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Backups

There exists a central backup server for the Department EECE. The server automatically performs backups of the AFS Cell and all Unix servers. Linux users that have their home directories in AFS are therefore automatically protected by these backups.

For EECE permanent staff who have Windows desktop machines, a mechanism exists to make use of the backup facilities. In order to have your desktop machine automatically backed up you need to:

  1. Request the backup operation by sending an email to the Departmental System Administrator. You will be sent a randomly generate password that you will need for the steps below.
  2. Install a backup client onto your machine (the procedure is described at the bottom of this page).

Backup Schedule

  • Full backups on the first Saturday/Sunday of each month (@14h00 Saturday)
  • Differential backups every subsequent Sunday of the month (@5h00)
  • Incremental backups every day (@21h00)

Backup operation is monitored daily by the Departmental System Administrator.

Restore Operation

Assuming that backups have been successfully performed, file restores can be requested by sending an email to the Departmental System Administrator specififying which files to restore. Restores can be done at the file level, directory level or job level (all files backed up).

Installing the Windows Backup Client

Before you begin, download the latest version of the backup client here. Also ensure that you have received your unique, randomly generated password from the Departmental System Administrator.

Removing previous versions of the Windows Backup Client

If you have a previous version of the backup client (WinBacula) installed, you need to uninstall it as follows:

  • Open the “Control Panel” with “Start / Settings / Control Panel”.
  • Under the control panel, choose “Administrative Tools”.
  • Start the “Services” management tool.
  • Right click on “Bacula File Service” and choose “Stop” to shutdown the active client. If this action is not performed, the installation of the new version will not complete successfully as the client executable remains locked.
  • Now uninstall the client by running “Start / Programs / Bacula / Uninstall Bacula”.
  • Reboot your machine.

You are now ready to procedure with the installation of the new client.

Installing

  • Begin the installation by executing the file downloaded above. You will see a welcome screen such as below. Press Next to continue.

bacula-1.jpg

  • A license message will be displayed. Press I Agree to continue.

bacula-2.jpg

  • The next window will ask you to specify the installation type. Choose Automatic.

bacula-3.jpg

  • For the next window, which asks you which components you wish to install, select the default by choosing Next.

bacula-4.jpg

  • The next window of the installer asks you to supply the configuration of the backup server. The name should be bkp-dir with address bkp.ee.up.ac.za. The password field should be set to the password supplied by the Departmental System Administrator. Choose Install to perform the installation.

bacula-5.jpg

  • The installation will now proceed, showing a window such as below.

bacula-6.jpg

  • You are now asked if you wish to generate a template configuration. Deselect the client tickbox as below, and choose Next to continue.

bacula-7.jpg

  • On the final window, choose Finish. The installation has now been completed.

bacula-8.jpg

Configuration

The configuration of the backup client however needs to be manual adjusted and your machine IP sent to the Departmental System Administrator for registration.

  • Open an editor with the client configuration file by using the following path: “Start / Programs / Bacula / Edit Client Configuration ”.
  • Search for lines specifying passwords and replace the values between the inverted commas with the password supplied by the Departmental System Administrator. This must be done for every password line in the configuration file.
  • Close / save the file.
  • Open a command window with: “Start / Run” and “cmd
  • Open the firewall port on your machine to allow the backup server to connect by copy and pasting the following into the command window and pressing “Enter”. You should receive the response: “Ok.
  netsh firewall add portopening protocol=tcp port=9102 scope=CUSTOM addresses=137.215.154.18 name="Bacula-FD" 
  • Reboot your machine.
  • Start a command window by doing “Start / Run” with “cmd”.
  • Type “ipconfig/all” to obtain the IP address of your machine. Look under “Ethernet adaptor Local Area Connection” for the field opposite the IP Address.
  • Send an email to the Departmental System Administrator with the IP as notification that the installation has been completed.