Recovery Manager for AD Forest Edition 10.3 - User Guide

Remote Storage tab

This tab includes the following elements:

• Save backups on the backed up DC or a UNC share. Select this check box to save backup files either on the domain controller being backed up or on the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) share you specify. Enter the location for backup files. If you specify a UNC share, backup files will be directly streamed to that share from Backup Agent installed on the DC being backed up. Backup Agent accesses the DC being backed up and/or the specified UNC share under the account specified on the Agent tab.

• Primary Backup path:. Use the provided space to specify format for paths and names of files where to store backups. If you want to store backups on remote computers, the path must include UNC names. The path format may include optional expressions that enable the automatic creation of subfolders. The file name format may also include expressions. For example, you might specify \\RemoteHost\ShareName\%COMPUTERNAME%\%DATETIME%.

• Expression. Click this button to specify path and file name notations in Backup path or Alternative backup path (optional). You can choose the following expressions:

  • Domain (%DOMAIN%). Name of the home domain of the computer being backed up.

  • Computer name (%COMPUTERNAME%). Name of the computer being backed up.

  • Date and Time (%DATETIME%). Date and time of the backup creation.

• Sample path and file name matching the specified format:. View an example of the path and file name that matches the format string supplied in Backup path or Alternative backup path (optional).

• Additional backup path (optional).

• Use the following account to access the backup storage:. Allows you to explicitly specify a user account that will be used to access the backup storage. This option lets you work with network shares from different security realms, such as Azure® Files or Linux shares.

• For each computer, delete all backups except the last:. Select this check box to retain a number of backups for each computer. Specify the number of backups to maintain. It is recommended to configure a backup retention policy to maintain backups created in the last two weeks . If you create backups on a daily basis specify 14 to maintain backups for each domain controller for two weeks.

  This check box can be selected only when RMAD stores backups separately. To ensure that RMAD does so, add the %DATETIME% expression to the path or file name in the Backup file name format box.

Agent tab

The Agent tab is used to specify settings for Backup Agent and Forest Recovery Agent.

The elements of the Agent tab are defined as follows:

• Use the following account to access Backup Agent. Allows you to explicitly specify a user account under which you want the Recovery Manager Console to access Backup Agent. When this check box is cleared, the Recovery Manager Console uses the account under which it is running to access Backup Agent. To explicitly specify a user account, select this check box, and then click Select Account to specify the account credentials.

• Use preinstalled Backup Agent. Allows you to enable or disable the automatic installation of the Backup Agent. The next table explains how Recovery Manager for Active Directory behaves when this check box is selected or cleared.

When the check box Use preinstalled Backup Agent is selected the product will have the following behavior:

• RMAD backs up only those computers where the Backup Agent is preinstalled manually.

• RMAD does not automatically install the Backup Agent on the computers in the Computer Collection.

• RMAD automatically installs the Backup Agent before backing up a computer where the agent is not preinstalled manually.

• When the backup operation completes, Recovery Manager for Active Directory removes the automatically installed Backup Agent.

• If the Backup Agent was manually preinstalled on the computer to be backed up, RMAD will use that agent to back up data on the computer. RMAD does not remove preinstalled Backup Agent after the backup operation completes

For more information on how to install, update, and uninstall the Backup Agent or discover the Backup Agent instances that were manually preinstalled in your environment, see Managing Backup Agent.

• Automatically configure Windows Firewall. Select this check box to have RMAD automatically configure Windows Firewall on target Windows Server® 2008-based or Windows Server® 2012-based DCs, so that RMAD can back up these DCs.

• Ensure Forest Recovery Agent is deployed. Select this check box if you want the application to verify whether Forest Recovery Agent is installed on each domain controller the Collection includes. The application reinstalls Forest Recovery Agent, if necessary. For more information, see Using Forest Recovery Agent.

Secondary Storage tab

This tab includes the following elements:

• Enable a Secure Storage server. Select this check box to enable a Secure Storage server for a backup. After creation and saving of backup to primary storage locations, a copy of the backup will be saved to the Secure Storage server.

• Select the radio button below Enable a Secure Storage server to choose the primary storage location for the backup file to be copied from. Select Copy backup from remote storage location to the selected Secure Storage server to pull the backup file from the remote storage location. Select Copy backup from local storage location to the selected Secure Storage server to pull backup file from the local storage location. If using both local and remote storage options for primary storage, the recommendation is to configure your Secure Storage server to communicate with the primary storage location closest for optimal network performance.

• Copy backup from remote storage location to the selected Secure Storage server. Select the DNS name or IP address of a Secure Storage host.

• Copy backup from local storage location to the selected Secure Storage server. Select the DNS name or IP address of a Secure Storage host.

• Enable Cloud Storage and select Cloud Storage locations. Select this checkbox to enable Cloud Storage. After creation and saving of backup to primary storage locations, a copy of the backup will be made to the configured Cloud storage locations.

• Select the checkbox for each registered Cloud Storage location to be used for this backup.

Access Credentials For Reading Data

• An account to read data from remote storage location. Select an account that has read permission to the remote storage location. This account will be used to read the backup from the remote storage location and copy to all secondary storage locations. The Secure Storage agent on the Secure Storage server and the Recovery Manager Cloud Upload service on the Recovery Manager console, use this account. If an account is incorrect and does not have the proper permissions, the copy of the backup to secondary storage will fail.

• An account to read data from local storage location. Select an account that has read permission to the local storage location. This account will be used to read the backup from the local storage location and copy to all secondary storage locations. The Secure Storage agent on the Secure Storage server and the Recovery Manager Cloud Upload service on the Recovery Manager console, use this account. If an account is incorrect and does not have the proper permissions, the copy of the backup to secondary storage will fail.

Schedule tab

The Schedule tab is used to specify the backup creation scheduling.

On this tab, you can use the following elements:

• Backup creation schedule. Displays a list of backup creation schedules for the currently selected Computer Collection.

• Schedule enabled. Enables the backup creation schedules listed in the Backup creation schedule box. To disable the schedules, clear this check box. All the task schedules are retained, and you can enable them when needed by selecting this check box.

• Modify. Modifies the Backup creation schedule list. In the dialog box that appears on the screen, specify new triggers or delete existing triggers.

• User account the product will run under when creating backups. Identifies the user account under which Task Scheduler performs the backup creation task for the currently selected Computer Collection. To change the user account, click Select Account.

• Select Account. Click this button to change the user account under which Task Scheduler performs the backup creation task for the currently selected Computer Collection.