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Back up a farm configuration (SharePoint Foundation 2010)

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Applies to: SharePoint Foundation 2010

This article describes how to back up the configuration of a server farm.

In earlier versions of Microsoft SharePoint Foundation, you could not back up or restore the configuration database. In Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010, you can perform the equivalent operation by backing up or restoring the configuration of the server farm.

We recommend that you regularly back up the complete farm by backing up both the configuration and content. However, you might want to perform configuration-only backups in test or development environments. Similarly, if you are using Microsoft SQL Server tools to back up the databases for the farm, you will want to back up the configuration. Regularly backing up the farm reduces the possibility of data losses that can occur from hardware failures, power outages, or other problems. It helps to ensure that all the farm data and configurations are available for recovery. For more information about what to back up, see Plan for backup and recovery (SharePoint Foundation 2010).

The configuration backup will extract and back up the configuration settings from a SharePoint Foundation 2010 configuration database. You can back up configuration from any configuration database that includes the configuration database for the current farm or another farm, or a configuration database that is not associated with any farm.

For information about which tool to use for backups, see Plan for backup and recovery (SharePoint Foundation 2010).

Procedures in this task:

  • To back up a farm configuration by using Windows PowerShell

  • To back up a farm configuration by using Central Administration

Note

You cannot use either SQL Server tools or Data Protection Manager to back up the farm configuration.

Task requirements

Before you begin, you must create a folder on the local computer or the network in which to store the backups. For better performance, we recommend that you back up to the local computer and then move the backup files to a network folder. For more information about how to create a backup folder, see Prepare to back up and recover (SharePoint Foundation 2010).

Important

Backing up the farm configuration will not back up the information you have to have to restore service applications. If you want to restore a service application, you must perform a configuration and content backup of the farm. For more information about backing up service applications, see Back up a service application (SharePoint Foundation 2010).

Use Windows PowerShell to back up a farm configuration

You can use Windows PowerShell to back up the configuration from any configuration database on the current farm, on another farm, or from a configuration database that is not associated with any farm. You can back up a farm configuration manually or as part of a script that can be run at scheduled intervals.

To back up the configuration from any configuration database by using Windows PowerShell

  1. Verify that you meet the following minimum requirements: See Add-SPShellAdmin.

  2. On the Start menu, click All Programs.

  3. Click Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products.

  4. Click SharePoint 2010 Management Shell.

  5. At the Windows PowerShell command prompt (that is, PS C:\>), type the following command, and then press ENTER:

    Backup-SPConfigurationDatabase -Directory <BackupFolder> -DatabaseServer <DatabaseServerName> -DatabaseName <DatabaseName> -DatabaseCredentials <WindowsPowerShellCredentialObject> [-Verbose]

    Where:

    • <BackupFolder> is the path to the folder with the correct backup files.

    • <DatabaseServerName> is the name of the database server for the farm that you are backing up.

    • <DatabaseName> is the name of the farm configuration database.

    • If you are not logged on with an account with db_backupoperator fixed database role on the database server where the configuration database is stored, you must specify the value for DatabaseCredentials parameter.

For more information, see Backup-SPConfigurationDatabase.

Note

We recommend that you use Windows PowerShell when performing command-line administrative tasks. The Stsadm command-line tool has been deprecated, but is included to support compatibility with previous product versions.

Use Central Administration to back up a farm configuration

You can use Central Administration to back up the configuration of the farm that Central Administration is running on. To back up the configuration of a remote farm, you must use the Central Administration Web site that is running on the remote farm. You cannot use Central Administration to back up an unattached configuration database.

To back up a farm configuration by using Central Administration

  1. Verify that the user account performing this procedure is a member of the Farm Administrators group.

  2. On the Central Administration Home page, in the Backup and Restore section, click Perform a backup.

  3. On the Perform a Backup — Step 1 of 2: Select Component to Back Up page, select the farm from the list of components, and then click Next.

    Note

    You can back up the configuration for any service or application. However, common practice is to back up configuration at the farm level.

  4. On the Start Backup — Step 2 of 2: Select Backup Options page, in the Backup Type section, select Full.

  5. In the Backup Only Configuration Settings section, select the Backup only configuration settings option.

  6. In the Backup File Location section, type the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path of the backup folder, and then click Start Backup.

  7. You can view the general status of all backup jobs at the top of the Backup and Restore Job Status page in the Readiness section. You can view the status for the current backup job in the lower part of the page in the Backup section. The status page updates every 30 seconds automatically. You can manually refresh the status details by clicking Refresh. Backup and recovery are Timer service jobs. Therefore, it may take several seconds for the backup to start.

    If you receive any errors, you can review them in the Failure Message column of the Backup and Restore Job Status page. You can also find more details in the Spbackup.log file at the UNC path that you specified in step 5.

See Also

Concepts

Restore a farm configuration (SharePoint Foundation 2010)