Another corrupt backup given status of completed-successfully

[BobParticipant]

I think that a local plugins backup file was created successfully, but was deleted by UpdraftPlus when it erroneously concluded that a copy had been uploaded successfully to Dropbox.

When a similar problem occurred 6 weeks ago (I opened a support ticket at the time), it was the wpcore backup file, and it DID leave a partial/corrupt file on Dropbox.

There are lots of reasons a very occasional upload problem might can occur. Great if you can figure it out. But that’s not really my concern.

My concern is that an exception occurred, and even though it was in the log, the UpdraftPlus email failed to indicate that it had occurred. I expect there to be occasional backup issues for any number of reasons. But if an exception has occurred, I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT IT SO I CAN CHECK THE BACKUP. What I want in this case is for your development people to figure out why the email sent by UpdraftPlus erroneously said that the backup completed without errors or warnings, and fix things so the backup completion status is reported correctly in the future.

Thanks.

[Paul BevanKeymaster]

Hello

Apologies for the delay in getting back to you, we are looking into this and will update you as soon as possible.

Best,

Paul

[BobParticipant]

Just found another one. Different site, different server. During the upload, Dropbox glitched on uploads5–the file stored by Dropbox was corrupt. Even though it’s noted in the log, UpdraftPlus failed to recognize there had been an issue, and incorrectly said the backup had completed successfully without warnings. Once again, had I not checked the backup independently, there would have been no way to know that it was unusable.

Here’s the log file: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/dzs4xt2wm0v515ey5nvor/log.f50f425b0d16.txt?rlkey=8cjd6y4by0un9p4r5ic1txkm5&dl=0

There have been enough of these at this point that I’m pretty sure I’m seeing the manifestation of a major issue. UpdraftPlus has occasional, random issues with Dropbox but doesn’t realize it. The result is that some percent of the backups out there that people think are good really aren’t. Dropbox may want to look at why these occasional issues are occurring, but far more important is setting the backup completion status correctly so if there’s a question I know to check the backup and rerun it if necessary.

Thanks.

[BobParticipant]

1) I’ve figured out how to systematically identify the Dropbox upload error so I know to check the backup. The fact that a Dropbox upload error has occurred can always be identified by the string “chunked upload exception” in the log. I always receive a backup email with the log attached. I’ve had a rule in place that flags that email for my attention if the subject line indicates the backup completed with errors or warnings. Now I can also flag it for my attention if the log file contains the string “chunked upload exception”.

2) I have a rolling 3 month history of backup logs available. I’ve determined that out of the approximately 3700 backups I’ve done during that period (representing many sites across many different servers), 1.2% experienced the upload error. (It’s randomly distributed across sites/servers/time–not a problem with a specific site, server, or time.)

I’m now happy in that I know that any time this error occurs I’ll find out about it and can manually rerun the backup in question. But I believe it represents an issue you need to resolve for the rest of the UpdraftPlus user base.

Thanks.

[Paul BevanKeymaster]

Hello,

Thank you for your continued patience and for providing helpful information to aid us in recreating this issue. We are actively working on this to find the root cause – we will update you as soon as possible. Apologies for the inconvenience.

Best,

Paul

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