Keeping folders synchronized on several network computers

[Jimboa]

I am a long-time fan of VV and VV Engine, using Builds 2513 and 2104 respectively. I recently discovered a serious bug in VV - serious to me anyway!

I need to keep a large set of folders synchronized on several computers in my network. Each computer has an identical folder set: one root, sub folders to many levels and thousands of files. If a change is made to any file on any computer, I need that change reflected on all computers within about 20 minutes.

Years ago, using VV Pro and VV Engine, I accomplished this using one multiple-source/target profile with the sync method. VV Engine runs the profile every 10 minutes on a Windows Server 2003 box. I think of this server as the "master" repository and the root folder there is listed as the source for all the source/target lines in the profile. Each line's target specifies the same root folder but on a different computer. I have used this profile for years and it worked perfectly when all the computers ran XP or Windows Server 2003.

Here's how it works: after two profile executions, all computers have identical folder structures. One execution makes changes to the server's structure based on comparisons to all the other computers and the next execution reflects those changes to the other computers - as well as updating the server if still other changes on any other computers were newly detected.

When I introduced a couple of Windows 7 computers into the mix, things went badly on some of the computers. For example, after adding a folder and a file on one of the computers, say computer "A", the folder and file would later disappear on "A" and were never created on "B" or "C".

Looking into the profile's log after one of these undesired deletions, I found that during the first profile run, the new folder and file was correctly created on the server but later, when syncing with one of the other computers an error occurred that caused the profile to quit. During the next profile run the folder/file would be deleted from the server. Then, during the third execution of the profile, the folder/file would be deleted from the computer I had created them on.

This feels like a tracking database bug that occurs when a Windows 7 computer is part of the profile - because when all the computers were XP based, this behavior never occurred.

I also noticed in the log that the profile compares all source/target pairs first and builds an action-list based on the result BEFORE any file copying operations started. When I designed the profile, I assumed a relevent source/target comparison happened just before each line of the profile was executed. Nevertheless, my design worked until I introduced a couple of Windows 7 computers.

I think the multiple source/target profile as described above should work and I consider the deletion behavior a serious bug in VV! Here's what happened the day I realized there was a problem: On one of my computers I renamed a sub-folder that had it's own set of sub-folders and hundreds of files. An hour later, that original folder was deleted from all the other computers and the renamed folder was erased from the computer I had been working on. All traces of the original folder and its sub folders and files were gone from all computers! Unfortunately, I did not have archiving turned on - so everything really was lost.

I've developed a work around by creating multiple, nearly identical, profiles that run sequentially. They differ only in the target. Each one uses a single source/target with the sync method and a distinct tracking database. VV engine runs the first one on a 10 minute schedule and the others are linked such that the next one in sequence runs only if the previous one completes with no errors. With multiple profiles, I now have more work involved when I want to make any profile behavior change (filters, archiving, etc.).

Any thoughts? Is this evidence for a bug? If so might it get fixed someday?

[TGRMN Software]

Hi, are all the source / target folders to sync included in the same profile or divided across profiles? If all part of the same profile , I think this could be an issue with the order in which the pairs are processed. Could you post your source / target list and indicate which pair is having the problem?
thanks!
_________________
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TGRMN Software Support
http://www.tgrmn.com
http://www.compareandmerge.com

[Jimboa]

There are 4 computers in my network. Vice Versa runs on a Windows Server 2003 computer named CARBON. VV Engine ran this profile every 30 minutes on CARBON:

(Multiple Source/Target)...
C:\Mast\ <to> \\Othello\Mast\
C:\Mast\ <to> \\Iago\Mast\
C:\Mast\ <to> \\Hydrogen\Mast\

It worked fine when OTHELLO, IAGO and HYDROGEN were Windows XP Professional based. When I first noticed the file erasure problem, IAGO was still an XP machine but OTHELLO and HYDROGEN had Windows 7 Professional.

Below is a VV log excerpt showing a normal execution. It happens to show a file copy error because I had a file open while VV was trying to copy it. At the time it was run, OTHELLO and HYDROGEN were running Windows 7 Professional.

Unfortunately, I no longer have a log showing the errors that occurred when files were unexpectedly erased.

My workaround scenario is to run 3 distinct, single source/target, profiles. The first one starts the second if there were no errors and the second one starts the third if there were no errors. I don't like this because if I'm editing a file on the first computer, VV can't copy it so there is an error and the second and third profiles don't run.

Finally, here is a note I once made to myself when bad VV behavior occurred - shortly after converting HYDROGEN from XP to Windows 7. In this case, a file re-appeared a few minutes after I had deleted it.
The log excerpt below this note is NOT related to this note. Unfortunately, I no longer have the log related to this note.

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ NOTE TO SELF +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
I have just noticed a VV sync behavior I can’t explain. I deleted a file named “OrderHistory.pdf” from HYDROGEN. After VV profile execution on CARBON, “OrderHistory.pdf” is also deleted from CARBON – as expected. But on the 2nd profile execution, “OrderHistory.pdf” reappears on CARBON plus there is a VV execution error.

