Creating Volume-Level Backup Job

IMPORTANT

Volume-level backup job relies on a device name in the /dev directory. Device names in the /dev directory (for example, /dev/md-127, /dev/dm-1) must stay persistent for backed-up volumes. Otherwise, the job will back up the wrong volume.

You can create a volume-level backup of the entire computer image or specific volumes.

To back up the entire computer image, use the following command:

veeamconfig job create volumelevel --name <job_name> --reponame <repository_name> --backupallsystem
<advanced_options> <schedule_options> <active_full_backup_options> <indexing_options>

To back up specific volumes, use the following command:

veeamconfig job create volumelevel --name <job_name> --reponame <repository_name> --objects <volume_to_backup> <advanced_options> <schedule_options> <active_full_backup_options> <indexing_options>

where:

<job_name> — name for the created backup job.
<repository_name> — name of the backup repository that should be used as a target location for the backup job. The backup repository must be created in advance.

If you want to create Veeam Agent backups in local directory or network shared folder, you need to create a repository. To learn more, see Creating Backup Repository.

If you want to create Veeam Agent backups in a Veeam backup repository of cloud repository, you need connect to the Veeam backup server or Veeam Cloud Connect service provider in advance, before configuring the backup job. To learn more, see Connecting to Veeam Backup Server and Connecting to Service Provider.

If you want to create Veeam Agent backups in the object storage, you need to connect to an object storage and create a repository on this storage. To learn more, see Creating Repository in Object Storage.

<volume_to_backup> — object that should be included in backup:

For simple volumes — name of a block device that represents a volume or an entire disk that should be included in backup. You can specify entire disk to create backup of the entire computer image or individual computer volumes to create backup of specific volumes. If you want to back-up several disks or volumes, specify them one after another using the ',' (comma) character as a separator.

IMPORTANT

Veeam Agent does not support backup of bind mount points. You must specify the path to the original mount point instead.

NOTE

If you include a block device in the backup, and this block device is a physical volume assigned to an LVM volume group, Veeam Agent will include the whole LVM volume group in the backup.

For LVM volumes — name of an LVM logical volume that should be included in backup. If you want to back-up several LVM logical volumes, specify them one after another using the ',' (comma) character as a separator.

<advanced_options> — advanced options for the backup job. To learn more, see Advanced Backup Job Settings.
<schedule_options> — schedule options for the backup job. To learn more, see Schedule Settings.
<active_full_backup_options> — active full backup schedule options for the backup job. To learn more, see Active Full Backup Schedule Settings.
<indexing_options> — file system indexing options for the backup job. To learn more, see File System Indexing Settings.

For example:

$ veeamconfig job create volumelevel --name SystemBackup --reponame Repository_01 --objects /dev/sda1 --weekdays Mon,Sun --weekdays-full Thu

TIP

After you create the backup job, you can additionally configure the following backup job settings:

Backup schedule. For details, see Configuring Backup Schedule.
Active full backup schedule. For details, see Configuring Active Full Backup Schedule.
Long-term retention policy. For details, see Configuring Long-Term Retention Policy.
Database processing settings for a volume-level backup job. For details, see Configuring Database Processing Settings.

[For job targeted at an object storage repository] Schedule for backup health check. For details, see Configuring Health Check Schedule.

Advanced Backup Job Settings

You can specify the following advanced options for the backup job:

Option	Description and values
--compressionlevel	Data compression level. Possible values are: 0 — No compression 1 — Rle 2 — Lz4 3 — Zstd 3 4 — Zstd 9 The default value is 2.
--blocksize	Data block size in kilobytes. Possible values are 256, 512, 1024, 4096 or 8192. The default value is 1024.
--maxpoints	The number of restore points that you want to store in the backup location. By default, Veeam Agent for Linux keeps 7 latest restore points. When the new restore point that exceeds the specified number is created, Veeam Agent for Linux will remove the earliest restore point from the backup chain.
--immutabledays	The time period in days during which the backup stored in an object storage repository will be immutable to modification or deletion. For more information, see Backup Immutability.
--prefreeze	Path to the script that should be executed before the snapshot creation. This option is available only if Veeam Agent for Linux operates in the Server edition. To learn about editions, see Product Editions.
--postthaw	Path to the script that should be executed after the snapshot creation. This option is available only if Veeam Agent for Linux operates in the Server edition. To learn about editions, see Product Editions.
--prejob	Path to the script that should be executed at the start of the backup job.
--postjob	Path to the script that should be executed after the backup job completes.
--setencryption	Defines that data encryption option is enabled for the job. When you use the veeamconfig job create command with the --setencryption option, Veeam Agent for Linux will prompt you to specify a password for data encryption and hint for the password.
--deleteold	The number of days to keep the backup created with the backup job in the target location. If Veeam Agent for Linux does not create new restore points for the backup, the backup will remain in the target location for the specified number of days. When this period is over, the backup will be removed from the target location. Possible values are: 1–999. If you do not specify the --deleteold option, Veeam Agent will not apply this setting. The backup will be stored in the target location until you delete it manually.

