There exist three types of messages:
1) Informational - Messagenumber ends with I
2) Warning - Messagenumber ends with W
3) Error - Messagenumber ends with E
Most errormessages of raspiBackup give detailed information about the root cause. Sometimes it's required to get additional information in order to get rid of them. raspiBackup has about 200 errormessages and it's so boring to explain all of them here. If you miss a message first use your search engine and serach for the message number. if you still don't find an answer add the message text in a comment at the end of the page and the message with more detailed explanations will be addded on this page. That way the most common raspiBackup messages will show up on this page.
Messages in the number range from 0-999 are written by raspiBackup. Messages from 1000-1999 are written by sample plugins. All other number ranges are custom plugin messages.
In addition raspiBackup terminates with an error code which oints to the root cause. A list of error codes is available at the end of this page.
If the information for a message does'nt help just use your seach engine to search for the message number (RBK....).
raspiBackup - Errormessages, root causes, suggested actions
List of most common error messages
RBK0005E: Backup failed. Check previous error messages for details.
RBK0013E: More than two partitions detected which can be saved only with backuptype DD or D
RBK0015E: There is already an instance of raspiBackup up and running.
RBK0019E: Missing option -a and -o.
RBK0020E; Filesystem of rsync backup directory %s does not support %s.
RBK0021E: Backupprogram for type %s failed with RC %s.
RBK0027E: No external device mounted on %s. SD card would be used for backup.
RBK0028E: %s is no backup directory of raspiBackup.
RBK0030E: %s file creation with dd failed with RC %s.
RBK0039E: Mail program %s not installed to send emails.
RBK0047E: Error occured when starting services. RC %s.
RBK0048E: Error occured when stopping services. RC %s.
RBK0061E: Unable to find bootpartition files %s starting with %s.
RBK0077E: Restore failed. Check previous error messages.
RBK0086E: Restore device cannot be a partition.
RBK0087E: Restore directory %s was not created by raspiBackup.
RBK0105I: Deleting new backup directory %s.
RBK0109E: Unsupported filesystem %s detected on partition %s.
RBK0142E: Unable to detect boot device.
RBK0147E: Backup of partition %s failed with RC %s.
RBK0150W: Maximum file size in backup directory %s is limited to 4GB.
RBK0154E: Restore is not possible when a partition of device %s is mounted.
RBK0160E: Target %s with %s is smaller than backup source with %s.
RBK0164E: Unable to create hardlinks. RC %s.
RBK0172E: Unable to create directory %s.
RBK0178E: Creation of %s failed with RC %s.
RBK0196W: No hardlinks supported on %s.
RBK0197W: eMail send command %s failed with RC %s.
RBK0203E: Unable to discover boot device. Please report this issue with a debug log created with option '-l debug'.
RBK0211E: External partition %s mounted on %s will not be saved with option -P.
RBK0263E: Filesystem %s on %s does not support Linux fileattributes.
RBK0266E: Access rights missing to create fileattributes on %s (Filesystem: %s).
RBK0268E: Raspberries running Raspberry PI OS are supported.
RBK0273E: %s invalid backup directorie(s) found in %s.
RBK0277E: Restore not possible when 'usbmount' is installed.
RBK1005E: bc not found. Please install bc first with with 'sudo apt-get install bc'.
Description of error messages
RBK0005E: Backup failed. Check previous error messages for details.
Root cause:
raspiBackup ends with an error and didn't create a backup
Suggested actions:
There should be another error message preceding this message. Lookup this message and fix the root cause.
RBK0013E: More than two partitions detected which can be saved only with backuptype DD or DDZ or with option -P.
Root cause:
raspiBackup saves the first two partitions only. If there exist more partitions this message is written.
Suggested actions:
Either delete the additionsl partitionsor use option --ignoreAdditionalPartitions. That way you tell raspiBackup to ignore the additional partitions which are NOT saved. Otherwise use backup type DD or parition oriented backup mode to save all partitions.
RBK0015E: There is already an instance of raspiBackup up and running.
