DocAve 4.1 Backup User Guide

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September 2007

DocAve™ 4.1 Backup User Guide

Additional user guides available at http://www.avepoint.com/support

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Copyright

2001-2007 AvePoint, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written consent of AvePoint, 3 Second Street, Plaza 10, Suite 202, Jersey City, NJ 07311

Trademarks

AvePoint DocAve ^TM, AvePoint logo, and AvePoint, Inc. are trademarks of AvePoint, Inc. Microsoft, MS-DOS, Internet Explorer, SharePoint Portal Server 2003, Windows SharePoint Services, Windows SQL server, and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Adobe Acrobat and Acrobat Reader are trademarks of Adobe Systems, Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Changes

The material in this document is for information only and is subject to change without notice. While reasonable efforts have been made in the preparation of this document to assure its accuracy, AvePoint assumes no liability resulting from errors or omissions in this document or from the use of the information contained herein.

AvePoint reserves the right to make changes in the product design without reservation and without notification to its users.

AvePoint 3 Second Street Plaza 10, Suite 202 Jersey City, NJ 07311

For Technical Support, visit http://www.avepoint.com/support

For Products and Services Information, visit http://www.avepoint.com/products For Sales Contact Information, visit http://www.avepoint.com/about-us/contact-us/

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Table of Figures ... 5

Revision History ... 6

Introduction ... 7

1 Common Setup Configurations ... 8

1.1 Common Backup Option Profiles ... 8

2 Item Level ... 10

2.1 Item Level Backup Overview ... 10

2.2 Creating an Item Level Backup Plan ... 12

2.2.1 Tree Mode ... 12

2.2.2 List Mode ... 13

2.2.3 Filter Mode ... 15

2.3 Setting up the Scheduling Carousel ... 18

2.4 Item Level Restore Controller ... 20

2.4.1 Choosing a plan through the Job Browser ... 20

2.4.2 Browsing for the backup data to be restored ... 21

2.4.3 Searching for the backup data to be restore ... 22

2.4.4 Specifying the type of restore ... 23

2.5 Helpful tips on Item Level Backup ... 24

2.6 Helpful tips on an Out of Place Item Level Restore ... 24

3 Site Level ... 25

3.1 Site Level Backup Overview ... 25

3.2 Creating a Site Level Backup Plan ... 27

3.2.1 Tree Mode ... 27

3.4 Site Level Restore Controller ... 30

3.4.1 Choosing a plan through the Job Browser ... 30

3.5 Helpful Tips on Site Level Backup ... 34

3.6 Helpful Tips on an Out of Place Site Level Restore ... 34

4 Sub-site Level ... 35

4.1 Sub-site Level Backup Overview ... 35

4.2 Creating a Sub-site Level Backup Plan ... 37

4.2.1 Tree Mode ... 37

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4.5 Helpful Tips on an Out of Place Subsite Level Restore ... 44

5 Advance Tips in Restore and Backup ... 44

5.1 How to Move a Site to a Sub Site ... 44

5.2 Ensuring Meta Data and Security on an Out of Place Restore ... 46

5.3 Making sure that the Site page is restored properly ... 47

5.4 Using the Restore Arrow in Item Level Restore ... 48

5.4.1 Using the Restore Arrow to Promote a Sub-Site to a Top Level Site ... 49

5.4.2 Using the Restore Arrow to copy contents under a site ... 50

5.5 Using the Sub-Site Tree in the Sub-Site Restore Controller ... 51

5.6 Running a Backup using the Command Line Prompt ... 53

5.7 Restoring an Area in SharePoint 2003 ... 57

6 Supported and Pending Functionalities ... 59

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Table of Figures

Figure 1.1.1 – Common Backup Option Profiles ... 8

Figure 1.1.2 – 3 Levels of Backup offered by DocAve ... 9

Figure 2.1.1 – Item Level ... 11

Figure 2.2.2.1 – List Mode... 13

Figure 2.2.2.2 – List Mode Navigating ... 14

Figure 2.2.3.1 – Filter Mode ... 15

Figure 2.3.1 – Scheduling Carousel – enabling a Schedule ... 17

Figure 2.3.2 – Scheduling Carousel – Specifying a Start Time ... 19

Figure 2.3.3 – Save the Plan ... 20

Figure 2.4.1.1 – Backup Job Browser ... 20

Figure 2.4.2.1 – Backup Data Browser ... 21

Figure 2.4.3.1 – Restore Search for Item Level ... 22

Figure 2.4.4.1 – Scheduler and Restore Type ... 23

Figure 2.6.1 – Item Level – Out of Place Restore ... 24

Figure 3.1.1 – DocAve Site-level backup builder - Tree Mode ... 26

Figure 3.3.1 – Scheduling Carousel – Enabling a Schedule ... 28

Figure 3.4.3.1 – Restore Search of Site Level ... 32

Figure 3.4.4.1 – Scheduler and Restore Type ... 33

Figure 3.6.1 – Site Level – Out of Place Restore ... 34

Figure 4.1.1 – Sub-site Level ... 36

Figure 4.3.1 – Scheduling Carousel – Enabling a Schedule ... 38

Figure 4.4.3.1 – Restore Search Sub-site Level ... 42

Figure 4.4.1 – Scheduler and Restore Type ... 43

Figure 5.1.1 – Backup Job Browser ... 45

Figure 5.1.2 – Backup Data Browser ... 45

Figure 5.2.2 – Backup Data Browser & Path Info ... 47

Figure 5.3.2 – Data Browser & Path Info – Restoring ASPX ... 48

Figure 5.4.1.1 – Item Level Restore Destination – Restore Arrow Up ... 49

Figure 5.4.2.1 – Item Level Restore Destination – Restore Arrow Down ... 50

Figure 5.5.1 – Sub-Site Level – Tree clicked ... 51

Figure 5.5.2 – Sub-Site Level – Tree not clicked ... 51

Figure 5.7.1 – Sharepoint 2003 Areas ... 57

Figure 5.7.2 – Item Level Backup Data Browser – Area Restore ... 57

Figure 5.7.3 – Item Level Backup Data Browser –Choosing Contents ... 58

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Revision History

This revision history summarizes the changes made in each published version of this document.

