Server Reboot, Database Won't Open?

[maulanday]

I hope someone can help me. When our xserve requires a hard reboot, the Filemaker Server Daemon starts up like it’s suppose to. But one our databases is listed as closed, reopening within server admin is futile, it attempts to open but ultimately stays listed as closed. 1)Can you do multiple daily backups while database is active with logged in users? FileMaker recommends against this. 2)Can we backup to an external drive? FileMaker’s backup path requires it to be on the same volume. Is there a work around for this? --- Thanks!

[Wim Decorte]

Check the FMS event log: FMS will tell you why that file cannot be opened. Could be damaged.

- backup question: you certainly can take multiple backups. But you have to use FMS's backup routine, you should never let any other process or app touch the live files. That will corrupt your files in the long run

- the FMS backup will be fastest if you do it to the local hard disk. Then use OS-level scripting to copy or move the backup to the external hard disk or network share. That approach is also less vulnerable: what if the remote volume is not available for FMS to write to? You'd have no backup. By having FMS backing up to the local hard disk at least you have that backup even if the remote volume is not there.

[Steven H. Blackwell]

When our xserve requires a hard reboot, the Filemaker Server Daemon starts up like it’s suppose to.

I just answered this question or one like it in another forum. You need to find out what is up with your server. The FMS daemon should not be set to start automatically on reboot. This is particularly bad for the files.

Steven

[Nosduj]

I just answered this question or one like it in another forum. You need to find out what is up with your server. The FMS daemon should not be set to start automatically on reboot. This is particularly bad for the files.

Steven

 

Hopefully it's not bad etiquette on this forum to reply to a 7-year-old thread that I didn't even start, but I was hoping to get some clarification on why this is. Currently FM server starts as a service upon booting, but we do have intermittent problems with database corruption, and I'm curious to know if we should discontinue this practice.

[Wim Decorte]

FMS consists of multiple parts.  One is the admin server.  That's the part that is exposed as the "service" and is visible in the Windows control panel.

Nothing wrong with setting to auto-start.

 

BUT, the single most important part of FMS is the database engine.  That one is set to auto-start by default, that is a setting in the FMS admin console.  Best practice is to turn that off.  In case the computer crashes or power goes out, the databases will not be available when the machine is started again.   That prevents damaged files from being made available again and users entering data in them, or worse: your solution only starting partially if one of its files is corrupted, leading to inconsistent data, broken workflows and potentially security loopholes.

[Nosduj]

Thanks! Wim,

 

I'm new to FM and server administration, so I appreciate the thorough explanation.

Edited November 4, 2014 by Lee Smith
remove the complete quote, it added nothing to the Reply