Creating Standalone Backup Job

To create a backup job in command line interface, use the following command:

veeamconfig job create filelevel --name <job_name> --reponame <repository_name> <objects> <advanced_options> <schedule_options> <active_full_backup_options> --nosnap

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. To learn more, see Creating Backup Repository

If you want to create Veeam Agent backups in the Veeam backup repository, you should connect to the Veeam backup server in advance, before configuring the backup job. To learn more, see Connecting to Veeam Backup Server.

  • <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.
  • --nosnap — option that sets Veeam Agent to perform the backup operation in the snapshot-less mode. For more information on snapshot-less mode, see How Backup Works.

For example:

$ veeamconfig job create filelevel --name HomeFolderBackup --reponame NetworkRepository --includedirs /home/user --excludedirs /home/user/temp --excludemasks *.pdf

 

Creating Standalone Backup Job TIP

Consider the following:

 

File Inclusion Options

When you create a backup job, you must specify at least one folder that should be included in backup. If you do not want to back up some files and directories in the specified folder, you can exclude specific files and directories from backup.

To define the backup scope for the backup job, you can use the following command-line options:

Option

Description and values

--includedirs

Full path to a folder that should be included in backup, for example: /home/user.

You can specify one or several paths to directories in the computer file system. To separate several paths, use the ',' (comma) character, for example: /home/user/Documents,/home/user/reports.

Tip: If you want to back up the root directory and specify the '/' (slash) character, Veeam Agent does not automatically include mount points in the backup scope. To include mount points, you need to specify paths to these mount points manually.

For example, you have a file system mounted to the /home/media directory. If you add / as an object to the backup scope, Veeam Agent will not back up the mounted file system. To back up the root directory and the mounted file system, add the following objects to the backup scope: /,/home/media.

--excludedirs

Full path to a folder that should be excluded from backup. The folder specified with this option must be a subfolder of the folder specified with the --includedirs option. To separate several paths, use the ',' (comma) character, for example, /home/user/Documents,/home/user/reports.

--includemasks

Mask for file name or path that should be included in backup. You can use the following UNIX wildcard characters for file name masks:

  • '*' — a substitution for one or more characters in the file name or path. Can be used for any sequence of characters (including no characters). For example, *.pdf.
  • '?' — a substitution of one character in the file name or path. For example, repor?.pdf.
  • '[]' — a substitution of one character in the file name or path with any of the characters enclosed in square brackets (or a range of characters defined with the '-' character). For example: report_201[3456].pdf or report_201[3-6].pdf.

Keep in mind that you must specify all names with masks in double quotation marks (""). For example: --includemasks "*.bak".

If you want to use several file name masks, you must specify them in double quotation marks ("") and separated with a comma (,). For example: --includemasks "*.bak,*.pdf".

File inclusion option is applied to all directories that are specified with the --includedirs option. For example, if you include in backup the /home/user/Documents folder and files that match the repor?.pdf file name mask, Veeam Agent will back up the /home/user/Documents/report.pdf file and will not back up the /home/user/reports/report.pdf file.

--excludemasks

Mask for file name or path that should be excluded from backup. You can use the following UNIX wildcard characters for file name masks:

  • '*' — a substitution for one or more characters in the file name or path. Can be used for any sequence of characters (including no characters). For example, *.pdf.
  • '?' — a substitution of one character in the file name or path. For example, repor?.pdf.
  • '[]' — a substitution of one character in the file name or path with any of the characters enclosed in square brackets (or a range of characters defined with the '-' character). For example: report_201[3456].pdf or report_201[3-6].pdf.

Keep in mind that you must specify all names with masks in double quotation marks (""). For example: --excludemasks "*.bak".

If you want to use several file name masks, you must specify them in double quotation marks ("") and separated with a comma (,). For example: --excludemasks *.bak,*.pdf".

File exclusion option is applied to all directories that are specified with the --includedirs option and files that match file name masks specified with the --includemasks option. For example, you may want to specify the following backup scope for the backup job:

  • Include in backup the /home/user/Documents folder
  • Include files that match the report.* file name mask
  • Exclude files that match the *.odt file name mask.

In this case, Veeam Agent will back up the /home/user/Documents/report.pdf file and will not back up /home/user/Documents/report.odt and /home/user/reports/report.pdf files.

 

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 — None
  • 1 — Dedupe-friendly
  • 2 — Optimal
  • 3 — High
  • 4 — Extreme

For more information on compression levels, see Data Compression.

--blocksize

Data block size in kilobytes. Possible values are 256, 512, 1024 or 4096.

The default value is 1024.

--maxpoints

The number of restore points that you want to store in the backup location. By default, Veeam Agent keeps 7 latest restore points. When the new restore point that exceeds the specified number is created, Veeam Agent 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.

--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 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 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. As a result, backup will be stored in the target location until you delete it manually.

 

Schedule Settings

You can specify schedule options for the backup job to create backups daily or on specific weekdays at specific time:

Option

Description and values

--daily

Defines that the backup job must start daily at specific time.

--weekdays

Weekdays when the backup job must start separated by a comma (','). Possible values are:

  • Mon — Monday
  • Tue — Tuesday
  • Wed — Wednesday
  • Thu — Thursday
  • Fri — Friday
  • Sat — Saturday
  • Sun — Sunday

--at

Time of day when the backup job must start specified in the HH:MM format. For example: 20:00.

After the backup job is created, Veeam Agent 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:

Option

Description and values

--weekdays-full

Weekdays when the backup job must create an active full backup separated by a comma (','). Possible values are:

  • Mon — Monday
  • Tue — Tuesday
  • Wed — Wednesday
  • Thu — Thursday
  • Fri — Friday
  • Sat — Saturday
  • Sun — Sunday

--thisday-full

Days of the month when the backup job must create an active full backup separated by a comma (','). Possible values are: 1-30 (or 1-31, depending on the month length).

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