You can schedule some backups so that they occur automatically. These automatic backups are also known as scheduled backups.
After scheduling the day, the time of day, and the type of backup for that day, insert a tape or diskette into the drive. Scheduled backups require that the drive has a tape or diskette in place, ready to receive data. The Backup/Restore utility then creates the backup on the media in the drive when it is scheduled to do so.
The schedule remains in effect until you cancel or change it. For example, if you schedule a complete system backup to run on Friday at 6 p.m. and an incremental system backup to run on Monday at 5 p.m., those backups continue to run at those times every Friday and Monday unless you change the schedule. You can schedule a maximum of one backup per day.
When you schedule a backup, it takes up to fifteen minutes for the schedule change to take effect. A scheduled backup begins within five minutes after the time you specify. A scheduled backup proceeds if:
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The server is running when the backup is scheduled to begin |
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The drive contains backup media |
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One of the following screens appear on the server console: |
- Operator Menu
- Service Monitor screen
- System Maintenance menu
- Any Network Management menu or screen
- Backup/Restore Menu
- Any scheduled backup menu or screen
A backup continues until it is complete (all of the appropriate server information is copied to the backup media) or until the space on the media is exhausted. If the backup is not complete and the tape or diskette in the drive is full, the backup stops. You must insert another tape or diskette for the backup to continue.
Note: If a server is down when it is time for a scheduled backup to begin, the backup is postponed until the server is running again. After the server is running, the backup proceeds regardless of how long the server was down.
You can automatically check a completed backup that fits on a single tape or diskette to confirm that the media is readable. You cannot automatically confirm backups that exist on more than one tape or diskette.
After a scheduled backup, you can check the scheduled backup logs to confirm that the backup has been created successfully (for information on viewing backup logs, refer to "Displaying the Backup/Restore Logs" in Chapter 5). These logs are overwritten every week.
Avoid scheduling backups at the following times:
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During hours of heavy use |
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When the mail service empties the Wastebasket folder of all Intelligent Messaging mail users |
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During STDA rebuilds |
The next section describes the various types of scheduled backups.
You can schedule the following types of backups:
Complete system backup - Backs up all system data (including services and databases), regardless of whether any of the data has been altered since the previous backup.
Incremental system backup - Backs up changes in the system data that occurred after the last complete backup. You can choose from among three settings when configuring the incremental backup range. For more information on configuring the incremental backup range, refer to "Incremental Backups" in Chapter 3.
Service backup - Backs up a mail, STDA (StreetTalk Directory Assistance), or third-party service. When scheduling a service backup, you can schedule more than one service to be backed up at the scheduled time.
When you schedule a backup, you select settings for the following:
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Day and time when the backup will occur |
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Type of backup |
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Whether to confirm readability of the backup |
The schedule you create remains in effect unless you change it at a later time. The backups you schedule occur every week at the specified day and time.
1. From the Operator Menu, select Backup/Restore.
2. From the Backup/Restore Menu, select Change Configuration. The Change Configuration Menu appears.
3. Select Automatic Backup Schedule. The Scheduled Backup Menu appears.
4. Select Schedule a Backup. The Schedule a Backup Menu appears.
5. Select one or more days for the backup and press ENTER. An asterisk (*) appears next to the selection. You specify the whole week by selecting Sunday through Saturday.
To change a choice, highlight your selection and press ENTER. The asterisk disappears.
6. Press F10 to continue. The Enter Time screen appears.
7. Enter the time when the automatic backup is to begin, using the 24-hour time format (HH:MM). For example, to set the time for the backup to begin at 7:30 p.m., enter 19:30.
One of the following occurs:
- If a backup schedule already exists for any day on which you are currently scheduling a backup, the Already Scheduled Backup Menu appears and displays the day on which a conflict exists. Continue with step 8.
- If you selected more than one day at the Schedule a Backup Menu, the Enter Time screen appears. The most recent time that you entered when scheduling a previous day's backup is listed as the current default time. Press ENTER to accept the default time. Repeat the current step as necessary.
- If no conflicts exist, after you set the time for each day chosen, the Backup Menu appears. Skip to step 10.
8. Select one of the following:
- Replace Currently Scheduled Backup.
- Do Not Replace Currently Scheduled Backup
9. The Already Scheduled Backup Menu appears again for each day on which a conflict exists. Repeat step 8 as necessary. One of the following occurs:
- If you retain the current schedule for each day you chose in step 5, the Scheduled Backup Menu appears and displays the following message:
No changes made to currently scheduled backups.
Schedule a new backup or exit.- If you are creating a new schedule, the Backup Menu appears. Continue with step 10.
10. Select the type of backup you want to schedule. The type of backup you select occurs for each day you are currently scheduling. You cannot schedule more than one type of backup at one time. One of the following occurs:
- If you schedule a complete system backup or an incremental system backup, the Confirm Backup screen appears. Skip to step 13.
