6. Scheduled Backups

6.1. Can I change the day and/or time that my scheduled backup runs?

It is possible to change the time that your scheduled backup is set to, but not the day. Each college and department is allocated one night a week on which all its backup accounts have their schedule slots.

If your machine is not normally switched on at the time when your scheduled backup occurs, but it is left connected to the Oxford network, then you can configure it to switch on and off automatically for the backups (see 6.2. Do I need to leave my computer on all night in order to back up?). If this is not convenient then you can run a manual backup at any time: on how to do this, please see our instructions for Windows, Mac and Linux.

However, it is possible to change the time of your backup, albeit within a limited number of slots during the evening and/or night (morning and afternoon slots are not possible). Please contact hfs@ox.ac.uk if you would like the time of your scheduled backup changed.

6.2. Do I need to leave my computer on all night in order to back up?

No, that is not necessary. There are two alternatives to leaving your machine switched on. It can be configured to wake up at a specific time for the backup schedule to run, and also to shut off again when the backup has completed: please see further our page on setting a machine to switch on and off for scheduled backups. Alternatively, you can run a manual backup at any time: on how to do this, please see our instructions for Windows, Mac and Linux.

6.3. When is my scheduled backup due to run?

To find out when your scheduled backup is due to run, you need separately to check both the day and the time that it runs, as follows:
  • Go to the IT Services Self-Registration page which gives TSM client information and select your TSM node to see your backup day.
  • Go to the IT Services Self-Registration page concerning TSM scheduled backups and select your TSM node to see your scheduled start time.

6.4. How can I stop receiving the "TSM Scheduled Backup failure report" when I only back up manually?

You can't! The messages are generated as a batch for all TSM clients. As the message states, you can ignore this message if you only perform manual backups, or use it as an aide-de-memoire to run a manual backup on receipt of such a message.

6.5. How can I stop the TSM scheduler running?

In certain circumstances you may wish to stop running scheduled backups. For example:
  • Your machine is never connected to the university network when the overnight schedules run, and so you do not need a scheduler running.
  • You are running a series of initial manual backups in order to send a full copy of your data to the HFS, before later moving on to use the scheduled ones.
  • You lost data and have as yet to restore it with TSM: in this case you should switch off TSM services to ensure that no further automatic backups run before or during your restore.
For how to stop the scheduler, please see the relevant instructions for Windows, Mac and Linux.

6.6. I've received an email with the subject of "TSM Scheduled backup failure report"

This means that a scheduled backup for a node registered to your email address has not completed. To resolve the issue or to understand why this happened please follow the Scheduled Backup Troubleshooting guide to resolve the issue.

6.7. What is the difference between MISSED, FAILED and SEVERED backups?

If your scheduled backup does not run or failed to complete you will receive an automated email notification, indication whether a particular node MISSED the schedule, FAILED to backup or was SEVERED. Definitions for each of these can be found below:

MISSED
This means that the scheduled backup has not ran at all, it did not begin. There are a number of reasons this may have happened, please follow the Scheduled backup troubleshooting guide to resolve the issue. Example of why a scheduled backup may have not run are; Machine not being left on, machine not having physical connection to the Oxford University network.
FAILED
This means that the scheduled backup has started, but something has caused the backup to fail. There are a number of reasons this may have happened, please follow the Scheduled Backup Troubleshooting guide to resolve the issue. Examples of why a scheduled backup may have failed are: files skipped as they were in use by another application, files were explicitly locked, files could not be read due to hard disk error or file corruption
SEVERED
This means that the scheduled backup has started, but something has caused the backup to fail or become disconnected. There are a number of reasons this may have happened, please follow the Scheduled Backup Troubleshooting guide to resolve the issue. Examples of why a scheduled backup may cause a SEVERED error are: network communication error, lack of memory causing connection or application to fail.

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