This article provides a workaround for resolving backup restoration failures in Junos Space when encountering the following error message, particularly when the server references an old server IP address:

Restore backup: precheck failed. Error message: Failed to fetch file from remote server, please check /tmp/transFile.log

When attempting to restore a backup in Junos Space, the restore operation fails during the precheck phase with the following error message:

Restore backup: precheck failed. Error message: Failed to fetch file from remote server, please check /tmp/transFile.log

Upon examination of /tmp/transFile.log, you observe output similar to:

This error typically occurs in the following scenarios:

1. The backup file `backup_2025-08-15_21-24-50_24.1R1.tgz` is not present on the target server (1.1.1.15 in this example).
2. The backup file entry exists in the Junos Space UI (Administration > Database Backup & Restore) with an association to an old server IP address (1.1.1.15), but you are attempting to restore the backup from a different server.

This issue represents a corner case as described in scenario 2 above, where the backup filename matches an entry associated with a different IP address. To resolve this issue, use one of the following approaches:

Option 1: Rename the backup file name (mv backup_2025-08-15_21-24-50_24.1R1.tgz backup_2025-08-15_21-24-50_24.1R1_edited.tgz) and try to restore OR

Option 2: Remove the Conflicting Database Entry

1. Identify the backup file entry and its ID: Check the existing backup entries in the database to locate the conflicting entry.

[root@space-005056a94e95 ~]# mysql -ujboss -p$(grep mysql.jboss /etc/sysconfig/JunosSpace/pwd | awk -F= '{print $2}') build_db -e "select * from DatabaseBackup"
mysql: [Warning] Using a password on the command line interface can be insecure.
+----+----------+---------+----------------------------+---------+---------------+------------+---------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+-------+
| id | domainId | version | backupDate                 | comment | ip            | mode       | name                                  | pass                                                      | path                     | user  |
+----+----------+---------+----------------------------+---------+---------------+------------+---------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+-------+
|  1 |        1 |       0 | 2025-08-19 05:56:24.000000 | NULL    |  1.1.1.15 | 0x00       | backup_2025-08-15_21-24-50_24.1R1.tgz  | NULL                                                      | /var/cache/jboss/backup/ | NULL  |
|  3 |        1 |       0 | 2025-08-19 07:39:36.000000 | NULL    | 2.2.2.2  | 0x01       | backup_2025-08-19_7-38-30_24.1R3.tgz  | 24IV:XdEWXd5OkTNfHtg3yy6Tww==CBC:Vk701hcMmTaaZgC0w6CBRQ== | /home/admin              | admin |
|  5 |        1 |       0 | 2025-08-19 13:40:34.000000 | NULL    | 3.3.3.3  | 0x01       | backup_2025-08-19_13-39-17_24.1R3.tgz | 24IV:D5R+NhbZvdE/2amEgCG/Ug==CBC:fh3UAVnRW1TEbOl7BTtAYg== | /home/admin              | admin |
+----+----------+---------+----------------------------+---------+---------------+------------+---------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------+-------+

2. Delete the conflicting entry: Execute the following command to remove the entry associated with the problematic IP address (1.1.1.15 in this example):

[root@space-005056a94e95 ~]# mysql -ujboss -p$(grep mysql.jboss /etc/sysconfig/JunosSpace/pwd | awk -F= '{print $2}') build_db -e "delete from DatabaseBackup where id = 1"

Note: Replace id = 1 with the actual ID of the conflicting backup entry identified in step a.

3. Retry the restore operation: After removing the conflicting entry, attempt to restore the backup file again.

If you continue to experience issues after following these troubleshooting steps, please contact Juniper Support for further assistance.