- If you are scheduling a service backup, the Select Service Menu appears, listing those services available on the server for backing up. Continue with step 11.
11. Select one or more services to back up. An asterisk appears beside the name of each service you chose.
12. Press F10 when you are ready to continue. The Confirm Backup screen appears.
13. Select one of the following:
- YES to confirm the readability of the backup after it completes.
- NO if you do not want to confirm the readability of the backup.
The Scheduled Backup Menu appears.
14. Select Display Currently Scheduled Backups to look at the newly scheduled backup.
Example Scheduling Backups for an Entire Week
At WCT, Beverly Brimbleton of the Corporate Communications Department in Chicago, wants to schedule a complete system backup to occur each day on the department's server. The server is called USCHI022@Servers.
Beverly schedules the backups as follows:
1. From the Operator Menu on the server console, Beverly selects Backup/Restore.
2. From the Backup/Restore Menu, she selects Change Configuration.
3. To change the backup schedule, Beverly picks Automatic Backup Schedule from the Change Configuration Menu.
4. From the Scheduled Backup Menu, she selects Schedule a Backup.
5. From the Schedule a Backup Menu, she selects Sunday through Saturday. To confirm her selection, she presses F10.
6. At the Enter Time screen, the field refers to the entire week, not to a particular day, because Beverly selected Sunday through Saturday at the Schedule a Backup Menu in step 5. She wants the scheduled backup for each day of the week to begin at 10 p.m., so she enters 22:00 at the Enter Time field.
7. Beverly must specify what type of backup is to be scheduled for 10 p.m. each day. She selects Complete System Backup from the Backup Menu.
8. Although this is an optional step, Beverly selects Display Currently Scheduled Backups at the Scheduled Backup Menu to look at the results. The Scheduled Backup Menu displays the new schedule.
The LAST BACKUP column is reset to None every time that the schedule for any day is changed. None refers to the fact that the newly scheduled backup for a day has not been recorded yet for that day. Because Beverly scheduled the entire week's backups, None appears in the LAST BACKUP column for each day.
If the schedule for any particular day has not been changed, the current schedule displays No Backup Scheduled for that day.
For more information on currently scheduled backups, refer to "Displaying the Current Backup History" in Chapter 5.
Example Creating a Backup Schedule for Two or More Services
George Jones works at WCT for a marketing group. He wants to schedule more than one service to be backed up on Tuesday and Thursday at some evening hour for USCHI010, his group's server. George is not sure what the backup schedule is on the server, so he looks at the currently scheduled backups before he changes the schedule:
1. At the server console, George selects Backup/Restore from the Operator Menu.
2. From the Backup/Restore Menu, George selects Change Configuration.
3. From the Change Configuration Menu, he selects Automatic Backup Schedule.
4. From the Scheduled Backup Menu, George selects Display Currently Scheduled Backups. The current backup schedule is displayed on the Currently Scheduled Backups screen.
He notes that no backups are scheduled for Sunday, Tuesday, or Saturday. Thursday has an incremental backup scheduled for 6 p.m. George presses ENTER to return to the Scheduled Backup Menu's choices.
5. At the Scheduled Backup Menu, George selects Schedule a Backup. At the next screen, he selects Tuesday and Thursday and selects each by pressing ENTER. An asterisk (*) appears next to each selection. When George completes his choices, he presses F10 to proceed.
6. At the Enter Time screen, George enters 18:00, which represents 6 p.m., for Tuesday.
7. When the Enter Time screen is displayed again, 18:00 is the default for the next selected day, Thursday. George presses ENTER to select the same time for Thursday.
8. As George noted earlier, Thursday already has a backup scheduled. From the Already Scheduled Backup Menu, George selects Replace Currently Scheduled Backup.
The Already Scheduled Backup Menu is displayed for each of the chosen days that has a backup previously scheduled. This screen is not displayed for a day if the day's schedule is canceled in advance of using the scheduling procedure.
9. From the Backup Menu, George selects Service Backup.
10. From the Select Service Menu, he selects the mail service services, MS@Finance@WCTUS and a third-party service, ABM@MTKG@WCTUS, and presses F10.
The Scheduled Backup Menu appears. George selects Display Currently Scheduled Backups to look at the new schedule.
For information on displaying the current backup history, refer to Chapter 5.
Checking for Faulty Media When Backing Up a Server
When creating a backup, always make sure that the tape you back up to is readable. If you back up server information to a damaged tape, you will be unable to restore information from that tape in the future.
Following most scheduled backups, the Backup/Restore utility automatically confirms the readability of the tape. Automatic confirmation occurs for any scheduled backup that fits onto a single tape. Automatic confirmation does not occur for larger backups that require the use of multiple tapes.
If you wish to schedule a backup and not confirm it automatically, you must disable automatic confirmation as explained in the next section.
Disabling Automatic Confirmation of a Tape Following a Scheduled Backup
In some instances, you may not wish to use automatic confirmation. For instance, if you need immediate access to a server following a backup, you may wish to disable automatic confirmation. This section explains how to disable automatic confirmation of scheduled backups.
