How to import backups stored on a Generic S3 Storage Device in NovaBACKUP 19.8 and 20.x
How to import backups stored on a Generic S3 Storage Device in NovaBACKUP 19.8 (19.8.1325.1 was the exact and single version that added Generic S3 device support) and 20.x backup client, including and up to 20.0.1118.1. The ability to do this was first added in 19.8.1325.1 backup client, but primarily would be utilized in 20.x. Note: The ability to import has only been tested with English ASCII characters, no other foreign language character sets have been verified. The new device that you will be required to create on the new target computer, where you intend to execute the Generic S3 device Import function to import backups from the original source computer that backed up to a Generic S3 device prior, will be required to contain the exact same Device Name, Bucket Name, User Name, and Backup Directory fields, all of those fields, located in the "S3 Settings" tab, those fields are required to match your original Generic S3 device, which was located and utilized on the original source computer, when creating the new Generic S3 device on a new target computer running NovaBACKUP client (which could a fresh install of the client or an existing install). The Generic S3 device name on the new target computer has to match the original source computer however, so if you already have a device named the same way on the new target computer, for instance if this was not a clean install of NovaBACKUP client, then you will be required to first delete that Generic S3 on the new target computer in the Devices tab of the client in order to add the same named device again, as the "Optional Settings" tab when creating the device on the new target computer will need to contain the Domain and Computer name fields specified for the original source computer's Domain and Computer name (as those entries probably do not exist if you were to verify the same named Generic S3 device on the new target computer, and existing devices cannot be modified to specify or correct those values in the "Optional Settings" tab by design). The Domain and Computer name Make sure that in the "S3 Settings" tab, where you define various main device properties, that the "Device Name", "Bucket Name", "User Name", and "Backup Directory" field values are all specified with the same case sensitivity that was utilized on the original source computer's Generic S3 device. Additionally, on the new target machine, where you intend to perform the import of the backups from the original source computer, you will also be required to specify all of the settings in the "Optional Settings" tab of the new Generic S3 device that will be created on the target computer, including the Domain (Domain name) and Computer (Computer name) fields; and these fields are required to be entered in all CAPITAL letters (again only English ASCII characters have been tested) and there is a character length limit of 15 characters for both of those fields to coincide with those character length limits that Windows has for those two fields. The Import function will NOT work properly unless you enter all characters in all CAPITAL letters for those two fields mentioned.
For importing backup sets that are located on a Generic S3 Storage Services device (this device type was added in 19.8.1325.1), which could be the case for instance if you lose your backup client machine and have to rebuild things, that can be accomplished by adding a new Generic S3 Storage Services device (your existing device cannot be edited after it is saved the first time for the Domain and Computer Name properties) in NovaBACKUP client (in case you lose the device itself in the configuration or the computer that had NovaBACKUP installed on it was lost or damaged and need to rebuild your setup and get your indexed backups that are stored on Generic S3 back) please continue reading this guide.
On the new target machine, where you intend to perform the Import of backup records on to be able to restore contents from those backups, you will be required to install a compatible NovaBACKUP client (if your backups were performed in 19.8.1325.1 to a Generic S3 device then you will be required to re-use that exact same version 19.8.1325.1 that performed the backups, and if your backups were performed in 20.0.1011.1 to a Generic S3 device then you will be required to utilize that version or newer that performed the backups, otherwise the Import won't work properly if for instance you attempt to utilize the Import function on a new target 20.0.1011.1 client and your original source 19.8.1325.1 client had performed the backups that won't work as there were many changes to Generic S3 devices between 19.8.1325.1 and 20.0.1011.1). Note: If you were to perform backups to a Generic S3 device using 20.0.1011.1 (the initial 20.0 Release version) then you can utilize any newer 20.0 client version if you'd like and that should work. Load the NovaBACKUP backup client, that matches the version that produced the backups (19.8.1325.1 produced backups can only work with 19.8.1325.1 client version for the Import function, but 20.0.1011.1 produced backups should work with 20.0.1011.1 or newer 20.0.x client versions).
