Windows Server 2003 includes a backup utility called Backup that was developed by Veritas Software Corporation. Backup is a versatile utility designed to perform backups of individual systems. You use Backup to perform the following tasks:
You can also use Backup to schedule recurring backups. Scheduling backups gives you the ability to create a backup job once and then run it repeatedly. For example, you could configure a backup job to run daily, weekly, monthly, or on an ad hoc basis. The only disadvantage of scheduled backups compared to manual backups is that you'll need to remember to change the media as necessary, so that backups are written to the proper media as per your rotation scheme.
To perform backup and recovery operations, you must use an account that is a member of the Administrators or Backup Operators group. Only members of these groups have authority to back up and restore files regardless of ownership and permissions. File owners and those who have been given control over files can also back up files, but only the files that they own or the files that they have permission to access.
You can start Backup by clicking Start, Programs, or All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and then clicking Backup, or by typing ntbackup at the command prompt. The first time you use the Backup utility, it starts in basic, or wizard, mode, as shown in Figure 41-1.
As an administrator, you'll want to use the Backup utility in advanced mode. The advanced mode gives you many additional options. With this in mind, clear Always Start In Wizard Mode, and then click the Advanced Mode link. You should now see the main Backup Utility interface.
As shown in Figure 41-2, the advanced mode interface provides the following four tabs:
Welcome Provides a quick link to return to basic mode and options for starting the Backup Wizard in advanced mode, the Restore Wizard in advanced mode, and the Automated System Recovery Wizard.
Backup Provides the main interface for configuring backups manually. With manually configured backups, you can create a selection script to save the files and folders you've selected for backup. You can then use the selection script to create an identical backup job during subsequent backup sessions.
Restore and Manage Media Provides the main interface for manually configured restoration of archived files and folders. You can restore data to the original location, to an alternative location anywhere on the network, or to a single folder.
Schedule Jobs Provides the main interface for scheduling backup jobs. You can view previously executed jobs as well as jobs scheduled for upcoming dates.
You create backups using the Backup utility's tabs or wizards. Both techniques use default options set for the Backup utility. You can view or change the default options only in advanced mode. Click Tools, and then select Options. The five categories of default options are as follows: General, Restore, Backup Type, Backup Log, and Exclude Files. Each of these categories is examined in the sections that follow.
The configuration settings on the General tab in the Options dialog box help you control the way backup and restore operations are performed in general. Table 41-1 summarizes the available options.
Table 41-1. General Options for the Backup Utility
Option | Description | Default Setting |
|---|---|---|
Compute Selection Information Before Backup And Restore Operations | Sets Backup so that before the backup or restore procedure, it calculates the number of files and bytes involved and displays this information. Otherwise, this data does not appear and the progress bar will not function | .Enabled |
Use The Catalogs On The Media To Speed Up Building Restore Catalogs On Disk | Sets Backup to use archive logs on the media instead of scanning the entire archive to determine what files are included. Clear this option only when the catalog is missing, damaged, or otherwise unavailable. | Enabled |
Verify Data After The Backup Completes | Sets Backup so that it checks the archive data against the original data to ensure that the data is the same. If the data isn't the same, there might be a problem with the backup media, and you should run the backup again using different media. | Disabled |
Back Up The Contents Of Mounted Drives | Sets Backup so that you can back up data on mounted network drives. Otherwise, only the path information for mounted drives will be backed up. | Enabled |
Show Alert Message When I Start The Backup Utility And Removable Storage Is Not Running | Displays an alert if you start Backup and the Removable Storage service isn't running. It's a good option to use if you work with removable media. | Enabled |
Show Alert Message When I Start The Backup Utility And There Is Recognizable Media Available | Displays an alert if you start Backup and there is new media available in the import media pool. It's useful if you work with removable media. | Enabled |
Show Alert Message When New Media Is Inserted | Displays an alert when Removable Storage detects new media. It's useful if you work with removable media. | Enabled |
Always Allow Use Of Recognizable Media Without Prompting | Allows Removable Storage to move new media to the backup pool automatically. Select this option if you use Removable Storage and you want new media to be available to Backup. | Disabled |
In addition to setting general options, you can also set specific defaults that control restore, backup type, and backup logging. The related options and tabs are summarized in Table 41-2. The first column shows the tab where the option is available. The second column shows the name of the option.
