PGP Encryption Server backups grow larger than expected (Symantec Encryption Management Server)

Products

• Encryption Management Server
• Gateway Email Encryption

Issue/Introduction

The PGP Encryption Server (Symantec Encryption Management Server) backups increase in size over time. By default, the daily backup begins at 3 am. If backups become too large, the backup process cannot complete before the start of the next business day.

Environment

PGP Encryption Server 10.5 and above.

Cause

PGP Encryption Server backups include a backup of the postgreSQL database. If the number of internal accounts on the PGP Server increases, so will the size of the backups.

The email messages sent to or from Web Email Protection users consume the most space in the database. The same is true of PDF Email Protection Secure Reply messages. By default, each Web Email Protection user mailbox can be up to 2 MB in size. By default, Web Email Protection messages are deleted after three months, as are users who do not logon to the Web Email Protection portal for three months.

Resolution

Reduce backup size by doing the following:

1. Consider using PDF Email Protection instead of Web Email Protection. This will make a dramatic difference to the size of the backups because messages sent by internal users to PDF Email Protection users are not stored in the database. Instead they are converted to password protected PDF files and emailed to the recipient.
2. If you use Web Email Protection, consider carefully before increasing the global Web Email Protection mailbox quota size.
3. If you use Web Email Protection, consider carefully before increasing the retention period for Web Email Protection messages from the default of three months.
4. Do not run the PGP Encryption Server with debug logging enabled for any significant length of time because the log files will grow much larger than normal.
5. Check the size of the directories that are included in the backup in case large files have been created in these directories by PGP Encryption Server administrators with SuperUser permissions and SSH access to the server.

Note that deleting records from the database will not generally reduce the disk space occupied by the database on disk but it will reduce the size of the backups.

If backup size is not an issue but the length of time taken to perform the backup is a problem, configure the backup speed to use its fastest setting by following the steps in article 203926.