Linux

You can add new Linux physical servers to Active Backup for Business, create backup tasks for the physical servers, restore backup data, and manage these physical servers on this page. You need to install Active Backup for Business Agent on your physical servers to perform backups for them.

Create Backup Tasks

Before you create a backup task, install Active Backup for Business Agent on your physical server and connect the physical server to your Synology NAS via the agent.

To add a device into the device list:

Check the following information to download the installer with the compatible file type from Download Center or Active Backup for Business > Physical Server > Linux > Add Device on your target device.
- deb: Ubuntu and Debian distributions
- rpm: CentOS, RHEL, and Fedora distributions
After extracting the downloaded file, follow the steps in the README file and execute sudo ./install.run to install the snapshot driver and agent on your Linux device.

Note:

For more information on Synology Active Backup for Business Agent, please refer to this article.
Active Backup for Business allows you to set up a template of backup task, helping you apply the same backup settings to multiple devices in mass deployment. You can go to Settings > Template to configure backup task templates. For more information on how to set up a template, please refer to this article.

To create a backup task:

Once the agent is installed on the physical server already connected to Synology NAS, a backup task will be created according to the matched template. You can also create more than one backup task for each device.

Do either of the following to start the backup creation wizard:
- Go to Physical Server > Linux, select a device you want to back up, and click Create Task.
- Go to Physical Server > Task List > Create and select Linux task.
Select Target Device:
This step only appears if no device is selected before you click Create. A list of physical servers already connected to the server will be displayed in this step.
Configure Task Settings::
- Task name: Configure the name of the task. It is suggested to have a naming pattern for faster filter/search for the task.
- Source type: The following types of source are supported.
  - Entire device: The entire device including the device settings, applications, and all the files will be backed up in this mode.
  - System volume: The system volumes including data and Linux system data, such as "/", "/boot", or swap partition will be backed up.
  - Customized volume: Click Select then choose the target volume you wish to protect. Backing up external devices is not supported.
- Data transfer settings: The following task settings can be configured in this step.
  - Enable Data Transfer Compression: Compress data during transmission to reduce transferred data size.
  - Enable Data Transfer Encryption: Encrypt data during transmission to enhance data security.
  - Enable bandwidth consumption limit: Limit the data transfer rate from your computer.
Backup Destination:
Select a shared folder in Btrfs file system as the backup destination. During the package installation, the Btrfs shared folder "ActiveBackupforBusiness" will be created automatically.
Backup Destination Settings: When creating the first task in a backup destination, you can configure compression and encryption settings of the backup destination in this step.
- Enable compression at backup destination: Compress data to save more storage at the backup destination.
- Enable encryption at backup destination: Encrypt data to enhance data security at the backup destination.
Note:
- The compression and encryption settings of a backup destination are not changeable after the first backup task is created. If you wish to use different settings for future tasks, please create a task in a new destination.
- When compression or encryption at backup destination is enabled, you cannot perform Instant Restore to Microsoft Hyper-V or Virtual Machine Manager or Backup Verification on models with certain package arches: Avoton, Braswell, Bromolow, Cedarview, and Grantley. To find out which package arch your Synology NAS uses, check this article.
- When compression or encryption at the backup destination is enabled, the snapshot and replication features will not be available if you perform an instant restore in Virtual Machine Manager.
Configure advanced settings:
- Enable backup verification: To enhance backup reliability, Synology Active Backup for Business integrates with Synology Virtual Machine Manager to verify the backups. After the device is backed up, the system will boot up the backed up device on Synology Virtual Machine Manager and take a video of the process at the same time. A preview of the video along with a notification email will be sent for you to ensure the backup device can be booted up properly.
  - Take livevideo for … sec.: Specify the duration of the video according to your needs. The video will be played at 3x speed.
- Enable pre/post script: Enable this option to execute the selected scripts before and after taking snapshots of the device. Please select .sh files less than 32 KB. Tick Successful script execution required to continue if you wish to stop the backup process when the script fails to be executed.
Note:
- To ensure backup verification can be performed properly, please check the followings:
  - Synology Virtual Machine Manager 2.3 or above version is installed.
  - At least 3 GB memory on your Synology NAS is required for Synology Virtual Machine Manager to boot up the backed up device. Please refer to this article for more information.
  - The cluster of Synology Virtual Machine Manager and Active Backup for Business backup destination are on the same volume.
  - Your Synology NAS needs to be connected to the Internet to activate h.264 video codec if codec has never been activated on your Synology NAS before.
Schedule Backup Task:
- Manual backup: Manual backup means one-time-only backup. After creating a backup task, you can run the task by choosing to back up immediately in the last step or selecting the task then Back up in the Task List tab.
- Scheduled backup: Define the desired backup schedule to daily or only on specific days. The task can run once a day or once an hour according to the settings. The backup task will be started when it is the set point of time on the defined days. For example, when the schedule is set as Run on: Wednesday and Saturday, Repeat type: Hourly, and Start at: 03:00, the task will start from 03:00 on Wednesday and Saturday each week and repeat running every hour until the end of these two days.
- Only run backup tasks within the allowed backup windows: Click Configure Backup Window to specify the time when the backup task is allowed or forbidden to be run in order to maintain the operational efficiency of the backup source device. Only the restore points scheduled by time will be displayed on the time slot since the restore points of manual backup are not predictable.
Select Retention Policy:
Setting a retention policy helps you manage your storage space more efficiently by keeping the versions you want. There are three options of retention policies to choose from:
- Number of latest versions to keep: Specify the number of the latest versions to retain
- Keep all versions for: Retain all versions backed up within certain days
- Advanced retention policy: Versions can be kept for longer periods but your storage space can be saved at the same time. Click Set Rules to edit the retention rules.
  - You can set multiple rules and customize the retention policy according to your needs.
    - Specify the days in which all versions backed up will be saved.
    - Advanced retention policy also allows you to keep the latest versions of a different time frame for certain periods. You can choose how long the daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly versions will be retained in the system. For example, Keep the latest version of the week for 7 weeks means that the system will retain the last version during a week for seven weeks after it is backed up.
    - You will also need to set the Number of the latest versions to keep. If there are fewer versions than the specified number, the retention policy will not take effect. This is a required field.
  - Advanced retention policy employs the GFS, or Grandfather-Father-Son retention mechanism.
  - A version can meet more than one retention rule at a time. For example, a version can be retained by the weekly retention rule and daily retention rule at the same time.
Example:

