Configure general backup settings
To configure SQL Server backups with the Microsoft app agent for Application Direct SSMS plug-in, you must first specify general backup options on the Backup > General page using the following steps:
- Open the Microsoft app agent for the Application Direct window and go to the Backup > General page.
- Leave the SQL Server Host as-is. The instance is populated by default.
- In the SQL Server Instance field, select the name of the SQL Server instance that contains the databases that you want to back up.
- In the Database Filter list, select one of the following options:
- All Databases: Displays the regular databases and the Always On availability group databases of the selected SQL Server instance in the database table, which is located below the Database Filter field.
- This option is selected by default.
- You can back up the Always On availability group databases as regular databases without considering the Always On availability group preferences.
- Non AAG Databases: Displays only the regular databases of the selected SQL Server instance in the database table.
- A list of Always On availability groups, if available. Selecting one of the Always On availability groups, displays the corresponding databases in the database table. The Connections panel displays the name of the cluster that contains the Always On availability group and the backup preference that specifies the preferred replica to perform the backup. The replica preference of the Always On availability groups can be configured through the SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).
- In the database table, select either all the databases by selecting the checkbox in the header row or only the individual databases that you want to back up.
- In the Backup type list, select the type of backup that you want to perform such as, Full, Transaction log, or Differential.
- (Optional) To perform a copy-only backup, select Copy-only backup.
- Copy-only backups do not disturb the SQL Server backup chain or affect backup-level promotion and log truncation. Copy-only backups are supported for level full or transaction log backups.
- (Optional) To exclude databases from a SQL Server instance-level backup, perform the following steps:
- Click the Excluded Databases button.
- The Excluded Databases window appears.
- Select each database that you want to exclude from the backup.
- Click OK.
- The databases that are selected for exclusion appear disabled in the list of databases and the number of excluded databases is displayed.
- In the Name field, type a name for the backup that you want to perform.
- In the Description field, type a description for the backup that you want to perform.
- In the Expires after (days) field, select the number of days after which the backup must expire. The default value is 30.
- Under Destination, to select the target Data Domain server for the backup, perform the following steps:
- Click the Data Domain Server browse button.
- The Data Domain Connection List & Lockbox Settings dialog box appears.
- In the Lockbox Folder field, type the path to the lockbox, and then click Refresh.
- The default path to the lockbox is C:\ProgramFiles\DPSAPPS\common\lockbox.
- In the Data Domain Connections table, select the target Data Domain server for the backup.
- To start the backup operation, click Run.