Linux Plesk servers generally without any issue! But this is no solution long-term as end users need access to their individual backups).

Here's an example from one of the servers. This is simply a list of "backup_time" and "last" from Backups Scheduled -

02:00:00 2013-06-13 10:27:55
03:00:00 2013-06-13 09:57:38
03:30:00 2013-06-13 10:06:08
04:00:00 2013-06-13 10:12:35
04:30:00 2013-06-13 09:59:42
05:00:00 2013-06-13 09:59:52
05:30:00 2013-06-13 10:11:32
01:30:00 2013-06-13 01:32:10
06:00:00 2013-06-13 10:00:57
03:00:00 2013-06-13 10:21:06
04:15:00 2013-06-13 10:16:44
01:00:00 2013-06-13 01:10:25
01:20:00 2013-06-13 01:42:10
01:00:00 2013-06-13 01:02:19
02:00:00 2013-06-13 11:40:25
04:10:00 2013-06-13 09:58:43
03:05:00 2013-06-13 10:09:03
02:20:00 2013-06-13 10:25:27
01:30:00 2013-06-13 01:56:19
02:35:00 2013-06-13 10:01:49
04:30:00 2013-06-13 10:10:29
03:30:00 2013-06-13 09:58:42
02:23:00 2013-06-13 09:59:42
02:15:00 2013-06-13 10:01:52
03:00:00 2013-06-13 10:38:13
02:00:00 2013-06-13 10:32:07

All the other backup settings are identicle for each backup -

obj_type = domain
repository = ftp
period = 86400
active = true
processed = false
rotation = 7
split_size = 0
suspend = false
with_content = true
backup_day = 0
content_type = backup_content_all_at_domain

So my question is.... why do the backups not run at the scheduled times, but instead run during the day?!!

If anybody has any advice or can point me toward any relevant articles, or maybe explain how the Plesk backup scheduler works (or doesn't!

, that would be very much appreciated!

Many thanks.

TEN.

IgorG · Jun 13, 2013

I can say only that Scheduled backups on Plesk works as follows:

- schedule of running backupmng utility is defined in /etc/cron.d/plesk-backup-manager-task file (Once every 15 minutes. On each Plesk server specific moment chosen randomly)
- backupmng checks task records in psa.BackupsScheduled table and start them if they are exists.

I hope it will help you with investigation.

CliveR952 · Oct 23, 2013

TEN
Did you ever get this sorted out? I'm having the same problem.
Thanks
Clive

satoshy86 · Apr 9, 2014

Same issue for me and this is a big problem since the server become unavailable for a long time.

I have Plesk 11.5.30 an about 70 domains with backups scheduled every day between 01:00 and 05:00 but randomly the backup is not executed.
I have noticed that the backups starts after my login to panel, so if the backup did not start and i not login to panel for 2 or 3 days, there is no backup!

I need a solution.

Any help or suggestion?

satoshy86 · Apr 24, 2014

Today again,
in the night no one scheduled backup run but after my login at 9:00 am all backups started blocking everything.

I need a solution...

satoshy86 · May 2, 2014

Yesterday and today again backups were not executed in the night...
Here a piece of log of /usr/local/psa/PMM/logs/pmmcli.log.2014-05-02-013215 and, as highlighted, last operation was exetuted at 01:17:02 AM to restart at 09:27:03 AM !!!

. . .

[2014-05-01 01:17:02.590|18442] DEBUG: --> <pmmcli.GetTaskStatusAction object at 0x2feec90>
[2014-05-01 01:17:02.591|18442] INFO: parameters: ['18068']
[2014-05-01 01:17:02.595|18442] DEBUG: <pmmcli.ActionRunner object at 0x7f36aafe3c10>: doActivity
[2014-05-01 01:17:02.595|18442] DEBUG: Acquired session mutex: MainThread
[2014-05-01 01:17:02.604|18442] DEBUG: Acquired session mutex: MainThread
[2014-05-01 01:17:02.604|18442] DEBUG: Released session mutex: MainThread
[2014-05-01 01:17:02.605|18442] DEBUG: Get task (18068) status from migration.result...
[2014-05-01 01:17:02.605|18442] DEBUG: Session path (/opt/psa/PMM/sessions/2014-05-01-011502.500)
[2014-05-01 01:17:02.613|18442] DEBUG: Get task (18068) status from migration.result...
[2014-05-01 01:17:02.613|18442] DEBUG: Session path (/opt/psa/PMM/sessions/2014-05-01-011502.500)
[2014-05-01 01:17:02.613|18442] DEBUG: Released session mutex: MainThread
[2014-05-01 01:17:02.614|18442] DEBUG: <pmmcli.GetTaskStatusAction object at 0x2feec90>: response
[2014-05-01 01:17:02.615|18442] INFO: Outgoing packet:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<response>
<errcode>0</errcode>
<data>
<task-status task-id="18068">
<finished status="success" log-location="/opt/psa/PMM/sessions/2014-05-01-011502.500/migration.result">
</finished>
</task-status>
</data>
</response>

