Catalog Rebuild – Retrospect 6 for Mac

Resources

Follow these steps for rebuilding a catalog when you are using Retrospect 6 for Mac:

– To begin the catalog rebuild, launch Retrospect. The "Retrospect Directory" will be displayed. Click the Tools tab, then Repair.

– You will be asked to select the catalog repair function.

Select the catalog rebuild type that corresponds with the type of backup hardware you are currently using. In this example we rebuild the catalog for an Iomega Zip removable disk. Choose "Rebuild from removable disks" if your backup is stored on an Optical, MO, DVD-RAM disk or the like.

If you are using a tape drive, such as OnStream, DAT, LTO, VXA, AIT, DLT or Travan drive, you would choose "Rebuild from tapes". Users of CD-R or CD-RW devices should select "Rebuild from CD-R discs". Users of the Internet backup would select "Rebuild from Internet backup set".

Select the repair type and click OK.  

"Update existing catalog file" and "Repair file backup set" are not covered in this tutorial.

– The Media Selection window will ask you to insert a member of your backup set. It is best to insert the member named 1-Your Backup Set Name (1-Backup Set A in our example). If that disk is unavailable, insert the next earliest member of the backup set.  

Once the disk is inserted, it will appear in the Selection window. Select the inserted disk and click OK.  

Note: Not all users will receive this dialog box. For those that are asked, "There is already a known backup set named Backup Set A. Recreate a new catalog anyway, forgetting the existing one," click OK to proceed

– Retrospect will next prompt you to save your catalog file to the hard disk. In this tutorial, we saved the catalog file in a folder called "Retrospect Catalogs". The default location is the Documents or Retrospect folder.

If the folder you are saving to already contains a file with a name identical to your catalog file name, you will be asked if it is safe to replace that file. You typically can replace the existing catalog . You can also choose to save the catalog to a different location to keep the old file.

– Once the catalog file has been saved to the hard disk, Retrospect will begin the catalog rebuild process. You will see the names of your files in the Recatalog window. If the file names do not change, or if at any point in the process the text "Resynchronizing (Slow)" appears on the screen for more than a few minutes, please consult the Knowledgebase.

– When Retrospect has reached the end of the first piece of media you will be prompted with this dialog box asking if there are any more members in the backup set.  

If there are additional members in this backup set that need to be recataloged, click Yes. If you do not have any additional members to rebuild, click No.

If you select No, then you have completed the catalog rebuild process.

If you select Yes, then prepare to insert the next member of the set.

If you selected Yes in the previous dialog box, you will be prompted to insert the next member of your backup set. You may need to manually eject the previous member.

Once you insert the next member, Retrospect will automatically continue with the catalog rebuild process. Over time the number of files and MB completed will increase.

– When all of the members of the backup set have been inserted, click No.

– When the rebuild completes, you should have a dialog box similar to this one.  

It is now safe to perform future backup or restore operations with this backup set.

Last Update: February 14, 2012