Performing manual backups

A manual backup is user-initiated and is based on a policy.

A manual backup is useful in the following situations:

To test a configuration
To back up a client that missed the regular backup
To back up a client before new software is installed to preserve the old configuration
To preserve records before a special event such as a company split or merger
To back up quarterly or yearly financial information

In some cases, it may be useful to create a policy and schedule that is used only for manual backups. Create a policy for manual backups by creating a policy with a single schedule that has no backup window. Without a backup window, the policy can never run automatically.

To perform a manual backup

In the NetBackup Administration Console, expand NetBackup Management > Policies.
Select the policy name in the left pane.
Select Actions > Manual Backup. (To perform a manual backup, you must enable the Active. Go into effect at option.)

If the Go into effect property is set for a future date and time, the backup does not run.
In the Manual Backup dialog box, select the schedule and the clients that you want to back up.

If you do not select any schedules, NetBackup uses the schedule with the highest retention level. If you do not select any clients, NetBackup backs up all clients.

User schedules do not appear in the schedules list. A user schedule cannot be manually backed up because they do not have a backup selection list (the user selects the files).
Click OK to start the backup.