File Backup

Use the remote management tools to create file backup plans in the new backup format on remote computers.

This chapter covers the following topics:

• File backup plan overview
• Create new file backup plan
  • Plan name
  • Where to Back Up
  • Advanced Options
  • What to Back Up
  • Advanced Filter
  • Compression and Encryption
  • Backup Consistency Check
  • Schedule Options
  • Retention Policy, Intelligent Retention, GFS, Object Lock (Immutability)
  • Pre/Post Actions
  • Notification
• Run the Backup Plan
• Force Full Backup
• Edit the Backup Plan
• Clone the Backup Plan
• Delete the Backup Plan

File Backup Overview

Features:

• Local and network file backup
• NTFS permissions backup (Windows only)
• Synthetic Full backup
• Advanced file filter
• Compression and Encryption
• Regular retention policy for backups
• Forever Forward Incremental Backup
• GFS retention policy
• Object Lock (Immutability)
• Filename encryption
• Pre/post actions (Windows only)

Required License: Any valid backup agent license (To learn more, refer to Backup Agent License Type)

Create New File-Level Backup Plan

1. Open the Management Console.
2. On Computers select Remote Management if you use the legacy main menu, or open Backup > Computers page in the new main menu.
3. Find the required computer, then click the Configure icon in the Backup Plan Status column.
4. On the side panel, click + or +Add New Plan.
5. In the drop-down menu, select Files Backup Plan. Follow the backup wizards steps.
6. Once you are finished with the plan settings, click Save.

Plan Name

Name the backup plan.

Click Next to proceed.

Where to Back Up

Select a target backup storage for the backup plan. If no storage accounts are available, create a new one. Refer to Add New Storage Account to learn how to do it.

Once you select the backup storage, click Next.

Advanced Options

By default advanced options are skipped for the backup plan. You should enable them, if necessary (not recommended).

On this step you can specify the advanced options for the backup plan, exclude unnecessary contents.

• Synthetic Full backup. Select this option to enable Synthetic Full for selected backup storage. Consider, in case you enable this option for long-term backup storage, this can result in increased storage costs. Refer to your cloud storage provider documentation to check the prices of in-cloud copy creation for selected storage classes.
• Back up NTFS permissions. Select this checkbox to back up NTFS permissions in the backup plan at the moment of the backup plan execution

• Use fast NTFS scan. Select this check box to enable the MSP360 proprietary file scanning and search mechanism. This mechanism is based on a file tree generation which allows faster data reading and faster backup procedure. It is not recommended to enable this feature for small amounts of files and folders

• Force using VSS. Select this check box to back up objects from a snapshot in order to avoid any access conflicts. This option is useful to back up files that are used by other processes at the moment of the backup plan execution

• Use system VSS provider. Select this check box in case you experience issues with a third-party VSS provider. Once the backup plan is run, the Backup Agent will use the system VSS provider forcibly

• EFS Encryption

  • Decrypt EFS-encrypted files. This option is selected by default: when selected, EFS-encrypted files are backed up in a decrypted state
  • Keep EFS encryption. Select this option to back up EFS-encrypted files 'as is', in the encrypted state. Note that this option requires special attention since some issues decryption issues upon restore to a location other than the source computer may occur

Additional Advanced Options for Amazon S3

If your backup destination is Amazon S3, the following custom options are available in this step.

• Use S3 Transfer Acceleration. Use this option to accelerate file transfer for an extra fee. The target bucket must have this feature enabled
• Select the S3 storage class for the backup plan:
  • Standard
  • Intelligent-Tiering
  • Standard-IA
  • One Zone-IA
  • Glacier Instant Retrieval
  • Glacier Flexible Retrieval
  • Glacier Deep Archive

Using different storage classes for different backup purposes helps you to optimize the storage costs.

Additional Advanced Options for Microsoft Azure

If your backup storage destination is Microsoft Azure, and you have the General Purpose v2 Azure account, select the required storage class (access tier).

