5 1 0:Useful SEP sesam Commands

How to start and stop SEP sesam

After the installation, the SEP sesam software will start automatically. You can use the command sm_main status to see if all processes are running. You can start and stop the SEP sesam services manually by using the commands below.

For details on SEP sesam commands, see SEP sesam CLI.

Start/stop SEP sesam on Windows

One central SEP sesam service is running on Windows systems. It is called SEP Sesam and is running under the system account of the Windows operating system. This service starts all other required services.

Start

• using the Windows services control panel
• in Windows Task Manager using the Services tab
• on CMD or Powershell: net start sm_main
• on CMD or Powershell: <SESAM_BIN>\bin\sesam\sm_main start (for RDS and Client components)

Stop

• using the Windows services control panel
• in Windows Task Manager using the Services tab
• on CMD or Powershell: net stop sm_main
• on CMD or Powershell: <SESAM_BIN>\bin\sesam\sm_main stop (for RDS and Client components)
• on CMD or Powershell: <SESAM_BIN>\bin\sesam\sm_shutdown -f (available on SEP sesam Server only, cleanly stops all processes and can be used for debugging or error checking purposes)

Start/stop SEP sesam on Linux

One central SEP sesam service is running on Linux systems that controls all other SEP sesam services. SEP sesam services are always running under the Linux root user account. Depending on the Linux distribution, the following commands can be used:

Start

• in the Linux shell: /etc/init.d/sesam start (distrib. with INIT start system)
• in the Linux shell: systemctl start sepsesam.service (distrib. with SYSTEMD start system)
• in the Linux shell: <SESAM_BIN>/bin/sesam/sm_main start (for RDS and Client components)
• in the Linux shell: <SESAM_BIN>/bin/sesam/sm_startup (available on SEP sesam Server only)

Stop

• in the Linux shell: /etc/init.d/sesam stop (distrib. with INIT start system)
• in the Linux shell: systemctl stop sepsesam.service (distrib. with SYSTEMD start system)
• in the Linux shell: <SESAM_BIN>/bin/sesam/sm_main stop (for RDS and Client components)
• in the Linux shell: <SESAM_BIN>/bin/sesam/sm_shutdown (available on SEP sesam Server only, cleanly stops all processes and can be used for debugging or error checking purposes)

How to check DNS configuration

For smooth installation of SEP sesam backup software in the network, name resolution must work properly. Specify a fully qualified name for each SEP sesam component, e.g., every server and client in network.

When finding a client, the operating system (Windows or Linux) first checks the hosts file for name resolution. Next, the configured DNS server is checked. If the DNS server is misconfigured or missing, the hosts file must be set up correctly to provide DNS. You have to enter the names and addresses of all SEP sesam components: SEP sesam Server, backup clients and machines running the graphical user interface (GUI). You must not remove or modify any existing entry of localhost in your hosts file.

A DNS server is preferred over entries in the hosts files of all devices. A DNS server allows a system-wide solution. All SEP sesam components must have their names and IP addresses (reverse lookup) added to the DNS server.

Certain problems can occur when configuring new clients in SEP sesam if the DNS server is incorrectly configured or missing. SEP sesam needs a correct DNS to work and will not work with just an IP address. All DNS names must be correctly resolved (forward and reverse DNS lookup).

If the DNS server is missing, you will have to use the hosts file of the client and backup server to make systems available via a DNS name. The hosts file can be found in the following locations:

Linux

/etc/hosts

Windows

C:\Windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

	Note
	The hostname of the SEP sesam server may not include an underscore "_" sign. For hostname restrictions, see Restrictions on valid host names.

Tools for checking DNS resolution

Several tools are available to check DNS resolution. However, SEP recommends the use of sm_setup check_resolution.

sm_setup check_resolution (recommended)

The SEP sesam sm_setup tool is part of the SEP sesam Client and Server installation and can be used from the command line to resolve DNS names. Before using this tool, you need to set up a SEP sesam profile as described in FAQ: What happens when I set up a profile?

SEP recommends that you run this command on the backup server AND on the client with the same arguments. It is important that the client and the backup server are resolved correctly.