Document No. Publication Date Description of Revisions

DocAve ^TM4.1 Backup User Guide January 15, 2007 Creation of DocAve 4.1 Backup User Guide.

DocAve ^TM 4.1 Backup User Guide January 20, 2007

Changed the format to include a Common

configurations section for both backup and restore.

DocAve ^TM 4.1 Backup User Guide May 2, 2007 Modification to include patch and additional features.

DocAve ^TM 4.1 Backup User Guide July 17, 2007 Added section on out of place restore and tricks for each section.

DocAve ^TM 4.1 Backup User Guide Sept. 26, 2007 Added section on Area Restore for SharePoint 2003.

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Introduction

DocAve^TM 4.1 Backup is an enterprise-strength multi-level backup engine that seamlessly backs up content on your production SharePoint servers while still allowing that content to be searched, viewed, and accessed from within your SharePoint environment. This guide will provide a thorough understanding of the different types of backup features on the DocAve platform.

DocAve contains three types of data backup, and they are differentiated based on the levels of granularity on restore—each level of backup allows restoration of SharePoint content down to that specific level. This guide will explain each level of backup in detail and also include helpful tips that will aid you in utilizing that particular level of backup to its full potential.

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1 Common Setup Configurations

These are the common setup configurations that span all three levels of backup. Please refer to this section first.

1.1 Common Backup Option Profiles

The first and most important thing when constructing a new backup plan is selecting the various options available in the top portion of the backup builder GUI. Options available here apply to all three levels of backup and should be configured ahead of time in the control panel.

Figure 1.1.1 displays the top portion of the DocAve backup builder GUI where common backup profiles can be found, this applies to all three levels of backup builder. Each option is displayed as a drop down box, each selection in the drop down box can be added/modified from the control panel.

1. First specify an Agent Host, by clicking the drop down box. The drop down box contains a list of agent host(s) currently connected to DocAve. The agent host is the front-end Share Point server where DocAve will be retrieving the data. For more information on how to set up an agent host, please refer to the DocAve 4.1 Install Guide.

2. Next please specify a Media Server. Note that it is possible to have both an agent and a media server on the same physical server. Select a media server by clicking on the drop down box. The media server is the server that will run the backup plan, for encrypting and compressing the backup data and controlling storage. For more information on how to set up a media server, please refer to the DocAve 4.1 Install Guide.

3. The Filtering Out feature is optional and can be activated by selecting a filter in the drop down box. The filtering options listed are manually configured populated by going into the Control Panel and adding new filters. For more information on adding new filters to

Filtering Out, please refer to the DocAve Control Panel User Guide.

Figure 1.1.1 – Common Backup Option Profiles

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4. The Email Notification drop down box contains a list of profiles that have an associated email account. The email addresses listed are manually populated by going into the Control Panel and adding new profiles. For more information on adding new email reporting profiles, please refer to the DocAve Control Panel User Guide.

5. The Data Retention drop down box is where the administrator can specify the pruning policy for the data generated by this backup plan. By picking a Data Retention profile the administrator can specify how long the data generated by this plan are kept on disk. For more information on adding new data retention profiles, please refer to the DocAve Control Panel User Guide. Please note that this is optional.

6. The Data Security drop down box is where the administrator can specify the security profile for the backup plan. Data Security includes encryption and compression profiles, and is set in the control panel. For more information on adding new data security profiles, please refer to the DocAve Control Panel User Guide. Please note that this is optional.

7. The Logical drive is a part of a physical disk drive that has been partitioned and allocated as an independent unit, and functions as a separate drive altogether. For example, one physical drive can be partitioned into drives A:, B:, and E:, each representing a separate logical drive but all still part of the one physical drive (Therefore a logical drive is a partition of a physical drive, that gives the flexibility of having multiple storage Drives.). The option of choosing a logical drive such as SAN or Local network drive is still available.

After choosing the common features, a specific backup plan can be built.

There are 3 different levels of backup offered by DocAve— Item Level, Site Level, and Sub Site Level. Each level can be accessed through their

respective tabs on the GUI menu as shown in figure 1.1.2.

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2 Item Level

DocAve’s Item-Level backup and restore allows administrators to backup their SharePoint environment on any level, from an entire farm down to a specific folder/list. On the restore, administrators are allowed to browse through down to specific folder/list to find an exact item needed for restoration; this could be an attachment, a single document, or even a single version of a document. Backup and restore is too full fidelity, with all of the items original metadata maintained. Item Level backup is the most powerful backup feature in DocAve, and when combined with Site and Sub Site Level backup and restore, the administrator has a modular and customizable backup system that ensures the security and integrity of their SharePoint

environment.

2.1 Item Level Backup Overview

DocAve 4.1 provides full granular item-level backup and restore for SharePoint contents.

Via DocAve, SharePoint administrators can:

• setup scheduled or immediate FULL , Incremental, or Differential backups for any SharePoint environment (as long as DocAve software clients are installed)

• backup to a specific data location, with optional pruning & coalescing, by selecting a Backup Data Manager

• setup encryption and compression to backup data via a Data Manager

• select email notification rules created in the Control Panel’s email notification manager

• choose designated DocAve media server to offload actual backup work

• Selectively restore SharePoint content, down to specific versions, with or without security and properties, to the same or different URL location across one or MULTIPLE SharePoint environments.