Examining the log for the 2nd execution shows that VV copied “OrderHistory.pdf” from IAGO to CARBON when it should have deleted it from IAGO. VV did not realize that "OrderHistory.pdf" was not present on CARBON because VV itself had erased it during the previous profile execution. The next line in the profile log has an error when it was trying to copy “OrderHistory.pdf” from OTHELLO to CARBON because the file attributes changed since the initial comparison…as they would have, of course, since VV just finished copying it from IAGO.

After the 3rd execution of the profile, OrderHistory.pdf has returned on HYDROGEN – where I initially deleted it.

I can’t figure out what’s wrong. Why did VV copy the file from IAGO to CARBON instead of deleting it from IAGO? Also, VV was going to copy the file from OTHELLO to CARBON when, again, it should have been deleting it from OTHELLO. I have on countless occasions deleted files on any one of the computers and VV has faithfully deleted the same files on the other computers after at most 2 executions of the profile.
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ END NOTE +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+


VV log excerpt, Multiple Source/Target synchronization method...
2014-09-18 17:11:03 :
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : -
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : START ID: 20149190110-1838921-296
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : ************************************************************
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : Profile Started.
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : ************************************************************
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : Version: ViceVersa PRO 2.5 Build 2513 (SN385) [Registered][Server][VSS][James-Boar...]
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : Command Line: "C:\Program Files\ViceVersa Pro\ViceVersa.exe" "C:\VVSHARE\MAST\CARBON\CARBON-HYDROGEN-IAGO-OTHELLO-MAST.fsf" /hiddenautosync /vveng
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : System: Windows Server 2003, (Enterprise Edition), (x86-32 Processor) v5.2 Build:3790 Service Pack:2
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : User: Jim Boardman
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : Computer: CARBON
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : **** Profile: C:\VVSHARE\MAST\CARBON\CARBON-HYDROGEN-IAGO-OTHELLO-MAST.fsf
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : **** - Folders -
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : **** "C:\Mast\" <to> "\\Othello\Mast\" (Include Subfolders)
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : **** "C:\Mast\" <to> "\\Iago\Mast\" (Include Subfolders)
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : **** "C:\Mast\" <to> "\\Hydrogen\Mast\" (Include Subfolders)
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : **** Create sources/targets that do not exist
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : **** Exclude files: "*.pst"
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : **** Exclude files: "*.qbw.nd"
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : **** Exclude files: "Thumbs.db"
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : **** Exclude files: "Index.dat"
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : **** Exclude files: "~*.*"
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : **** - Comparison Settings -
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : **** Comparison Type: Size and Timestamp
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : **** Ignore any second difference
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : **** - Execution Settings -
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : **** Method: Synchronization
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : **** Tracking Database: "C:\VVSHARE\MAST\CARBON\CARBON-HYDROGEN-IAGO-OTHELLO-MAST.tdb"
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : **** Log File: "C:\VVSHARE\MAST\CARBON\CARBON-HYDROGEN-IAGO-OTHELLO-MAST.log" (max 10000 KB)
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : **** No archive for deleted/replaced source files
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : **** No archive for deleted/replaced target files
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : **** Retain folder created and modified timestamps when copying
2014-09-18 17:11:03 : Checking source C:\Mast\ ...
2014-09-18 17:11:06 : Total found: 20,612
2014-09-18 17:11:06 : Checking target \\Othello\Mast\ ...
2014-09-18 17:12:14 : Total found: 20,601
2014-09-18 17:12:15 : Comparing ...
2014-09-18 17:12:17 : Checking tracking database...
2014-09-18 17:12:18 : Comparing done.
2014-09-18 17:12:18 : Checking source C:\Mast\ ...
2014-09-18 17:12:21 : Total found: 20,612
2014-09-18 17:12:22 : Checking target \\Iago\Mast\ ...
2014-09-18 17:13:09 : Total found: 20,604
2014-09-18 17:13:10 : Comparing ...
2014-09-18 17:13:12 : Checking tracking database...
2014-09-18 17:13:12 : Comparing done.
2014-09-18 17:13:12 : Checking source C:\Mast\ ...
2014-09-18 17:13:15 : Total found: 20,612
2014-09-18 17:13:16 : Checking target \\Hydrogen\Mast\ ...
2014-09-18 17:14:11 : Total found: 20,610
2014-09-18 17:14:11 : Comparing ...
