Parameter
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Meaning
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Full backup schedule
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Specifies on what schedule and under which conditions to perform a full backup.
For example, the full backup can be set up to run every Sunday at 1:00 AM as soon as all users are logged off.
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Incremental backup schedule
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Specifies on what schedule and under which conditions to perform an incremental backup.
If the archive contains no backups at the time of the task run, a full backup is created instead of the incremental backup.
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Differential backup schedule
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Specifies on what schedule and under which conditions to perform a differential backup.
If the archive contains no full backups at the time of the task run, a full backup is created instead of the differential backup.
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Clean up archive
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Specifies how to get rid of old backups: either to apply retention rules regularly or clean up the archive during a backup when the destination location runs out of space.
By default, the retention rules are not specified, which means older backups will not be deleted automatically.
Using retention rules
Specify the retention rules and when to apply them.
This setting is recommended for backup destinations such as shared folders or centralized vaults.
When there is insufficient space while backing up
The archive will be cleaned up only during backup and only if there is not enough space to create a new backup. In this case, the software will act as follows:
- Delete the oldest full backup with all dependent incremental/differential backups
- If there is only one full backup left and a full backup is in progress, then delete the last full backup with all dependent incremental/differential backups
- If there is only one full backup left, and an incremental or differential backup is in progress, an error occurs saying there is a lack of available space
This setting is recommended when backing up to a USB drive or Acronis Secure Zone. This setting is not applicable to managed vaults, FTP and SFTP servers.
This setting enables deletion of the last backup in the archive, in case your storage device cannot accommodate more than one backup. However, you might end up with no backups if the program is not able to create the new backup for some reason.
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Apply retention rules
(only if the retention rules are set)
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Specifies when to apply the retention rules.
For example, the cleanup procedure can be set up to run after each backup, and also on schedule.
This option is available only if you have set at least one retention rule in Retention rules.
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Cleanup schedule
(only if On schedule is selected)
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Specifies a schedule for archive cleanup.
For example, the cleanup can be scheduled to start on the last day of each month.
This option is available only if you selected On schedule in Apply retention rules.
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2nd location, 3rd location, and so on
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Specifies where to copy or move the backups from the current location.
This option is available only if you selected either the Replicate just created backup to another location check box under How to back up, or Move the oldest backups to another location in the Retention rules window.
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The following scheme yields a full backup performed every Friday night.
Full backup: Schedule: Weekly, every Friday, at 10:00 PM
Here, all parameters except Schedule in Full backup are left empty. All backups in the archive are kept indefinitely (no archive cleanup is performed).
With the following scheme, the archive will consist of weekly full backups and daily incremental backups. We further require that a full backup begin only after all users have logged off.
Full backup: Schedule: Weekly, every Friday, at 10:00 PM
Full backup: Conditions: User is logged off
Incremental: Schedule: Weekly, every workday, at 9:00 PM
Also, let all backups older than one year be deleted from the archive, and let the cleanup be performed upon creating a new backup.
Retention rules: Delete backups older than 12 months
Apply the rules: After backing up
By default, a one-year-old full backup will not be deleted until all incremental backups that depend on it become subject to deletion too. For more information, see Retention rules.
This example demonstrates the use of all options available in the Custom scheme.
Suppose that we need a scheme that will produce monthly full backups, weekly differential backups, and daily incremental backups. Then the backup schedule can look as follows.
Full backup: Schedule: Monthly, every Last Sunday of the month, at 9:00 PM
Incremental: Schedule: Weekly, every workday, at 7:00 PM
Differential: Schedule: Weekly, every Saturday, at 8:00 PM
Further, we want to add conditions that have to be satisfied for a backup task to start. This is set up in the Conditions fields for each backup type.
Full backup: Conditions: Location available
Incremental: Conditions: User is logged off
Differential: Conditions: User is idle
As a result, a full backup—originally scheduled at 9:00 PM—may actually start later: as soon as the backup location becomes available. Likewise, backup tasks for incremental and differential backups will wait until all users are logged off and users are idle, respectively.
Finally, we create retention rules for the archive: let us retain only backups that are no older than six months, and let the cleanup be performed after each backup task and also on the last day of every month.
Retention rules: Delete backups older than 6 months
Apply the rules: After backing up, On schedule
Cleanup schedule: Monthly, on the Last day of All months, at 10:00 PM
By default, a backup is not deleted as long as it has dependent backups that must be kept. For example, if a full backup has become subject to deletion, but there are incremental or differential backups that depend on it, the deletion is postponed until all the dependent backups can be deleted as well.
For more information, see Retention rules.
Weekly full backup