Configure Microsoft Outlook Backup

MS Outlook Backup

Using MS Outlook plugin OnlineBackup backs up emails configured in outlook profile along with rules, at the folder level. The data(folder or sub-folder) is extracted from MS outlook PST into *.PST files and dumped locally. This local dump is then transferred to the backup server and once the transfer completes successfully, the dump will be deleted.

Requirements

  • Microsoft Outlook 2007/2010/2013

Information IMPORTANT:

OnlineBackup Client(agent) must run under the same user account as an Outlook profile. By default, OnlineBackup client is installed to run as a service under the Local System Account and is required to change user login from Windows services management console

Configuring Backup

  • Go to Backup tab and select MS Outlook

Step 1- Configure Outlook

  • Select a backup source from the expanded list, by checking the checkbox and proceed with the configuration.

Step 2- Configure Scheduling

  • Users can configure their backup schedules flexibly based on their requirements. They can choose from Hourly/Daily/Weekly options for backup schedules.

  • Run Hourly- Lets the user decide the hour frequency at which backup schedule should be triggered. It also lets the user decide the days when the hourly schedules should be carried out.
  • Run Daily- Allows the user to set a specific time in a day to trigger backup schedule.
  • Run Weekly- Lets the user decide the days when a backup schedule can be triggered in a week and to choose a time period as well.
  • Run Monthly?- This option will let the user run a full backup once a month and the user can specify the day, time and month of their choice for full backup schedules.

Information Note:

Run Monthly? is the recommended and default configuration

Step 5- Temporary location & incremental scheduling

Temporary location for backup dumps

  • Enter the location/directory path to which the dumps have to be stored locally before uploading them to the backup server. Please ensure that you have enough disk space in the configured temporary location (where the backup dump has to be saved).
  • Select the location to which the dump must take place from the window as displayed below. The location which you have configured for the backup dumps will be mentioned in the Folder tab. Click OK to finalize your dump location.

Incremental Backup Scheduling

  • Run Daily- Let the user choose a specified time when the incrementals are triggered every day.
  • Run Weekly- Let the user choose time and days in a week when backup should be carried out. The user can choose more than a day in a week if required.
  • Run Every few hours/minutes- Let the user specify a time interval in minutes/hours at which incremental schedules are carried out. In addition, you can choose the days you wish the backup to run on a weekly basis.

Add Mapped Drive

  • There may be situations in which you may not have enough space to allocate for the dump process. In such cases, you can add a mapped drive by providing the drive name, drive path, username, and password. From there on the dumping process will happen to the configured drive only.
  • The drive path must be in the following format: \\<MACHINE_NAME OR IP_ADDRESS>\<SHARE_NAME> make sure you give the correct details else you will get the status "Mapping the drive letter to the UNC path failed with the error: The network path was not found."
  • Ensure you provide proper credentials, if not the message "Mapping the drive letter to the UNC path failed with the error: The specified network password is not correct" will appear. Click Save to complete the process.

Information Note:

If the drive you have configured already exists or you have already mapped that drive to a UNC path, you will get the following message "C:/ drive already exists or mapped to a UNC path. Please choose a different drive letter

Encryption Setting

Backups configured under OnlineBackup can be encrypted with a user-defined password which can be provided during backup configuration.

Steps to add Encryption Password

  • In order to encrypt your backup, select Enable Encryption checkbox. You can either add your own password or encrypt the backup with a System Generated Password.
  • To create a new password, click on Add Password. Provide the password of your choice along with a password hint and save it
  • The newly created password will be available in the drop-down list. Choose the password and click Next. All the added passwords will be listed in the drop-down box. With the help of the encryption hint, you can easily identify the required password. Click Save once you have provided the required details.

Information Note:

By default, OnlineBackup uses the system-generated password to encrypt backups even if Encryption is disabled. You can opt to a custom password for extended data protection and you will be required to provide it during recovery. Opting to the custom password will disable integrity check from being performed automatically. It is recommended to perform Quick VM Recovery periodically to ensure data integrity

Information Note:

Password and its hint should not be the same to avoid security issues. The password should contain at least a character, a number and a special character [! @ # $ % ^ & *] .Encryption hint should be at least 6 characters and not more than 25 characters. Encryption hints are unique and no two passwords can have the same encryption hint

  • Once you have configured Encryption Settings, Click Save.

Step 5: Review Configuration

  • The last step in the MS Outlook backup configuration is to enter the backup schedule name. Vembu NetworkBackup supports creating multiple backup schedules each with its own configuration. The backup schedule name will uniquely identify the backup. While restoring your backup data, you need to choose the data to be restored using its schedule name.
  • Review the configuration provided and enter an appropriate name for the backup schedule. Once done, click Save the Backup to initiate the backup progress as per schedule configured and it gets completed successfully.

Information Note:

While providing a backup name, only [a-z][A-Z][0-9][ - _ ] characters are allowed in the backup name. If you have configured a backup schedule with this name already, enter a different name for this backup job

  • You can verify the progress of your backup in the progress schedule window. In the List Jobs page, click on the arrow mark to open the backup progress window. The overall progress of your backup along with details such as :
    • Job Name - Name of your backup job
    • Backup Server - The backup server to which the backup is currently happening
    • Warning - Warning if any
    • Reconnection Attempts - The count of the times OnlineBackup client attempted to reconnect to the backup server
    • Transfer Rate - Rate at which the backup data is transferred to your backup server. (Bytes,KB,MB,GB)
    • Original Size of the file - The actual size of your backup file
    • Added, Modified, Deleted, Skipped files and Folders count
    • Time Left - Time remaining for your backup to complete.

  • You can abort your backup if not required from the Abort option available in the List Jobs page. You will get a pop up as shown below. Click Yes to Abort your backup.

  • You can Abort your backup from the backup progress window page also. Select the Abort (-) option in that window. You will be alerted with a pop-up as shown below. Click OK to abort your backup.

Information Note:

To enhance your backup performance, close the progress window and open it only occasionally to check backup progress