[Samba] Tar "file changed as we read it" error

[Tomas Florian]

Hello, I get a strange error when taring a database for backup.

I have a Redhat 8.0 samba server with 2.2.5 which is running cron.daily.
Part of that script is backup from a database file of one W2K machine to
another W2K machine for storage.


I use mount -t smbfs to mount some W2K shares on linux:

//windows-1/AccountingData on /mnt/AccountingData type smbfs (0)
//windows-1/Database on /mnt/Database type smbfs (0)
//windows-2/Backup on /mnt/backup type smbfs (0)


The command and output that I get is as follows:

[root at linuxmachine]#  tar c /mnt/Database > /mnt/backup/DatabaseFeb7.tar
tar: /mnt/Database/Corporate Database.mdb: file changed as we read it
tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors

- I also get the "file changes as we read it" if I try to do the same thing
with /mnt/AccountingData
- I thought the message might just be saying what is really happening - that
some user has the file open and is writing to it.  But I get this message
even on files that haven't been used for weeks.
- Additionally I DO NOT get this error if I tar the file to a local linux
directory instead of to the mounted share ... so the problem seems to be
related to the destination somehow

....The tar file does seem to have something in it, but obviously this error
worries me.  What does it mean?  How can I fix it?
While I'm at asking about tar ... how can I increase the maximum tar size
limit from 2 GB to something bigger? <-(completely unrelated to samba)

Thanks :-)
Tomas