Backup keeps looping infinitely

EDIT: After finishing my post I let the program run for a while longer and it finally just died. Here are the final entries:

2848.280 (9) Opened log file at time: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 00:34:02 +0000
2848.732 (9) UpdraftPlus WordPress backup plugin (https://updraftplus.com): 1.8.5 WP: 3.8.1 PHP: 5.3.28 (Linux “REMOVED” 2.6.32-458.6.2.lve1.2.30.el6.x86_64 #1 SMP Fri Jul 12 15:02:22 EEST 2013 x86_64) MySQL: 5.5.32-cll-lve Server: LiteSpeed safe_mode: 0 max_execution_time: 900 memory_limit: 512M (used: 26.9M | 27.3M) multisite: N mcrypt: Y ZipArchive::addFile: Y
2849.384 (9) Free space on disk containing Updraft’s temporary directory: 191414.9 Mb
2850.206 (9) Backup run: resumption=9, nonce=c71b7815724c, begun at=1390779994 (2850s ago), job type=backup
2850.657 (9) The current run is resumption number 9, and there was nothing useful done on the last run (last useful run: ) – will not schedule a further attempt until we see something useful happening this time
2851.084 (9) Creation of backups of directories: had begun; will resume
2851.895 (9) No check-in was detected on the previous run – as a result, we are reducing the batch amount (old=26214400, new=20971520)
2853.590 (9) Beginning creation of dump of plugins (split every: 800 Mb)
2854.409 (9) Total entities for the zip file: 189 directories, 1231 files, 18.5 Mb

Hi pjc123,

Please could you post the entire log file? Please use pastebin.com (as it’ll be too long for this forum).

Many thanks,
David

No problem….here:

https://pastebin.com/8H1fvFuH

OK…

The problem is that the server is running unbelievably slowly – check out the timings on the log file… 6 seconds just to log the initial lines (which are usually a fraction of a second). Not sure what the maximum time set on the webserver is (often on LiteSpeed it’s as low as 10 seconds), but if it takes 6 seconds just to open the log file and log the initial state, then the chances of creating an actual backup are pretty much zero. You need to talk to your web hosting company about why it’s so slow (it might be an unfortunate one-off, of course – e.g. the server was under heavy attack at the time).

David

Thanks for the reply and explanation. An upgrade to your program was issued since yesterday (version 1.8.8) so I installed it, not that it has anything to do with this issue. I then just ran another backup to see if the slow server issue was just a fluke yesterday. Unfortunately it is doing the same thing, looping over and over again.

I do see a red warning in the “Server Status” of my cpanel with a value for Server Load of 34.52 (24 cpus), whatever that means, and the CPU Usage on the main cpanel page occasionally jumps from 25% to 100%. I will open a ticket with the hosting company and report back with what I find out. I know it does take a long time to load and do things in RVSitebuilder as well.

a value for Server Load of 34.52 (24 cpus), whatever that means

It means it’s chronically overloaded. The server load is the average number of tasks waiting for CPU time. An average of 34.52 tasks waiting for time to run on only 24 CPUs = the server would require another 10 CPUs to service the average load.

David

OK. Opening a ticket now.

Here is the response from the hosting Tech Support: (NOTE: I am currently running your backup program, so the following log would be coming from updraft.)

“The issue isn’t really server load, if you click on ‘Resource Usage’ in cPanel, you are hitting the IO limit for your account.”

“Looks like whatever you are doing right now is causing all of the IO. It’s constantly opening up 4-5 PHP processes every second.”:

