For more information about how the data protection tools included with Office SharePoint Server 2007 compare with other tools for protecting the SharePoint data, see Choose backup and recovery tools (Office SharePoint Server).
Important:
If changes are made to the site collection during the backup process, the backup can become corrupted. Backing up large site collections can take a long time. To reduce the chance that user activity will interfere with a site collection backup, or that the time that is required to back up large site collections will exceed the available maintenance window, follow these recommendations:
• For the duration of the backup, set the site collection URL to read-only by using the Setsitelock operation in the Stsadm command-line tool. This lets users view content on the site, but prevents activities such as adding or changing content that interfere with the backup process. When the backup is complete, return the access setting of the site collection URL to its default state.
• If the size of the site collection that you want to back up is 15 gigabytes (GB) or smaller, use the Stsadm command-line tool as shown in the procedures that follow.
• If the size of the site collection that you want to back up is from 15 GB through 100 GB, use Microsoft SQL Server 2005 or Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 to perform a full backup of the site collection database.
• If the size of the site collection that you want to back up is larger than 100 GB, use System Center Data Protection Manager to perform a differential backup of the site collection database.
For more information about backup and recovery tools, see Choose backup and recovery tools (Office SharePoint Server).
Back up a site collection by using SharePoint built-in tools
Use this procedure to restrict access to the site collection during backup by using the Stsadm command-line tool.
Important:
Membership in the Administrators group on the local computer is the minimum required to complete this procedure. Limit access to the site collection during backup
1. At a command prompt on the drive on which SharePoint Products and Technologies is installed, change to the following directory: %COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft shared\Web server extensions\12\Bin.
2. To determine the current access level of the site, type the following command, and then press ENTER: stsadm -o getsitelock -url <
3. If the current access level allows changes to the site content, change it to read-only by typing the following command, and then pressing ENTER:
stsadm -o setsitelock -url
4. When the backup is complete, reset your site collection lock from read-only to none
stsadm -o setsitelock -url
Use this procedure to back up a site collection by using the Stsadm command-line tool.
Important: Membership in the Administrators group on the local computer is the minimum required to complete this procedure. To back up a site collection by using the Stsadm command-line tool 1. On the drive on which SharePoint Products and Technologies is installed, change to the following directory: %COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft shared\Web server extensions\12\Bin.
2. Type the following command: stsadm -o backup -url
3. If the backup is completed successfully, the Command Prompt window displays the following text: Operation completed successfully.
4. If the backup is not completed successfully, the Command Prompt window provides additional details about the failure. Most typically, an incorrect URL or file name was given.
Use this procedure to restore a Web application by using the Stsadm command-line tool.
Important:
Membership in the Administrators group on the local computer is the minimum required to complete this procedure. To restore a site collection by using the Stsadm command-line tool
1. On the drive where SharePoint Products and Technologies is installed, change to the following directory: %COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft shared\Web server extensions\12\Bin.
2. To restore a site collection, type the following command, and then press Enter:
stsadm -o restore -url
3. When you receive a warning that all selected items will be overwritten, type y, and then press Enter.
4. When prompted, type the user name and password for the Web application and content databases.
5. If the recovery is completed successfully, the Command Prompt window displays the following text:
Operation completed successfully.
6. If the recovery is not completed successfully, the command Prompt window provides additional details about the failure.
Most typically, an incorrect URL or file name was given.
It is not possible to schedule backups from the SharePoint Central Administration Web site. There is no operation that enables you to automate backups by using the Stsadm command-line tool.
You can, however, automate the process by creating a batch file and then using Task Scheduler in Windows Server 2003 to run the batch file at a specific time. Because performance can be affected when doing backups with the Office SharePoint Server 2007 built-in tools, you might want to schedule your backups for off-peak times such as at night or on weekends.
Use this procedure to create a batch file that will run a full backup of your site collection. This procedure assumes that you have already created a shared folder for your backups.
Tip: When using Task Scheduler, make sure that the system date and time on your computer are accurate. To verify or change this information, double-click the time indicator on the taskbar. To create a batch file
1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. Type notepad, and then click OK.
3. In Notepad, type the following text:
Copy Code
@echo off
echo ===============================================================
echo Back up sites for the farm to C:\backup
echo ===============================================================
cd \Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN
@echo off
stsadm -o backup -directory <\\server name\folder name> -backupmethod full -item
echo completed 4. where \\server name\folder name is the UNC path of the backup folder and where Web application name is the name of the site collection that you want to back up. You might use the full farm path notation as displayed by the showtree parameter or the name of the component in the path if it has a unique name — for example, Windows SharePoint Services Web Application\SharePoint-80.5. In Notepad, on the File menu, click Save As.
6. In the Save As box, select the folder where you want to keep your batch file.
7. Use the ".bat" file name extension; type the name of the file in the File name box, for example, backup_batch.bat.
8. In the Save as type box, click All files.
9. Click Save.
To schedule a backup
1. Start the Scheduled Task Wizard, and then click Next.
2. Click Browse, locate the batch file that you just created, and then click Open.
3. Type a name for your task, for example, backup_batch.
4. Select how often you want this task performed (for example, weekly), and then click Next.
5. To automatically perform this backup periodically, select an interval such as Weekly or Monthly. To perform this backup one time, or to delay a single backup, select One time only.
6. Choose a time and start date for your backup.
7. Type a name and password for a user, and then click Next. This task will run as if it were started by that user.
8. Click Finish.
To configure advanced settings for the task, select the Open advanced properties for this task when I click Finish check box in the final page of the wizard. This opens the properties dialog box for the task when you click Finish.
You can then change the program being run on the Task tab, fine-tune the schedule on the Schedule tab, customize settings on the Settings tab, or set user and group permissions on the Security tab.
Courtesy: MSDN