The following options are available:

• Hot tier. An online tier optimized for storing data that is accessed or modified frequently. The hot tier has the highest storage costs, but the lowest access costs.
• Cool tier. An online tier optimized for storing data that is infrequently accessed or modified. Data in the cool tier should be stored for a minimum of 30 days. The cool tier has lower storage costs and higher access costs compared to the hot tier.
• Cold tier.An online tier optimized for storing data that is rarely accessed or modified, but still requires fast retrieval. Data in the cold tier should be stored for a minimum of 90 days. The cold tier has lower storage costs and higher access costs compared to the cool tier.
• Archive tier. An offline tier optimized for storing data that is rarely accessed, and that has flexible latency requirements, on the order of hours. Data in the archive tier should be stored for a minimum of 180 days.

To learn more about the difference between Azure storage tiers, refer to the Azure Blob Storage - Hot, cool,cold, and archive storage tiers article at docs.microsoft.com.

Click Next.

What to Back Up

Specify files and folders to be included in the backup plan.

Check Box Appearance	Description
	This folder with all sub items excluded. All new content will NOT be added
	This folder with all sub items included. All new content will be added
	Only selected items excluded. All new content in excluded folders will NOT be added
	Only selected items included. New content will be added in selected folders only

You can use Advanced options to add a network share to include it's content to backup scope:

1. Expand Advanced options and click Add network share
2. Provide the path to the network share in the following format: \\<server name>\<share name>

3. Click Manage credentials and provide the credentials of the account with backup operator permissions on the network share.

4. Click Test to check whether the network share is accessible.
5. Click Add
6. Select files to back up on the added network share.

Click Next.

Advanced Filter

You can configure the criteria to include or exclude files/folders to backup.

• Back up all files in selected folders. Select this option to back all files in folders, specified in the Backup Source section
• Back up files of specified types. Select this option to back up files of certain types. The file type is detected by file extension. In the field below, specify the required file extensions
• Do not backup files of these types. Select this option to exclude files of certain types from the backup plan. The file type is detected by file extension. In the field below, specify the required file extensions
• Skip folders. In this field, specify folders to be excluded from the backup plan. Separate them with semicolons
• Back up empty folders. Select this checkbox to include empty folders in the backup plan
• Back up files modified since. Select this checkbox, if you want to back up files, modified on a specific day. In the field below, specify the number of days from the last modification
• Back up files modified since. Select this checkbox if you want to include in the backup plan all files that have been modified after a point in time. In the fields below, specify the date and the time of files modification
• Do not back up files larger than (MB). Select this checkbox to limit the size of files for the backup plan. In the field below, specify the maximum file size
• Do not back up system and hidden files. Select this option to exclude files that have 'system' and/or 'hidden' attributes from the backup plan. Refer to System and Hidden Files Backup for details
• Do not back up files used by other processes at the moment of the backup plan run. Select this check box, if you want to exclude from the backup plan files that will be opened at the moment of the backup plan run
• Do not back up On-Demand files (selected by default). Select this checkbox to exclude On-Demand files from the backup plan. Refer to OneDrive Backup in case you want to add this type of On-Demand files to backup

Click Next.

Compression and Encryption Options

Specify compression and encryption options for the backup plan.

The following options are available:

• Select the Enable compression checkbox to compress backup contents to reduce the backup size on storage
• To protect your backup contents with encryption, select the Enable encryption check box. The following AES encryption bite key lengths are supported: 128, 192, and 256. Select the appropriate key length in the Algorithm drop-down menu
• Specify the encryption password in the Password field, then confirm the password in the Confirm field. Mind keeping the encryption password in a safe place. Pay attention, if Password Recovery Service is not enabled in the Management Console, then if the encryption password is lost or forgotten, the encrypted backup cannot be restored.
• In the Hint field, specify some information that could help to recall the password in case you forget it.

Click Next.

Backup Consistency Check

Configure the backup consistency check for the backup plan.

Full consistency check implements checks of data integrity for all generations (full and incremental backup sequences) except for the current generation check, which is the subject of a mandatory consistency check. A mandatory consistency check is performed at each backup plan run.

After the successful full consistency check, the backup data can be guaranteed to be restored.

Click Next.

Schedule Options

Specify the backup plan schedule settings.

Schedule Options in Backup Agent v8.0 and Higher for Windows

The following options are available:

• Select the Simple option to apply the Forever Forward Incremental (FFI) schedule.
• Select the Advanced option to apply the recurring schedule and, if necessary, use Grandfather-Father-Son and Object Lock (Immutability).
• Select the No schedule, run manually option to run the backup plan manually. Retention policy will not work for this option.