• monitor real-time progress of any backup or restore jobs (via DocAve Job Monitor) DocAve 4.1 operates on the concept of backup plans, where each backup plan allows SharePoint administrators to specify:

1. what to backup via URL tree selection, list mode, or through a smart plan builder

2. When to backup (via up to 7 customizable schedules per plan. schedules can be one time only, hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly schedules)

3. how to backup (via Full, Incremental, or Differential)

4. where to backup (via media servers which then writes data to designated network/local/mapped disk drives)

5. and how to handle to backup data in terms of data retention ( pruning and coalescing via Data Manager) and security (compression and encryption via Backup Data Manager)

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DocAve backup plans DO NOT lock up SharePoint SQL database index files, and thus can be scheduled to run during normal production hours.

Figure 2.1.1 shows an example of building a FULL backup plan for site

“demo2007:9000”. The orange triangle in the folder icon indicates that all future modifications and additions to the selected folders will be automatically included in the backup plan. The SharePoint web server host is “demo2007”, the DocAve media server that handles backup data processing is “demo2007”. Email Notification is left as none by default, but a notification plan can be setup by going to the Control Panel. Lastly, the Backup Data and Backup Data Manager are left as none by default, which implies perpetual data retention on disk and no data compression and encryption. Please refer to the

Control Panel user guide for further instructions on how to setup these optional features.

Figure 2.1.1 – Item Level

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2.2 Creating an Item Level Backup Plan

Upon completing configuration of the desired common backup options in the Control Panel.

Proceed to the backup builder under “item-level” to begin creating a plan for item-level backup.

First select an Agent Host. The Agent host name reflects the machine name of the server to extract data to be backed up from. The name of the Agent Host selected will be

displayed in the backup builder directly underneath the common settings, ready for browsing. After selecting an Agent Host, proceed to select a Media Server. The Media Server name reflects the name of the machine to dedicate the resources to for running the backup and for storage management. Please note that an Agent Host and a Media Server are required to successfully create and run a backup plan, all of the other configurations are optional.

2.2.1 Tree Mode

1. Tree Mode is the default view. The name of the Agent Host you selected should be displayed in the area directly underneath, ready for browsing. Click on the name of that Agent Host. This will expand the host to display the SharePoint instances installed underneath.

2. Clicking on the name of the SharePoint instances will expand the tree further to display the top-level sites located within that specific SharePoint instance.

3. Clicking on the name of a specific top-level site will expand the tree further to display a root directory or. (Dot), and also sub-sites located underneath that specific top-level site.

4. Clicking on the. (Dot) expands the tree to display folders/lists and content located directly on the top-level site. Clicking on individual sub-site names expand the tree to display folders/lists and content located in those individual sub-sites.

5. There is a check box corresponding to each level on the backup builder tree, the box is by default unchecked; checking the box indicates that all content on that level and underneath that level is to be extracted and backed up, or included in the backup plan.

6. When checking a box to specify content to be backed up, the folder icon of the folder included in the plan includes a yellow triangle. The yellow triangle indicates that all new data created in those sites or folders/lists will be automatically picked up by the backup plan, this option is turned on by default. Clicking on the folder icon itself will remove the yellow triangle, hence indicating that only content that is recognized at this current time will be backed up, new content added in the future to that site or

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2.2.2 List Mode

1. List mode allow for admistrator to view current path URL while drilling into a site.Direct your attention to the area directly underneath the common backup profiles, locate the 3 tabs: Tree Mode, List Mode, and Filter Mode. Click on the List Mode tab. The selected tab is always highlighted in yellow.

2. List Mode is designed for large SharePoint environments, with upwards of thousands, and even tens of thousands of sites. In List Mode the admin can browse data on a site per site basis, without having to waste time opening up the entire environment, or thousands of sites, as would be required if using the Tree Mode.

3. In List Mode you we are able to view the Agent Host name and the name of your

SharePoint instances. Underneath that Agent, in a Tree Mode fashion. List will no longer expand all contents, However you still have the option drilling down level by level or site by site. This option allows for faster page loads and will not require the GUI to refresh the whole SharePoint environment.

4. Clicking on the Parent link allows the administrator to return to the higher level of granularity above.

Figure 2.2.2.1 – List Mode

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5. The URL path being viewed in List Mode is displayed all the way at the top. The URL Path line helps users keep track of which level they are in.

For example in list mode I chose my agent demo2k3 and drilling down into my finance site and I have selected the root (.), then I selected shared documents. As seen all my previous actions have been recorded in the current path URL.

Figure 2.2.2.2 – List Mode Navigating

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2.2.3 Filter Mode

1. Filter mode allow for sites, documents or files to be filtered out. Directly underneath the common backup profiles, there are three tabs: Tree Mode, List Mode, and Filter Mode.

Click on the Filter Mode tab. The selected tab is always highlighted in yellow.

2. In Filter Mode the end user is allowed to type in the exact URL from where the data is to be extracted for backup. There are presented with three options: Rules for Sites, rules for webs and Rules for lists. Check the box next to each level to activate the filter function for that level.

3. The default case sensitive option will be checked. To filter using the non case sensitive mode deselects the case sensitive check box.

4. Select the rule for sites, rules for webs or rules for list (s) check box. this will now enable the add button to be functional and the field to be open for text.

Figure 2.2.3.1 – Filter Mode

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5. Underneath each level, the Administrator is presented with a blank line for the input of URL where the data is to be extracted from and backed up. Each blank line refers to one URL.

