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Backup Exec SQL Express Database Full

OKCO
Level 2

We are running Backup Exec 2012 fully patched, and we back up about 20 servers to a single media server using deduplication. The media server is standalone using all defaults and SQL 2005 Express. After we upgraded from 2010 to 2012, there seemed to be a large amount of older historical data (Job History, Backup Sets, etc.) that never seemed to get purged out over time. I finally took it upon myself to begin manually deleting the very old backup sets through the management GUI. This worked fine, for a while. Then, unbeknownst to me, the SQL database went from about 30MB to 4GB in a matter of a few weeks. The table that filled up appears to be the dbo.BELog table, although there may be others that have grown as well. I am assuming that this is due to Audit Log settings.

So, anyway, I thought I would simply Export my Configuration Settings and create a new database file, but NO, the Export function has been removed from the Backup Exec Utility, at least for non-CASO. I have tried to clear the audit log but attempting to access the log or log configuration produces an “unknown exception” error, probably because of too much data. So now I am trying to figure out how to purge data from the dbo.BELog table but not being a SQL guy, I’m having no success. Installing full SQL is not really an option and I would rather not create a new database. Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated. A screen shot of the SQL table properties is attached. Thanks. Randy

 

8 REPLIES 8

Jaydeep_S
Level 6
Employee Accredited Certified

Find beutility in the Backupexec install folder and run it. We need to perform the following tasks on the BEDB -

1. Age database

2. compact database

3. repair database

4. rebuild db indices

5. check db consistency.

OKCO
Level 2

I have run these utilities several times. They seem to complete successfully. It should be noted that the regular scheduled database maintenance inidcates failure although it does delete expired histories.

CraigV
Moderator
Moderator
Partner    VIP    Accredited

Hi OKCO,

 

You need to rope Symantec support in on this 1 as they won't tell you how to purge data from the BEDB yourself. They don't give the information out...my suggestion is that you log a call with them, and then close the query off when your issue is resolved.

Thanks!

OKCO
Level 2

November 1 - OK, I ran the utilities again, in the order specified. They all ran successfully. I then tried to access the Audit Logs and again received the error “Unable to perform query for Audit Log. An unknown exception was generated by the system.” The system is still producing a Database Maintenance Alert: “The Backup Exec Database has almost reached the 4-GB limit that is allowed for SQL Server Express Edition.” Each time the regularly scheduled database maintenance runs it produces an alert: “Database Maintenance Failure” but still seems to delete expired histories or it occasionally times out.

Backup and restore jobs are still running normally. But, I had a couple custom reports that now will not run and have since been deleted. And, of course, the Audit Log is inaccessible. Also, I am unable to access the Audit Log Configuration in order to turn logging off.

I installed the SQL Server Management Studio for Express and discovered that the dbo.BELog table is hovering well over 3 GB, and there are over 1,740,000 rows. I was hoping that this particular table could be modified or purged in some way that would not affect any other tables. The BELog table appears to have few dependencies, so I backed up the database, then opened the SQL Management Studio and manually deleted a few dozen rows out of the BELog table to see if there was any affect. Once the records were deleted, I restarted all BE services, ran the Utilities again (successfully), and brought up the BE management console. There seemed to be no adverse effects.

November 5 - I did a bit more research into SQL DROP, DELETE and TRUNCATE and decided to create a truncate query and run it against the BELog table. Again, I am not a SQL guy, but it was fairly easy and worked great. It left the table structure intact but purged all of the data. After the truncate, I followed up with the utilities in the order specified above. I can now access the audit log in Backup Exec and the database went from 4 GB to 57 MB, about where it was before this mess started.

November 6 - We have run our regular job schedule for a couple of days and everything appears to be working properly. I have no idea if the truncate script caused any ill effects, but for now everything is working as we expect. Worst case, I would need to start with a new database and rebuild the jobs, not a big deal but time consuming. So far, though, it looks like the SQL truncate trick did exactly what we needed.

CraigV
Moderator
Moderator
Partner    VIP    Accredited

As a matter of interest, are you running the default BEDB maintenance tasks? BE would automatically purge data from the BEDB at a specific time every night unless either deselected or changed...

THanks!

OKCO
Level 2

Yes, maintenance tasks were left at their default configurations up until I realized we had a problem. The errors and warnings began in September. We researched the issues and set retention to 7 days on everything back in mid-October. As I said above, each time the regularly scheduled database maintenance ran, it produced an alert: “Database Maintenance Failure” but some expired histories would still purge and occasionally the maintenance task would just time out. This behavior continued and we saw no reduction in the size of the database even after running the Utilities. All the errors and warnings continued, reports would not run, and the audit log was nonfunctional. So, after another 3 weeks of the same trouble, I decided to see if anyone here had any ideas. I knew I could start with a new database and recreate the jobs, but I just thought there must be an easier way, so I backed everything up and started blasting away at the SQL tables, specifically Truncate against the BELog tabel. So far, so good, I guess we will see if it hangs together. Thanks.

DisasterRecover
Level 2

I am having the same issue BE2012 all fixes applied, all updates BE, Windows, SQL, ..... I have had no success with this either. BeUtility repairs , rebuilds, reinstalls, log growth changes on SQL, all have been met without success. Maintenence says audit logs are being deleted; the numer just keeps growing.

RudyD
Not applicable

OKCO you are a genius! I've been dealing with this same issue ever since I upgraded our previous installation of Backup Exec 2010 R3 to 2012 about a year ago. I was getting Database maintenance failures every day and eventually the DB grew to 4GB and backup exec stopped functioning altogether. Upon viewing the BELog table, I noticed there were still entries from a year or two ago piling up. I truncated the table as you suggested and then ran the standard maintenance tasks and all is well now. The DB maintenance is running successfully and I'm FINALLY able to use Backup Exec again. I was dreading having to drop the DB all together as I was told last year would be the only solution by Symantec Phone Support as I have over 100 jobs on this server. Thank you so much for figuring this out!!!!