Restrict Access To Owner Or Administrator

It is possible for you to provide some security for the backup tapes you create by choosing the Restrict Access to Owner or Administrator option. If this option has a check mark in the box, only the tape owner or a member of the Administrators or Backup Operators group can read, write, or erase the tape using the Backup utility. If the tape owner needs to restore it to another system in the same domain, they must be logged on with the same user account name. The exception to this rule is that members of the Administrators or Backup Operators group can read, write, or erase a tape on any computer in any domain.

Although this option does provide access security, you still need to keep the tape physically secure. If a normal user on your domain can get access to one of your backup tapes, it is possible for them to take it home, for example, where they might be running Windows NT Server. If they are running Windows NT Server at home, you can be sure that they belong to the Administrators group there! That means they can recover information such as the user accounts database from your tape. Then they could try to crack other users' passwords, including the Administrator's account or equivalent, at their leisure.

Hardware Compression

If the tape drive that you use to conduct your backups supports hardware compression, this option will not be ghosted. As shown in Figure 12-7, the choice was ghosted because the tape drive used to conduct that backup did not support hardware compression. Enabling hardware compression will cause the tape drive to compress the data onto the tape media, which can nearly double the amount of data you can store on each tape. However, you don't want to select this option if the remotest possibility exists that you will need to move the tape to another tape drive that does not support hardware compression. Even if you move it to another brand of drive that does support compression, you cold receive an error message. Some of the messages you may see are "Tape Drive Error Detected", "Tape Drive Not Responding", or "Bad Tape".

Log Options

The lower section of the Backup Information window is dedicated to Log Information. A log file of backup operations can be generated to capture the operations that take place during the backup. The log file is stored as a normal text file that can be read with your favorite text editor such as Notepad. There are three options, depending on the level of activity that will be written to the log file.

NT Restore Options

In this section we will look at specific options available to you while using the Windows NT Backup utility. After selecting the files or drives to restore and clicking the Restore button the Restore Information window will appear as shown in Figure 12-10. You can refer to this figure to locate the options as they are discussed.

The first section provides information about the backup sets on the loaded tape and indicates the number of tapes in that set. As seen in Figure 12-9 the data is the same as the information used during the backup shown in Figure 12-7 from the previous section.

Restore to Drive

You must specify the drive to which you want the information restored. Normally this will be the same drive from which the information was backed up.

Alternate Path

It is also possible to specify an alternate directory path to place the files into that is different than the original location that they were backed up from. You might do this if you want to compare the backed up files to the files on the disk drive. You can use the ellipsis button at the end of the Alternate Path dialog box to help you locate the path you want to use

Restore Local Registry

If you need to restore registry files, select the Restore Local Registry box. Restart the system to make sure that the restored registry information takes effect. If you have made any configuration changes since the last registry backup then they will be lost.

Restore File Permissions

If you are restoring to a NTFS partition and want the system to restore the security information along with the files, you need to select the Restore File Permissions box. If this box is not selected and you restore to an NTFS partition, the files will inherit the security permissions of the directory into which they were restored. Remember that to restore security permissions, you have to originally back the files up from an NTFS partition.

Verify After Restore

If you need to compare the contents of the restored files against the files on tape, you need to select the Verify After Restore box.

Performing Backups and Restorations

In this section you'll have an opportunity to perform a backup and restoration of your system. You will also be introduced to a method of automating your backups.

Performing a Backup

You'll be able to practice performing two different backups in this section. In Exercise 12-1 you will back up the entire partition and in Exercise 12-2 you will back up a directory of data.

Exercise 12-1: Backing up a partition

1. Make sure your tape drive has power and that a writeable tape has been inserted into the tape drive.
2. Log on to your system as Administrator.
3. Click the Start button and select Programs | Administrative Tools | Backup.
4. Maximize the Drives window, if it is not already maximized. Click on the box next to your C: drive.
5. Click the Backup button.
6. Select the Replace radio button.
7. Place a check mark in the boxes to the left of Verify After Backup, Restrict Access to Owner or Administrator, and Backup Local Registry.
8. Select Normal as the Backup Type.
9. Name the log file as C:\Cnormal.log and click the full Detail radio button.
10. Click OK.

