shows scheduled and current Jobs for the next 10 days
status scheduler job=<JobName> days=30
schedule of a specific Job
status client
checks whether the File Daemon responds
status storage
status of the Storage Daemon, devices, and drive backup queue
status jobid=<ID>
current status of a specific Job. This is the basis for initial diagnostics
Commands
Description
cancel storage=<StorageName> Jobid=<ID>
Canceling a “stuck” Job on the SD
List
Commands
Description
list jobs
list of all Jobs by JobId
list jobid=<ID>
information about a specific Job
list jobtotals
list of Jobs by Name
list files jobid=<ID>
list of files by JobId
estimate job=<JobName> listing
check what will be included in the backup
list jobmedia
list of Volumes by JobId
list pools
for working with Pools
list volumes
for working with media
list nextvol job=<JobName> days=3
which Volume will be used by the Job for the next backup
Updates
Commands
Description
update slots
update slots scan
Mount, Unmount
Commands
Description
mount
unmount
Run
Commands
Description
run
starts a Job
wait
waits for completion
wait jobid=<ID>
waits for the Job
Show
Commands
Description
show job=<name>
show the settings of a specific Job
show jobs
show the Job settings
show client=<name>
show the settings of a specific Client
show clients
show the Client settings
show filesets
helps quickly identify which FileSets exist
show storage=<name>
show the settings of a specific Storage
show storage
show the Storage settings
show pool=<name>
show the settings of a specific Pool
show pool
show the Pool settings
Messages
Commands
Description
messages
displays messages
autodisplay on
useful to enable during diagnostics so that messages are shown immediately
Advanced utilities
Commands
Description
bls
view content volume
bextract
pull files directly from volume can help with emergency file extraction
bscan
import contents of volume into catalog / restore catalog
btape
test tool for tape
1. Basic diagnostic algorithm
If Bareos isn’t working, it’s almost always helpful to go in this order:
Check that dir, sd, fd are alive.
Check the syntax of the configs.
Check that names/passwords/ports match between components.
Check storage/device/volume/pool.
Check that restore was actually tested, and not just backup.
2. The first set of commands for any emergency
bareos-dir -t
bareos-sd -t
bareos-fd -t
status dir
status client
status storage
messages
This combination usually already shows 80% of the problems: a syntax error, the client is not responding, storage does not see the device, job is stuck in the queue, volume is in the wrong state.
3. Authorization problems
One of the most common reasons is a Name / Password mismatch between Director and File Daemon or between Director and Storage Daemon. The official troubleshooting directly says: if you change the Director name or password, these changes must be mirrored in both SD and FD; both ends authenticate each other. For Storage Daemon, the Director name and password must match the Director config; for File Daemon, the Director password must match the Client resource on the Director side.
In practice, this means: when a client is “visible in the config, but the backup does not start,” first check not the DNS or the firewall, but rather the correspondence of resources and secrets in:
bconsole is also authenticated in Director through its Director resource.
7.4. Problems with Storage/Device/Volume
If the backup is waiting for the media, we think not about Job, but about the chain Storage → Device → Pool → Volume. A Pool is a set of volumes, Job uses the Pool, Director selects the first suitable appendable/recyclable Volume from the Pool, and the Media Type of the volume must match Storage/Device. If there is no suitable volume, the job will not run.
For disk file storage, it is important to remember: Archive Device must be an existing absolute directory, and Bareos creates volume files there with the name from Catalog. If the directory does not exist, the permissions are incorrect, or you are looking in the wrong Device, then the WebUI will show “everything seems to be there”, but there will be no entry.
7.5. Problems with tapes
The phrase “tape inserted” in normal use literally means the presence of physical media: either the operator manually inserted the cartridge into the tape drive, or the autochanger robot loaded it into the drive. The Console documentation explicitly notes that when working with multiple tapes, Bareos waits for the user to confirm the mount of the new media via Console.
If label fails, typical reasons according to the documentation are as follows: volume name is already in the Catalog; another media is already mounted in the device; the media is already labeled Bareos; or there is no volume in the drive at all. For autochanger, after changing magazine or cartridges, unmount is useful, then update slots, then mount.