Files Backup Plan in Backup Agent
File Backup Plan Wizard is the most common plan type that contains selected files and folders as a backup source. If you intend to back up a whole media storage (i.e. selected disk), use an image-based backup plan instead
In the new backup format, the file backup plan configuration is always stored in a backup storage
This chapter covers the following topics:
Learn Backup Plan Wizard steps:
- Select Backup Storage
- Plan Name
- Advanced Options
- Backup Source
- Advanced Filter
- Compression and Encryption Options
- Backup Consistency Check
- Retention Policy, GFS and Object Lock
- Schedule
- Pre / Post Actions
- Notification
- Summary
Create Backup Plan
To create a new file backup plan, click the Files icon in the horizontal menu bar.
Select Backup Storage
Select a storage account for the backup plan from the list of available backup storage.
Click Next.
Plan Name
Name the backup plan.
Click Next.
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Advanced Options
Specify advanced options for the backup plan. Advanced option set depends on the selected backup storage.
The following options are available:
- Use synthetic full backup. Select this option for cloud storages to enable the synthetic full backup usage for the backup plan. If a long-term storage class is selected as the bsckup destination, this will result in high storage costs.
- Back up NTFS permissions. Select this check box to include current NTFS permissions in the backup plan.
To learn more about NTFS permissions, refer to the NTFS permissions article
- Use fast NTFS scan. Select this check box to enable proprietary file scanning and search mechanism. This mechanism is based on a file tree generation which allows faster data reading and faster backup procedure
Note that the Force Using VSS option is mandatory for fast NTFS scanning and is selected automatically
- Force using VSS. Select this check box to back up objects from a snapshot to avoid any access conflicts. This option is useful for forcible backup of files that are used by other processes at the moment of the backup plan run
To learn more about VSS, refer to the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) article
Consider the following restrictions which apply to VSS:
- VSS cannot be used to back up network files, such as network shares and mapped network drives
- VSS cannot make snapshots of data stored in FAT32-partitioned volumes.
- 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 MSP360 Backup will use the system VSS provider forcibly.
EFS Encryption
Select the way to back up EFS-encrypted files. The two options are available:
- Decrypt EFS-encrypted files. With this option selected, EFS-encrypted files are first decrypted and then backed up. This option is set by default
- Keep EFS-encryption. With this option selected, EFS-encrypted files are backed up 'as is', as encrypted. Note that this option requires special attention since some issues decryption issues upon restore to a location other than the source computer may occur
Read more about EFS-ecnryption and how it works in MSP360 Managed Backup in the Backing Up EFS-encrypted Files chapter
Additional Advanced Options for Amazon S3
- If your backup storage destination is Amazon S3, select the S3 storage class for the backup plan:
- Standard
- Intelligent-Tiering
- Standard-IA
- One Zone-IA
- Glacier Instant Retrieval
- Glacier Flexible Retrieval (formerly S3 Glacier)
- Glacier Deep Archive
Usage of different storage classes for different backups is the subject of optimizing your storage costs.
Learn more about Amazon S3 storage classes here
- Select Use S3 Transfer Acceleration to accelerate file transfer for an extra fee. The target bucket must have this feature enabled. Select this checkbox if you want to use the data transfer acceleration service provided by Amazon. To learn more, refer to the Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration.
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.
Note that this feature is only supported for General Purpose v2 Azure accounts. If you are using another kind of account, you need to upgrade your account to be able to use this feature
Be aware of the additional charges and increased blob access rates after your Azure account upgrade
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.
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Backup Source
Specify the files/folders to back up for the backup plan.
| Check Box Appearance | Description |
|---|---|
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This folder with all subitems excluded. All new content will NOT be added |
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This folder with all subitems included. All new content will be added |
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Only selected items excluded. New content will NOT be added in excluded folders" |
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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:
- Expand Advanced options and click Add network share
- Provide the path to the network share in the following format:
\\<server name>\<share name>
- Click Manage credentials and provide the credentials of account with backup operator permissions on the network share.
- Click Test to check whether the network share is accessible.
- Click Add
- Select files to back up on the added network share.
Click Next.
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Advanced Filter
Specify various criteria for files/folders to limit the backup size, if necessary.
