Configuration
A guide on how to add Windows Servers and Desktops as Sources within the Zmanda Management Console
Some Notes Before Beginning
An agent is required before you can add these systems as sources. Please see these pages on how to Install Windows Agents and link them to a backup server.
Before adding sources, it is best to create the Backup Set that you wish to link the sources to. You can, however, add a source at any time and link it to as many Backup Sets as you want.
This page covers Windows Filesystems. Stay tuned for articles on how to add Windows System State and other sources to be backed up within the ZMC.
Open the Configuration Window
Click on Sources in the left navigation panel
Click Add Source in the top right corner of the screen
Select Filesystem
Note: A configuration pop-out will appear. By default, the advanced menu options will be displayed. In this guide, we will only cover essential configurations. Please see this page for more detail on the function of each of the fields. If you choose, you can collapse the advanced menu by de-selecting Advanced at the lower left of the menu.
Windows Filesystems
After opening the configuration window, these are the steps to add a Windows filesystem/directory as a source.
Type - Select Windows NTFS/ReFS
Hostname - Enter the IP address of the source where you have already installed the agent
Directory Path - Enter the path of the directory you wish to backup in MS-DOS format (forward slashes). For example, enter C:\ to backup the entire C: drive, or enter C:\Users\ to backup the users directory.
Note: To back up only specific directories, there are two strategies: First, you may create new sources using the same IP address and specify a different directory path each time. Or, you can use the Exclude Paths field, which is covered in Step 5 of this section.
Data Deduplication, Encryption Strategy, and Compression Strategy - These features are covered in separate articles. For now, we will leave them in their default states.
Exclude Paths - This is an optional field where you can enter any directories that you wish to exclude from your backup, with each entry on a new line. For example, if you wish to backup the C: drive, but do not wish to backup the ProgramData directory, you can enter C:\ProgramData\ on this line. You can also exclude more granular directories, for example, a user's Downloads folder.
Comments - An optional field
Backup Sets - This is where you will specify the unique Backup Set(s) that you wish to link this source to. You MUST link the source to a backup set in order for the data to be backed up. If you do not have a backup set to link the source to, please see this page. You may also link a source to more than one backup set, and the data will be backed up to the storage and on the schedule specified by each set.
Save - Click the SAVE button on the bottom right of the configuration window.
Limitations
Zmanda Windows client supports bsdtcp authentication, which should be specified in the dump type configuration as auth bsdtcp.
It's important to note that the Zmanda Windows client does not support the maxdumps parameter, and it does not perform backups in parallel.
Zmanda Windows client supports estimate server and estimate client for estimating backup sizes, but it does not support estimate calcsize.
Confirm that the Amanda user on the Amanda server is configured as amandabackup to ensure proper setup and authentication.
Zmanda Windows client communicates over ports 10080 and 10081. It's crucial to ensure that no other service or application on the client is using these ports, as Zmanda Windows Client (ZWC) won't be able to start if these ports are already in use.
Conclusion
Once you have added your source Windows Filesystem, click on the blue circular arrows to the right of each source entry. This performs a check to make sure that the ZMC can successfully connect with the agents installed on either system. If you have done everything correctly, you will see green checks along with OS information next to the sources that you have added, and you are now ready to start backing up your data!
If you see an error after performing the check host operation, please follow these steps to troubleshoot:
Make sure that the agent is properly linked to the backup server that you are using (see the same pages as above if not)
If you still have issues, contact Zmanda support team at [email protected]
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