Binding Retrospect Client to a specific IP address

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The Retrospect Client uses the ip and ipsave commands to allow users to direct Retrospect backup traffic through a specific IP address if it is available to the machine the client is installed on.

The ip command will only bind the IP address temporarily. Once the machine or the Retrospect client service is restarted, the Retrospect client will revert back to its default IP address. The ipsave command will bind the client to the IP permanently.

Windows usage

To use the ip or ipsave command on a Retrospect Client for Windows, open up your command prompt with elevated privileges, and navigate to your Retrospect client install directory. By default the installation directory is: C:\Program Files (x86)\Retrospect\Retrospect Client.

Once within the Retrospect Client install directory you can issue the following commands.

To temporarily direct client traffic through a specified IP:

retroclient.exe /ip xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

To persistently direct client traffic through a specified IP:

retroclient.exe /ipsave xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

To revert the changes made by the ipsave command:

retroclient.exe /ipsave none

Mac Usage

To use the ip or ipsave command on a Retrospect Client for Mac, open /Applications/Utilities/Terminal and navigate to /Library/PreferencePanes/Retrospect\ Client.prefPane/Contents/MacOS

Once within this directory, you can issue the following commands.

To temporarily direct client traffic through a specified IP:

./retroclient -ip xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

To persistently direct client traffic through a specified IP:

./retroclient -ipsave xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

To revert the changes made by the ipsave command:

./retroclient -ipsave none

Linux Usage

To make a temporary change:

Navigate to to /usr/local/retrospect/client and enter:
sudo ./retroclient -ip XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX
This IP binding will be lost/reset if the computer is restarted.

Make a persistent change:

For the version 19 and later client you can do the following, "sudo systemctl edit retroclient.service --full". Add -ip (your IP address) to the end of the ExecStart= and ExecReload= lines, i.e. ExecStart=/usr/bin/unshare -m /bin/sh -c "/usr/bin/umount -a -t overlay; /usr/local/retrospect/client/retroclient -ip 192.168.2.140". Then save the file and start the client.

For version 18 and earlier, edit the /etc/init.d/rcl or /etc/rc.d/init.d/rcl file. Modify the two "$CLIENTDIR/retroclient &" lines in the following manner with the IP address you want to use. "$CLIENTDIR/retroclient -ip 192.168.2.140 &" Then save the file and start the client.

Last Update: November 2023