Backup jobs missed or running unexpectedly

Symptom

One of these shows up in Job logs, Recent activity or your email reports:

• Scheduled backups show the status Missed.
• No backup runs at all, and the Protected Item shows No Schedule in Recent activity.
• Backups run at times nobody scheduled, for example right after a reboot, or twice in a row.
• Jobs show as Skipped or Cancelled instead of running.

Cause

A Missed job means the scheduled time passed without the job starting. The Web Portal records it when the device wasn't online or the job couldn't start. From most to least likely:

1. The device was off, asleep or offline at the scheduled time (typical for laptops and desktops that are shut down at night).
2. The backup app's service wasn't running, or the device lost its connection. See Windows client only shows as 'Offline' in user-profile 'Devices' tab or Linux client only shows as 'Offline' in user-profile 'Devices' tab.
3. The Storage Vault was busy, for example locked by another device's job or a retention pass on a shared vault. See Storage Vault Locks.
4. The Protected Item has no schedule, or the schedule points at a Storage Vault that no longer exists.

Unexpected jobs usually come from event options (When PC starts, If the last job was Missed, On error, retry every), from a second schedule added by a policy, or from someone running a backup by hand.

Fix

Jobs are missed

1. Check the device on Management Console > Devices. If it's Offline, fix that first (links above).
2. Open the Protected Item, select Schedule and edit the schedule. Tick If the last job was Missed, so a backup runs as soon as the device is back online. This also covers laptops that were asleep.
3. If the device is always off at the scheduled time, move the time to when it's normally on, for example lunchtime instead of 2 AM, or use a Periodic or Hourly schedule with Restrict hours.
4. If jobs on a shared vault miss because of locks, give each device its own vault. See Isolated vs shared Storage Vaults.
5. Click Save in the schedule and in the Protected Item.

No schedule

1. Open the Protected Item and select Schedule. If the list is empty, add a schedule. See Backup schedules explained.
2. If the schedule exists but its Storage Vault is blank or was deleted, edit it and choose a current vault.
3. To stop this happening on new devices, add default schedules to the client's policy. See Set default Protected Items and schedules with policies.

Jobs run unexpectedly

1. Open the Protected Item's Schedule list. Look for more than one schedule to the same vault, for example one added by hand and one from the policy. Delete the one you don't need.
2. Edit each schedule and check Also run:. When PC starts runs a job after every boot. On error, retry every reruns failed jobs.
3. If two identical jobs start within a second of each other after a reboot, see Tip: avoid backups that trigger twice.
4. Check the job's Report in Job logs. A job started by hand from the app or the portal is recorded like any other.

Jobs are skipped or cancelled

• Skipped: the previous job for the same Protected Item and vault was still running and Skip if already running is on. Space the schedules further apart. If a job is stuck, see Jobs left in Running state, Cancel a running job.
• Cancelled: the job hit the schedule's Cancel if still running after limit, the device shut down, or someone cancelled it. Raise the limit if large first backups need longer.

Verify

• After the next scheduled time, Job logs shows a Backup job with status Success.
• In Recent activity, the Protected Item's activity shows successful jobs instead of missed ones, and no longer shows No Schedule.

Still stuck?

Email support@magnusbox.com with the username, device name, the Protected Item, the times of the missed or unexpected jobs, and the device's operating system and Magnus Box version.

Related articles

• Backup schedules explained
• Job logs, recent activity and job statuses explained
• Storage Vault Locks
• Manage devices from the Devices page