Which Selections Will Be Backed Up: Backup Selections Tab

The backup selections list names the files, directories, directives, scripts (used for database policies), and templates (used for Oracle and DB2 policies), that NetBackup includes in automatic backups of clients covered by a policy. The policy backup selections list does not apply to user backups or archives because users select the objects to back up before starting the operation.

NetBackup uses the same selection list for all clients backed up according to this policy. All the files do not need to exist on all the clients, as NetBackup backs up the files that it finds. However, each client must have at least one of the files in the backup selections list or the client backup will fail with a status 71. Selection list entries are processed serially for each client, but it is possible to back up multiple clients in parallel if enough drives are available.

Related topics

• Specifying the Backup Selections
• Creating or Changing the Backup Selections List for Automatic Backups
• Creating the Backup Selections List for Standard Policies
• Adding Selections to a Standard, Exchange, or Lotus Notes Policy and Changing Selections in a Standard, Exchange, or Lotus Notes Policy
• Creating the Backup Selections List for Database Policies
• Template or Template Set Selection
• Adding Scripts or Directives and Changing Scripts or Directives
• Changing Database Scripts or Directives in the Selections List
• Creating the Backup Selections List for Oracle or DB2 Policies
• Adding Scripts and Templates and Changing Scripts or Directives
• Verifying the Backup Selections List

NetBackup processes the entries on the backup selection list one entry at a time and in the order that they appear in the backup selections. However, NetBackup backs up the files from multiple clients in parallel, assuming multiple storage devices are available and NetBackup attributes are set to allow it. See Setting the Number of Streams That Can Run Concurrently.

• The Global host property, Maximum Jobs per Client, and the Limit Jobs per Policy policy attribute are set to allow it.
• Multiple storage devices are available (or you are using multiplexing).

It is also possible to add a client to multiple policies, then divide the client's files among the backup selections list. This method has the advantage of backing up different files on a client according to different rules. A different schedule can be applied to each policy.

Using multiple policies can also reduce the backup time. When all of a client's files are in the same backup selections list, NetBackup processes the files serially, which can take a long time when there are many files. If the files are divided between different policies, NetBackup can process the policies in parallel, reducing the backup time. The maximum jobs attributes must be set to allow the parallel backups and sufficient system resources must also be available. See Setting the Number of Streams That Can Run Concurrently for an explanation of maximum jobs settings that also applies to this topic.

Another way to reduce backup time is to use a single policy that has Allow Multiple Data Streams enabled and then add NEW_STREAMS directives to the backup selections list. For example:

The example above produces two concurrent data streams. One has file_a, file_b, and file_c. The other has file_d, file_e, and file_f. See Allow Multiple Data Streams.

The Backup Selections tab contains a list of files and directories that NetBackup includes in automatic backups of clients covered by a policy. You may also enter a backup selections list directive that causes NetBackup to perform specific actions when processing the files in the list. For database backups, scripts and templates are used to define and control the specific type of database backup. (See the NetBackup database guide for more information.)