SMS: Modifying the [Tokens] Section of the Backup Control File May Cause Unexpected File Removal

In Systems Management Server 2.0, you are able to back up your site server. When the SMS Backup service (SMS_BACKUP) runs, it reads the SMS Backup control file, Smsbkup.ctl, which is located in the SMS\Inboxes\Smsbkup.box directory. You can configure the SMS Backup control file to change the behavior of SMS_BACKUP.

If you make additions to the [Tokens] section, such as adding comments, you can cause the standard backup variables to either not be set, or to be set incorrectly. This can cause the unexpected deletion of files when you run the rmdir command at the beginning of the backup.

Note: Microsoft recommends that you do not modify the [Tokens] section of the Smsbkup.ctl file, and that you test any modifications to the Smsbkup.ctl file before releasing it to the production environment.

The following example demonstrates how a simple modification can cause a backup to remove all files from the SMS drive because it is unable to set the BACKUP_DESTINATION variable: If the [Tokens] section was modified as shown above, the BACKUP_DESTINATION variable would not be set correctly, even though BACKUP_DEST_DIR and SITE_CODE are set correctly in this instance.

Use of a comment prior to setting the BACKUP_DESTINATION variable without a carriage return (/) between it and the setting of the variable, prevents the variable from being set correctly. This is only true if the backup destination variable is indented by use of the TAB key. If the variable is not indented, the comment does not cause any difficulties.

Microsoft therefore recommends that you do not modify the [Tokens] section of the Smsbkup.ctl file.

The Smsbkup.ctl file, which is in ASCII format, controls the behavior of the SMS Backup service by use of the following sections: Note: Comments lines, which are lines preceded by a number sign (#) (with the exception of #stop and #start lines), are ignored.

Example: You can troubleshoot the variable setting aspect of the SMS Backup control file by:

1. Commenting the rmdir command line so that the file removal does not occur.
2. Adding lines equivalent to the following in the [Tasks] section:
   [Tasks]
   cmd `echo BACKUP_DESTINATION` %SystemDrive%\Backdest.txt
   cmd `echo BACKUP_DESTINATION` %SystemDrive%\Backdir.txt
   cmd `echo SITE_CODE` %SystemDrive%\Sitecode.txt
   Doing this causes each variable to be written to the Smsbkup.log file, as well as to a text file in the root of the system drive. You can then review both the text files and the log file to determine if the variables are being set correctly.