Preliminary Backup Tasks
An
important part of backing up Active Directory data involves performing
preliminary tasks to ensure that your backup device and media will
function correctly. For example, if your backup method will involve
using a removable media device such as a tape drive, you must ensure
that
The backup device is listed on the Windows Server 2003 Hardware Compatibility List (HCL). The
backup device is attached to a computer on the network (or the network
itself) and is turned on. If you are backing up to a tape drive using
the Windows Server 2003 Backup Utility, the drive must be attached to
the system running the Backup Utility. The
appropriate media is loaded into the device. For example, if you are
using a tape drive, ensure that the correct tape is loaded.
Note You must be a member of the Administrators or Backup Operators group to perform a backup. |
Creating an Active Directory Backup
Windows
Server 2003 provides the Backup Utility as its native tool for backing
up system and user data files as well as Active Directory components.
As part of the process of backing up Active Directory, the Backup
Utility automatically backs up all system components and distributed
services that Active Directory requires to function. Collectively,
these components and services are known as System State data.
For
all Windows Server 2003 operating systems, System State data includes
the registry, COM+ Class Registration database, system boot files,
files protected by Windows File Protection, and the Certificate
Services database (if the server is configured as a certificate
server). If a Windows Server 2003 system is functioning as a domain
controller, Active Directory components and the Sysvol folder are also
included as part of the System State backup. When using the Windows
Server 2003 Backup Utility, you cannot back up individual System State
components such as Active Directory or the system registry; all System
State components are backed up as one logical group.
Note The
Windows Server 2003 Backup Utility does not provide the ability to back
up System State data for remote systems. Only local backups of System
State data are supported with this tool. |
To create an Active Directory backup, complete the following steps:
1. | Log
on to your domain as Administrator, click Start, point to All Programs,
point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and click Backup.
| 2. | At the Welcome To The Backup Or Restore Wizard page, click Next.
| 3. | At the Backup Or Restore page, select Back Up Files And Settings, and then click Next.
| 4. | At the What To Back Up page, select Let Me Choose What To Back Up, and then click Next.
| 5. | At the Items To Back Up page, shown in Figure 1, expand the My Computer item, and then select System State. Click Next.
| 6. | At the Backup Type, Destination, And Name page, shown in Figure 2, complete the following steps:
Select Tape in the Select The Backup Type list if you are using tape medium; otherwise, this box defaults to File target medium.
In
the Choose A Place To Save Your Backup list, choose the location where
the Backup Utility will store the data. If you are saving to a tape,
select the tape name. If you are saving to a file, browse to the path
for the backup file location.
In the Type A Name For This Backup box, enter a name for the backup.
Click Next.
| 7. | At the Completing The Backup Or Restore Wizard page, click Advanced.
| 8. | At the Type Of Backup page, select Normal as the backup type used for this backup job, as shown in Figure 3.
The only backup type supported for System State data is Normal. If the
Hierarchical Storage Manager (HSM) has moved data to remote storage and
you want to back it up, select the Backup Migrated Remote Storage Data
check box. Click Next.
Note When
performing a backup that includes System State data, the Windows Server
2003 Backup Utility will always perform a full backup of System State
information, even if another option (such as Incremental or
Differential) is chosen as the backup type. In cases where a method
other than Full is chosen, files not included as part of the System
State data will be backed up according to that method. |
| 9. | At the How To Back Up page, select the Verify Data After Backup check box, shown in Figure 4.
This option causes the backup process to take longer, but it confirms
that files are correctly backed up. If you are using a tape device and
it supports hardware compression, select the Use Hardware Compression,
If Available check box to enable hardware compression. It’s recommended
that you do not select the Disable Volume Shadow Copy check box. By
default, Backup creates a volume shadow copy of your data to create an
accurate copy of the contents of the hard drive, including open files
or files in use by the system. Click Next.
| 10. | At the Backup Options page shown in Figure 5,
select the Replace The Existing Backups option, and then select the
Allow Only The Owner And The Administrator Access To The Backup Data
And To Any Backups Appended To This Medium check box. This action saves
only the most recent copy of Active Directory and allows you to
restrict who can gain access to the completed backup file or tape.
Click Next.
| 11. | On the When To Back Up page, select Now. Click Next.
| 12. | On the Completing The Backup Or Restore Wizard page, click Finish to start the backup operation.
| 13. | The Backup Progress window shows the progress of the backup.
| 14. | When the backup operation is complete, the Backup Progress window shows that the backup is complete, as shown in Figure 6. You can click the Report button to see a report about the backup operation, as shown in Figure 7. The report is stored on the hard disk of the computer on which you are running the backup.
| 15. | Close the report when you have finished viewing it, and then click Close to close the backup operation.
|
Note
| Windows
Server 2003 automatically defaults to starting the Backup Or Restore
Wizard when the Backup Utility is run. To access the Backup Utility in
Advanced Mode (as shown in Figure 8),
clear the Always Start In Wizard Mode check box at the Backup Or
Restore Wizard Welcome page and click Cancel. The next time that the
Backup Utility is started, it will open in Advanced Mode.
|
Scheduling Active Directory Backup Operations
The
Windows Server 2003 Backup Utility allows backups to be automated and
scheduled according to the needs of your environment. To make this
possible, Windows Server 2003 integrates the Backup Utility with the
Task Scheduler service. To schedule a backup operation, you need to
access advanced backup settings as described in the following procedure.
To schedule an Active Directory backup operation, complete the following steps:
1. | Follow steps 1 through 10 in the previous section, “Creating an Active Directory Backup.”
| 2. | At the When To Back Up page, select Later. Type a name in the Job name box, and click Set Schedule.
| 3. | From the Schedule tab in the Schedule Job dialog box shown in Figure 9,
select the frequency of the backup operation: Daily, Weekly, Monthly,
Once, At System Startup, At Logon, or When Idle from the Schedule Task
drop-down list. Indicate the time the backup operation will begin in
the Start Time drop-down list. Indicate when the task will occur in the
Schedule Task box for the selected frequency. Click Advanced.
| 4. | In the Advanced Schedule Options dialog box shown in Figure 10,
you can specify when the backup operations should begin, end, or how
often they should be repeated in the Start Date, End Date, and Repeat
Task boxes, respectively. Enter information as necessary, and click OK.
| 5. | From
the Schedule tab in the Schedule Job dialog box, select the Show
Multiple Schedules check box if you want to set up more than one
schedule for the backup operation. Repeat steps 1 through 4 for each
schedule. Click the Settings tab when you are finished setting up
schedules.
| 6. | From the Settings tab in the Schedule Job dialog box shown in Figure 11,
specify whether to delete the task file from your computer’s hard disk
after the backup operation has finished running and is not scheduled to
run again in the Scheduled Task Completed box. Specify whether to start
or stop the backup operation based on the computer’s idle time in the
Idle Time box. Specify whether to start or stop the backup operation
based on the computer’s power status in the Power Management box. Click
OK.
| 7. | On the When To Back Up page, click Next.
| 8. | In
the Set Account Information dialog box, type the password for the
account shown in the Password box and confirm the password in the
Confirm Password box. Click OK.
| 9. | Confirm your selections on the Completing The Backup Or Restore Wizard page, and then click Finish to schedule the backup.
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