6. To add additional rules, click on the add icon from the GUI that is located to the right of the text box. To delete lines, click on the delete icon.

7. Directly to the left of each blank line there is a small square check box, this check box is for the negate feature. After typing in a specific URL, checking the box will negate data in that URL and the content will not be backed up.

8. The Filter Mode also supports wildcards (*). By placing a wildcard in the field, the filter will pick up the URLs befitting the logic of such inputs.

After successfully determining what sites, folders, and lists are to be backed up, the next step is to determine when and at what frequency that selected content is to be backed up. Please refer to section 2.3 for scheduling your backup plans.

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Figure 2.3.1 – Scheduling Carousel – enabling a Schedule

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2.3 Setting up the Scheduling Carousel

1. After selecting the content to be backed up, specify the frequency of the backup job plan.

2. Note that you have multiple schedules, accessed by cycling through the schedule carousel. Un-check the “no schedule” box in order to activate a new schedule. An active schedule is shown in a different color, inactive schedules are in red.

3. After activating a schedule, select the backup type you wish to use. Different backup types are discussed below:

Full – a complete backup of the selected source location.

Incremental – a partial backup where only data that has been added since the last incremental or full backup is backed up. Incremental data saves time and storage space by backing up only the differences between incremental backups, instead of backing up the entire source location over and over.

Differential – a partial backup is where only data that has been added since the last full backup is backed up. A differential backup always compares the latest data against a FULL backup at an earlier point in time; data previously backed up by a differential backup is not relevant.

NOTE: It is not recommended to run differential backups too frequently as this could potentially fill up server space quickly. Frequent consecutive differential backups have a tendency to backup the same data over and over again. For best results in high frequency backups, please use incremental backups.

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4. Next set a start time for your backup. Click on the calendar by the Start Time field. A calendar will pop up. Use the calendar to specify when the backup will begin.

5. Specify the interval at which the backup will occur. Choices are: Only Once, By Hour, By Day, By Week, By Month or By Year.

Figure 2.3.2 – Scheduling Carousel – Specifying a Start Time

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After successfully scheduling the time and frequency the backup plan is to be conducted, then proceed to save the plan by clicking on “Save As” as shown in figure 2.3.3. Then provide a name for the new plan created. After the plan has successfully been saved, it will be displayed in the narrow column area on the left.

2.4 Item Level Restore Controller

After a backup plan has completed successfully, the backup data is ready for browsing. To perform a restore, click the Restore Controller under Item Level to begin browsing the backup data for the data needed for the restore.

2.4.1 Choosing a plan through the Job Browser

1. Across the top of the GUI, locate the section that is titled Backup Job Browser.

2. Specify the Media server.

3. Specify the Agent Host.

4. Browse and select the individual backup plans by name.

5. Specify the date that the backup plan was run to retrieve the data from that date.

Figure 2.3.3 – Save the Plan

Figure 2.4.1.1 – Backup Job Browser

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2.4.2 Browsing for the backup data to be restored

1. Click on the Agent Host Server to display the backup data available.

2. The backup data is displayed in an URL tree mode. Browse through the backup data by clicking on the name of the Agent host or the SharePoint instance to expand the top-level sites located underneath them.

3. Clicking on the name of a specific top-level site will expand the tree further to display the root director or a . (dot), and also sub-sites located underneath that specific top- level site.

4. Clicking on the. (dot) expands the tree to display folders/lists and content located directly on the top-level site. Clicking on individual sub-site names expand the tree to display folders/lists and content located on those individual sub-sites.

5. There is an empty radial box corresponding to each level on the restore controller tree, the box is by default unchecked; checking the box indicates that all content on that level and underneath that level is selected to be used in the restore job.

6. Always ensure that the Securities and Properties checkboxes are checked. This will ensure that all meta data and version histories are restored.

Figure 2.4.2.1 – Backup Data Browser

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2.4.3 Searching for the backup data to be restore

1. For larger backups that contain a significant amount of content, simply browsing through tons of data for the data needed for the restore can be inefficient. For these cases the search mode is recommended.

2. Directly to the right of “Item Level Backup Data Browser” there is an icon labeled

“Search”. Clicking on the icon will open a new pop-up window which allows a search for the desired restore content.

3. In the search pop-up, search for content to be restored by name at the site, sub-site, list, folder, and file level. If the exact name of the content is not known, then search can be performed via the item’s attributes, such as the name of the creator.

Figure 2.4.3.1 – Restore Search for Item Level

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2.4.4 Specifying the type of restore

1. At the bottom section of the restore controller, the type of restore—either In Place or an Out of Place restore—can be selected. An in place restore allows the restore of backup data to the original location from where it was located. An out of place restore allows the end user to specify an alternate location for the backup data to be restored.

For an in place restore please read on, for an out of place restore please refer to #4 below.

2. After specifying either an In Place or Out of Place restore, the end user can fill out the schedule section if restore is desired to be run at a later time. This is optional.

3. Another feature choice is the Restore Option which provides three types of Restore Options: Not Overwrite, Overwrite, and Append.

z Not Overwrite: this means that DocAve will not restore the content if it already exists on the destination. For example, if an entire folder’s content is selected for restore, but only one document was removed from the destination folder that the content is being restored to, only that one document will be restored.

z Overwrite: this option will cause DocAve to restore the content over whatever exists on the destination. Essentially this will delete the content on the

destination and replace it with the content selected to be restored.

z Append: this option will allow DocAve to update the destination with the selected data to be restored. Data that already exists will not be deleted; data that is not already present will be added.

