Common problems

• Backups not starting.
  • On server - client definition might not have a group selected, group might not have autostart enabled.
  • On client - NetWorker client software might not be installed, if it is installed the client agent processes might not be running.


• Backup type (full, incr, etc) not as expected.
  • Schedule selected for client might be superceded by a schedule selected for the group to which the client belongs.
  • Schedule selected for client might be superceded by a specific backup level selected for the group to which the client belongs.


• Backup waiting for a tape volume.
  • If the backup device is a standalone tape drive, either there is no tape from the required pool in the drive, or the tape in the drive is full and needs to be changed out.
  • If the backup device is in a jukebox, there is a hardware malfunction (robot down, tape stuck in the drive, etc), or there are no more tapes in the jukebox from the required pool which have space on them.


• Volumes not recycling.
  • One or more savesets on the volume with unexpectedly long retention periods.
  • If there are multiple pools, pools might be set up to not allow automatic recycling between pools.
  • Individual volumes might be set up to not allow automatic recycling.


• Backups running too slowly.
  • Typically a network issue - server or client NICs might be misconfigured, router/switch/bridge ports might be misconfigured.