Schedule Settings

You can specify a daily, monthly or periodic schedule for the backup job.

Option	Description and values
--weekdays	[For weekly schedules] Specifies the weekdays when the backup job must run. If you want to run the backup job more than once during the week, the list of weekdays must be separated by a comma (','). Possible values are: Mon — Monday Tue — Tuesday Wed — Wednesday Thu — Thursday Fri — Friday Sat — Saturday Sun — Sunday
--daily	[For weekly schedules] Defines that the backup job must start daily at specific time.
--thisday	[For monthly schedules] Specifies the day of the month when the backup job must run. Possible values: from 1 to 31 or Last.
--weeknumber	[For monthly schedules] Specifies the week of the month when the backup job must run. Possible values: First, Second, Third, Fourth or Last. This option must be used in combination with the --monthlyweekday option.
--monthlyweekday	[For monthly schedules] Specifies the day of the week when the backup job must run. You can select only one weekday. Possible values are: Mon — Monday Tue — Tuesday Wed — Wednesday Thu — Thursday Fri — Friday Sat — Saturday Sun — Sunday
--months	[For monthly schedules] Specifies the months when the backup job must run. If you specify more than one month, the list must be separated by a comma (,) — for example: Jan,Apr,Jul,Oct. If you do not specify this option, the backup job will run every month.
--every	[For periodic schedules] Specifies the period of time in minutes or hours between the runs of the backup job. The period must be specified in the HH: MM format — for example, 06:00.
--at	[For weekly and monthly schedules] Specifies the time of day in the HH:MM format when the backup job must start — for example: 20:00.

After the backup job is created, Veeam Agent for Linux automatically enables backup schedule. To learn about how to configure backup schedule for an existing backup job, see Configuring Backup Schedule.

Active Full Backup Schedule Settings

You can specify schedule options for the backup job to create active full backups on specific weekdays or days of the month.

You can specify schedule options for the backup job to create active full backups on specific days of the week or month.

Option	Description and values
--weekdays-full	[For weekly schedules] Specifies the weekdays when the backup job must create an active full backup. If you want to create an active full backup more than once during the week, the list of weekdays must be separated by a comma (','). Possible values are: Mon — Monday Tue — Tuesday Wed — Wednesday Thu — Thursday Fri — Friday Sat — Saturday Sun — Sunday
--thisday-full	[For monthly schedules] Specifies the day of the month when the backup job must create an active full backup. Possible values: from 1 to 31 or Last.
--weeknumber-full	[For monthly schedules] Specifies the week of the month when the backup jobmust create an active full backup.. Possible values: First, Second, Third, Fourth or Last. This option must be used in combination with the --monthlyweekday option.
--monthlyweekday-full	[For monthly schedules] Specifies the day of the week when the backup job must create an active full backup. You can select only one weekday. Possible values are: Mon — Monday Tue — Tuesday Wed — Wednesday Thu — Thursday Fri — Friday Sat — Saturday Sun — Sunday
--months-full	[For monthly schedules] Specifies the months when the backup job must create an active full backup. If you specify more than one month, the list must be separated by a comma (,) — for example: Jan,Apr,Jul,Oct. If you do not specify this option, the backup job will create an active full backup. every month.

After the backup job is created, Veeam Agent automatically enables active full backup schedule. To learn about how to configure active full backup schedule for an existing backup job, see Configuring Active Full Backup Schedule.

File System Indexing Settings

You can specify one the following file system indexing options for the backup job:

Option	Description and values
--indexall	Defines that Veeam Agent for Linux must index all files on the volumes included in backup.
--indexonly	Path to a directory that contains files that you want to index. Enter paths to the necessary directories. To separate several paths, use the ',' (comma) character.
--indexexcept	Path to a directory that contains files that you do not want to index. You can specify one or more paths. To separate several paths, use the ',' (comma) character.

To learn more about file indexing, see File System Indexing.