Backup to FTP Volume

[BostonFM]

I have successfully mounted an offsite ftp volume on Mac OS X Server.

Now, I am trying to schedule a backup to go to it but the scheduler is not accepting any iterations of the mounted volume pathname.

Should it not be ftp:/sysvol/mounted server vol/

ftp:/mounted server vol does not work either

It is not validating the path.

What am I missing?

Thanks,

Dick

[Steven H. Blackwell]

First, there may be a general issue with using the FMS scheduler to backup to any external volume on OS X.

Second, ftp is not a recognized protocol by FMS.

Third, this is generally not a good way to archive backups. The recommendation is first to backup to the local machine and then push that backup out to a remote volume using OS level scripting.

Go to Wim Decorte's site at http://www.connectingdata.com and download his white paper on backups.

HTH

Steven

[IdealData]

I presume your talking about FMServer scheduled backups?

I don't think ftp is an acceptable protocol for FM. Notice that FM uses it's own "translation" of file paths eg. filemac:/, fmnet:/

The DEFAULT FOLDERS section also indicates when a path is VALID or not.

[BostonFM]

I would have imagined that FM Scheduler would have included a basic internet protocol on such an advance product by now but maybe that's wishful thinking or intentional.

I have, since the posting, found that I can't write to the volume/driectory even though it is mounted in the OS after Connect To Server is accomplished. The user login obviously is valid and it has write permissions via standard FTP clients. The Mac OS X volume mount may be the issue (non-standard mount?) There also may be an issue as this is part of the OnlineFileFolder.com (web interface w/ email in dropbox)system with quirky issues on permissions.

I'll keep you informed.

Dick

[normanicus]

I've done this on a Windows 2003 machine. I just schedule a backup to the ftp volume I have set up. After that I can use ftp from anywhere to get those files. IOW, if OS X Server can see the volume then FM Server should also. This means you can place your backup directly in that folder. OK, it doesn't use the ftp protocal to do so but does that matter?

Norman

[Steven H. Blackwell]

As I noted earlier, from OS X there is a general issue with backing up to any remote volume from within the FMS schedule for backups. See the White Paper I referenced.

Steven

[jna]

From what I heard Filemaker inc means that making backup to a remote isn't a safe way. If connection is lost during backup some serious problems could appear. First local-backup and then backup the backup to another location.

Jonny

[Steven H. Blackwell]

Correct. See the referenced White Paper.

Steven

[cebulskis1]

try

filemac:/computer name/mounted volume/volume name

the scheduler seems to like it just fine and I have had no problem whit my back up files what so ever