How-to: Verify why mirror files are not deleted from destination
We’ve added a new article to our Knowledgebase, that explains why in some situations mirror files that were deleted from the source are not deleted from the destination even if you specifically checked an option to do that: Why the mirror files are not deleted from destination
When you use the Mirror backup type for a backup job, you have an option that allows you to remove from the destination the files that were deleted in the backup source. This way the source and backup destination will contain the same files, sort of like a synchronization rather than a backup.
The option to keep in sync the source with the destination for mirror backups can be found in Backup Properties->Type page and it’s called Remove excluded or deleted files from backup and is unchecked by default.
There’s also an extra option related to the above-mentioned one: Only if the source drive is available. This is useful if you have sources on a removable/external drive and sometimes it’s not connected. This way you avoid the deletion from the destination of all files backed up from the disconnected drive letter.
If the option to remove files is selected, the actual deletion from the destination is done at the end of the backup.
However, if you see in the destination files that should have been deleted but weren’t, here’s what you can do to troubleshoot:
- Verify that the option Remove excluded or deleted files from backup is checked in Backup Properties->Type for your particular backup job.
- If the source drive is an external/removable one, verify that it is connected when the backup runs. If it’s disconnected, the deletion won’t take place.
- Verify that the backup was executed and that it had files to be backed up. When you run the backup and there are no files to be backed up, the backup is not executed so the deletion part is also not executed.
This is a summary of the full article we’ve recently posted. For a detailed tutorial on how to configure your backups to use split files, read the full article in our Knowledgebase: Why the mirror files are not deleted from destination