Introduction
In this article we can explore the backup and restore operations inside SharePoint. For Administration tasks we need to use the SharePoint Central Administration
web site which is accessible from the Start menu, as shown below.
Following are the most common administrative tasks:
- Backup and Restore
- Site Usage Analysis
- Cleaning up Unused Sites
- Managing the Search Service
- Managing Quotas and Locks
Backup
We can perform different levels of backup inside SharePoint 2010. The levels include:
- Farm Backup
- Site Collection Backup
- Site Backup
- Web Application Backup
- List Backup
- Library Backup
- Solution Package Backup
- Configuration Backup
- Content Database Backup
The types of Backup are:
- Full Backup
- Differential Backup
- Incremental Backup
We can have automated backup strategies to backup the required contents on intervals.
The Backup and Restore settings can be accessed from SharePoint Central Administration.
For performing a manual backup, use the Perform a backup link shown above. In the appearing page, select the items you need to backup and click the Next
button. Depending on the item the backup size will increase.
In the next page of the backup wizard, enter the backup type and location as shown below.
Click the Start Backup button to perform the backup. Make sure you set the location shared access to
Everyone.
The above screen shows that your backup operation is running. Wait for a few while to complete the operation. After the operation, you will get
a report as shown below.
Note
If the Backup page says the Administrative service is not running, you need to start it manually from Windows Services.
Use the Run window to execute the command services.msc. In the appearing applet, right click and start the SharePoint 2010 Administration service.
Restore
We can restore a farm, site, or the backed up item using the Restore from a backup option.
In the appearing page select the radio button of the appropriate backup and click
the Next button.
You can see that the backup location is remembered automatically. In real world scenarios we have to choose different backup locations.
In the next page select the components to restore.
Click the Next button and the restore operation gets started.
Summary
In this article we have explored the common administrative tasks inside SharePoint. Please note that the Backup and Restore operation can be performed programmatically too.
References
Jean Paul is a Microsoft MVP and Architect with 12+ years of experience. He is very much passionate in programming and his core skills are SharePoint, ASP.NET & C#.
In the academic side he do hold a BS in Computer Science & MBA. In the certification side he holds MCPD & MCTS spanning from .Net Fundamentals to SQL Server.
Most of the free time he will be doing technical activities like researching solutions, writing articles, resolving forum problems etc. He believes quality & satisfaction goes hand in hand.
You can find some of his work over here. He blogs at http://jeanpaulva.com