[SOLVED] Need Help with grsync Sessions

[Iggy64]

I am on Mint xfce 19.3, and I use grsync 1.2.6 (the current version in the repos) for all sorts of backup tasks. It does exactly what I need, but there is one inconvenience, and I hope another grsync user here can help me fix that.

grsync lets you set up a given backup job (source directory, target directory, filters, rules, etc.), then save it as a "Session," so that you can run that same session in the future by calling it from a drop-down menu, rather than having to re-enter all the directories, filters, etc. all over again.

As I understand it, the procedure for creating/saving a session configuration is:

- Click the "Add" button
- Give the session a name
- Enter your session parameters (directories, filters, etc.)
- Run a simulation, to make sure you like what you get
- Now your new session should be saved for future use, and should appear in the drop-down menu.

Unfortunately, after I name the session and click the simulation button, grsync closes -- without any error message, and without saving the session. I have tried this over and over, and grsync simply closes. I have scoured the internet for hints to what I may be overlooking here, but without success.

Here is my current workaround:

- Set up the session configuration that I want to preserve
- Export it to a text file
- Copy its contents to the clipboard
- Open the grsync.ini file
- Scroll to the bottom and paste the clipboard contents there
- Save the modified grsync.ini file.

Now, when I open grsync, I have my new "Session" listed in the drop-down menu. So this workaround works fine.

However, it seems that there are various grsync users on this forum, and I'm hoping one of you can suggest why I am unsuccessful in creating new session via the GUI (with the ADD button). That would be more convenient.

I have already uninstalled and re-installed grsync, but that did not help.

[LanceM]

Unfortunately, after I name the session and click the simulation button, grsync closes -- without any error message, and without saving the session.

You have to add the source and destination before running the simulation. If you did that and grsync vanishes something is apparently broken. I've never used the simulation, but just tried it and it ran as it should. I always name it first, then source and destination. Are you navigating to the source and destination or just typing them in?

Test.jpg

[Iggy64]

Thanks for your kind reply.

Yes, I first hit the ADD button.
Then give the session a name.
Then enter the source and destination, using the browse buttons.
Then I enter my preferences.
Then I hit Simulate, and grsync just closes.

I also tried running the actual Execute command, and that caused grsync to close also.

I tried using the ADD button AFTER inputting my configuration, but that just clears all the settings.

As already mentioned, I did a remove and re-install, and the problem persists.

And as already noted, my workaround works OK, just less convenient.

Bottom line: grsync does the actual backups just great. The only problem I have is with creating saved Sessions, and my workaround saves the day. Just wish I could get the "ADD" function to work within the GUI; it would be more convenient. Perhaps I'm missing some simple step.

I might try upgrading to the latest version (from current 1.2.6 to recently released 1.2.. But I generally avoid going outside the repos.

Thanks again for offering to help!!

[LanceM]

Try reinstalling again, but first run

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sudo apt-get clean

. Then open your home folder and enable hidden files with CTRL+H. Search for grsync and delete all instances. (warning any grsync configurations you have made will need to be done again) Now uninstall it with

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sudo apt purge --autoremove grsync

Now try installing it with

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sudo apt update

then

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sudo apt install grsync

[Iggy64]

Thanks, LanceM.

I'm away from my home base right now, but will try your suggestion when I get back home.

It looks like your instructions are something I should have learned by now, and will be useful to me going forward.

I will check back in with my results!

Thanks, again.

[Iggy64]

Oh, and before I do another re-install, I meant to ask this question (which I should have done at the start):

What is the correct specific procedure for saving a session configuration?

The various "tutorials" I have read tell me to

- Hit the ADD button
- Give the session a name
- Enter the configuration (directories, filters, etc.)
- Run a simulation or execution

I found nothing about, say, hit "Save" or some other means of actually saving the configuration.

Is there some additional step required to get the configuration to actually save?
Perhaps that is why grsync is closing --- because I have omitted a step in the process.

I would like to know the complete, proper procedure to follow, whether it is with my current install, or the re-install I will be doing shortly.

[LanceM]

You don't have to save it. It will be in the drop-down from then on.

[Iggy64]

I guess what I don't comprehend is:

How does grsync know when I am done inputting all my criteria?

Normally, you would hit something like SAVE at that point.

Here, it seems like running a simulation or execution is the act that does the save.

But what if the simulation doesn't go well, and you need to make some changes. Now what do you do?
There just seems to be something odd about this whole business.

It seems strange to hit ADD first, then input the criteria.
It would make more sense to input the criteria first, run some simulations, get everything the way you want it, and THEN hit ADD.

I am missing the logic here somehow.

And yes, I did try doing it by hitting ADD last, but that didn't create a new entry in the menu either.
I guess my install really is broken somehow, and I will try the clean install procedure you suggested.

Thanks again for your patience in helping me.

[LanceM]

Like I said, I never had used the simulation. It's not needed, it's just a way to check. When a real one finishes, the progress bar completes.

G.jpg

[Flemur]

I guess what I don't comprehend is:
How does grsync know when I am done inputting all my criteria?
Normally, you would hit something like SAVE at that point.