Note: Confirming the readability of the backup media confirms only that the media is not damaged or defective, and can be read by the tape or diskette drive. It does not guarantee that data was correctly backed up to the media. The data on the backup media is not compared with the data on the server.
To Disable Automatic Confirmation of a Scheduled Backup
1. Create an automatic backup schedule (refer to "Scheduling Backups" earlier in this chapter). After you select the type of backup from the Backup Menu, the Confirm Backup Screen appears and prompts you to confirm the readability of the backup.
2. Select NO and press ENTER.
The Scheduled Backup Menu appears. Automatic confirmation is disabled for the scheduled backup you specify.
Determining Whether Automatic Confirmation Is Enabled
You can determine which backups are scheduled to be confirmed by examining an existing backup schedule. The backup schedule provides the confirmation status of each scheduled backup. Refer to "Displaying the Automatic Backup Schedule," which follows.
The column on the right of the screen indicates whether automatic confirmation will occur for each backup scheduled (Yes or No).
Caution: Banyan recommends confirming all backup media.
Displaying the Automatic Backup Schedule
For each day in the week, you can view information about the backup scheduled, including the time and type of each backup, and whether automatic confirmation is enabled.
View the server's current backup schedule to help avoid conflicts when planning other server operations, such as applying a patch. For each day of the week, you see if and when a backup is scheduled, and whether the backup is scheduled for automatic confirmation.
To Display the Current Automatic Backup Schedule
1. From the Operator Menu, select Backup/Restore. The Backup/Restore Menu appears.
2. Select Change Configuration. The Change Configuration Menu appears.
3. Select Automatic Backup Schedule. The Scheduled Backup Menu appears.
4. Select Display Currently Scheduled Backups. The Scheduled Backup Menu appears and displays the currently scheduled backups. If the entire schedule does not fit on a single screen, press ENTER to view the next screen.
The following information appears on the backup schedule:
Day - Displays the day of the week on which the backup is scheduled.
Time - Displays the time of day, in 24-hour format, when the backup is scheduled to begin. For example, if a backup is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., it is listed as 10:00. If a backup is scheduled to begin at 11 p.m., is listed as 23:00.
Type - Displays the type of backup scheduled. The following entries may appear:
- Complete system backup
- Incremental system backup
- Single-service backup
- Multiple-service backup
- No backup scheduled
Last Backup- Indicates whether a scheduled backup has occurred for the day and time listed. If a backup has occurred for the day and time listed, this column lists one of the following entries:
- If a scheduled backup has occurred, the date and time of the most recent backup are shown in 24-hour format. For example, if the last backup scheduled for a Friday occurred on June 5, 1998, at 11:30 p.m., the following entry appears for Friday:
Jun 5 23:30 1998
- If a scheduled backup has not occurred, the word None appears. For example, if on Wednesday morning you schedule a backup to occur on Wednesday afternoon at 3:00, and if you check the backup schedule before 3:00, the following entry appears for Wednesday:
None
- If no backup schedule exists for a day, no entry appears in this column.
Confirm - Indicates whether you scheduled automatic confirmation of the backup. One of the following entries appears:
- Yes appears if automatic confirmation is scheduled.
- No appears if automatic confirmation is not scheduled.
Press ENTER or ESC when you are finished viewing the backup schedule. The Scheduled Backup Menu appears.
Two approaches to canceling scheduled backups include one day at a time, or the entire week's schedule at once. Both approaches are explained in this section.
If you want to replace or reschedule a day's backup, you do not have to cancel the day's backup in advance. Instead, you can proceed with scheduling a backup for that day. When the Already Scheduled Backup Menu is displayed during the scheduling procedure, select Replace Currently Scheduled Backup to replace a day's schedule.
1. From the Operator Menu, select Backup/Restore. The Backup/Restore Menu appears.
2. Select Change Configuration. The Change Configuration Menu appears.
3. Select Automatic Backup Schedule. The Scheduled Backup Menu appears.
4. Select Cancel a Scheduled Backup. The Cancel a Scheduled Backup Menu appears.
5. Select the day for which you want to cancel a backup. A message appears confirming that the backup has been canceled.
6. Select another day, or press ESC to exit. The Scheduled Backup Menu appears.
Canceling All Scheduled Backups
You can cancel all backups scheduled during the week. Automatic backups do not run again until you create a new backup schedule.
To Cancel All Scheduled Backups
1. From the Operator Menu, select Backup/Restore. The Backup/Restore Menu appears.
2. Select Change Configuration. The Change Configuration Menu appears.
3. Select Automatic Backup Schedule. The Scheduled Backup Menu appears.
4. Select Cancel a Scheduled Backup. The Cancel a Scheduled Backup Menu appears.
5. Press F6 to cancel the entire week's backups. A message confirms that the backups for the entire week have been canceled.
6. Press ESC to exit. The Scheduled Backup Menu appears.