Sparse file backup issue

Hi all,

I am having a issue backing up 2 VMs running Zimbra which have a sparse file that is blowing out the backup.

I think this issue is similar to this one: Sparse file replication size issue with the main difference being that I am on XFS.

I reviewed the patch linked but am running a client version that should contain the patch already but the backup size is 80GB and it is sending that much over the wire.

Looking for a bit of assistance if I’m doing something wrong or if this is a different manifestation due to XFS.

File is: /opt/zimbra/data/ldap/mdb/db/data.mdb

Backup Server:

[root@longwave /]# urbackupsrv --version
UrBackup Server v2.4.12.0
Copyright (C) 2011-2019 Martin Raiber
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO
warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
[root@longwave /]# xfs_info /tanbackups/
meta-data=/dev/sdb1              isize=512    agcount=4, agsize=134217600 blks
         =                       sectsz=512   attr=2, projid32bit=1
         =                       crc=1        finobt=0 spinodes=0
data     =                       bsize=4096   blocks=536870400, imaxpct=5
         =                       sunit=0      swidth=0 blks
naming   =version 2              bsize=4096   ascii-ci=0 ftype=1
log      =internal               bsize=4096   blocks=262143, version=2
         =                       sectsz=512   sunit=0 blks, lazy-count=1
realtime =none                   extsz=4096   blocks=0, rtextents=0
[root@longwave db]# du -h -s .
1.3M    .
[root@longwave db]# du -h -s --apparent-size .
81G     .
[root@longwave db]# ls
data.mdb  lock.mdb
[root@longwave db]#uname - a
Linux longwave 3.10.0-1127.8.2.el7.x86_64 #1 SMP Tue May 12 16:57:42 UTC 2020 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
[root@longwave db]# cat /etc/redhat-release
CentOS Linux release 7.8.2003 (Core)
[root@longwave db]#

Client server:

[root@mx01 ~]# urbackupclientctl --version
UrBackup Client Controller v2.4.10.0
Copyright (C) 2011-2019 Martin Raiber
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO
warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
[root@mx01 ~]# xfs_info /
meta-data=/dev/sda3              isize=512    agcount=4, agsize=6390464 blks
         =                       sectsz=512   attr=2, projid32bit=1
         =                       crc=1        finobt=0 spinodes=0
data     =                       bsize=4096   blocks=25561856, imaxpct=25
         =                       sunit=0      swidth=0 blks
naming   =version 2              bsize=4096   ascii-ci=0 ftype=1
log      =internal               bsize=4096   blocks=12481, version=2
         =                       sectsz=512   sunit=0 blks, lazy-count=1
realtime =none                   extsz=4096   blocks=0, rtextents=0
[root@mx01 ~]# du -h -s .
1.3M    .
[root@mx01 db]# du -h -s . --apparent-size
81G     .
[root@mx01 db]# ls
data.mdb  lock.mdb
[root@mx01 db]# uname -a
Linux mx01 3.10.0-1062.18.1.el7.x86_64 #1 SMP Tue Mar 17 23:49:17 UTC 2020 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
[root@mx01 db]# cat /etc/redhat-release
CentOS Linux release 7.7.1908 (Core)
[root@mx01 db]#

Any assistance greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Slight correction to the above.

The Incremental appears to be sending the correct amount over the wire (about 5GB)
The full is sending about 46GB - which is double what is actually on disk.

However, URBackup is showing the backup set as 100GB (full size of the partition) so i think this is just how URBackup is showing the data being stored / transfered but is handling the sparse file correctly.

It would be great if UrBackup could handle sparse files directly of course, but Zimbra has a workaround to copy the LDAP database -> mdb_copy.
Look here https://wiki.zimbra.com/wiki/OpenLDAP_Performance_Tuning_8.0
With this of course you have to make an intermediate step.

UrBackup does handle sparse files. Backup size calculation is another can of worms that’s not really that critical (and comes with a performance trade off)… If it doesn’t please start a thread about it supplying information that allows fixing the bug. See OPs linked thread ( Sparse file replication size issue ) and Having problems with UrBackup? Please read before posting about what kind of information to include.

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