[2014-05-01 01:17:02.713|18445] DEBUG: --> <pmmcli.RemoveTaskDataAction object at 0x2409c90>
[2014-05-01 01:17:02.713|18445] INFO: parameters: ['18068']
[2014-05-01 01:17:02.717|18445] DEBUG: <pmmcli.ActionRunner object at 0x7f35f82fdc10>: doActivity
[2014-05-01 01:17:02.717|18445] DEBUG: Acquired session mutex: MainThread
[2014-05-01 01:17:02.726|18445] DEBUG: Get task (18068) status from migration.result...
[2014-05-01 01:17:02.726|18445] DEBUG: Session path (/opt/psa/PMM/sessions/2014-05-01-011502.500)
[2014-05-01 01:17:02.734|18445] DEBUG: Remove task 18068
[2014-05-01 01:17:02.735|18445] DEBUG: Released session mutex: MainThread
[2014-05-01 01:17:02.735|18445] DEBUG: <pmmcli.RemoveTaskDataAction object at 0x2409c90>: response
[2014-05-01 01:17:02.736|18445] INFO: Outgoing packet:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<response>
<errcode>0</errcode>
</response>

[2014-05-01 09:27:03.823|31809] DEBUG: --> <pmmcli.GetConfigParametersAction object at 0x1cbfc90>
[2014-05-01 09:27:03.844|31809] DEBUG: <pmmcli.ActionRunner object at 0x7fb0f2bcfc10>: doActivity
[2014-05-01 09:27:03.844|31809] DEBUG: <pmmcli.GetConfigParametersAction object at 0x1cbfc90>: response
[2014-05-01 09:27:03.846|31809] INFO: Outgoing packet:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<response>
<errcode>0</errcode>
<data>
<config-parameters>
<parameter>
<name>DAEMON_TIMEOUT</name>
<value>30</value>
</parameter>
<parameter>
<name>MAX_LOG_SIZE</name>
<value>1048576</value>
</parameter>
<parameter>
<name>MAX_CONFLICT_RESOLVES</name>
<value>1</value>
</parameter>
<parameter>
<name>NICE_ALWAYS</name>
<value>1</value>
</parameter>
. . .
. . .
</response>

satoshy86 · May 7, 2014

I have found A LOT OF ERRORS on cron scheduled backup process and i think this is the reason why my scheduled backup did not runs at proper time ( log from grep CRON | /var/log/syslog ):

Code:

May  7 07:00:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[13745]: (root) CMD (/opt/psa/admin/bin/php -c '/opt/psa/admin/conf/php.ini' -dauto_prepend_file=sdk.php '/opt/psa/admin/plib/modules/plesk-mobile/scripts/push_worker.php')
May  7 07:00:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[[B]13746[/B]]: (root) CMD ([ -x /opt/psa/admin/sbin/backupmng ] && /opt/psa/admin/sbin/backupmng >/dev/null 2>&1)
May  7 07:00:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[13743]: (CRON) [B]error[/B] (grandchild [B]#13746[/B] failed with exit status 255)
May  7 07:05:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[13808]: (root) CMD (command -v debian-sa1 > /dev/null && debian-sa1 1 1)
May  7 07:09:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[13838]: (root) CMD (  [ -x /usr/lib/php5/maxlifetime ] && [ -d /var/lib/php5 ] && find /var/lib/php5/ -type f -cmin +$(/usr/lib/php5/maxlifetime) -delete)
May  7 07:10:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[13847]: (root) CMD (/opt/psa/admin/bin/php -c '/opt/psa/admin/conf/php.ini' -dauto_prepend_file=sdk.php '/opt/psa/admin/plib/modules/plesk-mobile/scripts/push_worker.php')
May  7 07:15:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[[B]13862[/B]]: (root) CMD ([ -x /opt/psa/admin/sbin/backupmng ] && /opt/psa/admin/sbin/backupmng >/dev/null 2>&1)
May  7 07:15:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[13863]: (root) CMD (command -v debian-sa1 > /dev/null && debian-sa1 1 1)
May  7 07:15:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[13861]: (CRON) [B]error[/B] (grandchild #[B]13862[/B] failed with exit status 255)
May  7 07:17:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[13882]: (root) CMD (   cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.hourly)
May  7 07:20:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[13920]: (root) CMD (/opt/psa/admin/bin/php -c '/opt/psa/admin/conf/php.ini' -dauto_prepend_file=sdk.php '/opt/psa/admin/plib/modules/plesk-mobile/scripts/push_worker.php')
May  7 07:25:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[13956]: (root) CMD (command -v debian-sa1 > /dev/null && debian-sa1 1 1)
May  7 07:30:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[[B]13988[/B]]: (root) CMD ([ -x /opt/psa/admin/sbin/backupmng ] && /opt/psa/admin/sbin/backupmng >/dev/null 2>&1)
May  7 07:30:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[13989]: (root) CMD (/opt/psa/admin/bin/php -c '/opt/psa/admin/conf/php.ini' -dauto_prepend_file=sdk.php '/opt/psa/admin/plib/modules/plesk-mobile/scripts/push_worker.php')
May  7 07:30:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[13986]: (CRON) [B]error[/B] (grandchild #[B]13988[/B] failed with exit status 255)
May  7 07:35:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[14051]: (root) CMD (command -v debian-sa1 > /dev/null && debian-sa1 1 1)
May  7 07:39:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[14082]: (root) CMD (  [ -x /usr/lib/php5/maxlifetime ] && [ -d /var/lib/php5 ] && find /var/lib/php5/ -type f -cmin +$(/usr/lib/php5/maxlifetime) -delete)
May  7 07:40:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[14096]: (root) CMD (/opt/psa/admin/bin/php -c '/opt/psa/admin/conf/php.ini' -dauto_prepend_file=sdk.php '/opt/psa/admin/plib/modules/plesk-mobile/scripts/push_worker.php')
May  7 07:45:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[14146]: (root) CMD (command -v debian-sa1 > /dev/null && debian-sa1 1 1)
May  7 07:45:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[[B]14147[/B]]: (root) CMD ([ -x /opt/psa/admin/sbin/backupmng ] && /opt/psa/admin/sbin/backupmng >/dev/null 2>&1)
May  7 07:45:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[14145]: (CRON) [B]error[/B] (grandchild #[B]14147[/B] failed with exit status 255)
May  7 07:50:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[14203]: (root) CMD (/opt/psa/admin/bin/php -c '/opt/psa/admin/conf/php.ini' -dauto_prepend_file=sdk.php '/opt/psa/admin/plib/modules/plesk-mobile/scripts/push_worker.php')
May  7 07:55:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[14253]: (root) CMD (command -v debian-sa1 > /dev/null && debian-sa1 1 1)
May  7 08:00:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[[B]14282[/B]]: (root) CMD ([ -x /opt/psa/admin/sbin/backupmng ] && /opt/psa/admin/sbin/backupmng >/dev/null 2>&1)
May  7 08:00:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[14284]: (root) CMD (/opt/psa/admin/bin/php -c '/opt/psa/admin/conf/php.ini' -dauto_prepend_file=sdk.php '/opt/psa/admin/plib/modules/plesk-mobile/scripts/push_worker.php')
May  7 08:00:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[14285]: (list) CMD ([ -x /usr/lib/mailman/cron/checkdbs ] && /usr/lib/mailman/cron/checkdbs)
May  7 08:00:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[14280]: (CRON) [B]error[/B] (grandchild #[B]14282[/B] failed with exit status 255)
May  7 08:05:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[14364]: (root) CMD (command -v debian-sa1 > /dev/null && debian-sa1 1 1)
May  7 08:09:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[14402]: (root) CMD (  [ -x /usr/lib/php5/maxlifetime ] && [ -d /var/lib/php5 ] && find /var/lib/php5/ -type f -cmin +$(/usr/lib/php5/maxlifetime) -delete)
May  7 08:10:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[14415]: (root) CMD (/opt/psa/admin/bin/php -c '/opt/psa/admin/conf/php.ini' -dauto_prepend_file=sdk.php '/opt/psa/admin/plib/modules/plesk-mobile/scripts/push_worker.php')
May  7 08:15:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[14493]: (root) CMD (command -v debian-sa1 > /dev/null && debian-sa1 1 1)
May  7 08:15:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[[B]14494[/B]]: (root) CMD ([ -x /opt/psa/admin/sbin/backupmng ] && /opt/psa/admin/sbin/backupmng >/dev/null 2>&1)
May  7 08:15:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[14492]: (CRON) [B]error[/B] (grandchild #[B]14494[/B] failed with exit status 255)
May  7 08:17:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[14516]: (root) CMD (   cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.hourly)
May  7 08:20:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[14551]: (root) CMD (/opt/psa/admin/bin/php -c '/opt/psa/admin/conf/php.ini' -dauto_prepend_file=sdk.php '/opt/psa/admin/plib/modules/plesk-mobile/scripts/push_worker.php')
May  7 08:25:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[14621]: (root) CMD (command -v debian-sa1 > /dev/null && debian-sa1 1 1)
May  7 08:30:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[14704]: (root) CMD (/opt/psa/admin/bin/php -c '/opt/psa/admin/conf/php.ini' -dauto_prepend_file=sdk.php '/opt/psa/admin/plib/modules/plesk-mobile/scripts/push_worker.php')
May  7 08:30:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[[B]14705[/B]]: (root) CMD ([ -x /opt/psa/admin/sbin/backupmng ] && /opt/psa/admin/sbin/backupmng >/dev/null 2>&1)
May  7 08:30:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[14702]: (CRON) [B]error[/B] (grandchild #[B]14705[/B] failed with exit status 255)
May  7 08:35:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[14777]: (root) CMD (command -v debian-sa1 > /dev/null && debian-sa1 1 1)
May  7 08:39:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[14871]: (root) CMD (  [ -x /usr/lib/php5/maxlifetime ] && [ -d /var/lib/php5 ] && find /var/lib/php5/ -type f -cmin +$(/usr/lib/php5/maxlifetime) -delete)
May  7 08:40:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[14878]: (root) CMD (/opt/psa/admin/bin/php -c '/opt/psa/admin/conf/php.ini' -dauto_prepend_file=sdk.php '/opt/psa/admin/plib/modules/plesk-mobile/scripts/push_worker.php')
May  7 08:45:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[[B]14982[/B]]: (root) CMD ([ -x /opt/psa/admin/sbin/backupmng ] && /opt/psa/admin/sbin/backupmng >/dev/null 2>&1)
May  7 08:45:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[14983]: (root) CMD (command -v debian-sa1 > /dev/null && debian-sa1 1 1)
May  7 08:45:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[14981]: (CRON) [B]error[/B] (grandchild #[B]14982[/B] failed with exit status 255)

