Manage backup templates

Templates are composed of backup policies. In policies, you can define when to run a backup, how frequently to run a backup, how long to retain the backup image for (Days, Weeks, Months, Years), and also additional configuration when the policy is applied to a different application, such as a file system, database, or VM.

Backup policy types include:

Create a backup template

Use these instructions to create a backup template:

  1. Click the Backup Plans tab and select Templates from the drop-down menu.

    The Templates page opens.

  2. Click Create Templates.

    The Create Template page opens appears with a new (empty) backup template.

  3. In the Template field, enter a name for the backup template. For the template name, enter an alphanumeric text string. Spaces, underscores (_), and dashes (-) are allowed in a name. Do not include special characters.

  4. In the Description field, enter a brief description about this backup template.

  5. To modify the ALLOW OVERRIDES ON POLICY SETTINGS:

    • Click Yes to allow selected App Manager advanced settings to override the settings specified in a backup plan policy's advanced settings. You can override policy settings in the App Manager only if the ALLOW OVERRIDES ON POLICY SETTINGS parameter is set to Yes.
    • Click No if you do not want to allow backup plan policy setting override in the App Manager.

  6. Click either +(Plus) in the backup plan policy map or +Add in the Policies section to add a backup policy. Backup policy includes:

  7. Enter a Policy Name.

  8. If appropriate for the policy type, specify the schedule type, Windowed or Continuous. The default is Windowed.

    • Windowed. Defines a discrete snapshot backup schedule adhering to a specific frequency and time window (for example, perform a backup every 30 minutes, daily from 09:00 to 17:00 UTC). You can instruct the backup/recovery appliance to run multiple backup jobs at a specified frequency interval or once during a specified time window.
    • Continuous. Defines a continuous snapshot backup schedule (for example, perform a backup job every eight hours, starting the first job at 01:00 UTC). In this policy schedule, jobs run continuously (24/7) at the specified time interval.

  9. Configure the policy frequency settings per the selected schedule type as outlined in the lists below.

    • Windowed
    • On These Days. Configures the frequency of the policy by defining an interval at which snapshot images are captured. Based on this interval setting, the snapshot job runs once every specified number of days, weeks, months, or years. Click the link of this parameter and modify the Run interval. The schedule is displayed in a calendar view. From this view you can specify Days, Weeks, Months, or Years. The calendar view changes accordingly based on your selection.
    • Except. Defines an exception to the Run schedule. You can specify an Except value of daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly. For example, to skip the daily snapshot schedule every Friday, select weekly and select Friday. Click the link of this parameter and modify the exception. The schedule is displayed in a calendar view. From this view you can specify Days, Weeks, Months, or Years. The calendar view changes accordingly based on your selection.
    • Within This Window. Defines a start and end time window for capturing images.
    • Run Once Per Window. Specifies that the frequency duration for capturing snapshot images is once during the specified Run Between time window.
    • Every. Specifies a repeat frequency duration (minutes or hours) for capturing snapshot images during the specified Run Between time window. Example: Every two hours.
    • Continuous
    • Every. Specifies the time period in which to repeat the snapshot image capture.
    • Starting At. Specific the time of day at which to run the first job in the continuous cycle of image captures.
    • Both Windowed and Continuous
    • Retain For. Specifies the length of time that you intend to retain the snapshot image. Example: Retain the image for two days.

  10. If desired, change the application priority from the Priority drop-down list. The default job priority is medium, but you can change the priority to high or low.

    • The backup plan scheduler identifies when one or more policies applied to applications are to run, and then initiates a job that places the policy into a queue when the scheduled start time occurs. For each policy type there is a pacing mechanism to ensure that the system is not overwhelmed with running jobs. This pacing mechanism uses job slots to achieve this steady state, which means that even if a job is supposed to start at a particular time it will execute only occur when a job slot is available.
    • If multiple applications are scheduled to run at the same time with the same job priority, the selection of the application to run is randomized to ensure fairness across all of the applications of the same priority.
    1. Configure the Advanced Policy Settings. See Configure advanced policy settings for a backup plan policy for details.

  11. When you are finished creating the new policy, click Update Policy to add it to the template. You return to the Templates list.