4. When the Out of Place restore is chosen then the end user must specify a location where to copy the new content.

5. First select a new Agent Host.

6. Then specify a virtual server.

7. Please note that there is a blank field corresponding to each level in the URL tree.

DocAve can create a new site, sub-site, or folder/list by providing a name in the blank field. Make sure that the toggle has been selected.

Figure 2.4.4.1 – Scheduler and Restore Type

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Once the settings are configured, hit the Go button and DocAve will begin the restore process or schedule the restore job to be executed as scheduled.

2.5 Helpful tips on Item Level Backup

z Compared to site and sub site level backups, the item level backup will allow to backup files down to the folder or even down to the individual files.

z Also it is highly recommended that for every sub-site and site level backup that there is also a corresponding Item level backup of the same sub-site or site.

2.6 Helpful tips on an Out of Place Item Level Restore

Out Of Place restore is a powerful tool that will allow the duplication of items from one Agent Host to another Agent Host or from one virtual server to another virtual server.

Please note below though that there are a few pitfalls to Out Of Place restore.

z It is possible to restore down to the contents of a site.

z For example in figure 2.6.1 the contents of the site by

expanding the tree under “.”.

z In figure 2.6.1 we’re doing an out of place restore into a document library that DocAve is creating on the fly.

z Importantly an Out of Place restore will not carry over web parts or alerts. The

administrator must re-install the web parts on the

destination agent and recreate any existing alerts.

Figure 2.6.1 – Item Level – Out of Place Restore

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3 Site Level

The Site Level is the highest level in the SharePoint environment, it’s also known as a top-level site. A site level backup involves backing up the entire site including all of the sub-sites and the items within and beneath it. Site Level is the fastest backup out of the three levels.

3.1 Site Level Backup Overview

DocAve 4.1 provides top level SharePoint site collection backup and restore. The

difference when compared to item-level backup is on the granularity of restore. When a restore is done from a “site-level backup”, the ENTIRE site must be restored. Via DocAve, SharePoint administrators can:

• Selectively restore SharePoint content, down to specific versions, with or without security and properties, to the same or different URL location across one or MULTIPLE SharePoint environments.

• monitor real-time progress of any backup or restore jobs (via DocAve Job Monitor) DocAve 4.1 operates on the concept of backup plans, where each backup plan allows SharePoint administrators to specify:

2. When to backup (via up to 7 customizable schedules per plan. schedules can be one time only, hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly schedules)

Figure 3.1.1 shows an example of building a FULL backup plan for sites

“demo2007/sites/IT”. The orange triangle in the folder icon indicates that all future modifications and additions to the selected sites will be automatically included in the

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Similar to item-level restore, DocAve can restore entire site collections to different URLs via

“out-of-place” restores, which effectively replicates SharePoint sites.

Figure 3.1.1 – DocAve Site-level backup builder - Tree Mode

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3.2 Creating a Site Level Backup Plan

Upon completing configuration of the common backup options in the Control Panel, proceed to the backup builder under “site-level” to begin creating a plan for site-level backup.

Please note that the Site Level Backup builder offers an extra option to toggle site locking.

Checking the checking box labeled “Lock Site” will lock the SharePoint site to read only mode while the Backup until the backup job is finished executing. Unchecking the check box labeled “Lock Site” will not the lock the SharePoint site during the Backup, but please aware that this can cause data orphanage. The locking of a site and data orphanage is further explained in the Helpful Tips for Site Level Backup section.

3.2.1 Tree Mode

1. Tree Mode is the default view. The name of the Agent Host you selected should be displayed in the area directly underneath, ready for browsing. Click on the name of that Agent Host. This will expand the host to display the SharePoint instances installed underneath.

3. There is a check box corresponding to each level on the backup builder tree, the box is by default unchecked; checking the box indicates that all content on that level and underneath that level is to be extracted and backed up, or included in the backup plan.

4. When checking a box to specify content to be backed up, the folder icon of the folder included in the plan includes a yellow triangle. The yellow triangle indicates that all new data created in those sites will be automatically picked up by the backup plan;

this option is turned on by default. Clicking on the folder icon itself will remove the yellow triangle, hence indicating that only content that is recognized at this current time will be backed up, new content added in the future to that site will not be backed up.

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After successfully determining what sites are to be backed up, the next step is to determine when and at what frequency that selected content is to be backed up. Please refer to section 3.3 for scheduling your backup plans.

3.3 Setting up the Scheduling Carousel

1. After selecting the site(s) to be backed up, specify the frequency of the backup job.

2. There are multiple schedules, accessed by cycling through the schedule carousel. Un-check the “no schedule” box in order to activate a new schedule. An active schedule is shown in a different color, inactive schedules are in red.

3. After activating a schedule, select the backup type to utilize. Different backup types are discussed below:

Incremental – a partial backup where only data that has been added since the last incremental or full backup is backed up. Incremental data saves time and storage

Figure 3.3.1 – Scheduling Carousel – Enabling a Schedule

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space by backing up only the differences between incremental plans, instead of backing up the entire source location over and over.

Differential – a partial backup where only data that has been added since the last full backup is backed up. A differential backup always compares the latest data against a FULL backup at an earlier point in time; data previously backed up by a differential backup is not relevant.

4. Next select a start time for the backup. Click on the calendar by the Start Time field. A calendar will pop up, where a start time for the backup can be selected.

5. Then specify the interval at which you want the backup to occur. Choices are: Only Once, By Hour, By Day, By Week, By Month or By Year.

Figure 3.3.2 – Scheduling Carousel – Specifying a Start Time

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created backup plan a name, the name is to be of your choosing. After the plan has successfully been saved, it will be displayed in the narrow column area on the left under the title Site Level backup plan.

