You can use a Hybrid Backup Recovery (HBR) backup client to back up files and folders from a local server or virtual machine. HBR supports the following backup modes: instant backup and scheduled backup. You can select the required backup mode based on your business needs.

Note An HBR backup client backs up all files in the same folder incrementally based on the specified backup policy. That is, the HBR backup client only backs up files that have been added or modified since last backup. Assume that you back up three files in a folder: File 1, File 2, and File 3. After the backup, data in File 2 is modified. Then, only File 2 is backed up next time.

Instant backup

If you do not have any backup schedules and only need to back up full data, follow these steps:

  1. Log on to an HBR backup client.
  2. In the left-side navigation pane, click Backup. On the Backup Jobs page that appears, click Create Backup Job in the upper-right corner.
  3. In the Create Backup Job dialog box that appears, click the Basic Settings tab and set parameters as described in the following table.
    create
    Parameter Description
    Source The path of the backup source. Set source paths based on the following rules:
    • You can enter up to eight paths if the paths do not contain wildcard characters, such as asterisks (*).
    • You can enter only one path if the path contains wildcard characters, such as asterisks (*). You can enter wildcard characters in the following format: /*/*.
    • You can enter only absolute paths, for example, paths that start with a forward slash (/), two backslashes (\\), C:\, or D:\.
    Note
    • You can specify only one root path at a time. For example, you cannot enter C:\ and D:\ at the same time.
    • If you use volume shadow copy service (VSS), you cannot enter multiple paths, a universal naming convention (UNC) path, or the storage path of files to exclude. Also, the path cannot contain wildcard characters.
    • If you use a UNC path, you cannot use VSS or enter the storage path of files to exclude. Also, the path cannot contain wildcard characters. If the path of the backup source contains a UNC path, HBR does not back up the access control list (ACL) of Windows.
    Use VSS for backup (Windows only)
    • You can select this check box if data changes in the backup source. The feature is designed to keep data consistency between a backup source and its backup.
    • This feature is available only for hosts whose operating system is Windows.
    • If you use VSS, you cannot back up data from multiple directories at a time.
    Note This feature is unavailable if the backup source resides on a volume of the exFAT format.
    Backup Rule The rule for backing up files. You can set the value to All Files or Exclude Files.
    If you set the value to Exclude Files, enter the storage paths of files to exclude.
    Note The following rules apply to the storage paths of files to exclude:
    • You can enter up to eight paths, including paths that contain wildcard characters, such as asterisks (*).
    • If the paths do not contain a forward slash (/), asterisks (*) match multi-level paths or files. For example, *abc* matches /abc/, /d/eabcd/, and /a/abc, and *.txt matches files whose file name extension is .txt.
    • If the paths contain a forward slash (/), each asterisk (*) only matches a single-level path or a file. For example, /a/*/*/share only matches /a/b/c/share instead of /a/d/share.
    • If the paths end with a forward slash (/), asterisks (*) match folders. For example, *tmp/ matches /a/b/aaatmp/ and /tmp/.
    • Use forward slashes (/) as path delimiters for Linux and backslashes (\) for Windows.
    Running Plan The mode of the backup. Set the value to Instant.
  4. Optional. Click the Bandwidth Throttling tab. Set Work Hours. In the Throttling field, enter the maximum bandwidth that can be used for backup during the specified throttling period. Then, click Add.
    Note
    • The throttling period is accurate to the hour. You can add multiple throttling periods as needed.
    • If you need to modify a throttling period, find the target throttling period, click Delete in the Actions column, and then add a throttling period.
    • The maximum bandwidth must be at least 1 MB/s.
  5. Click Submit to start the backup job.
    After the backup job is started, you can perform the following operations on the Backup Jobs page:
    • View the progress of the backup job.
    • Click Cancel or Retry in the Actions column to cancel or retry the backup job.
    • If some files fail to be backed up in the job, click the Download icon in the Errors column to download the error report.

