ArcServe PRE-execution job fails

[KaJuHe]

Hi there,

we use BrightStor ArcServe Backup for Windows 9.01 and here is the description about my issue:

I want to backup a server called ABC by using agent and have added an agent PRE-execution program to be run called TEST.exe on this ABC server.

TEST.EXE is a program that takes 1 hour to run and finish completely.

What i want is:
1) backup process starts 17:00
2) PRE-execution program TEST.exe is executed 17:00
3) PRE-execution program TEST.exe is completed 18:00
4) backup process continues by backing up ABC at 18:01

This is what i get:
1) backup process starts 17:00
2) PRE-execution program TEST.exe is executed 17:00
3) PRE-execution program TEST.exe is left running on ABC
4) backup process continues by backing up ABC at 17:01 ie.
instantly after the program is executed 17:00 in ABC.

What i want is the program to run and finish before the backup process continues, is this possible at all or am i understanding something clearly wrong or possibly hitting a bug?!

This all needs to be done by using only 1 single JOB.

Thank you very much in advance, sincerely Kari

 

[KaJuHe]

Let's clarify the real problem a little bit.
Problem is that the running time of TEST.EXE is anything from 1 minute up to 6 hours ie.it is not always the same and this is what makes this situation tricky to solve.
Unfortunately my poor example did not demonstrate this well.

In a nutshell we backup servers x1,x2,x3 between 17:00-23:30 and then want to run the EXE program, and only after the EXE has run and also completed, we want to backup the last server x4 ie.the last part (x4) of the copying could start eg.05:00 when EXE is run and finished.
And this all needs definitely to be done by only 1 job, otherwise it would be quite easy to setup 2 different jobs and handle it that way.

I cannot use ArcServe delay option since as said running time could be anything between 1min-6hrs, on the other hand the agent side PRE does not even have "on exit code" and "delay in minutes" only "delay in seconds" but i can not use these features in any case due to the unpredictable exact running time.

The main question is, what is the expected ArcServe agent
PRE-execution job behaviour:
A) PRE-execution program ie.TEST.EXE is only executed after which the backup JOB continues backing up
B) PRE-execution program ie.TEST.EXE is executed and the backup JOB waits the program to finish and only after this
continues backing up
C) maybe something else

Any ideas to help me forward will be very much appreciated.

 

[davidmichel]

The program is not going to do what you want. As you found you can set the delay but that is it, it will not wait for your other program to finish.