bconsole Query Commands

Bacula Enterprise Only

This solution is only available for Bacula Enterprise. For subscription inquiries, please reach out to sales@baculasystems.com.

The Bacula Enterprise OpenStack Plugin supports the bconsole .query command.

Query commands are an important validation and troubleshooting tool. They allow administrators to confirm that the OpenStack Plugin is installed on the Bacula proxy server, that the Bacula Client can load and execute the plugin, and that the plugin can communicate correctly with the OpenStack APIs.

Before running the first backup job, it is recommended to use the query commands to verify the OpenStack Plugin configuration. These commands can help confirm that:

the Bacula Enterprise OpenStack Plugin is installed and available on the configured Client;
the Bacula Client resource points to the correct proxy server;
the OpenStack authentication parameters are valid;
the required OpenStack service endpoints are reachable;
Nova servers are visible to the plugin;
the configured proxy_server is valid and available;
the plugin can successfully communicate with Keystone, Cinder, Glance, Neutron, and Nova.

The query command returns answers as key=value pairs. These results can be used to validate the environment before backup and restore jobs are configured, and to quickly identify whether a problem is related to Bacula configuration, plugin installation, OpenStack credentials, proxy server selection, or OpenStack API connectivity.

Recommended Validation Workflow

A practical validation sequence is:

Run parameter=connection to confirm that the plugin can authenticate with OpenStack and reach the required OpenStack services.
Run parameter=server to confirm that the plugin can list Nova servers.
Run parameter=proxy_server to confirm which Nova servers are eligible to be used as the OpenStack proxy server.
Run parameter=check to perform a general configuration check before running a backup job.

If these query commands return the expected results, the OpenStack Plugin is installed, the OpenStack API is reachable, and the basic plugin configuration is functional.

If one of the query commands fails, resolve the reported problem before running backup or restore jobs.

The OpenStack Plugin supports the following .query command parameters.

parameter=check_plugin_location

Use parameter=check_plugin_location to verify that the Bacula Enterprise OpenStack Plugin is installed in the expected plugin directory on the Bacula proxy server.

This is usually the first query command to run after installing the plugin. It confirms that the Bacula Client configured in the .query command can access the OpenStack Plugin binary and that the plugin can be found by the Bacula File Daemon.

Example:

*.query plugin="openstack: proxy_server=proxy-server" client=bacula_proxy-fd parameter=check_plugin_location
check_plugin_location=ok

*.query plugin="openstack: proxy_server=proxy-server" client=bacula_proxy-fd parameter=check_plugin_location
error=Found only 1 out of 2 volumes mounted on proxy-server=proxy-server; this server might not be the proxy-server
check_plugin_location=ok

*.query plugin="openstack: proxy_server=proxy-server abort_on_error" client=bacula_proxy-fd parameter=check_plugin_location
fatal=Found only 1 out of 2 volumes mounted on proxy-server=proxy-server; this server might not be the proxy-server
check_plugin_location=nok

*.query plugin="openstack:" client=bacula_proxy-fd parameter=check_plugin_location

check_plugin_location=ok

A successful result returns:

check_plugin_location=ok

If the command does not return check_plugin_location=ok, verify that:

the Bacula Enterprise OpenStack Plugin package is installed on the proxy server;
the query is being executed against the correct Bacula Client resource;
the Bacula File Daemon is running on the proxy server;
the plugin is located in the Bacula plugin directory used by the File Daemon;
the plugin file has the correct ownership and permissions;
the File Daemon configuration points to the correct plugin directory.

This query only validates the plugin location on the Bacula proxy server. It does not verify OpenStack credentials or OpenStack API connectivity. After this check succeeds, run parameter=connection to confirm that the plugin can authenticate with OpenStack and reach the required OpenStack services.

parameter=connection

Use parameter=connection to verify that the OpenStack Plugin can authenticate with OpenStack and reach the required OpenStack service endpoints.

