File Backup (new backup format)

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 Options
  • Full Consistency Check
  • Schedule
  • Retention Policy, Intelligent Retention, GFS, Object Lock (Immutability)
  • Pre/Post Actions
  • Notification
• Run the Backup Plan
• 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
• GFS retention policy
• Object Lock (Immutability)
• Filename encryption
• Pre/post actions (Windows only)

File backup in the new backup format is supported for:

• Windows: Windows Server 2008/2008 R2/2012/2012 R2/2016/2019/2022, Windows 7/8/10/11

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

Create New File-Level Backup Plan

2. On Computers select Remote Management if you use 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.
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 selected backup storage, click Next.

Advanced Options

Specify advanced options for the backup plan.

• Back up NTFS permissions. Select this check box 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

Custom 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.

Custom Options for Microsoft Azure

If your backup destination is Microsoft Azure, select the required Azure Blob Storage.

The following options are available:

• Archive Blob Storage. This is a low-cost storage option for infrequently accessed data. As opposed to hot and cool storage tiers, retrieving data from an Archive Blob Storage may take up to several hours
• Cool Blob Storage. The cool storage tier has lower storage costs and higher access costs compared to hot storage. This tier is intended for data that will remain in the cool tier for at least 30 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

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

What to Back Up

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

Check Box Appearance	Description
	This folder with all subitems excluded. All new content will NOT be added
	This folder with all subitems 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

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 these 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
• 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. Separate them with semicolons
• 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 below, 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 below, specify the date and the time of files 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 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 locked files (exclusively opened by other applications). 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 locked files (exclusively opened by other applications). 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. 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 check box 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

• Use Server Side Encryption. Select this check box to enable encryption of your backup content if you use Amazon cloud storage. Note that the user should have enough permissions to access backup data.

Click Next.

Full Consistency Check

Configure the full 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.

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.

Click Next.

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

Specify the retention settings for the backup plan.

The following options are available:

• 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).

Enable the **Intelligent Retention option (highly recommended). 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:

• Select Synchronize local repository with backup storage before plan runs check box to To learn more about the repository and how to manage it, refer to the Repository and Consistency chapter
• To specify the action that will be performed before the backup plan starts, select Execute this command before backup runs: check box.
• Specify the path to the script to be run as a pre-backup action.
• Specify the conditions of the pre-action execution:
  • Exit backup if pre-backup action failed option if you do not want the backup plan to be launched if the pre-backup action fails.
  • Select the Continue backup plan if pre-backup action failed option if you want the backup plan to run regardless of the pre-backup action result.
• To specify the action that will be performed after the backup is completed, select Execute the command after backup completes: check box.
  • Select the Execute post-backup action if backup has been successfully completed option if you want to run it only if the backup was executed without any errors or warnings.
  • Select the Execute post-backup action in any case (regardless of the backup 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 Execute the specified plan after the plan completes: check box, then select the plan name in the drop-down menu.
  • Select the Execute only if the plan has been successfully completed option if you want to run the specified plan only if the backup plan was executed without any errors or warnings.
  • Select the Execute regardless of the plan result option if you want the chained backup plan to be launched regardless of the backup termination results.

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

Select User receives a notification email when backup completes if you want to notify your users about the backup plan results. You can select whether users will be notified about backup failure or any backup result.

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 the When backup fails option if you want to receive the notification message in case of the backup plan failure
• Select the 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 11. On Computers select Remote Management if you use legacy main menu, or open Backup > Computers page in the new main menu. 2. Find the required computer, then click the Configure icon in the Backup Plan Status column. 3. On the side panel, find the plan to run, then click on it. 5. Click the play button.

Edit Backup Plan

To Edit the Existing Backup Plan

1. On Computers select Remote Management if you use legacy main menu, or open Backup > Computers page in the new main menu.
2. Find the required computer, then click the Configure icon in the Backup Plan Status column.
3. On the side panel, expand the plan you want to edit, then click Edit.
4. Once you made the required changes, click Save.

Clone Backup Plan

To Clone the Existing Backup Plan

1. On Computers select Remote Management if you use legacy main menu, or open Backup > Computers page in the new main menu.
2. Find the required computer, then click the Configure icon in the Backup Plan Status column.
3. On the side panel, expand the plan you want to clone, then click Clone.
4. In the field below, specify the name of the plan clone.
5. Click Save.

Delete Backup Plan

To Delete the Existing Backup Plan

1. On Computers select Remote Management if you use legacy main menu, or open Backup > Computers page in the new main menu.
2. Find the required computer, then click the Configure icon in the Backup Plan Status column.
3. On the side panel, expand the plan you want to delete, then click Delete.
4. In the dialog box, click OK to confirm the deletion.