Backup positional parameters
Positional parameters immediately follow the backup command and precede the optional parameters.
The following positional parameters specify the object to back up:
- * | dbname
- *
- Back up all databases. Use caution when you specify the wildcard character (*) as Microsoft warns not to back up more than a few dozen databases in a single command because of SQL Server limitations.
- dbname
- Back up the specified database. Multiple entries are separated by commas. If separated by commas, ensure that there is no space between the comma and the database name. If any database name contains blanks, enclose the database name in double quotation marks.
The following positional parameter specifies the type of backup to run:
- FULL
- A full VSS database backup contains all of the contents of a SQL Server database, such as database files, log files, full-text index files, and FILESTREAM files (SQL Server 2008 or later versions).
- COPYFull
- A copy-only full backup contains a copy-only version of a full backup. These backups are considered out of the regular sequence of conventional SQL Server backups. The backups do not affect the transaction logs or any sequence of backups, such as differential backups or full backups. Use this option to create copy-only full backups periodically for long-term retention without affecting existing backup schedules or retention policies for disaster recovery.