This is usually the first query command to run after installing or configuring the plugin. It confirms that the OpenStack authentication parameters are correct and that the plugin can communicate with the OpenStack APIs required for backup and restore operations.

Example:

*.query plugin="openstack: OS_AUTH_URL=http://localhost:5000/v3 OS_USERNAME=admin OS_PASSWORD=123456 OS_USER_DOMAIN_NAME=Default OS_PROJECT_NAME=admin" client=bacula_proxy-fd parameter=connection
connection=ok
keystone=ok
cinder=ok
glance=ok
neutron=ok
nova=ok

Each OpenStack service returns either ok or not ok.

The global connection result is ok only when all required service connections are successful. If one service returns not ok, check the OpenStack credentials, service catalog, endpoint URL, network connectivity, TLS configuration, and the permissions assigned to the OpenStack user.

parameter=server

Use parameter=server to verify that the OpenStack Plugin can list Nova servers through the OpenStack API.

This query confirms that the plugin is not only able to connect to OpenStack, but also able to retrieve the list of visible Nova instances. It is useful for confirming that authentication and permissions are sufficient before configuring backup jobs for specific instances.

This query also checks whether the proxy_server value is correctly set.

Example:

*.query plugin="openstack: proxy_server=bacula_proxy" client=bacula_proxy-fd parameter=server
server=nfs-1
uuid=b12e3313-7c3e-4757-8a12-5a2c9884ad53
server=nfs-i
uuid=7629a85d-3bec-4734-8d35-586e8ba1253f
server=nfs-2
uuid=729ae7cb-0103-4ddd-8f23-5dfab6a00c0c
server=www-1
uuid=248dd682-f0e9-43c1-8c05-999115459e1a
server=www-2
uuid=727e0dbf-9d68-4f83-97b8-d3540133b4fc
server=bacula-proxy
uuid=3b8496f0-740c-41d1-8a08-8c1a50cae461

Note

The example above uses authentication information from /opt/bacula/etc/openstack.conf.

This query displays two key=value tuples for each server:

server=<name> shows the Nova server name.
uuid=<uuid> shows the Nova server UUID.

If the expected Nova servers are not listed, check the OpenStack project, region, user permissions, and authentication parameters used by the plugin.

parameter=proxy_server

Use parameter=proxy_server to list Nova servers that are eligible to be used as the OpenStack proxy server.

This query is useful when selecting or validating the proxy server that will perform OpenStack Plugin operations. The proxy server is the system where the Bacula Enterprise File Daemon and the OpenStack Plugin are installed, and from which the plugin communicates with the OpenStack APIs.

Example:

*.query plugin="openstack: endpoint=http://11.11.11.111:2222/v3 OS_USERNAME=admin OS_PASSWORD=123456 OS_USER_DOMAIN_NAME=Default OS_PROJECT_NAME=admin" client=bacula_proxy-fd parameter=proxy_server
proxy_server=bacula-proxy
uuid=3b8496f0-740c-41d1-8a08-8c1a50cae461

This query displays two key=value tuples for each candidate:

proxy_server=<name> shows the Nova server name.
uuid=<uuid> shows the Nova server UUID.

If the intended proxy server is not listed, verify that the server exists in OpenStack, that it is visible to the configured OpenStack user, and that the plugin configuration uses the correct OpenStack project and endpoint information.

parameter=check

Use parameter=check to run a general validation of the OpenStack Plugin configuration.

This query is the most useful final check before running backup jobs. It verifies that the base plugin configuration is present, that the required connection parameters are set, that the plugin can connect to the OpenStack services, and that the configured proxy server is valid and available.

Example:

*.query Plugin="openstack: proxy_server=bacula-proxy" client=bacula_proxy-fd parameter=check
check=ok

A successful result returns:

check=ok

If the result is not check=ok, use the more specific query commands, such as parameter=connection, parameter=server, and parameter=proxy_server, to identify the failing part of the configuration.

Note

The example above uses authentication information from /opt/bacula/etc/openstack.conf.