Simple Schedule

Select the Simple (Forever Forward) option to use the Forever Forward Incremental (FFI). This schedule offers one full backup followed by a limited number of incrementals. Once the limit is exceeded, a new full backup is created using in-cloud copying (synthetic full backup.

Once you select this option, the predefined schedule will appear. You can edit this schedule, if necessary. You can select the Daily or Monthly schedule type, depending on how often the incremental backups will be performed.

Use the Additional Settings to configure the following:

• First backup start date
• Stop condition for the long backup
• Overdue alert condition
• Missed backup handling

Advanced Schedule

Select the Advanced option to set up a flexible, recurring schedule with generations. Every generation contains one full backup followed by incrementals.

Once you select this option, the predefined schedule for full and incremental backup will appear. You can edit this schedule, if necessary.

The advanced schedule allows you to configure a flexible backup plan according to your requirements. To modify the schedule, use the edit icon next to the selected schedule. If needed, you can disable the incremental backup schedule to run only full backups.

You can select the Daily or Monthly schedule type, depending on how often the incremental backups will be performed.

Use the Additional Settings to configure the following:

• First backup start date
• Stop condition for the long backup
• Overdue alert condition
• Missed backup handling

Click Next.

Schedule Options: Backup Agent v 7.9.7 and lower for Windows

The following schedule options are available:

• Select the No schedule option to run the backup plan manually
• Select the Forever Forward Incremental option to apply the Forever Forward Incremental (FFI) schedule, then specify the schedule parameters
• If you want the backup plan to run incremental backups on a constant periodic basis, select the Recurring (incremental) option, click Edit, then specify the settings for incremental backup plan runs
• If you want the backup plan to run full backups on a constant periodic basis, select the Execute full backup (synthetic full if possible) option, click Edit, then specify the settings for full backup plan runs
• To stop the backup plan in case if it continues suspiciously long, select the Stop the plan if it runs for... option, then specify the backup plan's maximum duration
• Select the Run Missed Scheduled Plan Immediately When Computer Starts Up option to run the plan that was not executed while the computer was down.

Recurring Schedule for Incremental Backups

You can set the periodic run intervals for incremental backups. Specify if the incremental backup plan runs on a daily or monthly basis, then specify the recurrence parameters and start time. Click Save. It is recommended to set the periodic run intervals for full backups as described below, it is not recommended to use incrementals only. You can check your settings at the bottom of the step page.

Recurring Schedule for Full Backups

You can set the periodic run intervals for full backups. Specify if the full backup plan runs on a daily or monthly basis, then specify the recurrence parameters and start time. Click Save. You can check your settings at the bottom of the step page. In case you want to enable GFS on the next step, you should configure a full backup runs accordingly.

Schedule for Forever Forward Incremental Backup

Refer to Forever Forward Incremental chapter for details.

Click Next.

Retention Policy, Intelligent Retention, GFS, and Object Lock (Immutability)

Specify the retention settings for the backup plan.

The following options are available in case you selected the multiple full backups + incremental backups:

• Do not purge (keep backup forever). Select this option to keep all your backups without purging anything
• Keep backup for. Select this option to apply the regular retention policy to your backups.

GFS Settings

To apply the GFS retention policy, select the Enable GFS check box, then specify the GFS retention settings.

Object Lock (Immutability)

Immutability is object lock feature that is linked to the GFS retention policy. If the Object Lock (Immutability) is applied along with GFS settings, full backups that are subject to the GFS retention policy become immutable for the GFS keeping period.

Select the Enable Object Lock (Immutability) check box, then confirm that you are enabling the feature in the backup plan.

Retention Policy with Forever Forward Incremental Schedule

If on the Schedule step you selected the Forever Forward Incremental schedule, the Retention Policy step has different settings.

The Keep backup for value defines the period Restore Points with the Forever Forward Incremental schedule are kept. If their retention period expires, these Restore Points are merged into a full backup (with Forever Forward Incremental only one full backup is kept on backup storage).