  12. Click Save Template.

View and filter backup templates

The templates window lists all of the backup templates that are developed on the management console. From the Templates window, you can view information such as the template name, description, and allow policy override for all backup templates in management console. You can modify the display of fields that appear in the Templates table, and you can also use the filter feature to locate backup templates by these identifiers.

  1. Click the Backup Plans tab and select Templates from the drop-down menu. The Templates page opens.

  2. To modify the display of the properties in this view, you can:

    • Adjust Fields. To modify the fields that appear in the table, right-click within the table header row and click the checkboxes for the fields you want displayed (or those fields you do not want to view).
    • Sort Content. To sort the content listed in a table column by alphanumeric order, select a column header and then click the Up or Down arrow to change the order.
    • Adjust Column Width. To adjust the width of a table column to show more content in the table, drag the column divider in a column header to the left or right to resize the column width. Column dividers are marked by a pair of thin gray lines.

    • Filter By. To filter the list, enter one or more filter criteria as appropriate. (If you do not see the Filter By area, click show filter). To clear a filter, click the x to the right of the applied filter.

  3. To export the policy templates list click the export icon. You can export in PDF format.

Add policies to an existing backup template

To modify an existing backup template to include an additional policy:

  1. Click the Backup Plans tab and select Templates from the drop-down menu.

    The Templates page opens.

  2. Select the backup template that you want to modify, then select Edit (bottom right-hand corner of the page).

    The Templates window appears with the existing backup template.

  3. If you want to modify the template name or description, make the required changes in the Template or Description fields.

  4. If you want to modify the ALLOW OVERRIDES ON POLICY SETTINGS, complete the following:

    • Click Yes to allow selected App Manager advanced settings to override the settings specified in a backup plan policy's advanced settings.
    • Click No if you do not want to allow backup plan policy setting override in the App Manager.

  5. To add a policy to an existing backup template, click either +(Plus) in the backup plan policy map or +Add in the Policies area of the Templates window. Policy types include: snapshot, snapshot to OnVault, and production-to-mirror replication (StreamSnap).

    The associated policy configuration panel appears in the Template window.

  6. When you are done creating the new policy, click Update Policy to add it to the template. You return to the Templates window.

  7. Click Save Template.

Edit an existing backup template

After creating a backup template, you can change the following:

  • Template name
  • Template description
  • Policy settings

To make the changes:

  1. Click the Backup Plans tab and select Templates from the drop-down menu.

    The Templates page opens.

  2. Select the backup template that you want to modify, then click Edit (bottom right-hand corner of the window).

    The Templates page opens with the existing backup template.

  3. If you want to modify the template name or description, make the required changes in the Template or Description fields.

  4. If you want to modify the ALLOW OVERRIDES ON POLICY SETTINGS, complete the following:

    • Click Yes to allow selected App Manager advanced settings to override the settings specified in a backup plan policy's advanced settings.
    • Click No if you do not want to allow backup plan policy setting override in the App Manager.

  5. In the Policies area of the Template window, click the arrow to the left of the backup plan policy you want to edit and review the settings. There may be multiple policies under a specific policy type. Select the backup plan policy that you want to edit, then click Edit Policy. The associated policy configuration panel appears in the Template window.

  6. Edit the backup plan policy as needed.

  7. When you are done making policy edits, click Update Policy.

Clone a backup template

Use these instructions to clone an existing backup template:

  1. Click the backup Plans tab and select Templates from the drop-down menu.

    The Templates page opens.

  2. Select one or more templates that you want to clone.

  3. Right click and select Clone from the drop-down menu options. (For multiple template selections, you can also go to the bottom right corner of the page and select the Clone option.)

    You are prompted to confirm that you want to clone the selected templates.

  4. Click Yes to clone the templates. You will see a success message at the end of the cloning process.

  5. Click Close. The cloned template is listed in the Templates list and has a prefix of "Copy of ...".

Delete a backup template

Use these instructions to delete a policy template:

  1. Click the Backup plans tab and select Templates from the drop-down menu.

    The Templates page opens.

  2. Select the backup template from the list, then click Delete (bottom right-hand corner of the window). The backup template is removed from the Templates window.

You are not allowed to delete all replication policies from a template if any snapshot policy includes database log replication.

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