IP REMOVED - - [27/Jan/2014:09:33:46 -0500] "GET /wpblog/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=updraft_ajax&subaction=lastbackup&nonce=cf493aa0fb HTTP/1.1" 200 160 "WEBSITE REMOVED/wpblog/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=updraftplus" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/7.0; rv:11.0) like Gecko"
IP REMOVED - - [27/Jan/2014:09:33:50 -0500] "GET /wpblog/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=updraft_ajax&subaction=lastbackup&nonce=cf493aa0fb HTTP/1.1" 200 160 "WEBSITE REMOVED/wpblog/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=updraftplus" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/7.0; rv:11.0) like Gecko"
IP REMOVED - - [27/Jan/2014:09:33:50 -0500] "GET /wpblog/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=updraft_ajax&subaction=lastbackup&nonce=cf493aa0fb HTTP/1.1" 200 160 "WEBSITE REMOVED/wpblog/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=updraftplus" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/7.0; rv:11.0) like Gecko"
IP REMOVED - - [27/Jan/2014:09:33:51 -0500] "GET /wpblog/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=updraft_ajax&subaction=lastbackup&nonce=cf493aa0fb HTTP/1.1" 200 160 "WEBSITE REMOVED/wpblog/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=updraftplus" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/7.0; rv:11.0) like Gecko"
IP REMOVED - - [27/Jan/2014:09:33:51 -0500] "GET /wpblog/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=updraft_ajax&subaction=activejobs_list&nonce=cf493aa0fb&downloaders= HTTP/1.1" 200 114 "WEBSITE REMOVED/wpblog/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=updraftplus" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/7.0; rv:11.0) like Gecko"
IP REMOVED - - [27/Jan/2014:09:33:54 -0500] "GET /wpblog/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=updraft_ajax&subaction=lastbackup&nonce=cf493aa0fb HTTP/1.1" 200 160 "WEBSITE REMOVED/wpblog/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=updraftplus" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/7.0; rv:11.0) like Gecko"
IP REMOVED - - [27/Jan/2014:09:33:55 -0500] "GET /wpblog/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=updraft_ajax&subaction=lastbackup&nonce=cf493aa0fb HTTP/1.1" 200 160 "WEBSITE REMOVED/wpblog/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=updraftplus" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/7.0; rv:11.0) like Gecko"
IP REMOVED - - [27/Jan/2014:09:33:55 -0500] "GET /wpblog/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=updraft_ajax&subaction=lastbackup&nonce=cf493aa0fb HTTP/1.1" 200 160 "WEBSITE REMOVED/wpblog/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=updraftplus" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/7.0; rv:11.0) like Gecko"
IP REMOVED - - [27/Jan/2014:09:33:55 -0500] "GET /wpblog/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=updraft_ajax&subaction=lastbackup&nonce=cf493aa0fb HTTP/1.1" 200 160 "WEBSITE REMOVED/wpblog/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=updraftplus" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/7.0; rv:11.0) like Gecko"
IP REMOVED - - [27/Jan/2014:09:33:55 -0500] "GET /wpblog/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=updraft_ajax&subaction=lastbackup&nonce=cf493aa0fb HTTP/1.1" 200 160 "WEBSITE REMOVED/wpblog/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=updraftplus" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/7.0; rv:11.0) like Gecko"
IP REMOVED - - [27/Jan/2014:09:33:57 -0500] "GET /wpblog/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=updraft_ajax&subaction=activejobs_list&nonce=cf493aa0fb&downloaders= HTTP/1.1" 200 114 "WEBSITE REMOVED/wpblog/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=updraftplus" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/7.0; rv:11.0) like Gecko"
IP REMOVED - - [27/Jan/2014:09:33:58 -0500] "GET /wpblog/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=updraft_ajax&subaction=lastbackup&nonce=cf493aa0fb HTTP/1.1" 200 160 "WEBSITE REMOVED/wpblog/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=updraftplus" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/7.0; rv:11.0) like Gecko"
IP REMOVED - - [27/Jan/2014:09:33:58 -0500] "GET /wpblog/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=updraft_ajax&subaction=lastbackup&nonce=cf493aa0fb HTTP/1.1" 200 160 "WEBSITE REMOVED/wpblog/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=updraftplus" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/7.0; rv:11.0) like Gecko"
IP REMOVED - - [27/Jan/2014:09:33:59 -0500] "GET /wpblog/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=updraft_ajax&subaction=lastbackup&nonce=cf493aa0fb HTTP/1.1" 200 160 "WEBSITE REMOVED/wpblog/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=updraftplus" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/7.0; rv:11.0) like Gecko"

[Moderator Note: Please post log files between backticks or use the code button.]

Hi pjc123,

That isn’t a plausible explanation:

“Looks like whatever you are doing right now is causing all of the IO. It’s constantly opening up 4-5 PHP processes every second.”

But, the log file extract given shows 14 PHP processes in 14 seconds, which is 1 PHP process per second, not 4-5 per second. If 1 process/second hits an I/O limit, then that’s a ridiculously low limit.

Having said that, to get 14 processes in 14 seconds, you must have the UD settings page open several times. By default, it polls for new information every 5 seconds – so presumably you have it open approx. 5 times?

Anyway – to rule out this possibility, simply hit “Backup Now”, then close your browser windows immediately. Then there’ll be no I/O being used for anything else. (“Backup Now” schedules a backup for 5 seconds time).

Anyway – to rule out this possibility, simply hit “Backup Now”, then close your browser windows immediately. Then there’ll be no I/O being used for anything else. (“Backup Now” schedules a backup for 5 seconds time).

I ran a backup, closed the browser, reopened it an hour later and the backup is still looping. There is a new error on the backup page:

Mon, January 27, 2014 10:19 – next resumption: 3 (after 27s) – show log – delete schedule?Warning: Your website is visited infrequently and UpdraftPlus is not getting the resources it hoped for; please read this page: https://updraftplus.com/faqs/why-am-i-getting-warnings-about-my-site-not-having-enough-visitors/

It looks like the ticket was escalated to a senior person, if that is of any help I don’t know..

As it turns out, the format was not correct for the LiteSpeed server fix. Per the warning that was displayed on the dashboard of your program, and the instructions that it pointed to, I added the following line to the .htaccess file before I ran my very first backup. That backup worked, but took a very long time:

RewriteRule ^$ – [E=noabort:1]

However, according to the host company, that format is not correct, and an additonal two other lines were added:

<IfModule litespeed>
RewriteRule .* – [E=noabort:1]
</IfModule>

That immediately fixed the problem and the backup now completes in just a few minutes.

Hi pjc123,

The format they’ve given you will help if the website hasn’t got regular visitors yet, and the extra two lines will help if the same files are sometimes served up by Apache and sometimes by Litespeed (instead of always one or the other). Glad you got it fixed. I’ve changed the one given on our FAQ page, as your one is better if there are fewer visitors, and there’s no harm in always using it.

Best wishes,
David

Great, everyone wins; that is why I specifically asked what changes were made to get it to work in the event it would help others. I have limited knowledge of all this as I built a web site simply for a hobby I wanted to post, so I am at the mercy of everyone, but I am slowly picking up things.

This is really a great backup program. To be honest I thought that the backup command that came with WordPress was backing up everything, but it is really pretty much useless if things go really wrong as it misses so many things.