AISBackup: Manage Backup Job.
Introduction
The manage backup menu option allows you to change some of the attributes of a backup job and perform validation routines on the database holding the details of the backup.
If the job has not been loaded the files window will not be displayed.
Click on one of the menu options to jump to the relevant page.
Menu Options
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Properties is used to display the property sheet for the selected backup job.
Backup Job Settings and Options
The following attributes can be changed for the backup Job.
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The Compression can be changed from High to None.
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You can change a Job from Session based to Generation based. The Advanced Session Parameters may also be altered, see here.
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You can change the number of sessions or file generations held in the Backup Contents File. If the backup is on your hard drive or a network drive, the actual backup will also be pruned, thereby reclaiming drive space.
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You can toggle whether AISBackup tests the backup to see if it can be restored from.
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You can toggle between maintaining a log file or not.
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If you are maintaining a log file, you can select whether to log all messages to the log file, i.e. a message for each file backed up or restored.
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You can elect whether to backup 'opened exclusive' files.
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You can select the file size when AISBackup considers a file to be huge. Huge files are split into 100Mb sections during the backup process.
Reset Backup - Backup Everything.
If you want to back up everything and not just the changes then select the Reset Backup - Backup Everything. Use this option if you want to start a backup on a new set of backup media, or if the original destination database has been deleted.
You are given the opportunity to save the existing Backup Contents File as an archive.
Undo Backups (Prune Backup sessions)
Use this option to remove one or more backup sessions from the backup. This option
may be used to reclaim some disk space if the files in earlier backup sessions
are no longer required.
It is also possible to get AISBackup to automatically prune backup sessions by
using the Advanced Session Management option.
Validate (Test) the backup
This option is used to check the contents of the Backup Contents File with the actual files held in the database. If the backup is held on removable media you are required to load each media to perform this action.
The Validate (Test) option is described here.
Remove Job from List
The Remove Job from List option removes the Backup Job file, Backup Contents File and Log file from your PC. This option does not remove the actual backup. This option asks whether it should delete the actual backup if the backup destination is disk based.
A copy of the Backup Contents File is held with the backup, you can recover a deleted backup job by using the Tools / Load Job From Backup Media option.
Import Backup Contents File
You can use this option to replace the Backup Contents File with the one held with the backup. This option is handy when updating backup's from other PC's. The option will prompt you to open the [Job name].bdb file, this is found on the last CD used for a CD backup.
Change Backup Destination
This option is used to change the destination of a backup. An existing backup can be copied to the new destination.
Backup Maintenance
This option is used to tell the Backup Contents File that some backed up files are not located on another drive or to 'prune' the actual backup.
Moving Backed Up Files.
This option is used to change the drive that the folders should be restored to by default.
There are a couple of reasons why you may want to do this:
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After running a Validate some files have been moved to a folder called Orphans.
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You have added a new drive to your system, and the files that are being backed up have moved.
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The drive letter of a network drive has changed.
Taking the second scenario as an example:
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You have a backup job that back's up logical drive D: on your system, you have only one physical drive on the PC. This backup has existed for many months and contains thousands of files.
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You install new hard drive to your system, partition it and re-boot.
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Your old D: drive is now an E: drive.
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You load the backup job, re-select the files which are now on drive E.
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The backup informs you that there are thousands of files to back up, this is because AISBackup thinks that the E: drive files are new!
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Using the Move Folders option you can re-locate all of the files within the backup to drive E.
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AISBackup re-calculates the number of files to back up, it shows 245 - much better!
To re-locate a folder:
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Right click the folder you wish to move, in the above scenario this will be the root D: drive.
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Select Move Folder.
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Choose the destination drive, as shown below. This can be a non-existent drive on your PC, e.g. an offline network drive.
Pruning the backup.
You may remove files from the actual backup destination by right clicking a file or folder and selecting an appropriate Delete option. The files are removed from the Backup Contents File but are not immediately removed from the backup destination.
The removal of files from the backup destination depends on where the backup is located.
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For all backups one a zip file is no longer required it is a candidate for deletion.
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For non-CD based backups files help within zip files that still contain valid files are candidates for removal. AISBackup will not give the option to remove files from CD based zip files as this process is too inefficient when the backup destination is a CD.
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For write once media there is no benefit in actually deleting the actual backup, although 'trimming' the Backup Contents File may still be desirable.
To delete files from the backup destination choose the appropriate Delete option.1
Make Backup An Archive
This option is used if you no longer want to use the selected job as a source of an actual backup, but you want to retain what has already been backed up as a source of a restore.
The files will then be accessible through the Tools / Archive Management option.