Understanding backup options

Back up your hosted databases on a regular basis. FileMaker Server provides the following ways to perform database backups:

  • Automatic backups: FileMaker Server creates an automatic backup of hosted databases once a day. The Backups page shows the time of the next automatic backup. Seven backups are stored before automatic deletion begins. Automatic backups are listed on the Backups > Auto-Backup and On-Demand tab.

    See Using the Auto-Backup and On-Demand tab.

  • On-demand backups: Click Back Up Now on the Backups page to create an on-demand backup at any time. On-demand backups are listed on the Backups > Auto-Backup and On-Demand tab. Because on-demand backups are preserved by default, they are also listed on the Backups > Preserved tab.

    See Using the Preserved tab.

  • Scheduled backups: Use the Configuration > Schedules tab to create a backup schedule that defines which databases are backed up and how often they are backed up. Every time the backup schedule runs, FileMaker Server checks whether the selected databases have changed since the last backup. FileMaker Server creates a full copy of the databases that have changed and creates hard links to the backed-up databases that have not changed.

    See Creating or changing a backup schedule.

  • Progressive backups: FileMaker Server starts by creating a full backup of all hosted databases. After the initial full backup is complete, the Database Server only copies the changes from the hosted file to the progressive backup folder. Progressive backups can run more quickly than a backup schedule, with less impact on server performance.

    Progressive backups keep two copies of the backup files: a timestamped copy that is available for you to use as a backup, and an in-progress copy that gets updated with the accumulated changes. (FileMaker Server refers to these accumulated changes as the redo logs.) The default save interval for the timestamped copy is five minutes; with this default, the timestamped copy is updated every five minutes. (To change the progressive backup save interval, see CLI Help.)

    See Setting up a progressive backup folder.

Use any combination of these backups to ensure a comprehensive backup strategy for your hosted databases.

Understanding backup side bar options

  • Backup Schedule: View and manage backups for a selected schedule in the Backup Schedule drop-down list. The default value is the FMS schedule.

    See Scheduling database backups.

  • Repeat: The frequency in which a schedule repeats for the backup schedule selected in the Backup Schedule list is shown in the Repeat section of the Backups page. The backup frequencies are set in the individual backup schedule settings.

    See Creating or changing a backup schedule.

  • Keep: The amount of backups to keep for the backup schedule selected in the Backup Schedule list are shown in the Keep section of the Backups page. The amount of backups to keep are set in the individual backup schedule settings.

    See Creating or changing a backup schedule.

  • Next Backup: The next backup date and time for the backup schedule selected in the Backup Schedule list are shown in the Next Backup section of the Backups page.

  • Back Up Now: Click Back Up Now on the Backups page to perform the backup schedule selected in the Backup Schedule list.

  • Backup Status: The backup status of the most recent backup is shown in the Backup Status section of the Backups page.

  • Cancel: Click Cancel on the Backups page to cancel a backup that is in progress. If there are no actively running backups, Cancel is grayed out.

Notes 

  • You can keep canceled backups. When keeping canceled backups is enabled, FileMaker Server creates backup folders prefixed with "Canceled-". Keeping canceled backups will use hard drive space. To enable keeping canceled backups, on the Backups > Backup Settings tab, set Keep Cancelled Backups to Enabled. Only the last canceled backup is kept.

  • You can use parallel backups to reduce downtime and improve performance. When parallel backup is enabled, FileMaker Server groups databases based on their transaction commits. It can process backups for multiple groups at the same time. To enable parallel backups, on the Backups > Backup Settings tab, set Parallel Backup to Enabled.

  • Backup folders for incomplete backups include the following suffixes to indicate their status:

    • In progress: _InProgress

    • Cancelled: _Canceled

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