The following options are available:
- Back up all files in selected folders. Select this option to back up all files in folders, specified on the Backup Source step
- Back up files of these types. Select this option to back up files of certain types. The file type is detected by file extension. In the field to the right, specify the required file extensions. Use a semicolon to separate extensions
- Do not back up 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 to the right, specify file extensions to be excluded from the backup plan. Use a semicolon to separate extensions
- Back up empty folders. Select this check box to include empty folders in the backup plan
- Skip folders. In this field, specify folders to be excluded from the backup plan. Use a semicolon to separate folders
- Back up files modified (days ago). Select this check box, if you want to back up files, modified on a specific day. In the field to the right, specify the number of days from the last modification
- Back up files modified since. Select this check box if you want to include in the backup plan all files that have been modified after a point in time. In the fields to the right, specify the date and the time of file modification
- Do not back up files larger than (MB). Select this check box to limit the size of files for the backup plan. In the field to the right, specify the maximum file size
- Do not back up system and hidden files (selected by default). Select this check box to exclude files that have 'system' and/or 'hidden' attributes from the backup plan
- '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 check box to exclude On-Demand files from the backup plan.
Click Next.
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Compression and Encryption Options
Specify compression and encryption options for the backup plan.
The following options are available:
- Select Enable compression check box to compress backup source contents for optimal backup storage space usage
- To protect your backup contents with encryption, select the Enable encryption check box. MSP360 (CloudBerry) Backup supports AES encryption of 128, 192 and 256 bit key length. 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. To display the password, select Display password check box
Note that the encryption password cannot begin and/or end with spaces
Note that the encryption password will NOT be stored in the backup plan configuration for security reasons. Keep this password in a safe place to be able to restore the backup contents afterward
Click Next.
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Backup Consistency Check
Specify if the full consistency check is required for this backup plan.
To learn more about consistency checks, refer to the Consistency Checks chapter
Click Next.
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Schedule
Specify the backup plan schedule settings.
The following options are available:
- Select the No schedule option to run the backup plan manually.
- Select the Simple (Forever Forward) option to apply the Forever Forward Incremental (FFI) schedule.
- Select the **Advanced (GFS, Object Lock) option to apply the recurring schedule and, if necessary, use Grandfather-Father-Son and Object Lock (Immutability).
- To set the time limit for plan execution, select the Stop the plan if it runs for checkbox, then specify the backup plan duration limit.
- To run the backup plan after the computer is on in case the backup plan run has been missed, select the Run missed scheduled backup immediately when computer starts up checkbox.
Click Next.
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, specify the FFI schedule for the backup plan. You can select the Daily or Monthly schedule type, depending on how often the incremental backups will be performed.
This schedule is unavailable if the selected storage account does not support synthetic full backups.
Advanced Schedule
Select the Advanced (GFS, Object Lock) option to set up a flexible, recurring schedule with generations. Every generation contains one full backup followed by incrementals.
The advanced schedule allows configuring a flexible schedule according to your requirements. To use this schedule you should add schedules for full and incremental backup runs:
- To create incremental backups by schedule, select the Recurring (Incremental) checkbox, then configure the schedule for incremental backups on a daily or monthly basis.
- To create full backups by schedule, select the Execute full backup (Synthetic full if possible) checkbox, then configure the schedule for full backups on a daily or monthly basis.
It is recommended to schedule full backup at least once every 3 months for selected schedule
Click Next.
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Retention Policy, GFS Settings and Object Lock
Specify the retention policy settings for the backup plan. The retention policy depends on the schedule selected on the previous step.
Retention Policy with Simple Schedule
If you selected the Simple (Forever Forward Incremental) schedule, the Retention Policy step offers the following settings:
- Keep backup for. Select this option to limit the number of restore points. 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 the backup storage).
For backup storages with a minimum storage duration limit and early deletion fees, this value can be exceeded to avoid the fees
- Intelligent Retention: Each time the backup plan is executed, the backup storage parameters are analyzed automatically, setting the retention period based on storage provider data deletion conditions. This feature is enabled by default.
Learn more about the retention policy in the Retention Policy chapter chapter
Retention Policy with Advanced Schedule / No Schedule
If you selected the Advanced (GFS, Object Lock) schedule or to run backup manually without the schedule, the Retention Policy step offers the following settings:
- Do not purge (Keep backup forever). Select this option to keep all your backup runs.