Table 41-2. Restore, Backup Type, and Backup Log Options
Tab | Option | Description | Default Setting |
|---|---|---|---|
Restore | |||
Do Not Replace The Files On My Computer (Recommended) | Select this option to restore files that have been deleted from the hard disk. This means if the files don't exist on disk, they will be restored. | selected | |
Replace The File On Disk Only If The File On Disk Is Older | Select this option to replace older files on the hard disk with newer files from the backup. If files don't exist on disk, they will be restored as well. | Not selected | |
Always Replace The File On My Computer | Select this option to replace all files on the hard disk with files from the backup. This option could cause users to lose changes they've made to files, because whatever is on the archive is fully restored. | Not selected | |
Backup Log | |||
Default | Backup Type Select this option to set the default backup type. Available types are Normal, Copy, Differential, Incremental, and Daily. | Normal | |
Detailed | Select this option to save a detailed recovery log of the backup and restore operations, including the names of all files and folders. | Not selected | |
Summary | Select this option to save an abbreviated summary of backup and restore operations. | Selected | |
None | Select this option to disable logging for backup and restore operations. | Not selected |
Even when you are performing a normal backup, there are certain types of files you probably do not want to back up, such as the paging file and other temporary files. For this reason, Backup automatically excludes certain types of files from backup. You can view current exclusions on the Exclude Files tab in the Options dialog box. In Backup, select Options from the Tools menu, and then click the Exclude Files tab as shown in Figure 41-3.
The actual exclusions listed will depend on the type of system you are working with and the roles for which the system is configured. The following exclusions are among those that may appear:
On a laptop or any other computer configured for Power Management, the hibernation system file (Hiberfil.sys) is excluded.
On a domain controller, many Active Directory files are excluded, in particular those files used by Volume Shadow Copy (VSS), the NT File Replication Service (NTFRS), and the NT Directory Service (NTDS).
On a DNS server, the DNS logs are excluded.
In most cases, you won't want to remove exclusions unless you have a specific reason for doing so. You can and should, however, add exclusions as necessary. To do so, complete the following steps:
In Backup, select Options from the Tools menu, and then click the Exclude Files tab. You can exclude files for all users or files that you specifically own as follows:
To exclude files that are owned by any user, click Add New under the Files Excluded For All Users list. This displays the Add Excluded Files dialog box shown in Figure 41-4.
To exclude only files that you or the currently logged-on user owns, click Add New under the Files Excluded For User list. This displays the Add Excluded Files dialog box.
You can exclude files by registered file type by clicking a file type in the Registered File Type list. Alternatively, you can exclude files by custom file type by typing a period followed by the file extension in the Custom File Mask box. For example, you could choose .BMP or enter the custom type .BMP-BAK.
Tip
Select multiple registered file types at once
Use Ctrl+click or Shift+click to select more than one option at a time. When you highlight multiple registered file types this way, you set several exclusions at once.
Note
You can't enter multiple custom types in one entry. If you enter more than one custom type—even if you use semicolons or other punctuation—Backup sees this as a single file type. For example, if you were to enter .bak;.tmp, Backup would look for files with the extension .bak;.tmp rather than files with the .bak extension and files with the .tmp extension.
In the Applies To Path box, enter the backslash () as the path to specify matching files on any file system or on a specific drive or file path. Files from all subfolders of that path will then be excluded unless you clear the Applies To All Subfolders check box.
Click OK. Repeat this process as necessary to add other exclusions.
