Configuring Your Backups

You are now ready to begin configuring your backup sets. A backup set is simply a collection of files and/or folders you want to back up collectively. You can add as many items as you like to a backup set.

 

 

ACTION: Click on the Backups button from BackJack's Console window.

You are provided with a 'blank slate' allowing you to create a new backup set. The top section of this window is where the individual backup sets will be listed. The detail for each backup set will appear in the section directly below.

 

Creating a Backup Set

ACTION: Click (+) to create a new set in the Backup Sets field (by default, it will be called 'New Backup Set'). The default name of your backup set can be changed to help you identify the backup set and its contents.

TIP #1 - To edit the name of the backup set, simply double click on the name 'New Backup Set' and type in a new name

TIP #2 - Help tags are available via this window (place your mouse over an item to activate the tag)

Adding Items to Back Up

There are 2 ways to add items:

a) ACTION: Click to the right of the 'Items to Back Up' field

Navigate to the location on your hard drive where the item exists. Remember, you can press CANCEL at any time if you do not wish to proceed. Once you have located the item (select it so that it is highlighted), click the ADD button. BackJack will place that item in the Items field along with its location (it will show you the complete path leading up to the chosen item).

TIP - multiple items can be added to the 'Items to Back Up' field at the same time via the navigation window - for continuous adding (ie. selecting all items from top through to bottom), hold down the shift key to select all items - for discontinuous adding (ie. selecting items not together in a row), hold down the command (apple) key - once selected, click on the ADD button and they will be included in your items list

TIP - holding down the 'option' key lets you look inside bundles.

OR, you can:

b) Drag and drop items from your hard drive directly into this field.

TIP - The Items to Back Up list shows the associated icon from the Finder for each item in the list.

Removing Items

Select the item you wish to remove by clicking on it once (to highlight the item in your list).

ACTION: Click to remove the item from the list.

IMPORTANT: Deleting an item from a Backup Set DOES NOT delete the data from our servers (if a previous backup of the item was performed). It deletes the item from the Backup Set only. In order to delete the data from our servers, please see the Maintenance Window.

Setting Revision and Delete Options

You can set Revision and Delete options for each item in the list. If you chose not to set Item Options in this window, the default settings will apply (see Preferences Window). Select the item by clicking on it once (to highlight the item in the list).

ACTION: Click

You will notice that the full path to your file or folder is listed at the top for easy reference. The first, entitled "Revision Options" is where you choose what you want to occur when a file has been changed and needs to be backed up again. You can select:

  • Replace older copy - this means that every time you run a backup set (where BackJack detects changed items), it will overwrite (or replace) the older copy of that file that you are storing on our servers.
  • Keep XX older copies - 1 (one) is the default setting and the option that we recommend for the majority of users. It means that you will always have one older copy of any revised file on our servers. Remember, it will only update these copies if your data has changed.
  • Keep all older copies - this option means that each time you run a specific backup set, it will create another copy of the changed file on our servers.

ACTION: Select the option that is best for you. You can change this at any time. Remember, this applies only to the item selected in your Items list. If you want to set the same option for all items in your list, you will need to repeat these steps.

The second option, entitled "Delete Options" is where we give you the choice of what you want to occur when an Item (previously backed up as part of an existing backup set) has been deleted from your hard drive. In this situation, you need to tell BackJack what you want to do with the copy that you previously backed up to our servers. You can select:

  • Leave copies in backup set (remove manually) - this means that the Item will remain safely stored on our servers until you decide you no longer want to store it. You can delete at any time via the Maintenance Window.
  • Remove all copies from backup set after xx days - 15 days is the default setting - What this means is that BackJack will continue to store this Item for the number of days you specify and then purge it automatically. It will relay this information to you via your confirmation emails (ie. that the info will be removed in 15 days).

ACTION: Select the option that is best for you. You can change this at any time. Remember, this applies only to the item selected in your Items list. If you want to set the same option for all items in your list, you will need to repeat these steps.

The third option, entitled "Follow Aliases" (a checkbox) is where we allow you to tell BackJack to resolve any aliases (or symbolic links) it finds in the selected folder and back up the results.

If you select either an individual alias file or an alias of a folder to be backed up (ie. as an item in your Items list), it will resolve (point to) the original files and back them up. If you add a folder that contains both alias files and alias folders, you can now apply Alias options. If you leave the 'Follow Aliases' checkbox unchecked, BackJack will only back up the alias file or folder itself and not the original contents. If, however, you activate the 'Follow Aliases' checkbox, it will resolve the alias (back up the originals). The above is also true for symbolic links. For more information about aliases or symbolic links (in general), please refer to your Mac OS X manual.

ACTION: If you wish to resolve aliases for a folder, select this checkbox.

Finally, if the fourth item in this window is for reference purposes only. If the item you are setting options for is a folder, the checkbox will be checked.

Item Count

To the right of the 'Items to Back Up', 'Filters' and 'Schedule' titles, there is an item count. This is a quick, convenient way to see the number of items contained within a backup set as well as the number of filters and/or schedules configured.

Tip - You can collapse or expand the 'Items to Back Up', 'Filters' and 'Schedule' fields by clicking on the arrows to the left of each of these titles.

 

Configuring Filters

Filters are an important feature since they allow you to configure what you don't want to back up as part of a backup set. The Filters section has 4 default filters (most commonly filtered items). You do not need to use the default filters we have supplied. You can delete them simply by highlighting each one and clicking . Note that filters are not case sensitive.

Adding Filters - there are 3 ways to add filters:

a) ACTION: To ADD a new filter, select

The pulldown menu allows you to filter information based on: file name, folder name, full path, date file modified, date file created, date folder modified, date folder created, file size, extension, visibility, type, creator. Select your choices from the pulldown menu and place information into the blank value field. If you need to navigate in order to verify the information to be put into the value field, select the Get Info button. Once you do this, you can navigate to the item on your hard drive and press Select. It will display that information in the value field of the Configure Filter window.