Intilligent retention is enabled by default. Intelligent Retention is based on the following approach: each time the backup plan is executed, backup storage parameters are checked and the retention period for the full backup is set in such a way that it is kept on backup storage for the minimum period based on the storage provider data deletion conditions. Analysis of backup storage parameters is performed automatically, you do not need to do anything.

Click Next.

Pre / Post Actions

Specify pre and post-actions for your backup plan. Usually, these are scripts that perform particular jobs before or after your data is backed up. The following settings are available:

• To specify the action that will be performed before the backup plan starts, select the Pre-backup action check box.
• Specify the path to the script to be run as a pre-backup action.
• Specify the conditions of pre-action run:
  • Select Do not run the backup plan if the pre-backup action fails option if you do not want the backup plan to be launched if the pre-backup action fails.
  • Select Run the backup plan if the pre-backup action fails option if you want the backup plan to launch regardless of the pre-backup action result.
• To specify the action that will be performed after the backup is completed, select the Post-backup action check box.
  • Select Execute the post-backup action only if the backup plan completes successfully option if you want to run it only if the backup was executed without any errors or warnings.
  • Select Execute the post-backup action regardless of the backup plan result option if you want the post-action to be launched regardless of the backup termination results.
• To chain the backup plan with another plan, select Backup chain check box, then select the backup or restore plan name in the drop-down menu.
  • Select Run the selected plan if this backup plan completes with success option if you want to run the specified plan only if the backup plan was executed without any errors or warnings.
  • Select Run the selected plan regardless of this backup plan completion result option if you want the chained backup plan to be launched regardless of the backup termination results. Select the mode for the current chained backup plan:
  • Force full backup. Full backup will be forced for the chained backup plan.
  • Use settings of the current backup plan. Chained backup plan will be run as full or incremental, according to this backup plan run.

Click Next.

Notifications

Specify notification settings for backup plan results. You can use the company notification settings or customize them as needed: specify the required recipients and customize the notifications on different backup plan results:

• Success
• Failure
• Warning

In case you select to customize notifications, select the recipients for different events.

Select I want to receive a notification email if you want to notify your users about the backup process. You can select whether users will be notified about backup failure or about any backup result.

• Select If the backup plan fails or completes with warnings option if you want to receive the notification message in case of the backup plan failure
• Select In all cases option if you want the entry to be put in Windows Event Log in any case.

If you want the backup plan record to be added to Windows Event Log, select Add entry to Windows Event Log when backup completes check box

• Select If the backup plan fails or completes with warnings option if you want to receive the notification message in case of the backup plan failure
• Select In all cases option if you want the entry to be put in Windows Event Log in any case.

Click the Next, then click Save to finish the wizard.

Run Backup Plan

To Run the Existing Backup Plan:

1. Open Backup > Computers.
2. Find the required computer, then click the Configure icon in the Backup Plan Status column.
3. On the side panel, navigate to the Backup Plans (Beta) tab
4. Find the plan to run.
5. Click the Start button to run the backup plan. You can expand this control to use the following options:
   • Run Backup
   • Force Full Backup
   • Force Synthetic Full Backup

Force Full Backup

To Force Full Backup

1. Open Backup > Computers.
2. Find the required computer, then click the Configure icon in the Backup Plan Status column.
3. On the side panel, navigate to the Backup Plans (Beta) tab
4. Find the plan to force.
5. Expand the Start control and click Force Full Backup.

Edit Backup Plan

To Edit the Existing Backup Plan

1. Open Backup > Computers.
2. Find the required computer, then click the Configure icon in the Backup Plan Status column.
3. On the side panel, find the plan you want to edit, then click the edit icon.

5. Once you made the required changes, click Save.

Clone Backup Plan

To Clone the Existing Backup Plan

1. Open Backup > Computers.
2. Find the required computer, then click the Configure icon in the Backup Plan Status column.
3. On the side panel, find the plan you want to clone, then click the clone icon.

4. Specify the name of the plan clone.
5. Click Save.

Delete Backup Plan

To Delete the Existing Backup Plan

1. Open Backup > Computers.
2. Find the required computer, then click the Configure icon in the Backup Plan Status column.
3. On the side panel, find the plan you want to delete, then click the deletion icon.

4. In the dialog box, click OK to confirm the deletion.

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