How to backup SharePoint Services on Server 2008 for imaging

Hi all,

If you’re running Server 2008 and imaging the system using the block-level backup, then you can actually backup any VSS aware applications as well. (n.b. Exchange is handled separately – see my other blog posts).

To tell Windows Server Backup that you want to back up individual applications, you need to add a registry key.

To do this – find out the application’s VSS writer GUID by typing “vssadmin list writers” and looking for the relevant writer. For example, in the case of SharePoint Services:

Writer name: 'SharePoint Services Writer'
Writer Id: {c2f52614-5e53-4858-a589-38eeb25c6184}
Writer Instance Id: {c7275e0d-fa15-44a8-ad4d-ff6ecfd8d9c2}
State: [1] Stable
Last error: No error

The writer ID is {c2f52614-5e53-4858-a589-38eeb25c6184}

Now go to the registry, and under the key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\WindowsServerBackup\Application Support create a new key with the name of the GUID (and include the curly braces). Then under that new key, create a REG_SZ value with the name “Application Identifier” and value “SharePoint Services” (or the name of your application).

This will now tell Window Server Backup that whenever an image backup is initiated, contact the application’s VSS writer to commit itself for the backup.

You can also perform restores of the application through the Windows Server Backup restore console, as detailed here: http://www.wbadmin.info/articles/howto-file-application-restoration-windows-server-2008.html.

We’ll be building this into the BackupAssist UI shortly [so all you need to do is click a checkbox to select if you want an application backed up] but in the meantime, this registry mod will get the backups working!

Enjoy,

Linus