Support Guide
Unless otherwise stated, AcuWorkflow Support is based on best effort, attempting to resolve issues within a 24 hour cycle. AcuWorkflow does not warrant that its products are defect free; however, AcuWorkflow does endeavor to fix its products to work as designed. It is important to note that our clients play a key role in this effort.
Upgrade Terms
All updates, fixes, and enhancements are included free of charge in the annual subscription.
While AcuWorkflow does make updated versions available, it is up to the customer to decide if they would like to install the upgrade or continue with the current version.
However, AcuWorkflow does recommend updating the software at least once a year around the annual renewal time.
The actual upgrade process consists of downloading the new version and running the installer, then selecting the
“Upgrade Installation”
option.
Please see section in Release Notes.
Upgrade Process
If you have decided to do an Upgrade the following will typically happen:
Upgrade
All the executables archive, backup, console, export will be replaced with latest versions in the
apps
folderA new
config.yml
will be created containing your original settings plus any newly added optionsA time stamped
config.yml
will contain your original file prior to the upgradeA new
catalog.db3
will be created containing your original catalog and any new database structures required in thedata
folder.A time stamped
catalog.db3
will contain your original catalog prior to the upgrade
In the event you want to roll-back the Upgrade
In the event that something mishappened during the Upgrade process, you can re-instate by
Rename config.yml as config.old.yml
Rename latest timestamped config.yml as config.yml
Rename catalog.db3 as catalog.old.db3
Rename latest timestamped catalog.db3 as catalog.db3
In most cases that will reset the environment though sometimes you will also have to reset the original executables
Easiest way is to install your original copy via Setup to a temporary folder c:\smartbackuptemp
and then copy the executables to current installed apps folder.
Reporting a Problem
Please submit a Support Request to AcuWorkflow, using our Support Request Form.
Call Rate Limits
SmartBackup makes use of the Smartsheet API and as such are bound by its limitations. The Smartsheet API currently imposes a rate limit of 300 requests per minute per Access Token. (Smartsheet reserves the right to change this limit at any time.) Certain resource-intensive operations, such as attaching a file or getting cell history, count as 10 requests toward the rate limit. If you exceed this rate limit, subsequent API requests (within a one-minute period) will return a 429 HTTP status code.
To this end SmartBackup deploys rate throttling when detected, which in general includes:
When Smartsheet rejects API call based on throttling
Delay the current api call by 60s then retry
If another reject, then delay current api call by a further 90s, then retry
If still rejected log, display error and continue with next
Notifications and Alerts
In addition to the Console Dashboard, we have included the option to send a notification email to each User processed and/or the SmartBackup Administrator when any SmartBackup function runs. Configured through the admin Console UI, these notifications provide a summary of the job run and recent runs for Backups, Exports, and Archives.
SmartBackup also supports Alert notifications to an Incident Management System (IMS) informing you of problems with your operations in order to keep your backups, exports and archives running smoothly.
These notifications are for information purposes only. It's important to configure your task scheduler to use batch files with pre- and post-processing steps for custom alerts on job status. Alternatively, leverage one of the many Incident Management Systems (IMS) available to properly manage alerts, escalations, tracking, and job status reporting.
It is very important for SmartBackup Administrators to regularly confirm that backup copies are saved in the User Vaults and that export file copies are saved to the mapped drive configured in SmartBackup settings.
Also be sure to monitor the available disk space on the locations where the Export and Archive copies are being saved. If the disk space becomes full, then the Export and Archive functions will fail.
Setting up Alerts and Notifications
To setup notifications and alerts follow these steps:
Click on Settings top right in Console UI
Next click on “Notifications and Alerts" which will display the settings.
Enable User notifications if you want to send individual status notifications to any User processed.
Enable Administrator notifications if you want to send overall admin status to a administrator. You must supply a valid email address.
Enable IMS Alerts if you want to send Alerts to an automated system and/or other recipients. You must supply one or more valid email addresses separated by commas.
Save the settings
Alert Message Structure
Email alert messages are structured with keywords so that an automated system can take appropriate downstream actions.
Sample message
Message Subject Line
Message Body with structured keywords
Optionally you can get more details and possible ways to correct from documentation site by looking up the MessageId of the Alert.
