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[GUIDE] NovaBACKUP Client Deployment Method

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Ben
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This information is for our users that have:

  • many installations to deploy to their environment,
  • know how to utilize Active Directory and permissions,
  • and how to utilize methods for distribution.

Technical Support is unable to provide additional information about this process other than what is provided here.

This article utilizes cmd.exe to install and copy files.

Please take a look at RMM Deployment of NovaBACKUP using PowerShell if you are using a Remote Monitoring and Management system.

Configure AD OU permissions to the Share

Configure network share permissions to your destination root share at the AD OU level: make sure the computers in this OU have Full access to the root destination share. \\server\share

NOTE: Do Not Map these shares to the machines for security reasons at this point, as all machines will have access to all files in this share (Crypto/ransom nightmare if you map them).

Install and configure on your first node

You will want to configure your backup job from one node with the software installed to start, to hash the passwords, have default settings configured, have the schedule information, etc.

Adjust Default Settings

Open and adjust the default program settings in the main menu "N" logo. 

Email notifications can be configured per job as needed. 

CMon can be configured via command line, so the service will start automatically (more information later).

Create, Save, Schedule Backup Job Template

Create, save, and schedule the backup job you wish to create on all machines as the "default" one, for example, include the user directory, folders on the machine, or drives you wish to capture by default.

Make sure the job settings have the following parameters: 

  • Run as Logged in user
  • Backup To... \\server\share
  • Append backup mode

Schedule the job as desired.

Manually Edit the Saved Job Script

The Next step is to manually edit the saved job script with a plaintext editor, such as notepad.

The saved script will be called My Backup.NBK by default, and will be located at 
C:\ProgramData\NovaStor\ NovaStor NovaBACKUP\UserScripts\%UserName%\Backup

Once you open the script with notepad, you will need to change a few things, and add a couple of lines: 

As per the Online Help Documentation

Scripted Environment Variables

NovaBACKUP is able to use Windows environment variables in the script file.  Though in order to use these variables you will have to manually edit the script file.  User set environment variables are not available for use, just the default Windows environment variables.  Below is an example of a script excerpt using these environment variables, please notice that you have to define the variables that you want to use at the bottom of the script.

Example portion of a script file:

( . . . )

[select]
path.item.0=+$Env Variable.item.0$
path.numberOfItems=1

( . . . )

[device]
SessionLogicalId=0
SessionName=My Backup
SessionId=0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
MediaLogicalId=0
MediaExtension=nbd
MediaName=My Media
MediaId=0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
DeviceUnit=\\Server\HomeDrive\$Env Variable.item.1$
DeviceName=Network
DeviceId=0900dcfe0b0000f0a98187492b78000002000000
DeviceClassId=ntwk://

( . . . )

[Environment variable]
Env Variable.item.0=%USERPROFILE%
Env Variable.item.1=%USERNAME%
Env Variable.numberOfItems=2

Anywhere you desire the UserName to change, in this example, would use $Env Variable.item.1$

SAVE the changes to the .NBK script.

Retention Settings

Create and Schedule a generic Retention job for the backups, so your storage target does not become full.

Create Retention job

This is easiest to configure as a "blanket" retention job that will target all backups visible by the software (on the Restore Tab).

  1. Open the Schedule tab and select [Backup Retention...]
  2. Click [New]
  3. Give the script a name, or keep the default is fine.
  4. Change to use "Count" of 4 (if Mon-Fri) or as desired, this will run before the backup job, resulting in 5 total backups.
  5. Save the Retention settings, click [OK] to use the previous name.

Schedule Retention

Schedule the Retention job you just made:

  1. On the Schedule tab, click [Add...]
  2. Click on the dropdown menu "Select the job to schedule"
  3. In the Utility directory, select the Retention job you just saved.
  4. Click [OK]
  5. Adjust the Type of Schedule, and First Run Date and Time, to run just before the Backup job (5-15 min before), on the same days.
  6. Leave "Run as logged in user" option selected, 
  7. Click [OK] to confirm

Copy Program Settings for distribution

You need to close the software and associated services to copy the information.

To manually stop NovaBACKUP Services: 

  1. Press [Ctrl], [SHIFT], and [ESC] keys simultaneously to open the Task Manager window.
    Select More details at the bottom of the window.
    Select Show Processes from all users at the bottom of window.
  2. Open the Details/Processes tab
    Verify NovaBackX.exe, nsctrl.exe, nsService.exe and drdiag.exe processes are not active.
    • Select each of them and choose [End Process] or [End Task].
  3. Opening NovaBACKUP will restart these services automatically later

 

Copy C:\ProgramData\NovaStor to another location for distribution

Open the software again after this finishes to restart the needed services.

Run the backup job to confirm it works correctly, as expected.

 

On The Next Node(s)

Copy the previous C:\ProgramData\NovaStor directory to the same/original location on the next machine. (Important! Make sure nsService.exe is NOT running)

Install the software on this machine, either via automated script or manually.

Here is a silent command line installation call: 

Setup-NB-PC.exe /Log /q /noreboot /ComponentArgs "Backup Client":"/q /prop REBOOT=ReallySuppress /log c:\NBK_cmd_Install_Setuplog.txt"

Open the software and confirm the jobs are scheduled on the Schedule tab.

 

CMon Command Line Configuration (During Install)

The following will install the software and configure the CMon service to contact your CMon server.

NOTE: Don't forget to enter your CMon Server URL in place of "YourDomain.com"

 

Using the installation setup file: 

Setup-NB-PC.exe /LOG /q /noreboot /ComponentArgs "Backup Client":"/q /prop REBOOT=ReallySuppress /log c:\NBK_SetupLog.txt /prop MANAGEMENT_SERVER_PUBLIC_SERVER_ADDRESS=YourDomain.com /prop MANAGEMENT_SERVER_PORT=4502 /prop MANAGEMENT_SERVER_AGENT_SERVICE_STARTMODE=Automatic /prop START_MANAGEMENT_SERVER_AGENT_SERVICE=1"

 

Example Deployment Script

NOTE: This is an example only, it will work with some adjustment. This script expects that some files exist in a network share at \\server\share\Nova\

There is no error checking, no validation, etc.

  • Setup-NB.exe     (Installer)
  • locakbackup.nbk     (Backup Job Script)
  • localretent.nbk     (Retention Job Script)
  • localsched.ini     (Manually created Scheduler configuration for Backup Job)
  • localretentsched.ini     (Manually created Scheduler configuration for Retention Job) 
net use z: \\server\share
mkdir c:\agent

xcopy z:\Nova\Setup-NB.exe c:\agent\. /E /D /Y
xcopy z:\Nova\localbackup.nbk c:\agent\. /E /D /Y
xcopy z:\Nova\localsched.ini c:\agent\. /E /D /Y
xcopy z:\Nova\localretent.nbk c:\agent\. /E /D /Y
xcopy z:\Nova\localretentsched.ini c:\agent\. /E /D /Y

c:\agent\Setup-NB.exe /q /noreboot /ComponentArgs "Backup Client":"/q /prop REBOOT=ReallySuppress /prop MANAGEMENT_SERVER_PUBLIC_SERVER_ADDRESS=YourDomain.com /prop MANAGEMENT_SERVER_PORT=4502 /prop MANAGEMENT_SERVER_AGENT_SERVICE_STARTMODE=Automatic /prop START_MANAGEMENT_SERVER_AGENT_SERVICE=1"

"c:\Program Files\NovaStor\NovaStor NovaBACKUP\nsCmd.exe" -s "C:\agent\localbackup.nbk" -t "c:\agent\localsched.ini"

 

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