How to verify an invalid Plesk backup file

Symptoms

A new backup is shown on the Backup Manager page. However, it is marked with a red circle and the following pop-up message is shown when you hover the mouse over the circle:

This is not a valid backup. Data cannot be restored from this file.

The following errors may also be observed:

info_1309071511-formatted.xml fails to validate

<description>The dump has wrong format!</description>

Cause

The backup description contains invalid records, causing the backup to fail XML validation.

Resolution

The backup XML description file should be validated with the backup XML schema. This will help to find problem objects in the Plesk configuration database and fix inconsistencies, which cause the XML file to become invalid.

1. Install the xmllint utility to help you validate XML files:
   • Download xmllint.zip
   • Create the C:xmllint directory
   • Unpack the archive into C:xmllint
2. Find the XML backup file in the Parallels Plesk (Plesk) backup repository.For example, if the backup name in the Plesk GUI is test_info_1004281551.xml and Plesk uses the local repository, then the file will be at “%plesk_dir%Backuptest_info_1004281551.xml“.
3. Using xmllint, reformat the XML file to be more easily readable:

   c:xmllintxmllint.exe --format --encode UTF-8 test_info_1004281551.xml > test_info_1004281551_formated.xml
   

4. Validate the formatted file:

   c:xmllintxmllint.exe --noout --schema "%plesk_dir%PMMplesk.xsd" "%plesk_dir%Backuptest_info_1004281551_formated.xml"
   

   If you get an error as below, use the solution from the article #8488 and remove Envelope elements from the file:

   element Envelope: Schemas validity error : Element '{urn:envelope}Envelope': No matching global declaration available for the validation root.
   

   Then validate the backup file again:

   C:xmllintxmllint --noout --schema "%plesk_dir%PMMplesk.xsd" "%plesk_dir%Backuptest_info_1004281551_formated.xml"