Date - MAY 2010
Affected Product Version -
Affected Module & Version - File System
OS Version -
Application Information -
Description: Can a backup be re-started and pickup where it left off?
Symptoms: Sometimes, large backups that run for a long time may need to be interrupted for re-booting or some other maintenance issue. If a large backup is halfway through, it would need to be stopped and then resumed after the server maintenance is completed.
For more information on this topic, please see the Administration Module 2-Basic Operation of NetVault Backup-Web-based Training
The answer is yes, but only for the File System plugin, if the job was PRE-configured to do so. This feature was only added in version 8.2 and higher. So if the backup job was created prior to this, it would need to be modified or re-created in order to enable this function. This also requires the use of a Backup Selection set. Then the function has to be turned on on the Backup OPTIONS tab of the job. It is not on by default.
Enable Restartable Backup – The File System Plugin provides the ability to stop a running job and resume it any time later from the point the backup was stopped. To use this feature, you must configure a job as restartable. When you stop the job, the plugin generates an index for the files backed up and writes it to the backup media and the NVDB. When you restart the job later, the plugin runs an Incremental job to backup the remaining files and folders.
A backup can be stopped and resumed from the NVBU Jobs window.
To configure a job as restartable, select the Enable Restartable Backup
check box. Only jobs that are defined using a backup selection set can be configured as restartable.
Stopping and Restarting a Job
A File system job that is configured as restartable can be stopped while it is running and resumed any time later from the point it was stopped. When you stop the job, the File System Plugin generates an index for the files that have been processed up to the point the backup is stopped and writes the index to the media and the NVDB.
When you restart the job later, the File System Plugin runs the job as a new instance and performs an Incremental Backup of the remaining files and folders.
To stop an active job, perform the following steps:
1. Go to Job Management.
2. On the Status tab, right-click the job and select Stop. The File System Plugin will generate the saveset index and stop the job. The status for the job will change to Job Stopped. If the plugin is writing a very large backup index, the jobs status will continue to display Writing to Media: Storing Backup Index until the index is written.
3. To restart the stopped job, right-click it and select Restart Job.
Select only a single instance on the Status tab at a time. This feature will not work if you select multiple job instances simultaneously.