3.4 Site Level Restore Controller

After a backup plan has completed successfully, the backup data is ready for browsing. To

perform a restore, click the Restore Controller under Site Level to begin browsing the backup data for the data needed for the restore.

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2. The backup data is displayed in an URL tree mode. Browse through the backup data by clicking on the name of the Agent host or the SharePoint instance to expand the top-level sites located underneath them.

3. Please note in the site-level restore controller, you will not be able to click on a name of the top-level site to expand further down to see the data located underneath that specific top-level site.

4. There is an empty radial button corresponding to each level on the restore controller tree, the box is by default unchecked; checking the box indicates that all content on that level and underneath that level is selected to be used in restore job.

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Directly to the right of “Site Level Backup Data Browser” there will be an icon labeled

“Search”. Clicking on the icon will open a new pop up window which allows a search for the desired content to be restored. This search gives options of searching by sites, sub-sites, lists folders, item and item attributes. This search function also supports wild card(*). Using the search filter option will reduce the amount of research time. In other words filters are used to find quality rather than quantity. For organization with massive amount of data and thousands of documents filters can simplify searches and preserve time and resources. For specific search it is recommended to use multiple field as the utilization of multiple fields will have a unique end relationship (being able to search for one item in one designated site will minimize search time).

Figure 3.4.3.1 – Restore Search of Site Level

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2. After specifying either an In Place or Out of Place restore, fill out the schedule section if restoration is desired to be run at a later time. This is optional.

3. Another option that can be specified is the Restore Option. There are three types of Restore Options: Not Overwrite, Overwrite and Append.

z Not Overwrite: this means that DocAve will not restore the site if it already exists on the destination.

z Overwrite: this option will cause DocAve to restore the site over the existing site.

Essentially this will delete the site and restore the one that has been backed up.

z Append: this option will allow DocAve to update the same named site. This will restore data that is not present in the destination host.

Once the settings are configured, hit the Go button and DocAve will begin the restore process or schedule the restore job to be executed as scheduled.

Figure 3.4.4.1 – Scheduler and Restore Type

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3.5 Helpful Tips on Site Level Backup

Please note that the site level backup and restore will actually lock the SharePoint

environment to read only mode until the job has finished. The SharePoint must be locked in order to prevent data orphanage. Data orphanage can occur during a Site Level backup because SharePoint users might attempt to change data on the SharePoint site during the backup process.

Since DocAve locks SharePoint to read only mode, it is highly recommended that you do your site level backups on the weekend. Site Level is one of the more demanding backups of the three levels of backup, so depending on the server specifications there maybe a decrease in performance when attempting to backup during normal working hours.

Installing the DocAve Server and Media Server on dedicated hardware will reduce said performance impacts.

3.6 Helpful Tips on an Out of Place Site Level Restore

The Out Of Place restore is a powerful tool that will allow you to copy sites from one Agent Host to another Agent Host or from one virtual server to another virtual server. Please note below some important facts regarding an Out of Place restore.

z An Out of Place restore is basically creating a new site on a virtual server or an Agent Host.

z Be careful when providing the name of the new folder to specify the entire path. For example, the path would be

“http://demoprod1:7000/sites/new_

site”.

z A flaw of Out of Place restores is that certain securities and meta-data may be lost.

The best practice is to always to do an Item Level backup to coincide with Site Level backup. This will be explained in a later section since it covers both Site and Sub Site Level Restores.

z An Out of Place restore will not carry over web parts or alerts. Web parts must be re- installed on the destination agent and recreating the alerts.

z Make sure that the site selected for an out of place restore does not already exist on the destination agent. During the restore process the DocAve will lookup the unique site ID of the SharePoint site. If “Not Overwrite” is selected in the restore option and the unique ID exists in the destination then nothing will be restored. If “ Overwrite” is selected in the restore option and the unique ID exists in the destination then the restore will fail with an error.

Figure 3.6.1 – Site Level – Out of Place Restore

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4 Sub-site Level

DocAve’s Sub-site Level backup and restore allows administrators to backup their SharePoint environment on the sub-site level. On the restore front, instead of having to restore entire top- level sites, administrators can restore a specific sub-site or a collection of sub-sites.

4.1 Sub-site Level Backup Overview

DocAve 4.1 provides sub-site level SharePoint site collection backup and restore. The difference when compared to item-level backup is on the granularity of restore. When a restore is done from a “sub-site-level backup”, the ENTIRE sub-site will be restored. Via DocAve, SharePoint administrators can:

• Restore SharePoint content, down to specific versions, with or without security and properties, to the same or different URL location across one or MULTIPLE

SharePoint environments.

• monitor real-time progress of any backup or restore jobs (via DocAve Job Monitor) DocAve 4.1 operates on the concept of backup plans, where each backup plan allow SharePoint administrators to specify:

2. when to backup (via up to 7 customizable schedules per plan. schedules can be one time only, hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly schedules)

DocAve backup plans DO NOT lock up SharePoint SQL database index files, and thus can be scheduled to run during normal production hours.

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Figure 24 shows an example of building an INCREMENTAL backup plan for sub-sites

“demo2007/sites/IT/deskside” and “demo2007/sites/IT/HelpDesk” and all the other children of that sub-site. The green triangle in the folder icon indicates that all future modifications and additions to the selected sub-sites will be automatically included in the backup plan.

Figure 4.1.1 – Sub-site Level

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4.2 Creating a Sub-site Level Backup Plan

Upon completing configuration of the common back up options in the Control Panel, proceed to the backup builder under “sub-site-level” to begin creating a plan for sub-site- level backup.

