At certain times, you need to back up all files. Without this backup, some files are not protected.
When you first install the Tivoli® Storage Manager FastBack for Workstations client, you can immediately back up all files that you configured for protection. Without the initial backup, only files that change will be protected. The initial backup will protect all of the existing files that you designated for protection.
One exception is when you push an installation of Tivoli Storage Manager FastBack for Workstations to a remote computer and do not reboot. If you force a backup on a pushed installation without rebooting, Tivoli Storage Manager FastBack for Workstations attempts to back up files in the system context. These backups can fail, and when a logged-on user later attempts to restore these files the restore can fail.
After the initial backup, the typical rate of file changes does not require that you again back up all files at once. If you change the protection settings to include files that were not previously protected, the files need to be backed up. Until you change these files, and without a forced backup, Tivoli Storage Manager FastBack for Workstations does not back up these files. To protect these files, you must force a backup of all files.
If you do not change your configuration but suddenly make a large change to the files that are configured for protection, you must also force a backup of all files. You must also force a backup if you add a new drive whose files are configured for protection.
A forced backup causes Tivoli Storage Manager FastBack for Workstations to scan all local drives looking for files that you designated for protection. This means that every file in every directory will be investigated, and all files that meet the include, exclude, and size criteria will be copied to the local or remote or both storage areas. The creation of backup copies could take several hours. It also takes significant processing resources. Plan the backup at a time when you do not need computing resources for other activities.
After this scan and backup is complete, Tivoli Storage Manager FastBack for Workstations will continue to operate in the background without any significant impact on your regular computing activities.
Changing the Vault settings does not require a forced backup.
You can force an initial backup of a newly-installed client by setting this option when you identify an administration folder with the central administration console, create a configuration file, and then deploy a client with the created configuration file.
You can force a complete backup at any time by sending to the client a script that includes the command to back up all files.