NovaBACKUP PC/Server/BE client (for legacy versions, prior to 21.x)
NOTE: This guide was originally written for NovaBACKUP versions prior to 21.x. There are differences starting in version 21.x in regards to retention and setting the backup target in backup jobs (non-image backup jobs), as compared to how that is described in this KB article (that was written with versions prior to 21.x in mind). If running 21.x versions in order to backup (via the backup tab or via the image backup functions) to a legacy backup device, as this KB article describes how to do, can be done only after enabling "Legacy Storage Devices" support in NovaBACKUP 21.x first, see that guide here: How to Enable Legacy Storage Devices in NovaBACKUP in version 21 and higher. The Image Backup functions would however be the same in version 21.x, without enabling the "Legacy Storage Devices" support in NovaBACKUP 21.x. The screenshots in this English KB article variant are in German language, so keep that in mind.
This article describes the creation of a data backup consisting of
- a weekly full backup on Saturday
- a daily differential backup (Monday to Friday)
- and a storage rule (daily execution)
A local target is used (here: second local hard disk). It is recommended to write these backups to an external medium, e.g. to use a share as backup target. Even better are three backups of important data on at least two different media and one of the media stored off-site (3-2-1 rule).
This article only describes the basic procedure and is intended as a guide.
Contents:
1. create a weekly full backup and daily differential backup
2. create a retention rule
1. create a weekly full backup and daily differential backup
When you open the NovaBACKUP (NBK) GUI, you will see the "Start" screen. First open the default settings and set up the email notification. Click on the blue/red "N" in the upper left corner:
Picture 1: Open basic settings
A menu opens. Select the "Standard settings" and click on the "Notification" tab:
Picture 2: Opening email settings.
Check "Email" and select e.g. "Always". Then click on "Email settings...":
Picture 3: Email options
Configure the settings, test the email sending and save these settings. Close the basic settings with "OK".
All jobs created from now on will use these settings.
Now click on the "Save" tab. You will then see the following screen:
Picture 4: Setting up a new job
If you click on the small white sheet in the upper left corner (red arrow) you reset the backup job to the default settings, the email settings will be applied.
Fill out the yellow marked fields:
Enter e.g. DataBackupFull as backup name.
Click on "Backup to..." and select the backup target (drive and directory) and a name for the backup file to be created. We recommend that you choose the same name as for the backup job, i.e. "DataBackupFull ". This allows you to see on the storage regardless of which job has created which file:
Picture 5: Assign names for backup file
Confirm with "Ok"
Attention:
Limit yourself here to the user data. Selecting the complete drive C: does not create a consistent backup because the Windows system files are constantly in use!
Now click on the "Settings" button:
Picture 7: Backup job settings
Under "Save" you set the options marked in yellow. "Append to medium" here means that each backup will create a new file named "DataSaveFull_DateTimeStamp.nbd". The previous backup is thus NOT overwritten. Click "OK" to accept the settings.
Save the job by clicking on the diskette symbol in the top left-hand corner:
Picture 8: Save job
The name you have assigned is adopted. Click "Save" to save the job. From now on you will also see the name in the title bar of the NovaBACKUP window:
Picture 9: Name of the backup job in the title bar
This job is now saved and can serve as a template for the differential job. We rather advise against the incremental method. With incremental you get a chain of dependent files, you need ALL files, the full and all following incremental backups for recovery. With differential, you only need the most recent full backup and the last differential backup created on it, that is, only two files.
Change the backup name from "DataBackupFull" to "DataBackupDiff". Also change the name of "Backup to..." accordingly. Click the "Backup to..." button, select the target drive and folder again and change the name of the file.
Picture 10: Modify and save job settings
In the title bar you will see a "*" after the changes. This means that a job has been changed but not yet saved. If you would now use the diskette symbol to save, the job would be saved with these settings as " DataBackupFull". You do not want that here. First change the backup mode in the settings (click on "Settings") from "Complete" to "Differential":
Picture 11: Change job from complete to differential save
Note:
Snapshot here means a full backup without affecting the Windows archive bit. "Complete" is a full backup with resetting the Windows archive bits. So Snapshot is suitable for a "full backup in between" without affecting an existing backup set Complete/differential.
Save this job with the new name "DataBackupDiff" by clicking on the blue/red "N" and "... save as":
Picture 12: Save changed job under a new name
The new name is adopted and also displayed in the title bar of the window:
Picture 13: New name is displayed in title bar
Now it's a matter of timing. The full backup must run first and create the basis for the following differential jobs. Only then can the differential job save.
First open the full backup using the small folder icon (red arrow).
Then click on the "Schedule..." button below. The schedule will then open:
Picture 14: Configuring the job schedule, access rights
The full backup should only start once a week, here for example on Saturday. Under "First execution..." select the next coming Saturday and enter a time.
Enter a user (important because of access rights!). This user should be a member of the group "Administrators" and "Backup Operators". Test the access (it is checked against the Windows authentication, NOT against a NAS!).
Confirm with "OK". Under "Schedule" you will now find the new job:
Picture 15: Job is displayed in Schedule
Of course you can also start the full backup immediately under "Schedule" by right-clicking on the schedule entry:
Picture 17: Execute job immediately in the schedule
With these two jobs the target memory will be filled shortly (depending on the data volume). A retention rule works against this.
2. creating a retention rule
You can create a storage rule on the "Plan" tab => "Backup storage..." button at the bottom left:
Picture 18: Set up backup storage
The dialog for configuring the retention rule opens. Here you can create a rule according to various criteria. In this example we will create a rule for DataBackupFull and DataBackupDiff. Set "Number" = 5 and increase or decrease the number of backups to be stored depending on the available space on the target storage. Under "Backup type to be processed", switch to "Regular backup":
Picture 19: Basic settings of the retention rule
Under the "Advanced" tab, you define a name filter "Data Backup":
Picture 20: Extended settings of the retention rule
Mit diesem Namensfilter wird diese Regel alle Dateien bearbeiten, die die Zeichenkette "DatenSicherung" enthält, also sowohl "DatenSicherungVoll" als auch "DatenSicherungDiff". Mit der Anzahl = 5 werden 1x DatenSicherungVoll und 4x DatenSicherungDiff aufbewahrt. Wenn eine 6. Sicherung erfolgt (DatenSicherungVoll) und danach diese Regel zeitgesteuert ausgeführt wird, dann wird zuerst die älteste DatenSicherungDiff gelöscht. Wenn alle alten DatenSicherungDiff Dateien gelöscht wurden und die DatenSicherungVoll frei von darauf aufbauenden diff Sicherungen ist, wird als letztes die DatenSicherungVoll gelöscht.
Speichern Sie die Regel mit Klick auf "Speichern...".
Benennen Sie die Datei auf "DatenSicherung_Aufbewahrung" um:
Picture 21: Save storage rule
Click "Save" to save the rule under "Utility".
To ensure that this rule is also executed in a time-controlled manner, it must be added to the schedule under "Schedule" using the "Add..." button. Button at the bottom right:
Picture 22: Adding a backup retention rule to scheduling
Picture 23: Open storage rule
Select the start time about a quarter of an hour before the backup jobs are executed:
Picture 24: Setting up the retention rule schedule
Click "OK" to accept the time schedule.
Now a backup set consisting of
DataSecurityFull
Data backupDiff
DataSecurity_Storage
has been created. In terms of space, please always plan so that there is always space for a new backup on the target storage, i.e. a complete data backup can still be written to the target.