4.2.1 Tree Mode

1. Tree mode allow for a granular view of your sharepoint site when using the item level backup or restore.Tree Mode is selected by default. The name of the Agent Host you selected should be displayed in the area directly underneath, ready for browsing. Click on the name of that Agent Host and it will expand to display the SharePoint instances installed underneath.

3. Clicking on the name of a specific top-level site will expand the tree further to display a root directory or .(dot).

4. Clicking on the .(dot) expands the tree to display folders/lists and content located directly on the top-level site. Please note that since in the sub-site level backup and restore, the end user will not be able to click on a sub-site name and expand the tree any further.

5. There is an empty box corresponding to each level on the backup builder tree, the box is by default unchecked; checking the box indicates that all content on that level and underneath that level is to be extracted and backed up.

6. When checking a box to specify content to be backed up, the folder icon of the folder included in the plan includes a yellow triangle. The yellow triangle indicates that all new data created in those sites will be automatically picked up by the backup plan, this option is turned on by default. Clicking on the folder icon itself will remove the yellow

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After successfully determining what sub sites are to be backed up, the next step is to determine when and at what frequency those selected sites are to be backed up. Please refer to section 4.3 for scheduling your backup plans.

4.3 Setting up the Scheduling Carousel

1. After selecting the content to be backed up, the right panel will allow to set the frequency of the plan 2. There are multiple schedules,

accessed by cycling through the schedule carousel. Un-check the “no schedule” box in order to activate a new schedule. An active schedule is shown in a different color, inactive schedules are in red.

3. After activating a schedule, select the backup type to use. Different backup types are discussed below:

Incremental – a partial backup where only data that has been added since the last incremental or full backup is backed up. Incremental data saves time and storage

Figure 4.3.1 – Scheduling Carousel – Enabling a Schedule

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space by backing up only the differences between incremental plans, instead of backing up the entire source location over and over.

Differential – a partial backup where only data that has been added since the last full backup is backed up. A differential backup always compares the latest data against a FULL backup at an earlier point in time; data previously backed up by a differential backup is not relevant.

4. Next set a start time for your backup. Click on the calendar by the Start Time field. A calendar will pop up, where a start time for the backup can be selected.

5. Then specify the interval at which you want the backup to occur. Choices are: Only Once, By Hour, By Day, By Week, By Month or By Year.

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After successfully scheduling the time and frequency the backup plan is to be conducted, then proceed to save the plan by clicking on “Save As”. You will be prompted to give this newly created backup plan a name, the name is to be of your choosing. After the plan has successfully been saved, it will be displayed in the narrow column area on the left under the title Sub Site Level backup plan.

4.4 Sub-site Level Restore Controller

After a backup plan has completed successfully, the backup data is ready for browsing. To perform a restore, click the Restore Controller under Sub-site Level to begin browsing the backup data for the data needed for the restore.

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2. The backup data is displayed in an URL tree mode. You can browse through the backup data by clicking on the name of the Agent host or the SharePoint instance to expand the top-level sites located underneath them.

3. Clicking on the name of a specific top-level site will expand the tree further to display a root directory or .(dot).

4. Clicking on the .(dot) expands the tree to display folders/lists and content located directly on the top-level site.

5. Please note that in the sub-site level backup and restore, you cannot click on a sub-site name and expand the tree any further.

6. There is an empty radial button corresponding to each level on the restore controller tree, the box is by default unchecked; checking the box indicates that all content on that level and underneath that level is selected to be used in restore job.

2. Directly to the right of “SubSite Level Backup Data Browser” there will be an icon labeled

“Search”. Clicking on the icon will open a new pop-up window which allows searching for the content needed for restore.

3. In the search pop-up the, search for content to be restored by name at the site and sub-site level.

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Figure 4.4.3.1 – Restore Search Sub-site Level

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2. After specifying either an In Place or Out of Place restore, fill out the schedule section if restore is desired to be run at a later time. This is optional.

3. Another option that can be specified is the Restore Option. There are three types of Restore Options: Not Overwrite, Overwrite and Append.

z Not Overwrite: this means that DocAve will not restore the content if it already exists on the destination.

z Overwrite: this option will cause DocAve to restore the content over whatever exists on the destination. Essentially this will delete the content on the

destination and replace it with the content selected to be restored.

z Append: this option will allow DocAve to update the destination with the selected data to be restored. Data that already exists will not be deleted, data that is not already present will be added.

Once the settings are configured, hit the Go button and DocAve will begin the restore process or

Figure 4.4.1 – Scheduler and Restore Type

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4.5 Helpful Tips on an Out of Place Subsite Level Restore

Out of Place restore is a powerful tool that will allow duplication of sub sites from one Agent Host to another Agent Host or from one virtual server to another virtual server.

Please note below though that there are a few pitfalls to Out Of Place restore.

z An Out of Place restore is basically creating a new sub site on a virtual server or an Agent Host.

z When creating a new sub-site all needed is to specify the name of the new sub site.

So, for example, the path would be “new_sub_site”.

z Also another pitfall of Out of Place restore is that certain securities and Meta data maybe lost. The best practice is to always to do an Item Level backup to coincide with the Sub-Site level backup. This will be explained in a later section since it covers both Site and Sub Site Level Restores.

z Importantly an Out of Place restore will not carry over web parts or alerts. The web part must be installed on the destination agent and the alerts recreated.

5 Advance Tips in Restore and Backup

This section will focus on the more advanced methods in using DocAve to its full potential.

Before you try these methods it would be best to understand the basics of the DocAve program and the different levels of restores. There are different scenarios where DocAve can be used to restructure a Share Point environment.

5.1 How to Move a Site to a Sub Site

As a Share Point environment shrinks, an administrator might encounter a scenario where a site once created on the top-level is now more suitable as a sub-site. We will be

investigating how DocAve can allow you to move a top-level site to the level of a sub-site.