Email Alert Subject Line - single continuous line separated with semi-colons
ALERT
ALERT=SmartBackup;
Will always be SmartBackup
Ideal for ensuring IMS system act on SmartBackup alerts
Operation
Operation=Export;
Can be Backup, Export or Archive
Denote the Operation emitting the Alert
Message
Message=xxxxxxxxxx;
Alerting message
Short description of the Alert
Time
Time=2022/May/30 12:53:20
Alerting time
Time the Alert was emitted
Email Body - multiple lines structured as keyword=xxxx
Operation
Operation=Export;
Can be Backup, Export or Archive
Denote the Operation emitting the Alert
MsgID
MsgID=1234;
Message Identifier
Allows one to lookup Alert for more details.
Message
Message=xxxxxxxxxx;
Alerting message
Short description of the Alert
User
User=xxxx;
Can be a specific User or Job
Allow one to associate the Alert with a particular User where appropriate
Description
Description=xxxx
Alerting message with more information
Detailed message
Escalation and Notification Management
Alerts ideally should be automatically managed and escalated with an Incident Management System or Escalation Notification Platform. In the event that you currently do not have something managing alerts, or for that matter runtime escalations, some 3rd party Tools you may want to investigate:
Alert Messages
The following conditions will alert.
SA01
Abnormal condition (error/job abort) was detected in Archive run.
CRITICAL - Abnormal condition detected in Archive Job, Operation aborted, please take immediate action.
One has to find reason why Job aborted. The Detail message in the alert should provide some description. Also start by looking at the Archive Job cmdline messages and the current Log file. Seeing who is the current or last processed Member(User) is always helpful.
SB01
Abnormal condition (error/job abort) was detected in Backup run.
CRITICAL - Abnormal condition detected in Backup Job, Operation aborted, please take immediate action.
One has to find reason why Job aborted. The Detail message in the alert should provide some description. Also start by looking at the Backup Job cmdline messages and the current Log file. Seeing who is the current or last processed Member(User) is always helpful.
SE01
A low free space condition (less than 1GB) has been detected on device you have allocated for export operations.
WARNING - Low on FREE storage, please take action
Please ensure you have enough free space on the device you are exporting to.
SE02
A no space condition has been detected on device you have allocated for export operations. All export operations will cease.
CRITICAL - No FREE storage on device, please take immediate action.
Please ensure you switch to a new device/folder location that has enough free space.
SE03
Reserved for future use
SE04
A duplicate folder in same parent folder condition has been detected. Export is aborted for affected User.
WARNING - Duplicate Smartsheet folder name, operation aborted for User.
No file system allow duplicate folder structures at the same level. Please ensure that you rename these. Since Folders effectively form the path, SmartBackup do not automatically rename these during export. Duplicate sheets on the other hand are automatically renamed by SmartBackup.
SE05
Abnormal condition (error/job abort) was detected in Export run.
CRITICAL - Abnormal condition detected in Export Job, Operation aborted, please take immediate action.
One has to find reason why Job aborted. The Detail message in the alert should provide some description. Also start by looking at the Export Job cmdline messages and the current Log file. Seeing who is the current or last processed Member(User) is always helpful.
SMTP Settings
SmartBackup perform notifications and alerts using the AcuWorkflow SMTP server
or optionally your SMTP server
.
Using your SMTP Server
To limit configuration options, SmartBackup mimic options available from GMAIL.
Click on Settings, then Notifications and Alerts
Turn On Use Own Server and supply details for your SMTP Server
Send Test Message to confirm settings work
Configuration Settings:
ServerName: e.g. smtp.domain.ext
SerververPort: e.g 587
SMTPUserName: e.g mylogin@gdomain.ext
SMTPPassword: e.g mypass@01 Note! if you are using Gmail this should be an APP Password
FromAddress: e.g mylogin@gdomain.ext
SSL/TLS or TLS/STARTTLS: choose your option
Test if your email configuration works by sending Test Email message.
Test Message will be sent to Administrator email address. Please ensure Settings-options are saved before sending. Test Message will be sent via the AcuWorkflow SMTP Server if Own Server OFF or via your specified server when Own Server ON.
Using GMAIL as your SMTP Server
Note that GMAIL requires the following:
Port: 465 (SSL/TLS) or 587 (TLS/STARTTLS)
Password: Will not accept your normal Login Password. You have to enable 2F authentication, generate App password and supply that.
Last updated