Help: correct use of restic "parent not found"

Getting Help
1

i use

backup --files-from includi.txt --exclude-file=windows.escludi --exclude-file=custom.escludi --verbose=2 --limit-upload 1000

when add a new path to includi.txt , backup no found parent snapshot, can i use --group-by=host
i want only host, not --group-by=host,path?

i have only one server windows, with many folders.

1 Like
2

Hello @EnricoSx
Does your include.txt file have a path on each line and without commas or anything separating it?
Like:

c:\my data1
c:\my pictures

Also check this link:

Maybe you are including a path that is part of another previous path.

And this is a question for me, what kind of content do you have in windows.escludi? Temporary files, program folders, etc?

3

command

restic.exe backup --files-from includi.txt --exclude-file=windows.escludi --exclude-file=custom.escludi --verbose=2 --limit-upload 1365

includi.txt

C:\\tmp
c:\\temp
c:\\tmp2

after i add c:\tmp2

no parent snapshot found, will read all files
load index files
start scan on [C:\\tmp c:\\temp c:\\tmp2]
start backup on [C:\\tmp c:\\temp c:\\tmp2]

windows.escludi

# default excludes
# examples https://github.com/duplicati/duplicati/blob/master/Duplicati/Library/Utility/FilterGroups.cs
C:\hiberfil.sys
C:\pagefile.sys
C:\swapfile.sys
C:\$Recycle.Bin
C:\autoexec.bat
C:\Config.Msi
C:\Documents and Settings
C:\Recycled
C:\Recycler
C:\$$Recycle.Bin
C:\System Volume Information
C:\Recovery
C:\Program Files
C:\Program Files (x86)
C:\ProgramData
C:\PerfLogs
C:\Windows
C:\Windows.old
C:\$$WINDOWS.~BT
C:\$$WinREAgent
Microsoft\Windows\Recent
Microsoft\**\RecoveryStore*
Microsoft\**\Windows\*.edb
Microsoft\**\Windows\*.log
Microsoft\**\Windows\Cookies*
MSOCache
NTUSER*
ntuser*
UsrClass.dat

# cloud services
Dropbox
AppData\Local\Google\Drive
Google Drive\.tmp.drivedownload
C:\OneDriveTemp

# browsers
Google\Chrome

# AppData
AppData\Local\Microsoft
AppData\Local\Duplicati
AppData\Local\D3DSCache
AppData\Local\ConnectedDevicesPlatform
AppData\Local\Packages
AppData\Roaming\Signal
AppData\Local\ElevatedDiagnostics
AppData\Local\restic
AppData\LocalLow\Microsoft\CryptnetUrlCache
AppData\Local\IsolatedStorage
AppData\Local\Spotify
AppData\Local\Programs\signal-desktop
AppData\Roaming\Code
AppData\Roaming\Slack
AppData\Roaming\Spotify
AppData\Roaming\Zoom

# misc. temporary files
Temporary Internet Files
Thumbs.db
AppData\Local\Temp
Users\Public\AccountPictures

custom.escludi is empty

1 Like
4

So I’m very sorry but I have no way to help you. I’m pretty new to Restic.

Thank you very much for sharing the exclusions file!

5

I believe this is down to restic’s design - a key part of how it finds a parent snapshot is by using the paths that were passed to backup (Backing up — restic 0.16.0 documentation). The relevant quote from the docs is: “By default restic groups snapshots by hostname and backup paths”.

You are adding another path to backup (c:\tmp2), which means restic cannot find a parent automatically, hence the “no parent snapshot found” line.

Manually specifying a parent snapshot should help with the backup speed, as discussed here: (Backing up multiple paths at once).

The docs mention you can set grouping by tags, host, and not paths, which might work to enable the parent to be automatically detected. I think it’s worth trying (maybe while using --dry-run) to see what the effect of grouping by host is, and if the parent snapshot is detected properly.

1 Like
6

solved i used 0.15! on 0.16 backup have --group-by !

--parent snapshot use this parent snapshot (default: latest snapshot in the group determined by --group-by and not newer than the timestamp determined by --time)
2 Likes
7

Great! Happy that you find the solution and also the info.