Root cause:
raspiBackup rejects to start in parallel. Either raspiBackup is still active or a previous raspiBackup run terminated unsuccessful and didn't delete the lock file.
Suggested action:
Check with ps-ef | grep raspiBackup
whether raspiBackup is active right now. If yes wait until raspiBackup finishes and try again. If no you have to delete /var/lock/raspiBackup with sudo rm /var/lock/raspiBackup
RBK0019E: Missing option -a and -o.
Root cause:
raspiBackup allows to backup a running system. Before saving the system important services should be stopped and started afterwards to make sure the backup is consistent. There are no services defined to stop and start.
Suggested actions:
Use both options to define the services to stop and start or use the installer to define the services to stop and start in the configuration file. See details on FAQ page.
RBK0020E; Filesystem of rsync backup directory %s does not support %s.
Root cause:
A backup filesystem for rsync has to support softlinks. It's supported by EXT2, EXT3 and EXT4. FAT32 or NTFS don't support softlinks. For details see FAQ19
Suggested actions:
Reformat the backup partition with EXT2, 3 or 4 or use a different backup type dd or tar.
RBK0021E: Backupprogram for type %1 failed with RC %2.
Root cause:
dd, tar or rsync used to create a backup terminated with an error. RC is the return code of the backup program. Usually the backupprogram also writes some error messages which help to isolate the root cause.
Suggested actions:
RC 1 for dd is a read or write error. RC 1 for tar and RC 23 or RC 24 for rsync is returned by the backup tools when a file or directory changed during backup.
RC2 for tar is a fatal error. This means that some fatal, unrecoverable error occurred.
RC23 for rsync also happens if there is some authorization missing. In addition it may happen if ACLs are not supported on nfs. See FAQ24 for details.
Please check the debug log for error messages which follow the line executeCmd Command where the Linux backup tool is called or are written in the eMail.
If this doesn't help use option -v with tar or rsync to get detailed informations from the backup program in the debug log or add
DEFAULT_RSYNC_BACKUP_ADDITIONAL_OPTIONS="--info=NAME0"in the raspiBackup config file for rsync to log error messages only and suppress a detailed log of all files which are copied which you get with option -v..
Then pass the error messages into your favorit search engine to find the root cause. See the FAQ page where a lot of error messages and their root cause is explained. For rsync you will find all error rsync messages in the debug log just after the call of rsync. They help to find the root cause of the error.
You can also ignore errors from tar and rsync. See FAQ32.
A lot of time the backup partition - in particula if it's connected via network (nfs, samba) - the root cause for the issue - network transmission errors or network misconfiguration. Sometimes it's also the backup device which has write errors.
If the backup partition is mounted via nfs read this article
If authorization is missing make sure root has full control on the backup partition.
RBK0027E: No external device mounted on %1. SD card would be used for backup.
Root cause:
raspiBackup checks whether there is an external backup partition mounted on the backup path. Otherwise the backup would be stored on the SD card which doesn't make sense and if the SD card is small it will be blown up.
Suggested actions:
Let's assume %1 is /backup which is the default backup path. You should mount either your local your backup partition which resides on an USB stick or -disk or a remote backup partition on /backup. Use /etc/fstab to define the mount point /backup. Check with
findmnt /backup
until the remote partition is mounted.
If you know what you are doing you can use option -c to disable this error message.
RBK0028E: %s is no backup directory of raspiBackup.
Root cause:
A filename was passed instead of the backup directory.
Suggested actions:
Remove the filename and pass the backupdirectory name only.
RBK0030E: %s file creation with dd failed with RC %s.
Root cause:
Creation of a file with dd failed. RC 1 is returned for read/write errors.
Suggested actions:
If this message is written during restore the SD card is corrupted. Use another SD card. If this message is written during backup there are issues to write on the backup partition. See dd messages written earlier to get more insights about the root cause.
RBK0039E: Mail program %s not installed to send emails.
Root cause:
The configured eMail programm to send an eMal was not found. Usually this error is reported when Postfix or Nullmailer are used as MTA.
