Dell EMC Avamar for Windows Servers 19.7 User Guide

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Windows VSS plug-in backup options

Plug-in options enable you to control backup functionality that is specific to the Avamar Plug-in for the Windows VSS. You can specify plug-in options for on-demand and scheduled backups.

The following table lists options that are available for the Avamar Plug-in for Windows VSS when you perform an on-demand backup in Avamar Administrator or when you configure a dataset for scheduled backups.

Table 1. Windows VSS plug-in backup options
Option	Description
Backup type	Sets the backup level. Full is the only supported backup level for the Avamar Plug-in for Windows VSS.
Backup label	Assigns this descriptive label to the backup.
Create Disaster Recovery Backup	Specifies whether to perform a BMR backup with the System State backup. Select the checkbox to perform a BMR backup except when you are backing up Active Directory data. If you clear the checkbox, the backup is not valid for BMR.
When backup detects missing Windows System State files, complete the backup successfully without exceptions	Specifies whether to ignore missing Windows System State files during the backup. Select the checkbox to report the missing files as warnings and allow the backup to complete successfully. Clear the checkbox to report the missing files as errors and to allow the backup to complete with exceptions.
Ignore third-party services when identifying critical volumes. Applies to Windows 8 (or later).	Specifies whether to include or exclude a noncritical disk on Windows Server 2012 or Windows 8 when a service or application is installed on the disk and causes the disk to become critical. Select the checkbox to exclude the noncritical disk from the backup. Clear the checkbox to include the noncritical disk in the backup.
Store backup on Data Domain system	To store the backup on a Data Domain system instead of the Avamar server, select the checkbox and then select the Data Domain system from the list. NOTE To enable this option, add a Data Domain system to the Avamar configuration. The Avamar and Data Domain System Integration Guide provides instructions.
Encryption method to Data Domain system	Specifies the encryption method for data transfer between the client and the Data Domain system during the backup.
Advanced Options
Temporary directory for the plug-in	Temporary folder.
Enable debugging messages	Writes maximum information to the log files. The backup process generates very large log files.
Command line flags¹
--exclude-non-critical-dynamic-disks={true \| false}	Set this option to true to exclude noncritical disks from system restore preparation to avoid reformatting the disks. The default value is true. According to Microsoft Best Practices, if any dynamic disk is critical, then the entire dynamic disk pack should be treated as critical and included in the backup. If you specify this option, then you may need to use the --exclude_non_critical_disks option during the offline disaster recovery.
--vss-ignore-missing-windows- files={true \| false}	Set this option to true to ignore any missing VSS writer files during the backup. Backups may fail if VSS writers contain files that do not exist on the computer.