System State - How To

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Back up the System State

• Using Default Settings
• Using Non-default Settings

Filter Out System State Components for Backup

Restore the System State Using Browse and Restore

• Restore the Entire System State
• Restore Specific System State Objects

Back Up the System State

Using Default Settings

By default, the system state is backed up with the default subclient of the Windows File System iDataAgent. Also by default, VSS is used for system state backup.

To check/use the default settings for backing up system state:

1. In the CommCell browser, right-click the default subclient for a Windows File System iDataAgent Backup Set.
2. Choose Properties and in the General tab, make sure the Use VSS for System State box is checked.

   In case of Windows 2008 Use VSS for System State option is not visible. It is always on and cannot be edited.

3. Click the Content tab and make sure the Backup System State box is selected.
4. Start or schedule a backup of the default subclient. For step-by-step instructions on various types of Windows File Systems backups, see Backup - Windows File System - How To.

Using Non-default Settings

You can omit system state backup from the default subclient configuration, and choose to back up the system state with another subclient or through a subclient policy.

To omit system state backup from the default subclient configuration:

1. In the CommCell browser, right-click the default subclient for a Windows File System iDataAgent Backup Set.
2. Choose Properties and select the Content tab.
3. De-select the Backup System State box.

Now you can back up the system state by doing one of the following:

• Select Backup System State in the Content tab of the Properties dialog for a user-defined subclient. (For more information about creating and configuring subclients, see Subclients - Windows/Unix/Macintosh File Systems.)
• Create a New Subclient Policy and select Windows File System with System State in the iDataAgent pull-down box. Then create a subclient using this Subclient Policy.

Then, either start or schedule a backup of the subclient that is configured to back up the system state. For step-by-step instructions on various types of Windows File Systems backups, see Backup - Windows File System - How To.

You can use only one subclient per Backup Set to back up system state.

Filter Out System State Components for Backup

Refer to Excluding System State Files from Backup for a list of system state components that can be filtered from backup.

To filter out system state components from backup:

1. Right-click the subclient that is backing up the system state, and choose Properties. (Or double-click the subclient to bring up the Properties dialog.)
2. Click the Filters tab.
3. Click the Add button next to the Exclude field.
4. In the Enter Path dialog, type — within curly brackets — the component to be excluded. (Example: {System Protected Files}.)

   Following are the entries that can be made:

   • {System Protected Files}
   • {IIS}
   • {COM+ Database}
   • {Event Logs}
   • {One Touch Files}
   • {Certificate Services}
   • {RSM}
   • {Terminal Services Licensing}
   • {Disk Quotas}
   • {Content Indexing Catalogs}
   • {WMI Database}
   • {DHCP}
   • {WINS}
   • {UDDI Database}
   • {Remote Storage Database}
   • {Certificate Services}

   System state component folders are cleaned before data restoration, so any non-system data in system state component folders will be lost.

5. Click OK.
6. For each additional component that you want to exclude from backup, click Add and repeat Steps 4 and 5 of this procedure.
7. When you have finished selecting components to be excluded from backup, click the OK button to close the Properties dialog.

Restore the System State Using Browse and Restore

Required Capability: See Capabilities and Permitted Actions

This section provides procedures for restoring the system state for a client running the Windows File System iDataAgent. These procedures focus on the use of Browse and Restore. You can also restore the system state by restoring a job that included backup of the system state. For those procedures, see Restore by Jobs for File System Data.

Using browse and restore, you can restore the entire system state or select certain individual objects to restore.

Restore the Entire System State

To restore the entire system state:

1. Right-click the backup set that includes the system state, and choose All Tasks > Browse Backup Data.
2. In the Browse Options dialog, select your desired browse settings and click OK.
3. On the left side of the Client browse window, expand the items for the backup set you are restoring.
4. Select the System State box on the left. The right side of the browse window will display the following as selected: Components, Services, and Selected Components.
5. Click Recover All Selected to open the Restore Options dialog.
6. Choose your options in the Restore Options (General) and Job Initiation tabs. If desired, click Advanced to open the Advanced Restore Options dialog and choose additional options. Refer to Restore Backup Data - Restore Options for more details about advanced restore options.
7. Click OK when you've completed your selections.

Restore Specific System State Objects

To select individual system state objects to restore:

1. Right-click the backup set that includes the system state, and choose All Tasks > Browse Backup Data.
2. In the Browse Options dialog, select your desired browse settings and click OK.
3. On the left side of the Client browse window, expand the items for the backup set you are restoring.
4. On the left side of the browse window, expand [System State] to display the three main categories of objects: Components, Services, and Special Components.
5. Expand these categories until you reach your desired level of granularity.
6. Select boxes for items that you want to restore. For selection rules, refer to Select Objects from the Browse Window for Restore/Recover on the Browse Data - How To page.

   In order to restore a Content Indexing Catalog, you must perform a full System State restore. You cannot select and restore just "Content Indexing Catalog" in the System State services.

7. When you've completed your selections, click Recover All Selected to open the Restore Options dialog.
8. Choose your options in the Restore Options (General) and Job Initiation tabs. If desired, click Advanced to open the Advanced Restore Options dialog and choose additional options. Refer to Restore Backup Data - Restore Options for more details about advanced restore options.
9. Click OK when you've completed your selections.

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