Suggested actions:
Install the configured eMail program or bsd-mailx or mailutils.
RBK0047E: Error occured when starting services. RC %s.
RBK0048E: Error occured when stopping services. RC %s.
Root cause:
The commands Befehle defined with option -a/-o or configparameter DEFAULT_STARTSERVICES/DEFAULT_STOPSERVICES which start/stop services get an error.
Suggested actions:
You have to find the command which fails. Enter every command in the list step by step with sudo and watch for error messages. Then fix the root cause of the error message.
RBK0051W: Target %s with %s is larger than 2TB and requires gpt instead of mbr. Otherwise only 2TB will be used.
Root cause:
Your target partition is largern than 2TB and gpt is required. If the backup uses mbr the target partition can only be expanded until 2TB.
Suggested actions:
Ignore the message if your backup already uses gbt. Otherwise you have to create a gpt on your target drive and create your partitions beforehand. Then you can restore your backup with option -0 and your target partition will be expanded to it's maximum capacity.
RBK0061E: Unable to find bootpartition files %s starting with %s.
Root cause:
raspiBackup looks up the boot partition backup in the backup directory but is unable to find it
Suggested actions::
The backup directory passed for restore is no raspiBackup directory or is incomplete. Check here for the files which have to exist in the backup directory. A backup directory has to follow following naming schema: Start with the hostname of the Raspberry followed by the backup type and end with the backup createion date and time. Examples: raspberrypi-dd-backup-20160415-222900 or raspberrypi-rsync-backup-20160416-094106
RBK0077E: Restore failed. Check previous error messages.
Root cause:
Some error occured during restore. This can either be an error when the partitions are created or the backup data is restored.
Suggested actions::
Check for any leading error messages. In addition check the debug log when the partitions are created. Search for Checking that no-one is using this disk right now and check for error messages. There is a known issue with a new sfdisk version in Bullseye if the backup is restored on a system running a previous version of sfdisk. The errormessage is
>>> line 5: unsupported command
Solution is to either use a Linux system which uses the new sfdisk version available in Buster
sfdisk --version
sfdisk from util-linux 2.36.1
or to manually delete the 5th line in the file with extension .sfdisk in the backup directory.
RBK0086E: Restore device cannot be a partition.
Root cause:
raspiBackup will create partitoins during restore on the SD card. Thus the SD card has to be passed as the target device for restore. It's not allowed to pass a partition.
Suggested actions:
Instead of e.g. /dev/sdb1, which defines a parition use e.g. /dev/sdb. But WARNING: All data of the SD card will be overwritten during restore. Make sure you don't need any data from other partitions any more. See also this page about restore.
RBK0087E: Restore directory %s was not created by raspiBackup.
Root cause:
raspiBackup generates a backup directory which follows a special directory naming. The backup directory has to conform to the following format. <hostname>-<backuptype>-backup-<date>-<time>. For details see here.
Suggested action:
Das Backupverzeichnis muss gemäß der o.g. Form umbenannt werden.
RBK0105I: Deleting new backup directory %1.
Root cause:
raspiBackup failed with an error and deletes the empty or inconsistent backup directory.
Suggested actions:
Fix the root cause why raspiBackup failed.
RBK0109E: Unsupported filesystem %s detected on partition %s
Root cause:
raspiBackup does not support the given filesystem .
Suggested actions:
Create an issue in github and maybe it's possible to add support in raspiBackup for this filesystem.
RBK0142E: Unable to detect boot device.
Root cause:
raspibackup is not able to detect the boot device. This usually happens if another hardware than a Raspberry is used or another operating systemn than Raspbian is used.
Suggested actions:
Report the issue either on github or in a comment below.
RBK0147E: Backup of partition %1 failed with RC %2.
Root cause:
raspiBackup received an error from the backup program used to create the backup in partition oriented mode.
Suggested actions:
See RBK0021E
RBK0150W: Maximum file size in backup directory %s is limited to 4GB.
Root cause:
The filesystem of the backup spaces only supports files with a maximum size of 4GB which is too small for a backup.
