PowerProtect Data Manager 19.16 File System User Guide

Performing self-service backups of file systems

A host with the File System agent installed requires a PowerProtect Data Manager server to back up file systems.

To back up file systems manually and use PowerProtect Data Manager, register the host to PowerProtect Data Manager, create a self-service protection policy, and configure the retention policy.

After a host is registered with PowerProtect Data Manager and assets are added to a self-service protection policy, use the ddfssv command to run self-service or manual backups on the host file system assets, as in the following example:

ddfssv -l FULL -a DFA_SI_DD_HOST=server_name -a DFA_SI_DD_USER=username -a DFA_SI_DEVICE_PATH=storage_unit_and_path volume_names

where:

-l {FULL | INCR}

Specifies the type of the backup to perform such as full (FULL), or incremental (INCR). The default value is FULL.

-a "DFA_SI_DD_HOST=server_name"

Specifies the IPv4 address for the DD that contains the storage unit to back up the file system assets.

-a "DFA_SI_DD_USER=username"

Specifies the protection storage unit username. Example: Policy-Protection

-a "DFA_SI_DEVICE_PATH=storage_unit_and_path"

Specifies the name and the path of the storage unit where you want to direct the backup. Example: /PolicyProtection/LVMs/2

volume_names

Specifies one or more file system volumes to be backed up. Example: F:\ E:\ G:\

For more information about how to use the admin utility to query the list of backups for an asset, see Using the ddfsadmin utility for file systems.

To perform a self-service backup, use the storage unit and username that was created on the DD system when the policy was created. PowerProtect Data Manager discovers these backups and enables centralized restore operations. You can also perform a manual restore operation.