Now sit back and relax as your C: drive is backed up and verified. After the backup has completed, you may want to examine the log file that was created as Cnormal.log in the root of your C: drive.

Next, imagine that you only needed to backup a single directory structure and not the entire disk drive. For example, you might want to do this prior to performing an upgrade that would modify files in that directory structure. Exercise 12-2 leads you through this procedure.

Exercise 12-2: Backing up data with NT Backup

1. Make sure your tape drive has power and that a writeable tape has been inserted into the tape drive. Be sure to use a different tape than the one used for Exercise 12-1.
2. Log on to your system as Administrator.
3. Click the Start button and select Programs | Administrative Tools | Backup.
4. Maximize the Drives window, if it is not already maximized. Double-click the C: drive icon. A directory layout of the drive will display. Scroll down until you see the directory named winnt. Place an X in the box to the left of winnt. This marks the entire winnt directory structure, including all subdirectories, to be backed up. Click the X in the upper-right corner of the dialog box to return back to the Drives window. You can see that the C: drive now has an X in the box but that it has a gray background. This signifies that the only a portion of the drive has been selected to be backed up.
5. Click the Backup button.
6. Select the Replace radio button.
7. Place a check mark in the boxes to the left of Verify After Backup, Restrict Access to Owner or Administrator, and Backup Local Registry.
8. Select Normal as the Backup Type.
9. Name the log file as C:\winntBackup.log and click the Full Detail radio button.
10. Click OK.

Notice that this backup is much quicker than the backup conducted in Exercise 12-1. Sometimes you may only need to back up a single directory depending upon your needs.

Restoring Data from Backups

Now that you have two verified backups, practice restoring them to your system by performing Exercises 12-3 and 12-4.

You discovered that when you installed a new application it overwrote everything in your winnt\system32\repl directory. To fix this problem, perform Exercise 12-3 which allows you to restore only a portion of the directory of data that you backed up in Exercise 12-2.

Exercise 12-3: Restoring data with NT Backup

1. Make sure your tape drive has power and that the tape you used for Exercise 12-2 has been inserted into the tape drive.
2. Log on to your system as Administrator.
3. Click the Start button and select Programs | Administrative Tools | Backup.
4. Maximize the Tapes window if it is not already maximized. Double-click the tape icon that is displayed. Double-click the system32 directory and place an X in the box to the left of Repl. This selects it to be restored. Click the X in the upper-right corner of the dialog box to return back to the Tapes window.
5. Click the Restore button.
6. Place a check mark in the boxes to the left of Restore File Permissions and Verify After Restore.
7. Name the log file as C:\replRestore.log and click the Full Detail radio button.
8. Click the OK button.

After the restore operation completes, you will have the same winnt\system32\repl directory that you had when you made the backup tape.

You've been having all sorts of problems today. Now you discover that your C: drive is full of corrupted data. By performing Exercise 12-4, you will fix the problem. by restoring the entire partition that you backed up in Exercise 12-1,

1. Make sure your tape drive has power and that the tape you used for Exercise 12-1 has been inserted into the tape drive.
2. Log on to your system as Administrator.
3. Click the Start button and select Programs | Administrative Tools | Backup.
4. Maximize the Tapes window if it is not already maximized and click and place an X to the left of the tape icon that is displayed.
5. Click the Restore button.
6. Place a check mark in the boxes to the left of Restore Local Registry, Restore File Permissions, and Verify After Restore.
7. Name the log file C:\Crestore.log and click the Full Detail radio button.
8. Click OK.

These two exercises gave you practice for the inevitable day when you will need to complete a restoration operation.

Automating Backups

While performing a backup is not an overly complex task it can get very boring when you must do it on a daily basis. Luckily there is a way for you to automate the process. You cannot use the GUI to automate backups; instead, you must run ntbackup.exe from a command file. In this section you will discover how to automate your backups using the Schedule service, ntbackup.exe, a .CMD file, and the AT command.

