You can run master, differential, and selective backups with the agent. A master backup is a complete backup of the systems files. A differential backup contains all files created or modified since the last successful master. A selective backup is a backup of one or more specifically selected files. Backed up data is stored on D2D devices on the backup system.
To perform a backup, click Backup from the main menu, then choose the type of backup you would like to perform.
A master backup of the Windows client first backs up the registry and then the C: drive followed by any other subsequent drives.
Choose the Backup > Master option to display the master backup dialog.
A master backup of a Windows-based client captures the Windows system state, which includes system-critical components and their files that must be captured as a single unit. All system state files are backed up into the file Unitrends.SystemState.bkf, excluding the system state writer files, which are captured with master, incremental, and differential backups.
To request a differential backup, select the Backup > Differential option. The Master and differential option dialogs are functionally identical. The steps to perform a master or differential backup request from a Windows client are as follow:
Select the backup system from the Server Name drop-down menu.
Select the Device Name that the server should use to store the backup. A list of device names can be requested from the server by clicking the arrow button to the right of the name. This connects to the server and returns all known device names to the client. When dealing with disk-to-disk devices that represent single disk files, there are restrictions regarding the devices that appear in the selection list. The only disk-to-disk devices that appear are those that have never had a backup performed or those devices that contain a previous backup of data from this client machine.
Choose any files or disk drives to exclude from the backup by selecting the tab Exclude Files. Each choice has a respective dialog that presents you with a list of drives or directories to exclude. Once you have chosen the drives or files to exclude, click OK.
If the backup needs to be verified, select a verification level from the Options tab. Options are None, Level 1-CRC Checking, and Level 2-Bit Level. Generally, Level 2 Bit Level is the best choice if any verification is needed.
The Keep a local Catalog under the Options tab option can be toggled on or off. This option is useful to have on so that if you want to see what was backed up on a specific day it can be queried locally without having to make a request to the server. These files are automatically purged every seven days by default. This can be changed by updating the number of days associated with each backup type under the [Purger] section of the local master.ini file to whatever interval you wish.
To run any local commands before and/or after the task has completed, select the Advanced Options tab. The command to run before and/or after the backup can be set up by activating the appropriate check box. The command should be some form of a batch file, since only one command can be specified to run.
Save the backup settings by pressing Save Profile at the bottom of the dialog. Settings can be saved to a new or existing profile. You can then run the profile at a later date without re-entering the options.
Once all choices have been made, select Submit to server to process the backup request.
A differential backup first backs up the registry and then the C: drive followed by any other subsequent drives. The backup includes all the files that have changed or been created since the last successful master. If directories or files had been excluded in the master but not in the differential, then all those directories and files are backed up as well during the differential backup, creating a larger than expected differential.
Selective file and directory backups allow you to select specific files to be backed up. To specify the files and/or directories, click Include Files and then Add. The concept behind this dialog is to select files from the left hand list and use Add to add them to the right hand list. Double clicking on a directory leads to that directory.
You can type in a path or type in selections in the Filter box and click Add. Wildcards like myfiles.* are acceptable entries as well. After selecting the files, click OK. It is generally best to save the backup profile entries prior to submitting to the server.