Please understand that this will move the entire site and its contents to one level below.

1. Proceed to conduct an Item Level Backup.

2. Select the top-level site to demote to a sub-site to be backed up using an item-level backup plan.

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3. Proceed to run the backup.

4. Now initiate the Item Level Restore controller.

5. Expand the Item Level Backup Job Browser.

6. Chose the Media Server, then the Agent Host, and finally the specific plan.

7. From the Item Level Data Backup Browser the end user will see the backed up content in an URL tree.

8. Then expand down to the contents of the root site.

9. IMPORTANT: Select all of the content under the root site EXCEPT for the galleries. These galleries are Master Page Gallery, List

Template Gallery, Site Template Gallery, and Web Part Gallery.

10. Proceed to run an out of place restore and select the desired destination sub-site.

11. Click Go and now the site will be moved down to a sub-site.

Figure 5.1.1 – Backup Job Browser

Figure 5.1.2 – Backup Data Browser

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5.2 Ensuring Meta Data and Security on an Out of Place Restore

DocAve can be used to do an Out of Place Restore of items from one Agent Host to another Agent Host. To guarantee that the Meta Data and the Security is carried over properly please follow these steps:

1. Proceed to the Item Level Restore Controller.

2. From the Job Browser, select the Media Server and the Agent Host.

3. Then select the desired plan.

4. The Data Browser will populate now and you can expand down to the individual items in the tree.

5. You can either select the entire content tree, specific libraries, or just an individual item.

6. In Figure 5.3.2 we will select the entire “Share Documents”.

7. Now directly underneath Path Info you will see two check boxes labeled Property and Security. Please make sure that both of these are selected.

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8. Then proceed with your Out of Place Restore by clicking through the various options and finally by clicking on the GO button to initiate the restore.

After the restore has completed you should see the original meta-data, version histories, and user security information carried over to the new destination.

5.3 Making sure that the Site page is restored properly

If you did an Out of Place restore of a site using a site-level restore and for some reason the site is not loading up properly when you attempt to view it, please follow the directions below in order to apply the content again. In order to do this the end user must have an Item Level Backup of the Site for which to do an Out of Place Restore from.

1. Proceed to the Item Level Restore Controller.

2. From the Job Browser, select the Media Server and the Agent Host.

Figure 5.2.2 – Backup Data Browser & Path Info

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3. Then select the desired plan.

4. The Data Browser will populate now and the end user can now expand down to the individual items in the tree.

5. Expand the root content folder which is specified by the .(dot).

6. Then expand the “{System Folder}” and select the radial button by the folder.

7. Direct your attention to the panel on the right, underneath Path Info you should see a file named “default.aspx”. This file holds the layout of your Site. Make sure this file is selected for restore.

8. Then proceed with your Out of Place Restore by clicking through the various options and finally by clicking on the GO button to initiate the restore.

After the restore has completed, the layout will be copied over to the new destination location.

5.4 Using the Restore Arrow in Item Level Restore

In the Item Level Out of Place Restore there is a feature that will allow the end user to promote a sub-site to a top level site. During the Out of Place restore of an Item Level and within the restore destination popup, there will be a green arrow along side the blank input field toggle.

Depending on whether the arrow is pointing up or right, the behavior of the restoration differs.

Figure 5.3.2 – Data Browser & Path Info – Restoring ASPX

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5.4.1 Using the Restore Arrow to Promote a Sub-Site to a Top Level Site If the Item Level Plan consists of a sub-site that the end user wishes to promote to a top level site then please follow the directions below:

1. Proceed with the steps to select the sub-site to restore.

2. Select the Out of Place Restore toggle.

3. Then click on the “ … ” button to bring up the Restore Destination popup.

4. At the site level, make sure that the Restore (Green) Arrow is facing to the right. This means that the sub-site will be promoted to a top level site.

5. Provide an entire name for the new destination site. For example in Figure 5.4.1.1, the name of the new site will be

“http://testserver1/sites/ne w_site”. Then when the restore is complete the contents of the sub site will be in the new top level site.

Figure 5.4.1.1 – Item Level Restore Destination – Restore Arrow Up

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5.4.2 Using the Restore Arrow to copy contents under a site

If the Item Level Plan consists of a sub-site that the end user wishes to create it under a site then please follow the instructions below:

1. Proceed with the steps to select the sub-site to restore.

2. Select the Out of Place Restore toggle.

3. Then click on the “ … ” button to bring up the Restore Destination popup.

4. At the site level, make sure that the Restore (Green) Arrow is facing up.

This means that the sub-site will be copied under the top level site.

5. Provide an entire name for the new destination site. For example in Figure 5.4.2.1, the name of the new site will be

“http://testserver1/sites/new_

test”. Then when the restore is complete the contents of the sub site will be in the new top level site.

NOTE: If the site does exist then the contents will be copied into that existing site.

If the site does not exist then the site will be created with default settings and the contents will be copied into the newly created site.

Figure 5.4.2.1 – Item Level Restore Destination – Restore Arrow Down

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5.5 Using the Sub-Site Tree in the Sub-Site Restore Controller

In the Sub-Site Level Restore Controller, there are icons by each sub-site that when clicked on will select all the children of that sub-site.

When the end user has clicked the tree will select all the children of that particular sub-site.

When the end user has not clicked the tree then individual sub-sites and individual children of the sub-sites can be selected.

Figure 5.5.1 – Sub-Site Level – Tree clicked

Figure 5.5.2 – Sub-Site Level – Tree not clicked

DocAve 4.1 Backup User Guide