Using Schedule Service

The Schedule service must be running in order to use the AT command discussed in this section. Exercise 12-5 shows you how to start the Schedule service, if it is not already running on your system.

Exercise 12-5: Starting the Schedule service

1. Log on to your system as Administrator.
2. Click the Start button and select Settings | Control Panel | Services.
3. Highlight Schedule and click the Start button.
4. If you plan to use automated backups all the time and the Schedule service is not set to start automatically, click the Startup button and under Startup Type select Automatic. If you don't want the Schedule service to start automatically, skip to step 5.
5. Click the Close button.
6. Log off the system.

Creating a .CMD File

Now that you have the Schedule service running, the next to complete is the creation of the command file. Ntbackup.exe has many command line switches that can be used in the command file. The syntax for the ntbackup command is:

Table 12-2 defines the purpose of the different parameters that can be used by ntbackup.exe

Table 12-2: Parameters for Ntbackup.exe

Using the parameters described in Table 12-2, you can create a command line that can be placed in a .CMD file using your favorite text editor. An example is:

From the previous example you can conclude:

Launching the Automated Execution of .CMD

Now that you are familiar with how to create a .CMD file, let's find out how to automate the use of the file. This is where the AT command comes into the picture. The AT command schedules commands and programs to run on a computer at a specified date and time. The syntax for the AT command is:

or

The second syntax is the one you need to use for automating backups. Table 12-3 explains the parameters that are available using the AT command.

Using the parameters described in Table 12-3, you can create an AT command that will execute a .CMD file An example is:

From the previous example you can conclude that every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 23:59 the contents of the BACKMEUP.CMD file will execute.

There is one caveat to be wary of when using the AT command. If you use it without the interactive parameter and it encounters an error when running the Windows NT Backup utility (for example, if there is no tape in the tape drive), then the Backup utility stops responding. You will not be able run Windows NT Backup again until you reboot your Windows NT Server. To prevent this situation from occurring you should use the interactive parameter. If any errors occur, you will be able to correct them and continue or quit the Backup utility.

Now that you have all the pieces it takes to automate a backup, let's practice. Exercise 12-6 shows you how to automate the backup process.

Exercise 12-6: Automating a backup

1. Log on to your system as Administrator.
2. Click the Start button and select Settings | Control Panel | Services and make sure the Schedule service is running. If it isn’t, perform Exercise 12-5.
3. Open your favorite text editor and add the following line: ntbackup backup c: /v /r /t Normal /d "My Automated Full Backup of the C: Drive" /b /l "C:\Cfullbackup.log" Save the file as C:\Cfull.CMD.
4. Click the Start button and select Settings | Programs | Command Prompt.
5. Type the following AT command into the Command Prompt: AT 0100 /INTERACTIVE /every:m,f C:\Cfull.CMD. Your system will now be backed up automatically every Monday and Friday at 0100 if there is a tape in the tape drive.
6. Close the Command Prompt window and log off.

From the Classroom

Making your backups work for you, or when you're popping corn, cover the pot!

NT 4.0 Server includes a reasonably complete backup program. It is good for backing up the local server and has a nice GUI interface. However, there are two limitations to this program. One is easy to overcome and the other is not.

The first limitation is that you cannot schedule an unattended backup from the GUI interface. "Unattended backup" means the backup program launches at a scheduled time, does the specified backup, then terminates. This is an important capability because many servers get backed up at night when few files are open. (Open files do not get backed up). Fortunately, you can make the backup run as a scheduled operation by using the AT Schedule service. The Schedule service is a basic (perhaps lightweight) job scheduler. While it may lack the sophistication of other job scheduler programs, for the purpose of backups, it will work fine.

You will need to create an account for the Schedule service and the account will need to be a member of the Local Backup Operators group. Then you will need to configure the Schedule service through the Control Panel. Don’t forget to set the startup mode to automatic and get the password correct. Then you will need to create a batch file, using Notepad or some other editor that will launch the backup program and do the backup. Windows NT on-line help can show you how to do this. Also, you will need to schedule the job, using the AT command from the command prompt. Again, review the on-line help (type AT /?) for more details. If you do not want to use the command line, the NT resource kit has a nice GUI utility for the AT Scheduler. The net result is this: at the scheduled time, the Schedule service will launch the backup program in your absence. In other words, it's an unattended backup.