IgorG · May 7, 2014

satoshy86 said:
I have found A LOT OF ERRORS on cron scheduled backup process and i think this is the reason why my scheduled backup did not runs at proper time ( log from grep CRON | /var/log/syslog ):

Look at this https://stackoverflow.com/questions/10371196/error-cron-for-php-script-debian
I hope it will help.

satoshy86 · May 7, 2014

Sorry but i don't think this error is related to php since the problem is created by this executable /opt/psa/admin/sbin/backupmng and this is a binary file:

May 7 08:00:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[14282]: (root) CMD ([ -x /opt/psa/admin/sbin/backupmng ] && /opt/psa/admin/sbin/backupmng >/dev/null 2>&1)
May 7 08:00:01 1 /USR/SBIN/CRON[14280]: (CRON) error (grandchild #14282 failed with exit status 255)

nicodenice · May 7, 2014

Plesk panel 10.1.1

for several months I'm stuck with access to plesk I lost my password, if I connect with the admin and I try to enter a password, I get an email saying that my admin account is locked for 30 minutes.

If I "forgot password", there is no error message but I get nothing.

I paid for the license every month by onlyne.net I also rented a PRO dedibox server and even if I pay them directly for plesk they are not able to provide an answer, help, contact ...

IgorG · May 7, 2014

nicodenice said:
for several months I'm stuck with access to plesk I lost my password, if I connect with the admin and I try to enter a password, I get an email saying that my admin account is locked for 30 minutes.

If I "forgot password", there is no error message but I get nothing.

I paid for the license every month by onlyne.net I also rented a PRO dedibox server and even if I pay them directly for plesk they are not able to provide an answer, help, contact ...

Please tell me how your message related to initial problem of this thread?
Have you tried contact Parallels Support Team for resolving Plesk issues?

nicodenice · May 7, 2014

IgorG said:
Please tell me how your message related to initial problem of this thread?
Have you tried contact Parallels Support Team for resolving Plesk issues?

I am new and do not know how it all works, sorry to put in this thread, I tried to contact the hotline support but I do not speak English as it will be difficult to understand what

Why do my Plesk site backups not run at the scheduled time?!

TheEternalNocturnal

New Pleskian

IgorG

Plesk addicted!

CliveR952

New Pleskian

satoshy86

New Pleskian

satoshy86

New Pleskian

satoshy86

New Pleskian

satoshy86

New Pleskian

IgorG

Plesk addicted!

satoshy86

New Pleskian

nicodenice

New Pleskian

IgorG

Plesk addicted!

nicodenice

New Pleskian

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