File copies killing proxmox network connection?

[Mowing2613]

Hello hello,

I need to replace an aging HyperV host, and have been looking at Proxmox. I successfully setup a test machine with Proxmox, and (for now) a single Ubuntu Server VM.

The Ubuntu Server is running Samba, and not much else.
The Ubuntu Server is domain joined.
My test share on the Ubuntu server has correctly configured user and admin permissions.

I started a file copy to the test server using robocopy from a windows machine to the ubuntu server VM. It ran happily for a while, but eventually started failing. When I investigated, both the Ubuntu server and Proxmox host were unreachable. I rebooted the Proxmox host via cli (physical access), and was able to access both Proxmox and the test server.

Now, whenever I try to resume the robocopy, both proxmox and ubuntu server lock up / become inaccessible. If I attempt to search files on the ubuntu server, it (and proxmox) lock up and I have to reboot them.

I’m seeing that Linux has a max file name path of 255 bytes. I wouldn’t be surprised if I have some file/folder paths over 260 characters (1 character is 1 byte, correct?) Think this is my culprit?

[c-t]

Max folder path length, including file in Windows File Explorer is 260 characters (or bytes). Spaces also count as a character. Yes one ASCII character is one byte.

You would likely have issues in Windows if you have nested paths so long you’re hitting 260 characters. I’ve seen this before and it causes some strange behavior.

Robocopy is primarily a windows thing and since you’re trying to go from an NTFS file storage system to ext4 (probably) it’s hanging once it hits a certain file type which is causing your linux distro to crash. Try using something else like WinSCP (just got this from a quick google search). There may also be some things you can’t copy.

[Mowing2613]

We do have issues with Windows occasionally due to excessively long file paths. Management is aware of the issues, but, as they happen (relatively) rarely, they mostly ignore it.

I’ll look into WinSCP.

Thanks

[Rod-IT]

You can try the /256 switch which will skip long paths, using below will also write those errors and successes to the log so you can later review.

robocopy /E /256 "source_path" "destination_path" /LOG:"robocopy_log.txt"

Confirm you have the tools installed in your Ubuntu VM. While not strictly necessary, depending on the NIC you use, they may help

sudo apt-get install proxmox-tools

[whamel]

What hardware are you using for the Proxmox host? Check the Network card chipset and driver. I have seen issues in the past with onboard network adapters failing under load. You might need to put in a better quality network adapter with broadcom / intel chipset.

[robhall]

How large is the disk you provisioned for the Ubuntu VM? Proxmox has issues with virtual disks larger than 2TB, although I’ve never seen it lock a host up.

[Mowing2613]

Its an older desktop, to be fair. Definitely a proof of concept and not something I’d run in production. I could see this as a potential issue.

I think I have a couple spare 10gbps ethernet cards lying around. I could try popping one into the system and seeing what happens.

[Mowing2613]

I have an 800GB disk provisioned. I think whamel could be on to something. The hardware I’m testing on is an old spare machine, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s network adapter is failing under load.

[Mowing2613]

Re-running my robocopy test now. Actually reran it earlier after installing a new dedicated network card and it worked flawlessly until I ran out of storage on the target lol. Seems like it worked then, will see if it works for the full copy.

Looks like you may be right - flaky internal network card.

[whamel]

Glad to hear you worked it out!