Here's the other limitation: the backup program that ships with NT will not allow you to back up the registry of a remote NT computer. You can back up the registry of the local computer without a problem. And you can reach out over the network and back up the drives of a remote server. However, since the registry files are open at the remote server, they will not be backed up. If you need to restore the registry of the remote server, you will not be able to do this. We use a class exercise to demonstrate this limitation to the students. There are third-party programs that address this limitation, but they'll cost you extra money. There is a workaround that is not elegant, but it will allow you to get a safety copy of the registry on the remote server. This also involves the AT Schedule service, which must be running on the remoter server as well, and the rdisk.exe program. Schedule the command "rdisk.exe /s" to run at the remote server several minutes before the backup job is sent across the network to back up the drive on the remote server. The rdisk command with the /s parameter will copy the registry files into the <winroot>\repair directory at the remote server. Be sure to include this directory in your backup and then you will have a "backed up copy" of the registry file of the remote server.

To use these files to recover a registry, you must first restore them from tape to the <winroot>\repair folder, run the emergency repair procedures and press <Esc> when prompted to search the hard drive for the repair files. Yes, yes, it's not pretty or elegant, but it will save the cost of a backup program, if that's important to you. On the other hand, you've already spent $18,000 on your server—perhaps another $695 for an enterprise-scale backup program is a worthwhile investment.

Windows NT Backup and Recovery Schemes

It is possible to back up portions of your system without having to use the Backup utility. This section describes some of the other alternatives that are available for your use.

Disk Administrator

The first alternative to examine is the Disk Administrator. Figure 12-11 shows us what the Disk Administrator looks like when it has been opened.

At this point you may be wondering how the Disk Administrator can help you back up your system. The \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM key contains the configuration information about your currently defined drive letters, volume sets, stripe sets with parity, and mirror sets. This key can be saved by using the Disk Administrator. The unique feature of saving the key using Disk Administrator is that it will always save the key to a floppy disk.

Backup Drive Configuration

When you back up the drive configuration you will see the dialog box shown in Figure 12-12. Exercise 12-7 shows you how to use Disk Administrator to save the configuration information that deals with your disk drives.

Exercise 12-7: Backing up the disk configuration with the Disk Administrator

1. Log on to your system as Administrator.
2. Click the Start button and select Programs | Administrative Tools | Disk Administrator.
3. From the Partition menu select Configuration, then Save.
4. Insert a formatted floppy disk in your A: drive and click OK. The information from \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM will be written to your floppy disk.
5. Exit the Disk Administration program.

Restore Drive Configuration

If you ever need to restore information pertaining to your disk drives—and your configuration disk is current—then you should have no problem restoring your system. As you are restoring, you will be prompted by the two dialog boxes shown in Figures 12-13 and 12-14. Windows NT wants to make sure that you really want to restore the SYSTEM key. Exercise 12-8 shows you how to restore your disk configuration.

1. Log on to your system as Administrator.
2. Click the Start button and select Programs | Administrative Tools | Disk Administrator.
3. From the Partition menu select Configuration then Restore.
4. Click Yes.
5. Insert the floppy disk that was created during Exercise 12-7 into your A: drive and click OK.
6. Information will be written to your Registry. Reboot your system so it to take effect.

The Emergency Repair Disk

The Emergency Repair Disk is another way to back up vital system information. If you recall, Exercise 12-8 stated that you could insert the Emergency Repair Disk (ERD) to complete the operation. This is because the ERD holds registry information, including the disk configuration information. The ERD will be covered in more depth when we discuss Troubleshooting in Chapter 14.

