Creating a file backup set

  1. Install CyberSecure Advanced Edition
  2. Open the software, ensuring that you allow any requests through your firewall software
  3. If this is the first time you’ve run the software, you may be prompted for a Trial Registration. To register for a trial, enter your details, or if you already have an account, login using your account credentials.
  4. If there have been no backup sets previously setup, the “Add new backup set” wizard will appear to guide you through the creation of a backup set. By default, the backup set type is automatically set to “File Backup”, which is designed for the capture of normal files & folders.
  5. The next screen presents the “source data” selection – this is where the desired files & folders to be included in the backup are chosen.
    1. If you are wanting full control over which files are backed up, we recommend unticking my documents, then choosing [Advanced], which provides a complete tree-view listing of location on the computer.
    1. The advanced file selection screen allows you to drill-down to the exact data you want to backup. It also allows you to backup from a network drive or UNC path. Please see our best practices for backing up NAS or network shares.
  6. Choose the backup schedule for this backup set. We recommend to keep the schedule interval small to minimise the amount of data sent between backups.
  7. The next screen allows you to change encryption settings. Only do this if you know what you are doing!
    1. Leaving the default settings means that your current login password is the password that encrypts your data. It is absolutely critical that this password is remembered – any recovery operation will require your password.
  8. Choose OK and you are done setting up the file backup set.
  9. Back at the main screen, it’s a good idea to [Save Settings] to the server. From here, there are several options you may want to check and review, the main options being listed below. Please take the time to get familiar with these, as they could make the difference between successful and failed backups!

Common questions and solutions

  • Where are the local settings/profile stored?

    These locations can be deleted to flush the local settings cache from the system.
    Your settings will still be stored on the remote CyberSecure servers, however any locally cached settings will be purged. Once deleted, you will be prompted to enter the username/password details upon loading the software.

    Platform Location
    Windows C:\Users\%user%\.obm
    Mac OS X /Users/%user%/.obm

  • What are some of the settings I can change?

    General Settings

    Sets the backup set label and domain authentication details for network mounted shares.

    Setting Description
    Backup set name The label for the backup set
    Type The backup set type. It is important that you select the backup type that is designed for the data you are backing up.
    Windows Authentication: Domain The windows domain of the network, for the software to run with these user privileges.
    User name The user to authenticate against the domain.
    Password The users domain password.

    Retention policy options

    Configures how the backup sets are retained on the offsite CyberSecure servers. Two settings are available: simple & advanced.

    Simple is defined by a set number of days or jobs. Advanced allows a much more flexible retention scheme, which can be used to meet business regulations or compliance obligations.

    Setting Description
    Keep deleted file(s) for X days/jobs Retains deleted or changed files for the specified amount of days or jobs. This is the most simple retention policy available.

    Command line tool options

    This screen allows the setting of programs to run before/after the backup process runs. Uses of this include, for example, if your application needed to extract a ZIP file to backup the data inside the archive, rather than backing up the ZIP file itself.

    Setting Description
    Pre-backup Program to run before the backup starts
    Post-backup Program to run after the backup finishes

    Backup filter options

    Backup filters allow you to exclude certain types of files from the backup. For example, you might want to exclude video and/or music files from being backed up (*.avi & *.mp3)

    Setting Description
    Name Label for the particular backup filter

    Backup Options

    Advanced options for configuring the backup, most critically where the temporary cache directory is stored.

    Setting Description
    Temporary directory for storing backup files Location for storing backup cache data. For maximum performance, this location should be stored on a separate disk.
    Volume shadow copy Enables VSS to allow the backup of open/locked files on Windows 2003 and above.NOTE: this is for file-based backups ONLY. Do not use this to backup exchange or SQL server, instead use the dedicated modules for these applications.
    Transfer block size The network block size for offsite transfers. Leaving the defaults are highly recommended.
    Backup file permissions Enables the backup of file permissions and ACL’s. NOTE: this may substantially increase the size of the backup as a change in permissions requires the storage of the entire file.