FWIW, I use grsync all the time and save sessions and have never used the "+" (add) button; after the session is set up, I do: grsync->Sessions->Export and enter the name there.

Hint for debugging any Linux software problem: run the program from a terminal instead of a menu or desktop icon, then you can see more and/or better error messages:

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grsync

[Iggy64]

Thanks for your suggestions, Flemur.

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, I do use the Sessions > Export function to save my configurations. I export the settings as a text file, then copy those settings into the grsync.ini file, which then causes them to appear as a new option in the drop-down menu in the GUI. It just take a couple of minutes, so no big deal. I just wonder why the simpler approach of the ADD button doesn't work for me.

And, yes, I have tried launching grsync via the terminal, but it didn't help me. I got this:

OptiPlex-360:~$ grsync
Unable to save settings!
Unable to save settings!
Segmentation fault (core dumped)

I'm not expert enough to track down a seg fault.

***************

I am going to take one more shot at completely removing and re-installing grsync, as suggested by LanceM. I'll check back in with results.

Thanks to you both for your kind help.

[Iggy64]

As LanceM suggested, I ran the clean and the purge commands before reinstalling grsync one more time.

That fixed the problem with the ADD button procedure. Sessions can now be saved and added to the drop-down menu without the need to export each new session. The new settings are automatically appended to the end of the grsync.ini file.

The purge session took quite a while, and indicated it would clear about 10GB of disk space. Hopefully, that means I had an awful lot of stuff on my drive that was no longer needed.

I need to study up on the clean and purge commands. Perhaps I have not been doing a good job of managing my installation.

Many thanks to LanceM and to Flemur for the helpful support!

[LanceM]

10GB? Man it must have been filling up something in /
For maintenance try this site especially all of step 10: https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... -mint.html
Check your used space with

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sudo baobab

before and after.

[Iggy64]

The output from the purge command exceeded my terminal buffer, so I lost most of the output.

At the start, it was listing a ton of Linux headers and other seemingly system-related items. I'm not adept enough to know what all these things meant. As this purge ran for something like 20 minutes, I figured I wasn't going to have any system left!! Anyway, all seems to be running OK, so there must have been an awful lot of unneeded stuff in there. Perhaps I have some system settings that are causing all this dead wood to pile up.

I appreciate the link to the "How To Clean Linux Mint Safely" outline. Apparently I am long overdue to get educated on this.

Thanks, again, for your support!

[Iggy64]

Upon further review ---------

The thorough re-install did get grsync working more correctly, in that I can now create and save a new Session configuration within the GUI. grsync correctly adds the new Session configure to the drop-down menu.

Unfortunately, I discovered that it ALSO wrote this same new configuration over the pre-existing configuration that had been most-recently opened. So one of my pre-existing configurations was trashed. So I had successfully created and saved a new session configuration, but I destroyed one of my previous session configurations.

Luckily, I had backed up my grsync.ini file, and was therefore able to go back and restore that damaged session configuration.

I guess I just don't trust this part of the GUI to work properly, and will probably revert to exporting each new configuration and copying it into the grsync.ini file. That way, I can see what I am getting, without worrying about what might have gotten compromised in the process.

[LanceM]

If you make a new one by clicking + and give it unique name, nothing like you have described should ever happen. Each one should be in the menu as pictured.

G.jpg

[LanceM]

Maybe you should consider LuckyBackup instead of Grsync. It's in the Software Manager:

LB.jpg

[Iggy64]

Thanks for your perseverance in helping me here. I feel pretty foolish by continuing to fumble this simple task.

Can you tell me the exact sequence of steps you take to make the sessions save as you do?

- Let's say you have your A to V-128 session open in grsync. You can see its source and target folders, etc.

- Now you want to create a new, different session named A to Toshiba 1T.

Do you need to start from the "Default" session configuration? Or can you start from the A to V-128 session?

Do you hit the ADD button, type in the new session name, and then start changing the source folder, target folder, filters, etc.?

Or do you first change the source folder, target folder, filters, etc, and THEN hit the ADD button and enter the new session name?

I have the creepy feeling that I'm just doing something out of order, or overlooking some simple detail.

[LanceM]

Do you need to start from the "Default" session configuration? Or can you start from the A to V-128 session?

Forget Default
Forget V-128
Just Click the + and then enter this in the Name: A to Toshiba 1T
Next navigate to the Source and Open it
Next navigate to the Destination and Open it
Now run the program by clicking the gears on the upper right.
Once it completes, it is automatically is saved and will be in the list in alphabetical order.

[Iggy64]

By the way, I followed up on your suggestion to visit
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... t.html#ID1

In reviewing my list of resident kernels, I found that I have precisely 100 kernels on my system.
These range from 4.15.0-20 to the currently active 5.4.0-42.
Four of these are marked "Installed."

Do you recommend taking the suggestion of the author of the above article, and turning on automatic maintenance, to stop the build-up of superseded kernels?

Thanks, again, for all this education.