Registry Backups

Another alternative to using Backup is to use one of the two registry editors that are included with Windows NT Server 4.0. Of the two editors, we recommend REGEDIT because it can back up the entire registry, whereas REGEDT32 can only back up individual registry keys. Figure 12-15 shows REGEDIT and Figure 12-16 shows REGEDT32

In the following two exercises you will use REGEDIT to back up and restore the entire Registry. Exercise 12-9 gives you an opportunity to back up your complete Registry.

Exercise 12-9: Backing up the registry with the registry editor

1. Log on as Administrator.
2. Click the Start button and select Run.
3. Type REGEDIT and click OK.
4. Click the Registry menu and select Export Registry File.
5. Type backup.reg in the File name box and click Save. Your registry file will be saved to the file backup.reg in your root directory.

It is possible to back up only branches of the registry if you so desire. You just have to change the export range from all to a selected branch when you are in the Export Registry File window.

Now that you have successfully backed up your registry, try restoring it using REGEDIT. Exercise 12-10 shows you how to accomplish the task.

1. Log on as Administrator.
2. Click the Start button and select Run.
3. Type REGEDIT and click OK.
4. Click the Registry menu and select Import Registry File.
5. Select backup.reg from the Import Registry File window and click the Open button. A progress bar fills as the file is imported.
6. Reboot your system for the imported registry to be fully effective.

Third-Party Backup and Restore Alternatives

While Windows NT Backup is a capable backup utility, there are many third-party backup and restore utilities on the market with even more coming into the channel daily. This section will briefly describe some of the alternatives available to you.

Seagate Backup Exec for Windows NT

Seagate Backup Exec, now in its fifth version, allows you complete control of your backups by providing 24-hour network-wide scheduling, administration, monitoring, device and media management.

Some of the main features of Seagate Backup Exec are:

Stac Replica for Windows NT

Stac's Replica for Windows NT offers complete, secure disaster recovery and tape backup protection for businesses or branch offices. Replica is currently in its third version. Figure 12-17 shows the Replica 3 interface.

Some of the main features of Stac Replica 3 are:

ARCserve for Windows NT

ARCserve, currently at version 6.5, provides a comprehensive, integrated storage management platform for Windows NT. It delivers high-performance backup, restore and distaster recovery for small LAN's and heterogeneous enterprises.

Some of the main features of ARCserve are:

Certification Summary

The strategy you use for backups can be determined by several different factors, such as the size of the backup and the speed at which it needs to be completed. Other factors that need to be considered are the type of media that you use for the backups and what software to use. Software will be determined by the features that you require. After determining the software to use, you need to determine how often you will back up and what type of backup to use. The backup type can be normal, incremental, differential, copy, or daily. A decision also needs to be made regarding media rotation and sufficient off-site storage for the backups that are created.

Windows NT comes with a Backup utility that you can use to start backing up your data immediately. The Backup utility works from a GUI and supports backups and restores to tape only. Backup looks for a tape drive as soon as it starts and generates an error if it does not find one. In order to utilize Backup, you must have permission to access the data you are trying to back up.

It is possible to back up and restore the entire partition or only certain files that have been selected. In order to make it easier to back up, you can create a .CMD file and use it in conjunction with the AT command and the Schedule service.

Several other tools enable you to back up and restore selected pieces of data. The Disk Administrator can be used to back up information that deals with drive letters, volume sets, and more. The Emergency Repair Disk can also be utilized to repair registry information. REGEDIT and REGEDT32 are also available to back up and restore registry data. REGEDIT is the more flexible tool, because it can back up and restore the entire registry while REGEDT32 can only save individual registry keys.

There are a significant number of other software packages on the market that can backup and restore your Windows NT Server. A few of the titles are Seagate Backup Exec for Windows NT, Stac Replica for Windows NT, and ARCserve for Windows NT.

Two-Minute Drill

Review Questions: Just read, or Click HERE to launch interactive Self Test

The following questions will help you measure your understanding of the material presented in this chapter. Read all the choices carefully, as there may be more than one correct answer. Choose all correct answers for each question.