Scheduled backup

If you have backup schedules, you can create a scheduled backup plan based on a custom backup policy. To create a scheduled backup plan, follow these steps:

  1. Log on to an HBR backup client.
  2. In the left-side navigation pane, click Backup.
  3. On the Backup Jobs page that appears, click Create Backup Job in the upper-right corner.
  4. In the Create Backup Job dialog box that appears, click the Basic Settings tab.
  5. Specify the backup source, set Running Plan to Scheduled, and then set Backup Policy to a created backup policy.
    Parameter Description
    Source The path of the backup source. Set source paths based on the following rules:
    • You can enter up to eight paths if the paths do not contain wildcard characters, such as asterisks (*).
    • You can enter only one path if the path contains wildcard characters, such as asterisks (*). You can enter wildcard characters in the following format: /*/*.
    • You can enter only absolute paths, for example, paths that start with a forward slash (/), two backslashes (\\), C:\, or D:\.
    Note
    • If you use VSS, you cannot enter multiple paths, a UNC path, or the storage path of files to exclude. Also, the path cannot contain wildcard characters.
    • If you use a UNC path, you cannot use VSS or enter the storage path of files to exclude. Also, the path cannot contain wildcard characters. If the path of the backup source contains a UNC path, HBR does not back up the ACL of Windows.
    Use VSS for backup (Windows only)
    • You can select this check box if data changes in the backup source. The feature is designed to keep data consistency between a backup source and its backup.
    • This feature is available only for hosts whose operating system is Windows.
    • If you use VSS, you cannot back up data from multiple directories at a time.
    Backup Rule The rule for backing up files. You can set the value to All Files or Exclude Files.
    If you set the value to Exclude Files, enter the storage paths of files to exclude.
    Note The following rules apply to the storage paths of files to exclude:
    • You can enter up to eight paths, including paths that contain wildcard characters, such as asterisks (*).
    • If the paths do not contain a forward slash (/), asterisks (*) match multi-level paths or files. For example, *abc* matches /abc/, /d/eabcd/, and /a/abc, and *.txt matches files whose file name extension is .txt.
    • If the paths contain a forward slash (/), each asterisk (*) only matches a single-level path or a file. For example, /a/*/*/share only matches /a/b/c/share instead of /a/d/share.
    • If the paths end with a forward slash (/), asterisks (*) match folders. For example, *tmp/ matches /a/b/aaatmp/ and /tmp/.
    • Use forward slashes (/) as path delimiters for Linux and backslashes (\) for Windows.
    Running Plan The mode of the backup. Set the value to Scheduled.
    Backup Policy The backup policy to be applied. Select a created backup policy from the drop-down list.
  6. Optional. Click the Bandwidth Throttling tab. Set Work Hours. In the Throttling field, enter the maximum bandwidth that can be used for backup during the specified throttling period. Then, click Add.
    Note
    • The throttling period is accurate to the hour. You can add multiple throttling periods as needed.
    • If you need to modify a throttling period, find the target throttling period, click Delete in the Actions column, and then add a throttling period.
    • The maximum bandwidth must be at least 1 MB/s.
  7. Click Submit.
    After a backup job is started, you can perform the following operations on the Backup Jobs page:
    • View the progress of the backup job.
    • Click Cancel or Retry in the Actions column to cancel or retry the backup job.
    • Click Delete in the Actions column to delete the backup job. After you delete the backup job, HBR no longer runs the backup job based on the specified backup policy. However, HBR retains backups that are created by the backup job. You can still restore data from these backups.
    • If some files fail to be backed up in the job, click the Download icon in the Errors column to download the error report.

Browse backup files online

You can use the online browse feature of HBR to quickly browse all files in each backup plan.

  1. On the File Backup page of the HBR console, find the target backup client and click View in the Actions column.
  2. On the page that appears, select a backup source and click Browser in the Actions column.

    In the Browser dialog box that appears, view all files in the source directory.

    Notice You can only browse files in this dialog box. For more information about how to restore files, see Restore backups.

FAQ

If you fail to back up files due to network instability, you can perform the following operations and try again:

  1. Log on to the ECS instance where files need to be backed up.
  2. Go to the installation directory of the HBR backup client.
  3. In the client folder, create a file named hbr.config.
    Note The hbr.config file must be stored in the same directory as the hybridebackup and ids executable files.
  4. Add the following parameters to the hbr.config file.
    Parameter Description
    retry_times The number of file backup retries. Default value: 3.
    retry_interval The interval for retrying file backups. Default value: 100 ms.
    skip_error_files Specifies whether to skip files failed to be backed up. Default value: false.
    • false: does not skip files failed to be backed up.
    • true: skips files failed to be backed up.

For example, you can add the following parameters to the hbr.config file:

retry_times=3
retry_interval=100
skip_error_files=false