- Keep backup for. Select this option to limit the period while backup contents are kept in the backup storage, then specify the period.
Learn more about the retention policy in the Retention Policy chapter chapter
To apply the GFS retention policy for the backup plan, select the Enable GFS checkbox, then customize the GFS retention policy by enabling the required keeping periods (weekly, monthly and yearly purge delays).
To learn more about the GFS retention policy, refer to the About GFS chapter
If backup data is required to be locked, enable the Object Lock (Immutability) checkbox. Before enabling Object Lock, you need to allow this feature for the backup destination.
To learn more about the Object Lock (Immutability) feature, refer to the Object Lock (Immutability) chapter
Click Next.
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Pre / Post Actions
As of from Management Console 5.0, pre- or post- actions for Backup Agent can be restricted by provider. To learn more about the pre-/post action settings, refer to the Global Agent Options and Companies chapters
Customize actions before and/or after the backup plan run.
Custom Scripts
You can execute custom scripts before or after running the backup plan.
- To specify the script execution before the backup plan starts, select the Pre-backup action check box, then specify the path to the script in the field below. To open a standard Windows dialog box, click the ... button
- Select the pre-backup script execution options:
- Exit backup plan if pre-backup action failed. Select this option to cancel the backup plan in case the specified script fails
- Continue backup plan if pre-backup action failed. Select this option to run the backup plan regardless of the specified script execution results
- To specify the script execution after the backup plan terminates, select the Post-backup action check box, then specify the path to the script in the field below. To open a standard Windows dialog box, click the ... button
- Select the post-backup script execution options:
- Execute post-backup action only if backup plan has been successfully completed. Select this option to execute the post-backup script only in case of a backup plan success
- Execute post-backup action regardless of the backup result. Select this option to execute the post-backup script in any case
Note that an absolute path to a script is required, i.e. if you specify the path to a script, it should be as follows:
c:\scripts\prebackup-script.bat
In case the absolute path to a script file is not specified, the default directory for script is "C:\Windows\System32"
The following script formats are supported: EXE, COM, BAT, CMD, or PIF
Mind that MSP360 (CloudBerry) Backup supports EXE files have several restrictions: EXE files must not use GUI and must close automatically upon termination.
For example, the following script will not succeed:
cmd.exe /F:ON
In this case, this command must be used with the /C parameter, as shown below:
cmd.exe /F:ON /C
The same restriction applies to applications executed by PowerShell scripts:
PowerShell.exe Start-Process cmd.exe exit
It is highly recommended to perform a test run for the created backup plan to ensure that Backup Agent properly executes specified scripts
Backup Plan Chains
In case you need to run another backup or restore plan once the backup plan is finished, use the Backup Chain feature. To create a backup chain, select the Backup chain check box, then select a backup or restore plan to be chained.
- Execute the specified backup plan only if backup plan has been successfully completed. Select this option to execute the chained backup plan only in case of a backup plan success
- Execute the specified backup plan regardless of the backup result. Select this option to execute the chained backup plan in any case
- In case you chained a backup plan, you can enable the full backup for it regardless of the contents in the backup storage. To do this, select the Force full backup for the chained plan. By default, full or incremental backups will be started according to the schedule of this backup plan.
Click Next.
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Notifications and Logging
You can receive email notifications informing you about the backup process results, and maintain logging.
You can receive email notifications after each run of the backup plan or only in case if it fails for some reason.
In addition, you can register the activity related to the backup routine in the Windows Event Log. You can choose whether to log all activity, or add new entries to the log only when a backup routine fails.
Summary
Review the configuration of the backup plan.
Click Next to proceed to the last wizard page.
Select the Run backup now check box to execute the backup plan immediately.
If you want to run the backup plan later, click Finish.
Edit a Backup Plan
To edit the backup plan, proceed as follows:
- Switch to the Backup Plans tab.
- Open the plan to edit, expand it, then click Edit.
- Follow the backup wizard steps to save the backup plan configuration.
Delete a Backup Plan
To delete the backup plan, proceed as follows:
- Switch to the Backup Plans tab.
- Open the plan to delete, expand it, then click Delete.
- Confirm the backup plan deletion.
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