Regardless of whether you want to back up data using the Backup Wizard or the Backup tab, the techniques are similar. In this section, I am going to discuss using the Backup tab options so that you know how to configure backup manually. I will also discuss creating and using the following:
Backup selection scripts Backup selection scripts allow you to save the file and folder selections you've made so that they can be reused.
Scheduled jobs Scheduled jobs allow you to configure recurring backups that run according to a daily, weekly, monthly, or ad hoc schedule.
To configure backups, follow these steps:
Start Backup by clicking Start, Programs or All Programs, Accessories, and System Tools, and then clicking Backup, or by typing ntbackup at the command prompt. If wizard mode is enabled, click Advanced Mode, and then select the Backup tab as shown in Figure 41-5. Otherwise, just click the Backup tab.
Choose the data you want to back up in one of the following ways:
Make selections by selecting or clearing the check boxes associated with a particular drive or folder. When you select a drive's check box, all files and folders on the drive are selected. When you clear a drive's check box, all files and folders on the drive are cleared.
To work with individual files and folders on a drive, click the plus sign (+) to the left of the drive icon. You can now select and clear individual directories and files by clicking their associated check boxes. When you do this, the drive's check box shows a shaded checkmark. This indicates that you haven't selected all the files on the drive.
To back up system state data, select System State under the My Computer node. For servers that aren't domain controllers, system state data includes essential boot and system files, the Windows Registry, and the COM+ class registration database. For domain controllers, system state data additionally includes Active Directory data and Sysvol files.
To be able to recover a server running Microsoft Exchange Server, you must back up Exchange Server data. So, if you're backing up a server running Exchange Server, select the Microsoft Exchange icon under the My Computer node. When you do this, you'll be prompted to type the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) name of the Exchange server you want to back up, such as \ExchSvr06. Only systems running Exchange Server have this type of data.
Tip
Archiving Removable Storage and Remote Storage data
Removable Storage data is stored in %SystemRoot%System32Ntmsdata. If you back up this data, you can use the advanced restore option Restore Removable Storage Database to recover the Removable Storage configuration. Remote Storage data is stored in %SystemRoot%System32Remotestorage. If you back up this data, you can restore Remote Storage by copying the data back to this directory.
Next use the Backup Destination selection list to choose the media type for the backup. Choose File if you want to back up to a file. Choose a storage device if you want to back up files and folders to a tape or removable disk.
Note
When you write a backup to a file, the archive file normally has the .BKF file extension. However, you can use another file extension if you want.
Remember that Removable Storage is used to manage tapes and removable disks. If no media are available, you'll be prompted to allocate media to the backup media pool. Follow the instructions given in the section entitled "Managing Media Pools".
In Backup Media Or File Name, select the backup file or medium you want to use. If you're backing up to a file, type a path and file name for the backup file, or click Browse to find a file. If you're backing up to a tape or other removable media, choose the tape or medium you want to use.
To start the backup process, click Start Backup. This displays the Backup Job Information dialog box shown in Figure 41-6.
The options in this dialog box are as follows:
Backup Description—Sets the backup label, which applies to the current backup only.
Append This Backup To The Media—Adds the backup after existing data.
Replace The Data On The Media With This Backup—Overwrites existing data.
If The Media Is Overwritten, Use This Label To Identify The Media—Sets the media label, which is changed only when you're writing to a blank tape or overwriting existing data.
Allow Only The Owner And The Administrator Access To The Backup Data—If you're overwriting data, you can specify that only the owner and an administrator can access the archive file by selecting this option.
Click Advanced if you want to override the default backup options. The following advanced options are available:
Back Up Data That Is In Remote Storage—Archives placeholder files for Remote Storage with the backup. This ensures that you can recover an entire file system with necessary Remote Storage references intact.
Verify Data After Backup—Instructs Backup to verify data after the backup procedure is completed. If selected, every file on the backup tape is compared to the original file. Verifying data can protect against write errors or failures.
