Backups are so integral to any individual or company. However, backup errors can be quite frustrating to troubleshoot. Such was the case with this Acronis backup issue.
Problem: We installed Acronis Backup & Recovery Management Console on a server. From there we manage the backups for workstations. We kept running into the issue that the retention policies would never work. If we told the retention policy to delete backups older than 15 days, nothing would happen. It would save the backups and eventually fill up the external hard drive or network attached storage device. After digging around in the settings and trying to figure out if something wasn’t configured properly I was about ready to give up until I found this forum thread.
Here is how to fix your retention policy issue.
This is the example of the backup plan that was giving me issues. I would do a simple backup scheme once a day. The backups would go to a Centralized Vault and were supposed to delete after 15 days. The problem was they would never be deleted and the NAS device would get filled with backups.
There is a bug with retention rules in simple scheme. The retention policies are not applied automatically if they are configured after the backup plan was created. You can check your settings by exporting the plan and checking the exported .XML file settings. Once you have your backup plan exported scroll down till you find under <locations> < location> <configuration> <rule> . Underneath rule you will see these values, <before_backup>, <after_backup>, and <on_schedule>. If these values are set to false the the rules are never applied automatically.
Thankfully the fix is simple. To fix this problem edit the backup plan. Simply, switch the Acronis backup scheme to manual and then back to simple and reconfigure your retention policies again. Save your backup plan. If you export your backup file again, you will find, at least one depending on your retention policies, set to true. This means your retention policy will automatically be applied now!
Acronis says they are aware of the issue and fix will be available in the nearest update.
If this helps, let me know by sounding off in the comments section below.
This was posted by techspeeder.
Unfortunately this still didn’t work for me. I was so excited because it has been an issue for a long time. Can you tell me if newer versions have Acronis have fixed this? I’m considering just upgrading.