To select filters, you can also:

b) Drag and Drop on the list of Filters in the Backups window. All items will be added with a default filter of 'full path is'

OR, you can:

c) Drag and Drop into the Configure filter window (instead of clicking on the Get Info button, just drop a file on the window)

TIP - The comments field can be blank or you can enter a description to keep track of what the filter is and why you configured it.

Deleting Filters

ACTION: Highlight the filter you wish to delete by selecting it and clicking

Editing Filters

ACTION: Highlight the filter you wish to edit by selecting it and clicking . Make the appropriate changes and select OK . 

Scheduling Your Backup

The schedule that you set applies to ALL of the items in your backup set. You can set more than one schedule for a backup set. Typically, clients have only one schedule per backup set (ie. daily).

ACTION: Click to the right of the Schedule field.

You will be presented with three (3) different options as follows:

  1. Once only - Select this option if you want to perform a backup of your backup set one time only (ie. for data that you want archived offsite).
  2. Every xx hour(s)/day(s)/week(s)/month(s) - You are given the option of choosing the number of hours, days, weeks or months that you want to back up your set. For example, you may choose only to backup this set every 7 days or every 2 weeks or every month. It depends entirely on the nature of your files and how often a backup is required. You'll notice this is the default setting for the Schedule window.
  3. Every Week on - This option allows you to specify the specific days of the week that you wish to perform a backup. You may choose to do a backup daily if the information is critical or every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, etc.

ACTION: choose the option that is right for you. Keep in mind you are not charged for how often you back up to our servers. Then, specify the exact date in the format shown (ie. mm/dd/yy) and the time in hours, minutes and AM/PM.

Go ahead and enter the date and time. OK the window. If you want to set another schedule for the same backup set, you simply repeat the process above.

ACTION: You can edit or delete a schedule by selecting the schedule and clicking on either or

Tip - You can put an automated schedule on hold for any selected backup set as follows: - locate the clock icon to the left of the 'next execution' field in the Backup Sets section. This icon helps you to determine the schedule status of your backup set. The Active icon (dark grey) represents a backup set that has a schedule set and is not on hold. The Dimmed icon (light grey) represents a backup set that does not have any schedules set and is the default setting for a new backup set created. The Inactive icon (dark grey with red X) represents a backup set that has a schedule set but the user has chosen to put a hold on the automatic execution. 

Selecting a Finish Action

Once your backup session is complete, you can tell BackJack to perform one of 5 different actions. You select the finish action via the pulldown menu to the right of each of your backup sets:

  • None - this means that once your backup session is done, your computer will remain on, all programs will remain active including BackJack (Backups window is displayed) - the Next Execution date will be set for next scheduled date/time
  • Quit BackJack - the BackJack application will quit automatically once session is complete - you'll note how this is the default setting
  • Sleep - your Mac's hard drive will be put to sleep
  • Restart Computer - your Mac will restart itself once the session is complete
  • Shutdown Computer - you can tell BackJack to completely shutdown your Mac once the session is complete
  • Log Out - will log out the current user

Note: For each of these finish actions (with the exception of 'None'), BackJack will provide the user with a 15-second countdown window - this gives the user the option of performing the finish action immediately or canceling the configured finish action.

Saving Your Backup Set

Prior to any changes being made to the Backups window, the default buttons with be Preview and Execute Now. Once you add items, configure a schedule, add filters, etc. then these buttons will automatically change to Cancel and Save.

ACTION: Click SAVE and your settings will be saved. The PREVIEW and EXECUTE NOW buttons will once again become visible. If you don't want to save any of this information, simply click CANCEL. Once you save the window, the Next Execution date is set (if you configured an automated backup). If this is your first backup session, there will be no date/time showing beside the Last Execution section.

If you make changes and attempt to exit without saving, then the window below will appear. You have the option of saving, canceling or not saving any changes you have made. Note that the red circle in the top left-hand corner of the Backups window will have a black dot inside if changes have been made to the window (ie. changes that need to be saved prior to exiting).

  

Previewing Your Backup Set

 

ACTION: Once you save, you can now click on the PREVIEW button.

You will note the ORIGINAL (pre-compressed) size along with the total number of files BackJack intends to back up. Keep in mind that if you are previewing after an initial backup session has already been performed, BackJack is only going to detect and back up changed data.

At this point, you have the option of exiting out of the Preview window or clicking on the 'Back These Up' button to immediately commence the backup session.

Executing a Manual Backup

ACTION: Click on the EXECUTE NOW button to manually commence the backup process. If you have a backup scheduled to take place at a later date/time, it will still run as configured.

The Backup Progress window is important for monitoring the status of your backup session. It relays the following information to you:

  • start time (date and time the backup session started)
  • elapsed time (how much time so far has elapsed in the backup process)
  • time remaining for the backup session to complete
  • finish action selected by user
  • total number of files to be backed up
  • number of files already completed
  • number of files remaining
  • original file size

Tip - You can either STOP or PAUSE the backup process from this window - if you pause the session, that button will change to a 'continue' button - if you stop the session completely, you will be automatically taken back to the Backups window.

Automated Backup Sessions

For automated backups to occur, the following requirements must be met:

  1. the mac needs to be on at the time of the scheduled backup
  2. the mac's hard drive cannot be sleeping (sleeping display is fine)
  3. the user must be logged in

The backup execution will take place according to the preferences you have set. A connection will be established with your computer, the information you have selected for backup will be compressed, encrypted and sent via the Internet to our secure servers. Before each automated launch, BackJack presents a 15-second countdown window which allows you to stop (defer) the backup if necessary.