Backing Up SharePoint Team Services

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Microsoft provides a command line tool that can create a second set of back ups of theSharePoint database. These additional backups are stored in a separate file. If a user needs to restore individual files or folders in the Share Point database, the required copy of the database can be restored to a location where it does not affect the active SharePoint database. The user can then access the backup file in order to restore individual files without disrupting the actively running database that supports the SharePoint Team Services.

Retrospect External Scripting functionality can be combined with the Microsoft command line tool to automate the creation of file-level recovery backups of the SharePoint database during regularly scheduled server backups. The remainder of this tech brief will discuss setting up automated SharePoint backups using Retrospect Event Handler. If you are not familiar with Retrospect’s External Scripting features, see the Retrospect User’s Guide or Retrospect’s Help section on "External Scripting".

In order to perform a separate automated backup of the SharePoint database for file-level recovery, you must be running a backup script that automates your server backups. If you do not have a script, you must create a script to automate server backups. If you already have a server backup script, you need to modify it in order to perform the automated backups necessary for filelevel recovery. For the steps required to create this functionality in a script, see To automate a file-level recovery backup of a SharePoint database later in this technical brief.

When Retrospect runs the server backup script, the event handler calls a Microsoft-providedcommand-line tool. This tool automatically backs up the database and places it into a separatedatabase backup file that can be used for multiple point-in-time restores. Retrospect then backsup this file along with other data included in the scheduled backup.

Note: This functionality must be set up before files or folders actually need to be restored. Consider putting this process in place if your business is likely to restoreindividual SharePoint files or folders.

When a particular file or folder that is stored in a SharePoint database needs to be recovered, Retrospect can restore the SharePoint backup file to a specific point in time. After the SharePoint backup file is restored, the Microsoft-provided command-line tool can be used to open that file and to restore specific files.

For more information about on using Microsoft’s command-line tool for recovering SharePoint Services, see the Windows Small Business Server Help and Support Center topic "Restore SharePoint files".

Launch Retrospect.

Create a script to back up the SharePoint Server on a scheduled basis and name it "Backup SBS". The Retrospect Event Handler uses this script to trigger the separateSharePoint backup. If you already have a server backup schedule script with a nameother than "Backup SBS", make sure that in the backup script (below) youreplace "Backup SBS" with your script name.

Quit Retrospect.

Create a new text file containing the contents shown below. Save it as "retrospecteventhandler.bat"

Copy "retrospecteventhandler.bat" to the same directory as the Retrospect applicationinstall directory (Program Files\Dantz\Retrospect).

When Retrospect runs the named script (Backup SBS by default) it will update theSharePoint backup and replace the existing backup per Microsoft’s recommendation.

Here is the script for recovering individual files or folders:

Last Update: February 14, 2012