When to back up all files

At certain times, you need to back up all files. Without this backup, some files are not protected.

After the first installation of the IBM Spectrum Protect™ for Workstations client, you can immediately back up all files that you configured for protection. In the initial backup, newly created files and existing files that are changed are protected. Existing files that are not changed are backed up after the initial scan is done.

One exception is when you push an installation of IBM Spectrum Protect for Workstations to a remote computer and do not reboot. If you force a backup on a pushed installation without rebooting, IBM Spectrum Protect for Workstations attempts to back up files in the system context. These backups can fail, and when a logged-on user later attempts to restore these files the restore can fail.

After the initial backup, the typical rate of file changes does not require that you again back up all files immediately. If you change the protection settings to include files that were not previously protected, the files need to be backed up. Until you change these files, and without a forced backup, IBM Spectrum Protect for Workstations does not back up these files. To protect these files, you must force a backup of all files.

If you do not change the configuration but make large changes to the files that are configured for protection, you must force a backup of all files. You need to force a backup when you add a new drive that contains files configured for protection.

A forced backup causes IBM Spectrum Protect for Workstations to scan all local drives looking for files that you designated for protection. Every file in every directory will be investigated, and all files that meet the include, exclude, and size criteria are copied to the local, remote or both storage areas. The creation of backup copies may take several hours. It also takes significant processing resources. Plan the backup at a time when you do not need computing resources for other activities.

When the scan and backup complete, IBM Spectrum Protect for Workstations continues to operate in the background without any significant impact on your regular computing activities.

Changing the Vault settings does not require a forced backup.

You can force an initial backup of a newly installed client by setting this option when you identify an administration folder with the Central Administration Console. Then create a configuration file and deploy a client with the created configuration file.

You can force a complete backup at any time by sending to the client a script that includes the command to back up all files.