Re: rdiff-backup keeps crashing when trying to save files on nextcloud server via webdav

[EricZolf]

Hi,

On 14/09/2023 19:27, Veit Held via Any discussion of rdiff-backup wrote:

> I am currently trying to backup my files to a cloud storage space, which 
> is on a managed nextcloud server. The provider does not offer any 
> ssh-connection, instead I have to use the webdav protocol. Now I have 
> big problems, because the backup keeps crashing. The process quits with 
> a whole bunch of confusing error messages, like "[Errno 2] No such file 
> or directory: '/var/crash/_usr_bin_rdiff-backup.1000.crash'" or 
> "OSError: [Errno 5] Input/output error."

> The attached file shows both the output to the terminal (rows 1-102) and 
> the content of the logfile which I produced by adding the "> 
> protocol_14.9.2023.txt" suffix to the linux command line.

There is a backup.log also in the repository.

> Is there any known reason why I cannot push my files to the server? I am 
> running on version 2.0.5 as this is the version that Linux Mint has in 
> the repository. My system is

This starts to be the issue, version 2.0 is rather old and current is 
2.2. If you could update, that would help supporting you.

This said, even though 2.2 is more robust than 2.0, I see little chance 
that it will solve your issue. WebDAV is IMHO not a fully fledged file 
system and I'm even surprised that rdiff-backup doesn't fail on the file 
system check.

If you search for webdav and rsync, you'll find plenty of mixed 
experience reports (and rdiff-backup works similarly to rsync).

An "Input/output error" is originating at the file system level and 
isn't per se an rdiff-backup issue. It basically means that the file 
system is corrupt, or at least the specific file. You could try to 
remove it and try again your backup, but as said, it will always be a 
"Vabanquespiel" (dangerous game) in my opinion.

Personally, I simply sync my documents folder with Nextcloud using the 
desktop client. That works splendidly even between multiple desktop 
systems, but indeed this isn't a proper backup if this really what you need.

As a side note, the `Error in sys.excepthook:...` thingy looks like an 
error at Python level. That make me a bit wondering what else is special 
in your setup.

Sorry to not have better news, but I don't see any obvious solution for 
your problem.

KR, Eric

>      Kernel: 5.15.0-83-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.4.0 
> Desktop: Cinnamon 5.6.8
>      tk: GTK 3.24.33 wm: muffin dm: LightDM Distro: Linux Mint 21.1 Vera 
> base: Ubuntu 22.04 jammy

> Veit