1. In order to successfully backup your Windows NT Server you need to use _______ .

1. a software backup utility
2. a RAID controller
3. tape media with an approved tape drive
4. WINS Manager

2. (True/False) Windows NT Backup can back up to floppy disks.
3. You need to back up the registry on your PDC to tape without taking it offline. The tape drive is located on your BDC. What must be done to perform the backup?

1. Select Backup Local Registry from the Backup Information window so that the PDC's registry can be successfully backed up
2. Nothing: it is impossible to back up the registry on the PDC
3. Use Server Manager to back up the PDC's registry
4. Add a tape drive to the PDC and select Backup Local Registry from the Backup Information window

4. To make a full backup of your entire partition you would use a _______ .

1. daily backup
2. copy backup
3. incremental backup
4. differential backup
5. normal backup

5. You have one tape drive located on your PDC. It is responsible for backing up a BDC and 18 client machines. Through careful monitoring, you have found that the backup is interfering with users getting their work accomplished (it has not been completed when they start work). What can you do to ensure that backup is done before users arrive at work?

1. Add a bigger tape drive to the PDC
2. Use hardware compression on the tape drive
3. Add a tape drive to the BDC and split the backup load equally
4. Add a tape drive to the BDC to back up only itself.
5. Move the tape drive to the BDC and back up all machines from there

6. You need to backup 30 gigabytes of data from your network. What type of medium would be best to use for this backup?

1. QIC
2. DAT
3. 8mm
4. DLT

7. (True/False) A differential backup marks files as having been backed up.
8. (True/False) It is possible to complete backups for one year using only nineteen tapes.
9. A user is attempting to back up a partition but the system does not allow him to backup everything. What could be the problem?

1. The user has permissions to all directories.
2. The user is not a member of the Replicator or Print Operator groups
3. The user is not a member of the Administrators or Backup Operators groups.
4. The user does not have a tape drive that is on the HCL.

10. If your backup strategy consists of completing backups for one year using nineteen tapes what type of method should be used?

1. Normal
2. Copy
3. Daily
4. Differential
5. Incremental

11. You can successfully back up the entire partition on your system; however, you run into difficulties when you try to restore the partition. What can cause this problem?

1. You do not have Restore Local Registry selected
2. You do not have Verify Restore selected
3. You do not have the Backup Files and Directories user right
4. You do not have the Restore Files and Directories user right

12. It is recommended that you have ____ complete backup sets in case of tape failure or loss.

1. 4
2. 3
3. 2
4. 1

13. (True/False) You should not store the tape backups off-site as this causes a delay if you need to use them for restoration.
14. (True/False) The Windows NT Backup utility cannot back up all the files on your system.
15. You want to back up only your complete registry. What tool should you use?

1. Server Manager
2. Disk Administrator
3. REGEDIT
4. REGEDT32

Answers to Chapter 12 Self Test

1. A, C. To successfully back up your Windows NT Server you need backup software and tape media with a tape drive.
2. False. Windows NT Backup utility can only back up to tape.
3. D. A tape drive must be added to the PDC so that you can successfully back up the registry to tape.
4. E. A normal backup is another name for a full backup.
5. C. Add a tape drive to the BDC and split the load on the backups so that it can complete before the users arrive at work.
6. D. DLT is currently the only tape media available that can hold this much data.
7. False. A differential backup does not mark files as having been backed up.
8. A. Yes, it is possible to complete one yea'rs worth of backups using only 19 tapes.
9. C. The user can encounter problems if he does not have permissions to a file or directory. To alleviate this condition, he can be added to the Administrators or Backup Operators groups.
10. A, E. A combination of normal and incremental backups should be utilized for this backup strategy.
11. D. You will not be able to restore unless you have the right to Restore Files and Directories. This is separate from the Backup Files and Directories user right.
12. B. It is best to have three complete backup sets on hand.
13. False. Backups should be stored off-site to protect the integrity of your data if something should happen at your system location.
14. True. The Backup utility cannot back up the pagefile.sys, registries from remote machines, or files that have been locked by an application.
15. C. REGEDIT can be used to back up your complete registry. REGEDT32 will only back up individual registry keys and Disk Administrator will only back up the SYSTEM key.