On the new target computer, where you intend to import Generic S3 backups from the original source computer, load the backup client and click on the Device tab, then click "Add", then choose Generic S3 Storage Services device, this can be done on a brand new install of NovaBACKUP, or it can also be done on a current installation that already has one Generic S3 Storage devices in place (keep in mind if it is NOT a clean installed client there are caveats to getting the import function to work including knowing about the compatible versions noted above, and knowing about if the device name already exists at the same name, which it is required to be named the same on both ends, then it will need to be deleted first on the target end and re-created in order to fill in the "Optional Settings" field values to match the Domain and Computer name properties of the original source computer), if it is the later case when you go to add the new Generic S3 Storage device (read the KB article Add a Generic S3 Storage device) it will need to utilize the exact same Device Name property value as the original source computer had utilized to backup to it, with the same case sensitivity that is, otherwise the import function will not import any backup records, to then let you restore contents from those imported backups. Make sure that in the "S3 Settings" tab, where you define the various main device properties, that the "Device Name", "Bucket Name", "User Name", and "Backup Directory" field values are all specified with the same case sensitivity that was utilized on the original source computer's Generic S3 device. If even one of these items is not specified with the wrong case as to match the original source device, then the import function will not import any backup records. Note: The 'Domain' and 'Computer' fields in the 'Optional Settings' tab of the Generic S3 device MUST be entered in all CAPITAL letters.
In the 'S3 Settings' tab of the Generic S3 Properties dialog which is seen after you click the 'Add' button in the Device tab, and then choose 'Generic S3 Storage Services', all 7 of the field values have to be specified in this dialog. The first item 'Device Name:' will always default to a standard format name, starting with .0 at the end of the name. You can feel free to name this device whatever you want however, so you could name it .0, or .1 at the end, or .import, or even the Generic S3 provider company name, such as "Wasabi" or "Backblaze" without quotes. That is completely up to you and you can have multiple Generic S3 devices. In this case this will be a device that we also fill in the 'Optional Settings', which is the second tab, which we will do in the next step after you are done filling in the 'S3 Settings' first tab values that matched your original Generic S3 device that has the backups stored on it.
You may also want to perform the 'Check credentials' function (which attempts to authenticate to the Generic S3 server, and writes a small test file to the bucket to make sure it has write access, for the device that you are adding or editing) prior to proceeding to the 'Optional Settings' tab which you will do next. Keep in mind however that the 'Check redentials function does not test the 'Bucket Name', 'User Name', and 'Backup Directory' field values, those are up to you to have entered properly as the test function is unable to validate those values.
Now still in the 'Generic S3 Properties' tab you can click on the 'Optional Settings' tab to fill out the Domain name and Computer name field values, which is the computer (running NovaBACKUP client) that had executed the backups that were stored on the original source Generic S3 Storage Services device. Note: The 'Domain', and 'Computer' name fields in the 'Optional Settings' tab have to exactly match the source computer's Domain name or Workgroup name, and in that case they both 100% are required to be entered in all UPPERCASE characters, and it only supports English ASCII characters, otherwise the Import function will not work. If that computer was in a Workgroup (for the backups that you need to now Import from that original computer), then you will need to specify the correct WORKGROUP name in all uppercase characters. Everything has to match exactly from the old device to the new device, including these "Optional Settings" that you will create for this purpose on the new computer that you intend to perform the import on, because all of the device parameters are stored on the Generic S3 server side, and hence the client has to match those when it goes to perform the Import, for the backup records to import properly, otherwise nothing will import.
