Delete backup command
To delete a VSS backup of an Exchange Server database, use the delete backup command.
To complete a Data Protection for Exchange Server delete backup, you must have local registry rights for all versions of
Exchange Server. When a full VSS snapshot backup is completed, the backup remains active until
the backup version is deleted by issuing the delete backup command, or until
the backup version is expired by VSS according to the defined policy. Two different active
backups can exist at the same time:
- Full backup, and any associated incremental backups and differential backups.
- Copy backup, and any associated incremental backups and differential backups.
When you delete an active full or copy backup, the state of the previous active full or copy backup changes from inactive to active. However, the current active incremental or differential backup is not deleted. The backup seems to be erroneously associated with the newly active full or copy backup. Also, the incremental or differential backup (associated with the previous inactive full or copy backup that changed to active) remains inactive. This inactive incremental or differential backup might not display in the query output unless the /all parameter is specified with the query fcm command.