Site no longer Backs up: Backup Error
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Hey everyone - Backups were working fine until the last few months. The last backup I ran was Dec 19th, and they were working fine then. I don't remember which version of Concrete we had, or if it was any different - it could even be that Dec 19th was the backup I did right before upgrading, I don't remember.
I cleared the PageStatistics table, I checked the permissions for my folders and files (public_html/files/backups/htaccess). I deleted all the previous backups from the folder. I tried adding the php timeout override code.
Nothing seems to be helping. In Chrome, I get:
Server error
The website encountered an error while retrievinghttps://www.avlusa.com/index.php/dashboard/system/backup/run_backup/... It may be down for maintenance or configured incorrectly.
Here are some suggestions:
Reload this webpage later.
HTTP Error 500 (Internal Server Error): An unexpected condition was encountered while the server was attempting to fulfill the request.
In Mozilla, it just sits for about 10 seconds and then gives me a blank page.
I'm running Concrete 5.4.2.2.
Thanks for any help!
Amanda
I cleared the PageStatistics table, I checked the permissions for my folders and files (public_html/files/backups/htaccess). I deleted all the previous backups from the folder. I tried adding the php timeout override code.
Nothing seems to be helping. In Chrome, I get:
Server error
The website encountered an error while retrievinghttps://www.avlusa.com/index.php/dashboard/system/backup/run_backup/... It may be down for maintenance or configured incorrectly.
Here are some suggestions:
Reload this webpage later.
HTTP Error 500 (Internal Server Error): An unexpected condition was encountered while the server was attempting to fulfill the request.
In Mozilla, it just sits for about 10 seconds and then gives me a blank page.
I'm running Concrete 5.4.2.2.
Thanks for any help!
Amanda
Hi JohntheFish-
I disabled Page Statistics back in Aug 2011 - a few months before my last backup. I also went into that table this morning and truncated it - deleted everything out of it. There were only a dozen rows in there anyway.
Is there another table or database I'm missing? Also, why would backups continue to work for a few months after disabling the page statistics?
I appreciate your help!
I disabled Page Statistics back in Aug 2011 - a few months before my last backup. I also went into that table this morning and truncated it - deleted everything out of it. There were only a dozen rows in there anyway.
Is there another table or database I'm missing? Also, why would backups continue to work for a few months after disabling the page statistics?
I appreciate your help!
The current version of C5 has a job that will delete old versions of pages, so that is unlikely to be the issue.
The log can grow big.
Do you have forums or a blog? again, they can grow big (but not in the same order of magnitude as page stats)
Some addons create never ending lists. Ones I have noticed doing such are mostly to do with collecting statistics, monitoring page ranking, analytics etc.
You could use phpMyAdmin to see what tables are big. Or try my (free) SQL Info addon and use it to list the tables and sizes.
The log can grow big.
Do you have forums or a blog? again, they can grow big (but not in the same order of magnitude as page stats)
Some addons create never ending lists. Ones I have noticed doing such are mostly to do with collecting statistics, monitoring page ranking, analytics etc.
You could use phpMyAdmin to see what tables are big. Or try my (free) SQL Info addon and use it to list the tables and sizes.
Or eCommerce baskets and sales.
Ok, I've downloaded your SQL Info Addon. I think that the CoreCommerce Orders could be the culprit.
I'm a little out of my league in messing with tables and such. Is there a way to automatically purge the oldest orders? Or is there a way to clean these up through Concrete? I have access to phpMyAdmin, MySQLDatabases and MySQLDatabase Wizard through Hostgator, but I'm always a little nervous messing around in there, and nervous to ask Hostgator to delete things for me.
Which column should I be looking at to identify the bigger tables in SQL Info?
Also, when you say the current version of Concrete deletes old page versions - I'm still on 5.4.2.2. When did this get implemented?
Thanks so much for your help!
I'm a little out of my league in messing with tables and such. Is there a way to automatically purge the oldest orders? Or is there a way to clean these up through Concrete? I have access to phpMyAdmin, MySQLDatabases and MySQLDatabase Wizard through Hostgator, but I'm always a little nervous messing around in there, and nervous to ask Hostgator to delete things for me.
Which column should I be looking at to identify the bigger tables in SQL Info?
Also, when you say the current version of Concrete deletes old page versions - I'm still on 5.4.2.2. When did this get implemented?
Thanks so much for your help!
The old pages deletion is on one of the 5.5.x versions, but once on 5.5 you may as well be on 5.5.2.1.
Unless you have a discussion forum or events or are making lots of changes, the old page versions are unlikely to be that greedy.