Generic S3 device 'Optional Settings' tab, needs to contain all uppercase entries for your original Domain name and Computer name, as fields to specify again in all uppercase letters; the fields in the 'Optional Settings' tab CANNOT be edited later after the device is saved keep in mind, you would need to recreate the device again to either specify the values for the first time or to modify any existing values:
Generic S3 device 'Security' tab, where you can specify an optional security encryption key (password) on the device itself, and note that the security encryption password can be specified and edited later at any time in the device, once the encryption option is enabled by specifying a password here the backups taken using that Generic S3 device will be encrypted with that security encryption key going forward, until such time that the security key is either changed in the device, or removed as in making both fields null, and at that time any backups taken to that device will NOT be encrypted after that. In regards to utilizing this Generic S3 device with the Import function, to import backups that were produced to this Generic S3 in the past, then the security encryption key being specified correctly as to match any backups that were produced when encryption was enabled on the original Generic S3 device that you are now importing with, will be able to import properly if the security key is set on the new Generic S3 device to import from, but if you do not enter the security encryption key by the time you go to perform the Import function, and some of the backups were encrypted, then those encrypted backups WILL NOT import as records to see in the Restore tab in that case. It is 100% required to specify the encryption key utilized on the original Generic S3 device if that was enabled in the past, and now you need to Import from that device again by recreating the Generic S3 device either on a new system or the original system that has no NovaBACKUP saved data on it. In this case we cannot help you with recalling this encryption key, so it will be up to you to note / store the encryption key somewhere safe, as the characters themselves are encrypted again once saved in this dialog, and are not stored anywhere in the software to be able for you to know or retrieve without you writing them down. Note: The characters as they are being entered will be not be displayed to you as you enter them in to the dialog so be sure that they are correct as specified before saving the device; there is a requirement for minimum secret encryption key length = 10 and maximum = 30 as noted at the bottom of the dialog:
Note: After reading the KB article on 03/23/23 I found that it did not have the details about the 'Security' tab to enter the Encryption/Secret Key into the new Generic S3 device that you are meaning to import from, as without that the encrypted backups will just be "skipped" past and not imported as records if that is not done and some of the backups did have encryption on them but others did not. If all backups had encryption on them at the device level then if you were to import from the new Generic S3 device without having specified the Security tab Encryption/Secret Key details it will result in no backups getting imported as indexed backup records from that original Generic S3 device imported in to the current Restore tab. The same no backups getting imported outcome will also occur if you DO NOT specify the 'Optional Settings' tab properly to match the 'Domain' name and 'Computer' name fields (where both field values need to be specified in ALL CAPITAL letters) there at the time of the Generic S3 device creation, that you are meaning to do the Import function with, in that no backup index records will be seen after the Import function completes. The 'Optional Settings' can only be specified at the time of the new Generic S3 device creation, and can't be edited or specified later (without recreating the Generic S3 device again) but the 'Security Settings' as far as the Encryption/Secret Key can always be edited later (without needing to create a new Generic S3 device). It is important to read this document carefully otherwise your backups either won't import, or only a partial number of them will import (like only those that were not encrypted). So, an important part, and which is still the case in all NovaBACKUP 19.8 and 20.0 client builds that have support to Import from Generic S3 devices to this date, is to do with setting the 'Optional Settings' tab for the newly created Generic S3 device, where in the 'Optional Settings' tab you will need to specify the EXACT Domain Name and Computer Name as the original Generic S3 device utilized, both fields need to be specified in ALL CAPITAL letters, to be able to import backups that were produced by that original Generic S3 device on either a different computer, or the same original computer but with the NovaBACKUP client now re-installed (as a fresh install) with no saved settings / index data in place. If the original client machine, that you are meaning to import the backup records from by creating this new Generic S3 device on another client computer, or even on the same client computer as before even if the domain and computer name are exactly the same as the original system contained that produced the backups, so be sure to enter the Domain Name field in all CAPS and the computer name exactly as it was named prior, so in that case if the original machine was in WORKGROUP prior, you cannot just leave that Domain Name field blank