Creating a synthetic backup by adding templates to a policy

Creating a new policy for a synthetic backup involves choosing a name and description for the policy, adding the necessary job templates for synthetic backup to the policy, and setting up relationships between the templates. After you set up all of the templates for a synthetic backup in a policy, you can combine the policy with a selection list to create jobs.

See About creating jobs using policies and selection lists.

To create a synthetic backup by adding templates to a policy

  1. On the navigation bar, click Job Setup.

  2. On the task pane, under Policy Tasks, click New policy.

  3. Type a policy name and description for this synthetic backup policy, and then click New Template.

    The Template Selection dialog box appears.

  4. Select Backup Template, and then click OK.

  5. On the Properties pane, under Settings, click General, and specify either of the following backup methods for the baseline.

    • Select Full – Back up files – Using archive bit (reset archive bit) to add an optional baseline full backup template.

    • Select Incremental – Back up changed files since last full or incremental – Using archive bit (reset archive bit) to add a recurring, incremental backup template.

  6. Select the Collect additional information for synthetic backup and for true image restore option.

  7. (Optional) Select the Use the Microsoft Change Journal if available option.

    See About using the Windows NTFS Change Journal to determine changed files.

    If you selected an incremental backup method, then under Destination, click Device and Media.

  8. Select a backup-to-disk folder or a virtual tape library as the destination device.

  9. On the Properties pane, under Settings, click Network and Security.

    In a policy that contains a synthetic backup, if an encryption key is used, all of the associated templates must use the same encryption key. The encryption key should not be changed after the policy has been created. The encryption key that is selected in the associated templates is automatically applied to the synthetic backup template.

    See About encryption.

    If the Central Admin Server Option (CASO) is installed, an option displays to allow managed media servers to use any network interface to access remote agents.

    See Enabling managed media servers to use any available network interface card .

  10. Under Frequency, click Schedule and set the scheduling options you want to use.

    See Schedule properties for a template.

    If you added the optional full backup template for the baseline backup in step 5, you must configure it to be the first backup template to run.

    The baseline backup only needs to run once. You can run additional baseline backups whenever you prefer, although the backup window is reduced by running a synthetic backup instead of a full backup.

    If you added an incremental backup template, you must configure it to be a recurring job so that the first instance can become the baseline backup.

  11. Select other options as appropriate, and then click OK.

    See Adding a backup template to a policy.

    In a policy that contains a synthetic backup, backup templates that create incremental backup jobs must have backup-to-disk folders as destination devices.

  12. Do one of the following:

    • If you added the optional full backup template for the baseline backup in step 5, then continue with the next step to create a backup template for an incremental backup job.

    • If you added a recurring incremental backup template, go to step 18 to add the synthetic backup template

  13. On the New Policy dialog box, click New Template, and then on the Template Selection dialog box, select Backup Template again, and then click OK.

  14. On the Properties pane, under Settings, click General, and select the backup method Incremental – Back up changed files since last full or incremental – Using archive bit (reset archive bit).

  15. Select the Collect additional information for synthetic backup and for true image restore option.

  16. (Optional) Select the option Use the Microsoft Change Journal if available.

    See About using the Windows NTFS Change Journal to determine changed files.

  17. Under Frequency, click Schedule and set the scheduling options you want to use.

    See Schedule properties for a template.

  18. Select other options as appropriate, and then click OK.

    See Adding a backup template to a policy.

    In a policy that contains a synthetic backup, backup templates that create incremental backup jobs must have backup-to-disk folders as destination devices.

  19. On the New Policy dialog box, click New Template, select Synthetic Backup Template, and then click OK.

  20. On the Properties pane, under Destination, select Device and Media, and complete the appropriate options.

    See Device and media options for backup jobs and templates.

  21. On the Properties pane, under Settings, click General, and complete the appropriate options.

    See General options for synthetic backup templates.

  22. On the Properties pane, under Settings, click Advanced, and complete the appropriate options.

    See Advanced options for synthetic backup templates.

  23. If you want Backup Exec to notify someone when the backup job completes, on the Properties pane, under Settings, click Notification.

    See Sending a notification when a job completes.

  24. Do one or both of the following:

Creating a synthetic backup by adding templates to a policy