It's October now and you have a backup schedule that backs up once every day. If you are planning for a retention policy that covers the past nine months and want to keep
- Daily versions for the first 3 months (September, August, and July)
- Weekly versions for the 4th to 6th months (June, May, and April)
- Monthly versions for the 7th to 9th months (March, February, and January)
- 10 latest versions
you may refer to the following settings:

A version can meet more than one retention rule. Therefore, the first weekly version can also be the seventh daily version, and the first monthly version can also be the fourth weekly version.

Setting the Number of latest versions to keep prevents the retention policy from deleting all versions when the system stops backing up your device, and the 10 latest versions will be the daily versions backed up in the past 10 days.
Backup now:
The wizard allows an immediate backup regardless of the schedule.

Note:

CBT (Changed Block Tracking) is mainly supported by the snapshot driver which was also installed when the installer was installed on your device. The snapshot driver will record the difference between the previous backup and the current backup, helping the device only transfer the changed block from the target device to the Synology NAS to save bandwidth and reach better backup performance.

Restore Physical Servers

You can restore individual files and folders as well as the entire device after the physical servers are backed up. Restoring a physical server to different platforms is also available.

To restore the physical sever to other platforms:

Restore to VMware
- Instant Restore: This method converts the backed up images of the device to a virtual machine in VMware, and it can restart a virtual machine in VMware directly from a compressed and deduplicated physical server backup file to minimize the downtime.
- Full Virtual Machine Restore: This method converts the backed up images of the device images to a virtual machine in VMware, and it can be restored to the latest status or a previous point of time. This method takes more time and system resources but provides full disk I/O performance.
Restore to Hyper-V
- Instant Restore: This method converts the backed up images of the device to a virtual machine in Hyper-V, and it can restart a virtual machine in Hyper-V directly from a compressed and deduplicated physical server backup file to minimize the downtime.
- Full Virtual Machine Restore: This method converts the backed up images of the device to a virtual machine in Hyper-V, and it can be restored to the latest status or a previous point of time. This method takes more time and system resources but provides full disk I/O performance.
Instant Restore to Synology Virtual Machine Manager (VMM): During urgent cases when tolerance for downtime is limited, mounting the backed-up image of your physical server on Synology Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) and power it on to continue your business could be your choice. To mount the backed-up image of your physical server on Synology Virtual Machine Manager, Synology Virtual Machine Manager requires to be installed on the same DSM.
Note:
- Instant restore to Synology VMM is only supported on DSM 6.2 and Synology VMM 2.3.4 or above. For further information about the limitations of Synology VMM, please refer to here.
- When compression or encryption at backup destination is enabled, you cannot perform Instant Restore to Virtual Machine Manager or Backup Verification on models with certain package arches: Avoton, Braswell, Bromolow, Cedarview, and Grantley. To find out which package arch your Synology NAS uses, check this article.
- When compression or encryption at backup destination is enabled, snapshot and replication will not be available if you perform an instant restore in Virtual Machine Manager.

To restore individual files and folders:

Physical server backup supports granular (file- and folder-level) restore through Active Backup for Business Portal. Administrators are able to delegate the restore permission during the task creation and the task editing. For more information, please refer to the help article: Active Backup for Business Portal.

To restore the entire device:

Go to Download Center to download the recovery media for Linux (.iso) and pack the recovery media into a USB Drive or mount the .iso file. For more information, please refer to this article.

Manage Devices

To delete a device:

In Linux, select the device you wish to delete and click Delete.
Please note that the backup data of the selected device will also be deleted after you delete the device. After you click Confirm Deletion, the device will be removed from the list.

To update the agent on the physical server:

When there is a newer version of the agent, you can update the agents on source computers by installing the new version. Package managers can update the agents on multiple computers at once in the package.

The installation depends on whether the computers are connected to the internet or on LAN.

When your Synology NAS is connected to the internet:
1. Go to Active Backup for Business > Physical Server.
2. Select the physical server whose agent needs an update and click Update Agent.

When your Synology NAS is on a private network:
1. Download the Active Backup for Business Agent installer from Download Center, and upload it to any folder of your Synology NAS with File Station. Please keep a note of the location of the installer.
2. Log in to DSM with root permission on your device. Please refer to this article for detailed instructions.
3. Execute the below command to install the agent to your target devices.
  cp /[volume_where_you_uploaded_the_installer_to]/[name_of_the_folder_where_you_uploaded_installer_to]/[installer_name] /[volume_where_you_install_Active_Backup_for_Business]/\@tmp/
  
  For example, the location of the installer is "/volume1/Files/Synology Active Backup for Business Agent-2.4.2-2341-x64-deb" and Active Backup for Business is installed on "volume1". The command would be:
  
  cp /[volume1]/[Files]/[Synology Active Backup for Business Agent-2.4.2-2341-x64-deb]/[volume1]/\@tmp/
4. Make the agent file readable by running the command below.
  chmod 444 Synology Active Backup for Business Agent-2.4.2-2341-x64.msi
5. After setting up, the agent will be successfully updated.

Was this article helpful?

Yes ／ No