Which .tmp files are safe to delete?

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KevinRossen
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Which .tmp files are safe to delete?

Post by KevinRossen » Mon Nov 24, 2014 7:49 am

I have a client who has about 1.5 GB of .tmp files in the database folder. The non-temp files are approximately 1.5 GB in size. Are any of these files safe to delete?
Kevin Rossen
Office Manager, Rossen Dental
Founder, DivergentDental.com
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jsalmon
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Re: Which .tmp files are safe to delete?

Post by jsalmon » Mon Nov 24, 2014 4:07 pm

That is a strange coincidence that the non-temp and temp files equate to the same amount of data. Are you sure it isn't your backup software creating them and then just failing to rename / delete them when it is done? The easiest way to know is to take a look at what the .tmp files start with. If it's something like tempfambal135983.tmp then you can delete them without any worries because any temp tables that Open Dental creates instantly deletes them after use. Maybe your MySQL user that is running Open Dental doesn't have that permission thus the temp tables stick around? However, if they are something like appointment1290834.tmp then I'd suspect your backup software or some 3rd party program of the like.
The best thing about a boolean is even if you are wrong, you are only off by a bit.

Jason Salmon
Open Dental Software
http://www.opendental.com

KevinRossen
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Re: Which .tmp files are safe to delete?

Post by KevinRossen » Tue Nov 25, 2014 7:34 am

jsalmon wrote:That is a strange coincidence that the non-temp and temp files equate to the same amount of data. Are you sure it isn't your backup software creating them and then just failing to rename / delete them when it is done? The easiest way to know is to take a look at what the .tmp files start with. If it's something like tempfambal135983.tmp then you can delete them without any worries because any temp tables that Open Dental creates instantly deletes them after use. Maybe your MySQL user that is running Open Dental doesn't have that permission thus the temp tables stick around? However, if they are something like appointment1290834.tmp then I'd suspect your backup software or some 3rd party program of the like.
The filenames are all like pt30210002.tmp, they just have different numbers in the files. It very well could be the backup software they are using. They're a LONG TIME user a of Open Dental.
Kevin Rossen
Office Manager, Rossen Dental
Founder, DivergentDental.com
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