If Possible, Compress Backup Data To Save Space—Allows Backup to compress data as it's written to the storage device. This option is available only if the device supports hardware compression, and only compatible drives can read the compressed information, which might mean that only a drive from the same manufacturer can recover the data.
Automatically Back Up System Protected Files With The System State—Backs up all the system files in the %SystemRoot% folder, in addition to the boot files that are included with the system state data.
Disable Volume Shadow Copy—Tells the Backup Utility not to perform volume shadow copies. Volume shadow copies are used to back up files that are being written to. Thus, by disabling this feature, the Backup Utility will skip files that are locked for writing.
Backup Type—Indicates the type of backup to perform. The available types are Normal, Copy, Differential, Incremental, and Daily.
If you want to create a backup selection script, set a backup schedule, or both, click Schedule and complete steps 8 to 14. Otherwise, skip to step 15.
When prompted to save the backup settings, as shown in the following screen, click Yes. In the Save As dialog box, type a name for the backup selection script, and then click Save.
Note
By default, Backup selection scripts are stored in %UserProfile%Local Settings Application DataMicrosoftWindowsNTNTBackupData with the .BKS extension. The account under which a scheduled backup runs must have access to this folder. If you are concerned about access permissions, change the save location as appropriate before clicking Save.
Next, as shown in the following screen, you are prompted to set the user name and password under which the backup selection script should run. Type the account name in DOMAINUserName format, for example, CPANDLWrstanek. Afterward, type and confirm the password for this account, and then click OK. When the Account Information Warning prompt appears, click OK again. It is hoped that you have already ensured that the backup selection script is in a location accessible to the account designated in this step.
In the Scheduled Job Options dialog box, type a job name, and then click Properties.
In the Schedule Jobs dialog box, shown in the following screen, use the Schedule tab options to set a run schedule.
Daily scheduled backups can be configured to run
Every Day—Seven days a week.
Weekdays—Monday through Friday only.
Every … Days—Every 2, 3, or n days.
Weekly scheduled backups can be configured to run using the following options:
Start Time—Sets the start time of the task.
Every … Weeks—Allows you to run the task every week, every two weeks, or every n weeks.
Select The Day(s) Of The Week Below—Sets the day or days of the week when the task runs, for example, on Monday or on Monday and Friday.
Monthly scheduled backups can be configured to run using the following options:
Start Time—Sets the start time of the task.
Day—Sets the day of the month the task runs. For example, if you select 5, the task runs on the fifth day of the month.
The … Day—Sets task to run on the nth occurrence of a day in a month, such as the second Monday or the third Tuesday of every month.
Of The Month(s)—These check boxes let you select which months the task runs.
In the Schedule Jobs dialog box, use the Settings tab options, shown in the following screen, to set additional options.
The additional options are as follows:
Scheduled Task Completed—Use these options to delete the backup task automatically if it is not scheduled to run again and to stop the backup task if it runs for more than a set amount of time. In most cases, you won't want a backup to run for more than 24 hours. If a backup runs more than 24 hours, you may have a problem with your configuration that should be investigated. For example, you may need to obtain additional backup hardware or an additional drive for current backup hardware.
Idle Time—With backups, you'll rarely use the Idle Time options, because you typically don't want to stop and start backups. With this in mind, you probably don't want to set Idle Time options.
Power Management—Use these options to determine how power management affects backups. If you are using an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and you've configured the computer to detect when it is running on battery, you can use the Don't Start… and Stop The Task… options to control the backup in the event of a power outage. If you've configured backups on a laptop, the computer can detect when it is running on battery power.
When you are finished scheduling the backup, click OK to close the Schedule Job dialog box. Next you are prompted to set the user name and password under which the scheduled backup task should run. Type the account name in DOMAINUserName format, such as CPANDLWrstanek. Afterward, type and confirm the password for this account, and then click OK.
In the Scheduled Job Options dialog box, click OK again. The backup is now set to run as a scheduled task. You do not need to perform the final step in this scenario because the backup will run automatically at the scheduled time(s).
