Backing up system files (unattended)

This topic contains the following information:

• About the unattended backup
• The types of data that are backed up
• Verifying the unattended backup
• About the partial unattended backup

About the unattended backup

The unattended backup contains all of the information necessary to bring the Message Networking system back to an operational state after a service-affecting event. However, the unattended backup alone might not completely restore the system to its previous state. The unattended backup restores the system to an operational state. See the system recovery procedures to restore a system to the previous state.

Unattended backups do not require supervision and occur automatically every morning at 3:05 a.m., usually taking 35 minutes to complete. However, for the backup to be successful, you must ensure that a rewritable compact disc (CD-RW) is in the drive.

After verifying that the unattended backup was successful, remove the backup CD-RW medium and label it with the current date and backup data type, for example, October 1, 2002—System Data, and store it in a secure location. A second backup medium must then be inserted into the drive.

Types of data that are backed up

An unattended backup saves:

• Detailed system data on shared memory, speech file system pointers, and so on
• Alarm management information
• A list of enabled features
• A list of installed software
• Digital networking connectivity and communication information
• Switch integration parameters, if applicable
• Serial port assignments
• Hard disk configuration

Verifying the unattended backup

Avaya recommends that the system administrator check the Backup and Administrator's log daily to ensure that a successful unattended backup occurred. If a successful unattended backup did not occur, the system generates the MT BACKUP 1 warning alarm.

The logs can be checked in two different ways:

• Backup verification using the Backup Log (recommended)
• Backup verification using the Administrator's Log

Note: An unattended backup might be successful yet only back up part of the data. See About the partial unattended backup for more information.

Backup verification using the Backup Log

Note: Using the Backup Log is the recommended method of verifying the success or failure of the backup.

To verify that a successful unattended backup occurred using the Backup Log:

1. Start at the Administration menu, and select Logs > Backup and Restore Logs > View Backup Log.
   The system displays the View Backup Logs page, which contains a drop-down list of the three most recent attended or unattended backup logs.
2. Select the backup log that you want to view from the drop-down list and click View.
   The system displays the View Backup Logs page (with data), which contains a list of all the files that were backed up and information about any errors that occurred during the backup.
3. Scroll to the end of the log, and verify that an entry displays with the current date and the following text:
   "FULL/PARTIAL-AUTO BACKUP completed successfully - day date time"
   If the backup was not successful, the log contains an explanation of why the backup failed.

4. Click Return to Main to return to the Administration menu.

Backup verification using the Administrator's Log

To verify a successful unattended backup from the Administrator's Log:

1. Start at the Administration menu, and select Logs > Administrator's Log.
   The system displays the Administrator's Log page.
2. Place the cursor in the Event ID: field.
3. Enter BKRST001.
4. Click Display.
   The system displays the Administrator's Log page, which contains the log data.
5. Verify that an entry displays with the current date and the following text:
   "FULL/PARTIAL-AUTO BACKUP completed successfully - day date time"
   If the above entry does not exist, the unattended backup was not successful.

6. Click Return to Main to return to the Administration menu.

About the partial unattended backup

If the unattended backup cannot store all of the data types on one CD-RW medium, the system backs up the system data files and as much of the other data type files as possible. See About the data types for more information about the data types.

If the system performs a partial unattended backup, the backup log displays the following log message: "PARTIAL-AUTO BACKUP completed successfully." In addition, the system generates the MT BKRST029 event log entry.

To detect and address a partial unattended backup:

1. Start at the Administration menu, and select Logs > Administrator's Log.
   The system displays the Administrator's Log page.
2. Place the cursor in the Event ID field.
3. Enter BKRST029.
4. Click Save.
   The system displays the Administrator's Log page, which contains the log data.
5. Verify that an entry displays with today's date and the MT BKRST029 event.
   If an entry with today's date does not exist, a partial unattended backup did not occur. Complete the steps in Backup verification using the Administrator's Log to verify that the unattended backup was completed successfully.

Tip: Consider performing complete attended backups using multiple backup media on a regular basis to ensure that you will have complete backup data if you need to restore the system. See Backing up system files (attended) for more information.

6. Click Return to Main to return to the Administration menu.

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