like you can in other software to not have to specify a Domain Name if your computer is in a WORKGROUP, it 100% has to be specified as "WORKGROUP" without quotes in all CAPS. And if the original Generic S3 device that produced the backups utilized Encryption at the device level on ANY of the backups that were produced by that original device you will need to enter the Encryption (Secret key) details in the Security tab of the new Generic S3 device (if the new Generic S3 device is already created by that point on the new or replacement computer, and you forgot to specify the Security tab details prior, you can always do that part later, if any backups that did have Encryption on them did NOT import you need to place those details in the device and Import again, or do it all right the first time if possible with Encryption password specified in the Device prior to the first import attempt). The 'Security' tab details can be changed after the fact at the Generic S3 device level, after the device is saved and in place, unlike the 'Optional Setings' tab details which CANNOT be edited after the device is saved and in place. The 'S3 Settings' tab contents also cannot be edited after the device is saved, for the most part for all fields there,
Note: Currently in 19.8.1325, and in the first (20.0.1011.1) and second (20.0.1118.1) 20.0 public release builds it is required to utilize all UPPERCASE characters for both the 'Domain' and 'Computer' name fields in this 'Optional Settings' tab, otherwise the Import function will fail, as it won't be able to find that Domain and Computer name if anything but all UPPERCASE characters are utilized for these two fields, if you have already utilized anything but all UPPERCASE characters in these two fields, then the device will need to be re-created, or a second new device created to specify the characters in these two fields in ALL UPPERCASE to allow the Import function to work.
To find and confirm the Domain name value run the following command via a normal Command Prompt (if the domain is completely blank in the output then this computer is in a WORKGROUP, verify the Workgroup name another way by reading further):
echo %userdomain%Or you can utilize this command:
reg query "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters" /v "Domain"To find and confirm the Computer name value run the following command via a normal Command Prompt (if the domain is completely blank in the output then this computer is in a Workgroup, you will be required to verify the exact Workgroup name by going to Control Panel > System and verify it there ):
hostnameOr you can utilize this command:
reg query "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters" /v "HostName"
This is how the "Optional Settings" would need to be specified, for the original source computer that was in a Workgroup named "WORKGROUP", and in that case we had to verify that Workgroup name via Control Panel > System to be sure. The commands above are utilized in the Command Prompt on that original source computer (both of the 'Optional Settings' tab fields need to be specified to match the original comuter exactly when creating this Generic S3 device on the new target computer, all values need to be in all CAPITAL letters):
After the new Generic S3 Storage Services device is added you will be taken back to the Home tab, you can click back on the Device tab to verify how that device looks by editing it there, notice that some of the field values can no longer be edited, such as the Device Name: field value and any field value in the 'Optional Setings' tab area. After you are done with that you can go to the Restore tab to perform the actual import, after selecting the 'S3-compliant Storage' category under the 'Media View' listing, once that category is expanded you should see all of your Generic S3 Storage Services devices in that list, if you only have one, as a fresh install of NovaBACKUP client and after adding one Generic S3 Storage device would have in this example, we then select that device in the list that was just added, by first selecting the named Generic S3 device which was just added on the target computer, where you want to perform the import on, so you would left-click on the device to select it in the list of Generic S3 devices, in this case the name correlates to the 'Device Name:' field value, for the device we added in the prior step, and then left-click on the 'Import...' button at the bottom right of the Restore dialog.
After selecting "Import", the "Select Device" window will open, and you should be able to choose the necessary device from the list of available options, in this case it is 100% that the device name that you select to import from in this selection dialog, matches the device name on the original source computer (where the backups were taken on). You will notice that the fields at the bottom will be greyed out when importing an S3 Storage Device.
Click "OK", which will immediately begin the media import process. You will be redirected to the "Status" tab, which will show you the progress of the import.
Once the import process is completed successfully, which you will see a Status for on the Status tab, and an entry in the Logs tab relating to that Import to make sure it was successful, you can navigate back to the "Restore" tab, and expand the "S3-compliant Storage" area. Then expand the Generic S3 device that you had imported to and you will now be able to select each media set, and browse the file-structure, to help determine which file(s) you may want to restore.