Backing up system files (unattended) (MSS Admin)

About the unattended backup

The unattended backup automatically saves critical Message Storage Server (MSS) and Messaging Application Server (MAS) data onto a DVD-RAM medium every morning at 3:05 AM. The unattended backup can take between 15 minutes to 2 hours to complete, depending on the amount of subscriber data on the system. A DVD-RAM medium must be inserted into the DVD-RAM drive on the MSS in order for the backup to complete. If no medium is in the drive, the unattended backup will not occur. See Front view of the Message Storage Server-Standard (MSS-S) for the location of the DVD-RAM drive.

The MSS and MAS data saved on the DVD-RAM medium contains most of the information necessary to bring the 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, it might only restore the system to an operational state.

The unattended backup saves the following MSS data:

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

Networking connectivity and communication information

Message headers, mailing lists, subscriber profiles, and message-waiting indicator status

Hard disk configuration

Voiced subscriber names

Messages and greetings, if space allows

The unattended backup saves the following MAS data:

System state information, including the operating system registry, Active Directory information base, and other data needed by the operating system

Messages not yet submitted for delivery

All MAS caller applications

The Hosts file

The customized prompts file

Verifying that an unattended backup successfully occurred

It is recommended that you verify that a successful unattended backup occurred each day. After verifying that the unattended backup was successful, remove the medium and label it with the current date and with the data types that were backed up, for example, Dec. 10, 2002—System data. Store the medium in a secure location. A second medium must then be inserted into the drive. If an unattended backup did not successfully occur, the system generates the MT BACKUP 1 warning alarm.

To verify that a successful unattended backup occurred:

Start at the Messaging Administration main 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 backup logs.

Select the backup log that you want to view and click View.

The system displays the View backup logs page, which contains a list of all the files that were backed up and information about any errors that occurred during the backup.

Scroll to the end of the log and verify that there is an entry with the current date and the following text: FULL-AUTO BACKUP completed successfully | Data Types - day date time

If the backup was not successful, the log contains an explanation of why the backup failed.

If the log contains the phase PARTIAL-AUTO BACKUP, a backup did occur but not all of the data types were backed up. See Partial unattended backup for more information.

Label the backup medium and to store it in a secure location.

Insert a second backup medium into the drive in preparation for the next unattended backup.

Click Return to Main to return to the Messaging Administration main menu.

Partial unattended backup

If the unattended backup cannot store all of the data types on one DVD-RAM medium, the system backs up the System data and as much of the Names and Greetings and messages data types as possible. This is called a partial unattended backup. If the system performs a partial unattended backup, the backup log contains the following log message: PARTIAL-AUTO BACKUP completed successfully. In addition, the system generates the MT BKRST029 event log entry.

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