To start a backup manually, click Start Backup. When the backup has completed, click Close to complete the process or click Report to view the backup log. Backup logs are stored in %UserProfile%Local SettingsApplication DataMicrosoftWindowsNT NTBackupData and are saved with the .log extension. You can view log files from within the Backup utility or with any standard text editor.
Using Backup, you can restore individual files and folders or an entire backup archive to its original location, an alternative location, or a single folder. For example, if Mary loses a spreadsheet and there isn't an available shadow copy of the file, you could recover the individual file from the backup archive. If John accidentally deletes an important folder, you can recover the folder and all its contents from a backup archive. If a system crashes and you are restoring it, you could recover all system and data files for the system as well.
You restore files using the Restore Wizard or the options of the Restore And Manage Media tab. With either option, you'll see a list of the backup files you created, unless you are recovering a system or restoring data to a different system. If the list is available, Backup can access details about the backup files and should have access to the catalog of the backup set that was created with the backup file.
Tip
Create a new catalog
If Backup cannot find a catalog, you can force the program to create a new one by selecting Catalog A Backup File from the Tools menu. Backup then catalogs the file by reading the contents of the archive and creating the catalog. As this process can take nearly as long as it took to create the archive in the first place, only select this option if the original catalog is missing or damaged.
Backup accesses the catalog whenever you select backup media from the list for restoration. If a backup archive spans two or more tapes, the catalog is stored on the last tape of the set. In this case, when you insert the proper tape into the tape drive, Backup reads the catalog and shows the contents of the tape, using the same file and folder structure that Windows uses for normal storage of file and folders on disk drives. You can select drives, folders, and files to restore just as you selected them for backup.
To recover data using the Backup utility, follow these steps:
Start Backup by clicking Start, Programs, or All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and then clicking Backup, or by typing ntbackup at the command prompt. If wizard mode is enabled, click the Advanced Mode button, and then select the Restore And Manage Media tab as shown in Figure 41-7. Otherwise, just click the Restore And Manage Media tab.
Select the check box next to any drive, folder, or file that you want to restore. If the media set you want to work with isn't shown, right-click File in the left view, select Catalog, and then type the name and path of the catalog you want to use. Keep the following in mind:
For system state data, select the check box for System State as well as for the other data you want to restore. If you're restoring to the original location, the current System State will be replaced by the system state data you're restoring. You can only restore system state data on a local system. If you restore to an alternate location, only the Registry, Sysvol, and system boot files are restored. You can't restore the Active Directory database, Certificate Services database, or the COM+ database to an alternative location.
For domain controllers, Active Directory and other replicated data, such as Sysvol, aren't restored. Instead, this information is replicated to the domain controller you are restoring after you restart it. This prevents accidental overwriting of essential domain information. To learn how to restore Active Directory, see the section entitled "Backing Up and Restoring Active Directory," later in this chapter.
For Exchange Server, select the Exchange Server data to restore. Before the restore starts, you'll see the Restoring Microsoft Exchange dialog box. If you're restoring the Information Store, type the UNC name of the Exchange server you want to restore, such as \ExchSvr06. If you're restoring to a different server, select Erase All Existing Data. This destroys all existing data and creates a new Information Store.
Use the Restore Files To list to choose the restore location. The following options are available:
Original Location—Restores all the selected files and folders to the original location from which they were backed up, preserving the original folder structure.
Alternate Location—Restores all the selected files and folders to a location that you designate while preserving the original folder structure. After you select this option, enter the folder path to use or click Browse to select the folder path.
Single Folder—Restores all the selected files to a single folder without preserving the directory structure. After you select this option, enter the folder path to use or click Browse to select the folder path.
Next, set the restore options. Click Tools, and then select Options. In the Options dialog box, click the Restore tab. Select one of the following options, and then click OK:
Do Not Replace The Files On My Computer (Recommended)—Restores only the files that don't already exist at the designated location. Select this option if you are restoring files that have been deleted and don't want to accidentally copy over other existing files.
