Avamar: How to use sched.sh to check historical backup, replication and maintenance activities

Summary: This article describes how to use the sched shell script to check historical backup, replication, and maintenance activity on an Avamar Server.

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Instructions

When investigating Avamar issues, it can be helpful to understand which activities were running concurrently when a particular event occurred.

The sched.sh script is a useful tool which can help to:
  • Identify what types of activities were occurring at the time of a particular event.
  • Get a visual representation of how backups, replication jobs, and maintenance activities are scheduled relative to one another.
  • Identify overlapping types of activity.
 
There are two versions of the 'sched' script: 
1. The original script: /usr/local/avamar/bin/sched.sh 
2. The sched function of the health check script (proactive_check.pl):
  
perl /home/admin/proactive_check/proactive_check.pl --sched
 

The output of the scripts is NOT identical, as can be seen below: 

Example output from sched.sh:

        12am                   1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2   GMT
           0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3
2015/10/26 ........................ggg.........c.c.........

2015/10/27 ....dddd......ee........GGGGGGGGG...c...bbbbbbbb
2015/10/27 ....................................hhhhhh......

2015/10/28 bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb..c...bbbbbbbb
2015/10/28 ....dddd................GGGGGGGGG...hhhhhh......

2015/10/29 bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb...c...bbbbbbbb
2015/10/29 ....ddd.................GGGGGGGGG.......BBBBBBBB
2015/10/29 ....................................hhhhhh......

2015/10/30 bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb....c.c.bbbbbbbb
2015/10/30 ...BBBBBBBBBBBBBB.......ggggggggg...hhh.........
2015/10/30 ....ddddd.......................................

2015/10/31 bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb.........c...bbbbbbbb
2015/10/31 ....dddd................GGG.............BBBBBB..
2015/10/31 ....................................HHHHHHHHHHHH

2015/11/01 bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb.......................bbbbbbbb
2015/11/01 ....dDDDDDDDDDDD........................BBBBB...
2015/11/01 ....DDDDDDDDDdd.................................

2015/11/02 bbbbbDDDDDDDDDDDD.....RRRRR.....................
2015/11/02 ....d...........................................
2015/11/02 ....DDDDDDDDDDDDD...............................
2015/11/02 HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH......................
b=backup, h=hfs, c=CP, g=GC, r=Repl, d=ReplDest, e=restore
Uppercase/Reverse means failed.  v2.0
 

Example output from proactive_check.pl:

perl proactive_check.pl --sched --days=5 
                                         1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  2  2  2  2  GMT
           0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  0  1  2  3
2015/10/28 ......dddddd..........................................c.....332110311000.
2015/10/28 ......................................................hhhhhhh............

2015/10/29 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000.....c.....432110211000.
2015/10/29 ......................................................hhhhhhhh...........

2015/10/30 000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000......c..c..531110210000.
2015/10/30 ....................................ggggggggggggg.....hhhh...............

2015/10/31 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000.............c.....331000200000.
2015/10/31 ....................................gggG..............hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

2015/11/01 0000000000000000000000000...................................332000200000.
2015/11/01 hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

2015/11/02 00000000dddddddddddddddd.........rrrrrrR.................................
2015/11/02 hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhHH..................................

h=hfs, c=CP, g=GC, r=Repl, d=ReplDest, e=restore, uppercase means failed activity
A number is how many backups are running, 0=0-9, 1=10-19, b=100 or more backups
 
 
Interpreting the output:
  • The script produces a series of rows showing information for previous days (the --days flag determines how many).
  • Each row shows what happened from midnight (00:00hrs) to midnight (23:59).
  • Where more than one type of activity occurred at a particular time, an additional row shows how both activities ran concurrently.
  • A key at the bottom of the output explains the types of activity shown.
 
Note: One major difference between sched.sh and the proactive_check.pl --sched function is that the latter reports how many backups were running at a particular time. This can help to understand more accurately how busy Avamar was.

Affected Products

Avamar, Avamar Server
Article Properties
Article Number: 000173231
Article Type: How To
Last Modified: 05 May 2025
Version:  10
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