Scheduled ASR for Win2003?

I have a Win2003 server. I know how to run an ASR (Automated System Recovery) and a scheduled backup of the system state and C drive, both using the built in ntbackup.exe that comes with Win2003.

My question is, how do I run a scheduled ASR?

I am trying to setup a daily or weekly ASR to run so we can back that up to tape. That way, if the server dies, we can restore it pretty quickly from the last ASR and not have to pray our regular backup method was successful to restore it that way.

Is it a batch file, 3rd party software, etc???

 

OK, I think I'm going to stick my neck out here. My understanding of ASR comes from use of Vertitas Backup Exec automated recovery system. NT backup since Windows 2000 is in fact a cut down version of Veritas Backup Exec. I've tried looking through the Microsoft documentation to see what has changed from the original Backup Exec version, but as usual I've not found it easy to track down details. Lot of information on how to do it, but little on what is actually being done. So as I understand it:

All the automated backup systems does is set up the partitions and save some basic system settings. It then provides a wizard system to accelerate and help you work through reinstalling the operating system to a point when it will support a full backup and then starts off the full backup from tape.

The data that it saves (such as partition information) should not be changing weekly, let alone daily unless you are doing some very strange things with your server.

If you want to regularly update your ASR disks, doing it once a month is plenty.

 

To clarify, ASR is built into Win2003 OS (also a feature in WinXP for desktop machines).

 

OK, I've done a bit more digging. As I thought, this is the same as the Veritas system.

First have a look at this reference:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/expert/asr.mspx

and in particular the note "Note Only those system files necessary for starting up your system will be backed up by this procedure." at the end of the description of the ASR backup procedure. The same appears if you look in the help system in XP Pro backup help.

Then there is this about Windows 2003.

As I thought, all the ASR disk does is prepare the system partition and install the minimum necessary files to start up the operating system. The system then boots to the minimum state able to support a full tape recovery.

The reason that you can't find a way of automating the creation of the ASR disk is that it is not required. The files being saved will only change if you make a fairly major alteration to the installation of the operating system. Unless you are doing this every day, you only need to recreate the ASR set occasionally. Once a month is plenty.

The important thing to do is make sure you are making regular full tape backups, and that you have a OS installation CD easily to hand as you will need both to be able to restore using ASR.

 

Those links talk about how to create and restore an ASR, but not how to schedule them to run on a regular basis (like a scheduled task).

The ASR requires a floppy disk which most of our newer servers do not have. How can you automate it so you don't need a floppy (if this is even possible)?

We don't necessarily make major changes in the OS every day, but when we do, we don't always make an ASR to reflect those changes (a good example would be monthly Microsoft patches where we don't want to have to do an ASR along with patching all our servers). We also install software, software patches, make registry changes, create shares, etc. throughout the month between the microsoft server patches.

 

If you look through the documentation on the microsoft.com site there are a number of pages describing how to use ASR without a floppy. For example, by copying the necessary files to a CD.

None of those changes would be recorded in the ASR disk. Files changed by patches, and registry entries will be restored from your tape back up. Things that will require a new ASR disk are partition changes, changing hard disk controllers, and changing the tape drive.

 

Exactly, ASR floppies hardly ever need to be updated once a production box is in place. It isn't a bad idea to make a fresh one during scheduled maintenance though just to make sure your have a good one on hand.

 

Scheduling ASRs

I happen to have written a VBScript that allows you to schedule ASRs on Windows 2003/XP Pro computers.

All you have to do is set some switches, then just run it as often as you'd like in the Scheduled Tasks. For a list of the parameters, run the script with the /? switch.

To get the script go to: www.unsupportedthoughts.com/programs.html

It's still a work in progress and there are a few bugs, but if you're not doing anything too crazy, it works just fine. If anyone downloads it, I'd appreciate feedback on it, or bug reports. I'm trying to create a FAQ for it.