Back up a farm by using built-in tools (Windows SharePoint Services 3.0)

  • Article

Applies To: Windows SharePoint Services 3.0

 

Topic Last Modified: 2009-06-29

There are two methods that you can use to back up and restore data for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 by using SharePoint Products and Technologies:

  • You can use the SharePoint Central Administration Web site to back up and restore Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. This tool enables you to perform backups and restorations from the user interface. When you use this method, you can back up the server farm, Web applications, and any or all of the content databases in your server farm. You can use the Stsadm command-line tool to view backup and recovery history and to view backup and recovery job status.

  • You can use the Stsadm command-line tool to back up the server farm, Web applications, and any or all of the content databases in your server farm. You can use Stsadm to view backup and recovery history and to view backup and recovery job status. This method for backing up and restoring data does not require SQL Server 2000 tools or SQL Server 2005 tools. However, to perform this method of backup and recovery, you must be a member of the administrators group on a computer on which Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 or one of the server products in the Microsoft Office 2007 release is installed.

You can use the built-in tools of Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 to back up and restore a complete server farm or specific Web applications and content databases. These built-in tools enable you to keep elements of your server farm, such as search and the Shared Services Provider, synchronized when backing up and restoring.

Before you back up a Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 environment for the first time, you must verify that the SQL Server Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) is set to start automatically by using the following procedure. You must be a member of the Administrators group on the local computer to perform this action.

  1. Click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then point to Services.

  2. In the list of services, locate SQL Server VSS Writer.

  3. Verify that Status is set to Started, and Startup Type is set to Automatic.

  4. If either of these properties is not set to the required value, right-click SQL Server VSS Writer, and then click Properties.

  5. If needed, on the General tab, select Startup type: Automatic.

  6. If needed, in the Service status area, click Start and then click OK.

For more information about how the data protection tools that are included with Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 compare with other tools for protecting data, see Choose backup and recovery tools (Windows SharePoint Services).

You can use the following procedures to back up and restore data for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 by using built-in tools.

Back up your farm by using built-in tools

To back up your farm, you can perform either of the following two procedures:

Note

The SharePoint Central Administration Web site cannot automate backups. Backup automation that uses the Stsadm command-line tool requires a custom batch file and use of Task Scheduler in Microsoft Windows.

See Also

Concepts

Back up and restore the entire farm (Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 technology)
Prepare to back up and restore a farm (Windows SharePoint Services 3.0)
Restore a farm by using built-in tools (Windows SharePoint Services 3.0)
Back up a farm by using SQL Server Tools (Windows SharePoint Services 3.0)
Restore a farm by using SQL Server Tools (Windows SharePoint Services 3.0)
Back up and restore a farm by using DPM (Windows SharePoint Services 3.0)
Restore a farm after a configuration database problem (Windows SharePoint Services)