https://www.retrospect.com/support/kb/script_hooks
Retrospect administrators can use Retrospect’s external scripting to hook into Retrospect’s events. These hooks can be used to integrate with monitoring systems, quiesce databases and other services before a backup starts or alert the administrator to unusual error conditions. Script hooks can also be used as web hooks, triggering events on services such as Slack or IFTTT.
Retrospect triggers these events by calling a file named "RetroEventHandler" located in either the application folder (for Windows) or the preferences folder (For Windows, C:\ProgramData\Retrospect. For Mac, /Library/Application Support/Retrospect). This file can be any script type known to the operating system (As examples for Windows, BAT or VBScript. For Mac, bash or ruby). They can even be compiled programs. For each event, Retrospect sends the name of the event followed by information specific for the event.
Retrospect administrators can use Retrospect’s external scripting to hook into Retrospect’s events. These hooks can be used to integrate with monitoring systems, quiesce databases and other services before a backup starts or alert the administrator to unusual error conditions. Script hooks can also be used as web hooks, triggering events on services such as Slack or IFTTT.
Retrospect triggers these events by calling a file named "RetroEventHandler". This file can be any script type known to the operating system (As examples for Windows, BAT or VBScript. For Mac, bash or ruby). They can even be compiled programs. For each event, Retrospect sends the name of the event followed by information specific for the event. Retrospect looks in the following locations:
Retrospect for Windows: C:\ProgramData\Retrospect and C:\Program Files\Retrospect
Retrospect for Mac: /Library/Application Support/Retrospect
Retrospect Client for Windows: C:\Program Files\Retrospect\Retrospect Client
Retrospect Client for Mac: /Library/Application Support/Retrospect Client/retroeventhandler
Retrospect Client for Linux: /etc/retroeventhandler
Note that you do not need to restart the application for Retrospect to recognize the script hooks file. Also note that for Retrospect for Windows, script hooks are only supported for scripted executions, not immediate executions.
Retrospect has sixteen events that can be handled by scripts. Retrospect client software has two of these events. Below are the event names and descriptions of when they are triggered.
StartApp occurs when Retrospect is opening, including when it is autolaunching.
EndApp occurs when Retrospect quits.
StartBackupServer occurs when Proactive Backup is about to start.
StopBackupServer occurs when Proactive Backup is stopped.
StartScript occurs when a script is about to start.
EndScript occurs when a script is finished.
AnomalyAlert occurs when an anomaly has been detected during scan, before the backup begins. See https://www.retrospect.com/en/anomaly_detection for more details.
StartSource occurs when a source is about to be accessed for the first time. This event is present in both the Retrospect application and Retrospect client software.
EndSource occurs when a source has finished being accessed. This event is present in both the Retrospect application and Retrospect client software.
MediaRequest occurs when Retrospect is about to request media, and again every five minutes while the media request window is open.
TimedOutMediaRequest occurs when Retrospect has requested media and it has waited longer than the time specified in the preferences.
ScriptCheckFailed occurs when Retrospect quits after running a script and there is a scheduled script set to run outside the look ahead time and the script check fails.
NextExec occurs when Retrospect quits after running a script and there is a scheduled script set to run outside the look ahead time and the script check passes.
SchedStop occurs when a script is running and about to stop because its allowed time of execution has expired.
PasswordEntry occurs after someone enters a password.
FatalBackupError occurs when a fatal backup error occurs.
For specific information about each event, examine one of the example scripts available on our website and github repository.