Syntax

Client:~ # sm_setup check_resolution backupserver
Calling getaddrinfo with 'backupserver'

        Official name: backupserver.sep.de
        IPv4 Address #1: 172.16.1.146

Calling getnameinfo for IP Address #1 '172.16.1.146'

        Official name: backupserver.sep.de
        Alternate name: backupserver

Client:~ # sm_setup check_resolution client
Calling getaddrinfo with 'client'

        Official name: client.sep.de
        IPv4 Address #1: 172.16.1.145

Calling getnameinfo for IP Address #1 '172.16.1.145'

        Official name: client.sep.de
        Alternate name: client

Backupserver:~ # sm_setup check_resolution client
' Calling getaddrinfo with 'client'

        Official name: client.sep.de
        IPv4 Address #1: 172.16.1.145

Calling getnameinfo for IP Address #1 '172.16.1.145'

        Official name: client.sep.de
        Alternate name: client

Backupserver:~ # sm_setup check_resolution backupserver
Calling getaddrinfo with 'backupserver'

        Official name: backupserver.sep.de
        IPv4 Address #1: 172.16.1.146

Calling getnameinfo for IP Address #1 '172.16.1.146'

        Official name: backupserver.sep.de
        Alternate name: backupserver

The returned addresses and hostnames must match. If the reverse resolve returns an official name that is different from the name specified on the command line, problems will occur when backing up the client (see Common error messages).

nslookup (Windows and Linux)

The nslookup tool is a network administration command-line tool for querying the DNS to obtain a hostname or IP address.

It is useful for troubleshooting DNS issues, but not for full hostname resolution as it ignores the hosts file. SEP sesam resolves its hostnames via the "common library function" and first uses the hostname specified in the hosts file of the system. By default, nslookup translates a domain name to an IP address (or vice versa).

Use the nslookup command to check that the name resolution is correct: forward with and without FQDN as well as reverse. Check on the SEP sesam Server AND on the SEP sesam Client. If DNS is not used and the verification done via the etc/hosts file, use ping to check individual clients.

Syntax

       nslookup {client}
       nslookup {IP-Address of client}                         # important reverse lookup
       nslookup {SEPsesam Server name}
       nslookup {IP-Address of SEPsesam Server}                # important reverse lookup

Example: check mysesam name resolution and reverse lookup:

     #>nslookup mysesam
     Server:   dns.domaine.de
     Address:  192.168.1.254

     Name:     mysesam.domaine.de
     Address:  192.168.1.1

     #>nslookup 192.168.1.1
     Server:   dns.domaine.de
     Address:  192.168.1.254

     Name:     mysesam.domaine.de
     Address:  192.168.1.1

host (Linux only)

The host command can also be used to resolve a hostname into an IP address and vice versa. It defaults to the name server configured in /etc/resolv.conf but can also be used with a DNS server as an additional argument. It will query the DNS server of the system first.

Syntax

Client:~ # host backupserver
                     backupserver.sep.de has address 172.16.1.146

Client:~ # host 172.16.1.146
                     146.1.16.172.in-addr.arpa domain name pointer backupserver.sep.de

ping

ping is a network administration software utility used to test the reachability of a destination device on an IP network via ICMP echo request. It is not a suitable tool for checking DNS resolution and will not always be 100% correct. Although ping resolves an IP address, it is not strictly a name server lookup tool and may return a potentially outdated cached result.

In addition, it is not possible to correctly reverse resolve DNS names. For more details, see the ping description on Wikipedia.

Common error messages

The following common error messages indicate that there is a problem with your name resolution:

CLIENT_HOSTNAME: Login to stpd from <CLIENT_HOSTNAME> to <SESAM_SERVER_HOSTNAME> incorrect.

Login incorrect. Client resolves his IP address [X.X.X.X] to [RANDOM_HOSTNAME], but server resolves it to [X.X.X.X]. Please adjust your name resolution.  (0)

In this case, check your name resolution (DNS or etc/hosts file). The SEP sesam Server and the SEP sesam Client must be reachable with or without FQDN and should be able to resolve each other and also themselves correctly, including reverse lookup.

If you have changed an entry in your DNS configuration, but Windows still reports a wrong hostname/IP, try running ipconfig /flushdns as administrator.

See also

SEP sesam CLI – SBC CLI – SEP sesam GUI

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