When the user tries to back up Cisco CallManager files by running BARS 4.0(2), the user receives the "Failed to backup files from Alternate file path - Invalid use of Null. Could not backup files from alternate file location path" error message in the log

[TCC_2]

Core Issue

This error in the Backup and Restore System (BARS) backup log is generated because the AlternateFileLocationX  in the ProcessConfig table had a paramValue of Null. For each AlternateFile location, there is a corresponding record in the ProcessConfig table in the Cisco CallManager database. The alternate file location row in the Structured Query Language (SQL) ProcessConfig table refers to the TFTP service parameters to specify alternate TFTP file locations. These records exist only if there is some value entered on the  Cisco CallManager Admin interface. There should never be a record where paramname is alternateFilelocation1 and paramvalue is blank or Null. BARS ignores such records for backup. An attempt to back up files from alternate file locations would be done only if the location is not Null.

Resolution

This problem is documented in Cisco bug ID CSCee20122.

This issue is fixed in the BARS version 4.0(3.4). To download    the latest BARS version, refer to Software Center: CallManager & Voice Apps Crypto Software.

For a workaround, perform these steps:

1. On Cisco CallManager Admin, select Service > Service Parameters.
2. Select Pub as the server and Cisco TFTP as the service.
3. Click Update.

Internally, this removes all the blank records in the database for alternate file locations, which makes the backup successful.