Its Data_length that gives a rounded table size on SQL Info.
As you have phpMyAdmin, you could try the backup procedure described in the howto. Its fairy straight forward to follow the form and non-destructive.
phpMyAdmin will also give a more accurate analysis of which tables are biggest. You can probably get it to sort the tables list by size.
As for eCommerce, best to ask on eCommerce support about clearing out old data.
Unless you have a discussion forum or events or are making lots of changes, the old page versions are unlikely to be that greedy.
Its Data_length that gives a rounded table size on SQL Info.
As you have phpMyAdmin, you could try the backup procedure described in the howto. Its fairy straight forward to follow the form and non-destructive.
phpMyAdmin will also give a more accurate analysis of which tables are biggest. You can probably get it to sort the tables list by size.
As for eCommerce, best to ask on eCommerce support about clearing out old data.
Thanks! I'll give all of that a try.
I am having a similar problem. Backup has worked fine in the past, but now when I try to run backup, my browser sits there for about 15 seconds or so and returns a blank page. Were you able to resolve this issue?
If you have made no other changes and it is just time, then it is almost certain that one of these tables has grown too big (in order of likelihood)
Page Statistics
Log
Jobs Log
There are also some addons that have infinitely growing tables eg. eCommerce orders.
As described in the Howto, you can turn off or/and trim page statistics to get it to a sensible size.
http://www.concrete5.org/documentation/how-tos/developers/backup-a-...
Logs can simply be emptied.
eCommerce orders take a bit more thought to trim, best check through eCommerce support for details about that. Same for other addon tables.
Since this thread I have created the Backup Voodoo addon that takes care of all the above (and a lot more).
http://www.concrete5.org/marketplace/addons/backup-voodoo/...
Page Statistics
Log
Jobs Log
There are also some addons that have infinitely growing tables eg. eCommerce orders.
As described in the Howto, you can turn off or/and trim page statistics to get it to a sensible size.
http://www.concrete5.org/documentation/how-tos/developers/backup-a-...
Logs can simply be emptied.
eCommerce orders take a bit more thought to trim, best check through eCommerce support for details about that. Same for other addon tables.
Since this thread I have created the Backup Voodoo addon that takes care of all the above (and a lot more).
http://www.concrete5.org/marketplace/addons/backup-voodoo/...
Uh no... I never did get this to work... It's been so long I don't remember what I tried. I was a little too nervous to start playing around in the tables, but I turned off page statistics and I'm pretty sure I emptied that table. I don't remember what other tables I tried to empty or delete, but who knows if I did it right.
JohntheFish -- Backup VooDoo looks pretty cool. Might install that eventually. In the meantime, I just did an .sql dump via phpadmin. A little less convenient, but it (hopefully) should work regardless of how large the tables get.
AVL -- What are you doing for backup now instead of the built-in solution?
AVL -- What are you doing for backup now instead of the built-in solution?
I'm (scarily) relying on Hostgator's full account backup to do the trick, but other than that, I have not backed up my work's website.
I bought Voodoo Backup for my personal business's website, and I wasn't able to get it to work - I think because my host was too slow... or my settings were wrong - I don't know, but I ended up rebuilding my entire website and moving to a new host, and the Concrete backups have been working just fine on that site since then - and I've made sure to delete all old page versions as I go, no page statistics, etc. My new host told me there's an easy way to backup from the control panel, but I haven't bothered yet... As for Voodoo -I'm sure I could put a support ticket, but I just got so tired of dealing with all the website problems I was having that I left well-enough alone when I finally got something to work.
So - I'd give the Voodoo add-on a try. It seems like a lot of people have problems with the built-in Concrete backup function.
I bought Voodoo Backup for my personal business's website, and I wasn't able to get it to work - I think because my host was too slow... or my settings were wrong - I don't know, but I ended up rebuilding my entire website and moving to a new host, and the Concrete backups have been working just fine on that site since then - and I've made sure to delete all old page versions as I go, no page statistics, etc. My new host told me there's an easy way to backup from the control panel, but I haven't bothered yet... As for Voodoo -I'm sure I could put a support ticket, but I just got so tired of dealing with all the website problems I was having that I left well-enough alone when I finally got something to work.
So - I'd give the Voodoo add-on a try. It seems like a lot of people have problems with the built-in Concrete backup function.
If you have a slow host, you can use Backup Voodoo's custom settings to split the backup info more passes, thus making each pass smaller and fitting into the host's capabilities. Please open a support request and I will help you get it configured.
http://www.concrete5.org/documentation/how-tos/developers/backup-a-...