Active Directory Backup and Recovery settings

    Backup Settings Recovery Settings Archive Settings

    Backup Settings

    For each domain that has been linked to the product, configure all the settings required to perform backup operations. During the initial product installation process, the following information is obtained:

    • The OUs to be backed up in the domain.
    • Object types and their associated attributes to be backed up.
    • Also, when new domains are added under Domain Settings, a corresponding entry is made under Backup Settings. The domain name, the selected OUs, objects and backup frequency is listed here for domains that have backup settings configured.
      • Note Elasticsearch will be downloaded and saved at the same location as of ADManager Plus automatically.

    To modify the existing backup settings for a domain,

    1. Click the edit icon located in the Action column of the relevant domain.
    2. Select all or specific OUs to back up in the Select OUs to backup field. You can view the child OUs by expanding the parent OU node.
      NoteTo backup just the contents of the parent OU and not the contents of the nested containers, select the Exclude child OU(s) options located in the lower-right corner.
    3. Click the + icon in the Select object types to backup field. In the pop-up that appears, select the objects and attributes that you wish to backup.
      Note All custom attributes created by you will be displayed and you can easily add them. If any custom attribute is missing, search for the particular attribute by clicking the Add Attributes link and providing the LDAP name of the attribute.
    4. In the Full backup scheduler field, specify the date and time that the backup should be made each month.
    5. In the Increment Backup Scheduler field, specify if you want the backup to be made daily or weekly.
    6. Select the day you want the backup to happen in the Take Backup on drop-down.
    7. Specify the incremental backup time in the Select backup Time field.
    8. Enter the number of backups you would like to retain, and click Advanced Settings to configure the following:
      • In the Deleted objects validity field, specify the number of years you would like to hold deleted AD objects.
      • Enable the Use PAExec to backup GPOs option to back up GPOs using PAExec.
      • Check the Force Replication option to replicate the changes in your domain controllers before performing a backup.
    9. Enable the Backup disabled objects option to back up disabled user and computer accounts as well.
    10. Click Save to save the settings.

    Recovery Settings

    The Recovery Settings helps you configure the restore and recycle options pertaining to the objects in the domain you wish to recover. Using the settings in this section, you can perform the following operations while recovering AD objects:

    Default Passwords

    This option allows you to set a default password when you restore deleted user accounts.

    To enable this feature,

    • Login to ADManager Plus and click on the Backup tab.
    • Navigate to Active Directory > Settings > Recovery Settings.
    • Click Show Password option to view the default password for recycled user accounts.
    • To change the default password, click Change and key in the new password.
    • Click Save to save the changes.

    Preserve Object Password

    Select this option if you want to retain a user's last set password in Active Directory. This helps in restoring the last set password along with the user account during restoration.

    To enable this feature,

    • Login to ADManager Plus and click on the Backup tab.
    • Navigate to Active Directory > Settings > Recovery Settings.
    • Mark the checkbox against Preserve Object Password.
    • Click Save.

    Note ADManager Plus does not store users’ password. When this option is selected, ADManager Plus modifies the AD schema to instruct AD to retain the Unicode-pwdattribute when a user is deleted. When deleted users are restored, the Unicode-pwd attribute is also restored along with the other attributes of the user, thereby restoring users’ last set password.

    Force Replication

    Enabling this setting will immediately replicate any Restore/Rollback changes to all other domain controllers in the domain.

    To enable force replication,

    • Login to ADManager Plus and click on the Backup tab.
    • Navigate to Active Directory > Settings > Recovery Settings.
    • Mark the checkbox against Force Replication.
    • Save the changes.

    Recover Tombstone Expired Objects

    To enable recovery of tombstone expired objects,

    • Login to ADManager Plus and click on the Backup tab.
    • Navigate to Active Directory > Settings > Recovery Settings.
    • Mark the checkbox against Recover Tombstone Expired Objects.
    • Save the changes.

    Archive Settings

    Backup archival involves creating copies of backup files for long-term retention. The archival process is needed to avoid losing backups after a certain period and ensure the availability and accessibility of data in the event of data loss, system failures, or disasters.

    You can access the following from this page:

    Indexed data

    • This is the backup data that can easily be recovered as it is available for performing restorations.
    • Backup retention for indexed data is set to 6 months by default.
    • You can manually specify the period for which the indexed data should be available for performing restorations.
    • Minimum retention period for indexed data is 3 months and maximum is 12 months.

    Archived data

    • This is the backup data which has been archived for storage. You can index archived data at any time to perform restorations.
    • After one full backup is completed, we will take a snapshot of the previous full backup in the archive repository, but the latest full backup will not be archived.
    • Archive backup retention is set to 24 months by default.
    • You can also manually specify the period for which the archived data should be available in the storage.
    • Minimum retention period for archived data is 12 months and maximum is 60 months.

    Editing archive settings

    1. Navigate to the Backup > Active Directory > Settings > Archive Settings.
    2. Specify the number of months for which archived data has to be retained in the Retain archived data for field.
    3. Specify the number of months for which the indexed data has to be retained in the Retain indexed data for field.
    4. Click Save.

    Indexing and de-indexing

    1. Click Show Archives at the top-right corner. The below information will be displayed on the page:
      • No. of Archives: The total number of backup archives in the archive repository.
      • Total Archives Size: Total space occupied by the archived data.
      • No. of Indexed Archives: The total number of indexed archives available for performing restorations.
      • Total Indexed Archive Size: Total space occupied by the indexed data.
    2. Select the archive(s) you wish to index and click the Index Archive button. Similarly, select the archive(s) you wish to de-index and click the Deindex Archive button.