Suggested actions:
Create another filesystem on the backup space. Which filesystem is the right one depends on the backup type you use. Read this page and pick the correct filesystem from the table.
RBK0154E: Restore is not possible when a partition of device %1 is mounted.
Root cause:
A partition must be not mounted when it's written to.
Suggested actions:
Use command sudo mount | grep <device> (<device> is mentioned in the message) to find the mounted partition and use sudo umount <partition> where <partition> should be the partition name, e.g. /dev/sda1 to umount the partition.
RBK0160E: Target %1 with %2 is smaller than backup source with %3.
Root cause:
The dd backup is larger than the SD card used for restore and therefore it's impossible to restore the image. This message is written only for a dd backup. A tar or rsync restore will adjust the size accordingly.
Suggested actions:
Used a larger SD card for restore. You also can use pishrink to shrink the dd image first and then restore it with raspiBackup. See also FAQ26.
RBK0164E: Unable to create hardlinks. RC %s.
Root cause:
Backp type rsync requires hardlink support. Hardlinks are supported by ext3 or ext4 filesystems only.
Suggested actions:
Either use a different backup type like dd or tar or use a backuppartition which is formatted with ext3 or ext4. See also this page.
RBK0172E: Unable to create directory %s.
Root cause:
User root is not allowed to create a backup directory.
Suggested actions:
If the backup directory is located on a nfs server usually the option NO_ROOT_SQUASH is missing in /etc/exports. Other than that the backup partition misses update access rights in the mount.
RBK0178E: Creation of %s failed with RC %s.
Root cause:
The dd backup for the boot partition fails with a dd RC. RC1 is an input/output error.
Suggested actions:
Check the dd RC description. If it's RC1 check the boot device and or backup partition.
RBK0196W: No hardlinks supported on %1.
Root cause:
rsync will use hardlinks in order to reduce backup time and backup space. Hardlinks are supported by ext3/ext4 filesystems mounted locally or via nfs. Samba and sshfs doesn't support hardlinks.
Suggested actions:
Either use a backup partition which supports hardlinks to get the benefits of hardlinks or use tar or dd backup type. But keep in mind every backup will be a full backup which requires much more space and time.
RBK0197W: eMail send command %s failed with RC %s.
Root cause:
An error occured when raspiBackup tried to send an eMail.
Suggested actions:
Most of the time this is caused by an incorrect MTA configuration if you setup your eMail notification for raspibackup. A lot of time even raspiBackup doesn't fail to send an eMail but the eMail is not received. Please check the log of the used MTA to find the root cause of the missing eMail. Configuration of a MTA is complicated and no issue of raspiBackup. Please read FAQ47. In addition look up the RC of the eMail client to get an idea what's the root cause of the issue. For example your eMail receiver may have problems to receive the eMail.
RBK0203E: Unable to discover boot device. Please report this issue with a debug log created with option '-l debug'.
Root cause:
raspiBackup tries to discover the boot device but fails for some unknown reasons.
Suggested actions:
Create an issue in github and attach the debug log.
Note: NVMe storage is not supported. Development misses NVMe storage and adapter to add NVMe support and carefully execute tests. Any donations for NVMe support development and test are welcome. See here how to donate.
RBK0211E: External partition %s mounted on %s will not be saved with option -P.
Root cause:
raspiBackup supports with option -P only to save SD cards.
Suggested actions:
If you use the normal backup mode you can create a backup when USB boot mode is used. If there are more than 2 partitions used option --ignoreAdditionalPartitions will exclude all additional partitions from the backup.
RBK0263E: Filesystem on %s does not support Linux fileattributes.
Root cause:
Backup method rsync requires a backupartiton which supports Linux fileattributes. Current filesystem does not support them. Usually it's a NTFS filesystem. If the backup partition is mounted via nfs the error message usually means the nfs partition was not exported with no_root_squash.
Suggested actions
Either use dd or tar backup method or use a backuppartition which supports Linux fileattributes. For details see this page.
RBK0266E: Access rights missing to create fileattributes on %s (Filesystem: %s).