Replace The File On Disk Only If The File On Disk Is Older—Performs a comparison of the last modification date of identically named files, and overwrites files at the designated location only if the archived file is newer. Select this option to replace older files on the hard disk with newer files from the backup.
Always Replace The File On My Computer—Restores all the selected files to the designated location, overwriting any existing files with identical names. Select this option to replace all files on the hard disk with files from the backup.
When you click Start Restore, the Confirm Restore dialog box appears. If you want to set advanced restore options, click Advanced, and then set any of the following options:
Restore Security—Specifies whether Backup should restore all the security settings for each file and folder, including permissions, ownership, and auditing entries. Select this option to restore security settings for files and folders on NTFS volumes. Note that the files and folders must have been backed up from an NTFS volume as well.
Restore Junction Points, And Restore File And Folder Data Under Junction Points To The Original Location—Specifies whether Backup should restore junction points created with mounted drives as well as the data that the junction points reference. Select this option to restore network drive mappings and the actual data to mapped network drives. Choose this option only if you're trying to recover a drive on a remote system. Otherwise, clear this option to restore folder references to network drives only. When this option is disabled or not selected, Backup restores the junction point but won't typically restore the referenced data.
When Restoring Replicated Data Sets, Mark The Restored Data As The Primary Data For All Replicas—Specifies whether Backup should restore File Replication Service (FRS) data so that it is replicated to other servers. Select this option if you're restoring replicated data and want the restored data to be replicated to other servers. When this feature is disabled or not selected, Backup restores the FRS data, but this data might not be replicated because it will appear older than existing data on the subscribing computers.
Restore The Cluster Registry To The Quorum Disk And All Other Nodes—Specifies whether Backup should restore the cluster registry to the quorum disk and replicate the cluster registry to all other nodes in the cluster. The cluster registry contains cluster configuration and state information. Select this option if you're restoring a cluster and want the restored data to be replicated to all nodes in the cluster. When this feature is disabled or not selected, Backup restores the cluster registry but it might not be replicated because it will appear older than existing data on other nodes.
Preserve Existing Volume Mount Points—Specifies whether Backup should preserve existing volume mount points when restoring data. Select this option if you're restoring an entire file system (which includes the volume mount points) and want to retain the current mount points rather than those in the archive. This option is useful if you've remapped a drive and created additional volumes, and now you want to keep the current volume mappings. When this feature is not selected, Backup will overwrite existing volume mount points if mount points were saved in the archive.
In the Confirm Restore dialog box, click OK to start the restore operation. If prompted, enter the path and name of the backup set to use. You can cancel the backup by clicking Cancel in the Operation Status and Restore Progress dialog boxes.
When the restore is completed, you can click Close to complete the process or click Report to view a backup log containing information about the restore operation. Backup logs are stored in %UserProfile%Local SettingsApplication Data MicrosoftWindowsNTNTBackupData and are saved with the .log extension. You can view log files from within the Backup utility or with any standard text editor.
Configuration data is stored in the System State. When you make a backup of the computer's System State, you can restore the computer's configuration in much the same way that you restore the computer's data. With System State, the recovery options take on a somewhat different meaning.
When you restore the System State to the original location, you tell Backup to replace the computer's current System State with the system state data from the backup archive. This means that the computer's boot files, key system files, COM+ class registration database, and the Registry will be restored to the state they were in when the backup archive was made. However, you can't restore the System State fully on a domain controller. On a domain controller, Active Directory is not restored as part of the System State restore. To restore a domain controller and restore Active Directory, you must first start the computer in Directory Services restore mode. For more information, see the following section.
When you restore the System State to an alternative location, only the Registry, Sysvol, and system boot files are restored to the alternative location. You can't restore the Active Directory database, Certificate Services database, or the COM+ database to an alternative location.