Availability

Technical support is included with your ExpeDat license.  For the fastest service, use the Technical Support Request form.

Feedback

Your input is important!  Please let us know what you like, dislike, or would like to see in future updates.

Limitations

When seeking technical support, be aware of the following limitations:

• The CloudDat instance must be located in the same region as your GS bucket.  If you need to access buckets in multiple regions, you must use multiple instances.
• GCP VMs may change their public IP address when they are restarted.  You can acquire a persistent public address by creating and assigning a Static IP address.
• GS utilities do not report detailed error codes.  Object storage errors will be reported to clients as "Unknown".  Refer to the logs in /tmp/gslogs/ on the server for descriptions of object storage failures.
• Inline compression is not available with GS.  ExpeDat Desktop‘s Compression checkbox will be disabled whenever the GS handler is selected.  Inline compression is available with filesystem storage.
• Check-point restart is not available with GS.  If a transfer fails due to network disruption, the client will automatically attempt to restart from the beginning.  Check-point restart is available with filesystem storage.
• Performing multiple actions at the same time may reduce the bandwidth available to each.
• Once the client reports full progress uploading data, it must wait for GS to confirm acceptance of the object.  This can take up to a minute, depending on GS conditions.
• Folders do not exist in GS buckets.  Some folder functionality is emulated using pseudo-folders.  See the Folders section for details.

When submitting a Technical Support Request, please provide as much information as possible.  We may require server logs or client screenshots, so have these ready.  Please allow up to 1 business day for a response.

Troubleshooting

You may be able to resolve these common issues on your own:

• If you receive "Handler failed" or "Error reported by the handler" errors:
  • Check for GS logs in the /tmp/gslogs/ directory.  Each file matches a transaction and contains output from /usr/local/etc/gshandler.sh and gsutil.
  • The name of each log includes a servedat transaction id, so you can match it to events in the /var/log/servedat.log server log file.
• If you receive "No child processes" errors with a freshly installed CloudDat server, reboot the VM.

• If the client is unable to reach the CloudDat instance due to “No Response” or “Unreachable” errors, check the following:

  • Verify that the ExpeDat client has the correct public IP address of the VM.  This address may change each time the VM is restarted, so consider assigning a Static IP address.
  • Check that the VM’s firewall has a rule to allow UDP port 8080.
  • Verify that your local firewall allows UDP port 8080 to reach the Internet.
• If the client receives a “Bad Credentials” error, check that you have entered the same username and password into the client that you specified during setup.  To change the password, see the section on managing Multiple Users.
• If you receive an “Invalid Pathname” or “Invalid Object Description” error, check that you are accessing the correct bucket name, path prefix, and file name.
• For a “User must select an object handler” error, check that your ExpeDat client has selected the “GS” object handler.  See “Client Use” for screenshots and examples.  If you are using an ExpeDat Desktop client from another source and the “Handler” menu does not appear, you will need to add “GS” to the “Server Handlers” list in the Options -> Setup dialog.  See the ExpeDat Desktop documentation for details.