Root cause:
The nfs exported backup partition does not allow root to create all fileattributes. Usually it means the nfs partition was not exported with no_root_squash on the nfs server. This option has to be used in /etc/exports on the NFS Server for the exported partition. In addition the filesystem used has to support Linux fileattributes - either ext3 or ext4. ntfs or fat32 doesn't work.
Suggested actions
Export the backup partition with no_root_squash.
RBK0268E: Raspberries running Raspberry PI OS are supported.
Root cause:
raspiBackup is supported on Raspberries and Raspbian only. There exist other Linux distributions and raspberry compatible hardware wre raspiBackup runs successfully. But because of missing test hardware and software and time there environments are not supported.
Suggested actions
Use option --unsupportedEnvironment and cross fingers raspiBackup will be able to run successfully on your environment. If it fails there is no support given. See also this page.
RBK0273E: %s invalid backup directorie(s)or files found in %s.
Root cause:
The backup directory of a system should only contain directories created by raspiBackup. All other directories or files will cause this message. This usually happens if backupdirectories are manually renamend.
Suggested actions
Either delete the files and/or directories or move them to a different place.
RBK0274E: Restore device %s has mounted partitions. Note: Restore to the active system is not possible."
Root cause:
The restore device is mounted. Either because it's the device with the root filesystem and a restore onto the running system is forbidden or because by error an active device used for other purposes is selected as the restore device and will be overwritten. If usbmount is installed this has to be deaktivated first.
Suggested actions
Umount the device first or deaktivate usbmount.
RBK0277E: Restore not possible when 'usbmount' is installed.
Root cause:
Umount interferes with raspiBackup and should not be installed.
Suggested actions:
Uninstall usbmount with sudo apt-get remobe . A much better solution is to prepare a dedicated SD card with a small RaspbianOS (RaspbianOS lite) which will be used for every Restore and will not have usbmount installed.
RBK1005E: bc not found. Please install bc first with with 'sudo apt-get install bc'.
Root cause:
Disc sample extension requires bc for calculation.
Suggested actions:
Installi bc with 'sudo apt-get install bc' and the disk sample extension will write detailed messages.
Exitcodes
In general raspiBackup terminates with an error code 0. Otherwise one of the following error codes is returned. An error message contains more detailed information about the cause of the error.
RC_ASSERTION=101
RC_MISC_ERROR=102
RC_CTRLC=103
RC_EXTENSION_ERROR=104
RC_STOP_SERVICES_ERROR=105
RC_START_SERVICES_ERROR=106
RC_PARAMETER_ERROR=107
RC_MISSING_FILES=108
RC_NATIVE_BACKUP_FAILED=109
RC_LINK_FILE_FAILED=110
RC_COLLECT_PARTITIONS_FAILED=111
RC_CREATE_PARTITIONS_FAILED=112
RC_DD_IMG_FAILED=114
RC_SDCARD_ERROR=115
RC_RESTORE_FAILED=116
RC_NATIVE_RESTORE_FAILED=117
RC_DEVICES_NOTFOUND=118
RC_CREATE_ERROR=119
RC_MISSING_COMMANDS=120
RC_NO_BOOT_FOUND=121
RC_BEFORE_START_SERVICES_ERROR=122
RC_BEFORE_STOP_SERVICES_ERROR=123
RC_EMAILPROG_ERROR=124
RC_MISSING_PARTITION=125
RC_UUIDS_NOT_UNIQUE=126
RC_INCOMPLETE_PARMS=127
RC_CONFIGVERSION_MISMATCH=128
RC_TELEGRAM_ERROR=129
RC_FILE_OPERATION_ERROR=130
RC_MOUNT_FAILED=131
RC_UNSUPPORTED_ENVIRONMENT=132
RC_RESTORE_EXTENSION_FAILS=133
RC_BACKUP_EXTENSION_FAILS=134
RC_DOWNLOAD_FAILED=135
RC_BACKUP_DIRNAME_ERROR=136
RC_RESTORE_IMPOSSIBLE=137
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