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Creating and Scheduling Your First Backup Job

Choose what to back up, where to store it, and when to run it, then run the job once to test it.

Applies to: NovaBACKUP 22 PC Agent and Server Agent.

A backup job defines what to back up, where to store it, and when to run. In this article, you create a job that backs up a user's Documents folder to a local device every day, and then run it once by hand to confirm that it works.

Prerequisites

Step 1: Start a new job

  1. Click Backup in the menu on the left.
  2. Open the job list at the top of the page and select New backup job. If you have no jobs yet, the page starts a new job for you.
  3. Click the job name, which is My File Backup Job by default, and type a name that says what the job does, for example Documents to Local Backups.

Step 2: Choose what to back up

  1. In the tree on the left, expand the drive and browse to the folder you want, for example C:\Users\<user name>.
  2. Select the check box of each folder or file to include. Selecting a folder includes everything in it, even files added later.

    Backup page with the Documents folder selected

Note: A partly filled check box on a parent folder means that some of the items in it are selected.

The tree also lists Network for network shares, plug-ins such as System State, and Disaster Recovery for a full system backup. See Backing Up a Computer for Full System Recovery.

Step 3: Choose where to store it

  1. Click Choose destination below the job list. Until a destination is chosen, the button is highlighted in yellow and the line under it reads Choose a destination to finish setting up this job.
  2. Select the device, for example Local Backups, and click OK. The button now shows the device name, and the reminder disappears.

Step 4: Set a schedule

  1. Click Schedule.
  2. Select Daily.
  3. Set the Start time to a time when the computer is on, for example 12:30 PM or 8:00 PM.
  4. Leave Repeat at 1 day. Under Repeat on, the highlighted days are the days the job runs. Click a day to turn it off, for example Saturday and Sunday for an office computer.

    Schedule dialog with Daily selected

  5. Optionally, set a Maximum run time, after which NovaBACKUP stops any run that is still in progress.
  6. Click OK.

The other schedule types are Once, Minute, Hourly, Weekly, and Monthly. None means the job runs only when you start it.

Step 5: Review the job settings (optional)

Click Job options to open the job's Settings. The defaults suit most jobs. The tabs are:

TabUse it to
GeneralKeep Create shadow copy on so that open files, such as Outlook data files, are backed up. Choose an After back up power operation, such as shutting down the computer.
FiltersExclude files by name, for example *.tmp, *.iso.
NotificationSend an email when the job finishes. See Setting Up Email Notifications for Backup Jobs.
Custom commandsRun a command before or after the backup.
Run asRun the job as a specific Windows account, for example to reach a network share.
RetentionDecide how long old versions are kept. See Understanding Backup Retention.
ArchiveCopy each backup to a second device. See Setting Up a Hybrid Backup (Local and Cloud).

Settings dialog on the General tab

Step 6: Save and run the job

  1. Click Save. The message Backup saved successfully. confirms the save. To save a copy as a job file, click the arrow next to Save and select Save as.
  2. Click Start to run the job now, without waiting for the schedule.
  3. NovaBACKUP switches to the Activity page, where you can follow the progress.

    Activity page showing the new job running

When the run finishes, its result is listed on the Dashboard and in Job History.

Note: If you leave the Backup page with unsaved changes, NovaBACKUP asks whether to save them first.

Best practices

  • Run every new job once by hand and check its result before you rely on the schedule.
  • Restore a few files from the first backup to confirm that you can get them back. See Restoring Files and Folders.
  • Give each job a name that says what it backs up and where, so restore lists stay clear.

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Still Need Help?

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