2014-09-18 17:14:13 : Checking tracking database...
2014-09-18 17:14:14 : Comparing done.
2014-09-18 17:14:14 : - Status Summary -
2014-09-18 17:14:14 : - Total Files - Source: 54,927 (145.56GB) - Target: 54,909 (148.70GB)
2014-09-18 17:14:14 : - Excluded Files - Source: 45 (338.58MB) - Target: 26 (3.47GB)
2014-09-18 17:14:14 : - Matched Files - Source: 54,882 (145.23GB) - Target: 54,882 (145.23GB)
2014-09-18 17:14:14 : - Single Files - Source: 0 (0) - Target: 1 (41.50KB)
2014-09-18 17:14:14 : -- Added Files (Since Last Execution)- Source: 33 (221.91MB) - Target: 15 (3.36GB)
2014-09-18 17:14:14 : -- Removed Files (Since Last Execution) - Source: 0 (0) - Target: 0 (0)
2014-09-18 17:14:14 : - Newer Files - Source: 0 (0) - Target: 0 (0)
2014-09-18 17:14:14 : - Older Files - Source: 0 (0) - Target: 0 (0)
2014-09-18 17:14:14 : -- Conflict Files - Source: 0 (0) - Target: 0 (0)
2014-09-18 17:14:14 : - Total Subfolders - Source: 6,909 - Target: 6,906
2014-09-18 17:14:14 : - Excluded Subfolders - Source: 9 - Target: 6
2014-09-18 17:14:14 : - Matched Subfolders - Source: 6,900 - Target: 6,900
2014-09-18 17:14:14 : - Single Subfolders - Source: 0 - Target: 0
2014-09-18 17:14:14 : - To Do - Synchronization
2014-09-18 17:14:14 : - Files to Add - Source: 1 (41.50KB) - Target: 0 (0)
2014-09-18 17:14:14 : - Files to Update - Source: 0 (0) - Target: 0 (0)
2014-09-18 17:14:14 : - Files to Delete - Source: 0 (0) - Target: 0 (0)
2014-09-18 17:14:14 : - Subfolders to Add - Source: 0 - Target: 0
2014-09-18 17:14:14 : - Subfolders to Delete - Source: 0 - Target: 0
2014-09-18 17:14:14 :
2014-09-18 17:14:14 : ---- Start Execution ----
2014-09-18 17:14:14 : ---- Synchronization (Source: C:\Mast\ | C:\Mast\ | C:\Mast\ Target: \\Othello\Mast\ | \\Iago\Mast\ | \\Hydrogen\Mast\) ----
2014-09-18 17:14:14 : ---- Start copying ----
2014-09-18 17:14:14 : -- Copying to source...
2014-09-18 17:14:14 : Copying file \\Hydrogen\Mast\WorkMast\NWInvoices\Invoice14\BEFC1401.doc <to> C:\Mast\WorkMast\NWInvoices\Invoice14\BEFC1401.doc (41.50KB) [Can not open "\\Hydrogen\Mast\WorkMast\NWInvoices\Invoice14\BEFC1401.doc". The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.] [ERROR].
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : -- Done: 0 (0) Err: 1 (41.50KB) Skipped: 0 (0) Tot: 1 (41.50KB) --
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : -- Average Transfer Rate: 0/Sec -- Elapsed Time: 0 sec
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : Re-comparing ...
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : Updating tracking database...
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : Tracking database saved.
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : ---- Copying finished ----
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : ---- End ----
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : - Execution Summary -
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : - Added Files - Source: 0 (0) - Target: 0 (0)
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : - Updated Files - Source: 0 (0) - Target: 0 (0)
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : - Deleted Files - Source: 0 (0) - Target: 0 (0)
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : -- Errors (Adding) - Source: 1 (41.50KB) - Target: 0 (0) [ERROR]
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : - Added Subfolders - Source: 0 - Target: 0
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : - Deleted Subfolders - Source: 0 - Target: 0
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : - Status Summary -
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : - Total Files - Source: 54,927 (145.56GB) - Target: 54,909 (148.70GB)
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : - Excluded Files - Source: 45 (338.58MB) - Target: 26 (3.47GB)
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : - Matched Files - Source: 54,882 (145.23GB) - Target: 54,882 (145.23GB)
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : - Single Files - Source: 0 (0) - Target: 1 (41.50KB)
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : -- Added Files (Since Last Execution)- Source: 33 (221.91MB) - Target: 15 (3.36GB)
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : -- Removed Files (Since Last Execution) - Source: 0 (0) - Target: 0 (0)
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : - Newer Files - Source: 0 (0) - Target: 0 (0)
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : - Older Files - Source: 0 (0) - Target: 0 (0)
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : -- Conflict Files - Source: 0 (0) - Target: 0 (0)
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : - Total Subfolders - Source: 6,909 - Target: 6,906
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : - Excluded Subfolders - Source: 9 - Target: 6
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : - Matched Subfolders - Source: 6,900 - Target: 6,900
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : - Single Subfolders - Source: 0 - Target: 0
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : Exit Code: 3. Execution completed with file copy/delete errors. [ERROR]
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : ************************************************************
2014-09-18 17:14:19 : END ID: 20149190110-1838921-296
2014-09-18 17:14:19 :