Backup fails if target folder emptied

[Rick Read]

FBackup 4.1.139, created mirror backup and it works. Contrary to my expectation, if I empty the target folder, it is not repopulated when I next perform the backup.

[Adrian (Softland)]

Hi,
If you use the Full backup type, all source files will be backed up.

If you use the Mirror backup type, only new and modified files will be backed up.
You should not delete files from destination. FBackup is using the fkc catalog file to compare if new files were added or modified.

[pierrem]

Hi Rick,
This is the same issue I have. See post "Backup doesn't work if destination repository is deleted".
Cheers,

Pierre

[Rick Read]

Thanks Pierre, that was helpful.
This program is so close to exactly what I need. The missing piece in Mirror mode is a compare of source and target prior to backup (as offered in Second Copy and SyncBack, for example), copying and deleting only the difference between source and target. If my client data stores were small, this would not be a problem, but the data stores tend to run large and can take a very long time to copy.
What gives me pause is that the target files cannot be trusted - maybe they were moved or tampered with. In this case, the logs would not show that a full backup does not exist, even though FBACKUP thinks they do since it relies on the catalog, not an audit of the target at backup time.
Where is my perfect world?
Rick

[Rick Read]

And Admin, thank you too.

[Adrian (Softland)]

Hi,
As I wrote in "Backup doesn't work if destination repository is deleted" post, this is how the application was designed and cannot be changed.

[Rick Read]

Do any of the paid versions of FBackup have this feature, that is, where source and target folders are evaluated by the program at backup time, independent of the catalog file, and files copied to the target that don't exist there?

[Adrian (Softland)]

Hi,
All our products use a catalog for backups.

[Awethentic]

I guess the best solution to ensuring that all source files are backed up is to create a new backup item (ctrl-N) any time you suspect any files have been deleted from the destination. This is because there is no catalogue for it to refer to as it is a new backup.
Admin - a question. If one keeps the backup item (as in the left hand column area), but deletes the catalogue in the 2 places mentioned (destination and program area), then would this have the same effect of starting a new backup item, and so all source files would be backed up, whether or not they were deleted in the destination?
Many thanks, all the best, cheers and enjoy.
A

[Adrian (Softland)]

Yes, deleting both catalogs will cause FBackup to perform a complete backup as it has no previous information about any backups.