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Backup Groups data

How to schedule automatic backups or perform a manual on-demand backup.

Updated over a month ago

Overview

You can schedule either automatic backups or perform a manual on-demand backup.

Before you begin

Before you initiate a backup operation for Microsoft Groups data, ensure the following:

Backup considerations

For more details on Group Mailbox Protection, please refer to Group Mailbox Protection Limitations & Considerations.

Auto-configuration of Groups for backup

You can automatically assign backup configuration settings to the newly discovered and already discovered but not yet configured Groups and their associated apps. To do that, refer to this video or perform the following steps:

  1. Sign in to inSync Management Console and navigate to Microsoft 365 > Groups .
    A page listing all the discovered groups appears. By default, their status is Not Configured.

  2. Go to the Settings tab.

  3. From the Auto Configuration section, click Edit.
    The Edit Auto Configuration popup is displayed.

  4. Turn on the Enable Auto Configuration of Groups for Backup option to automatically assign backup configuration settings to newly discovered Groups and their associated apps. The Edit Auto Configuration window will then be displayed.

  5. Select the storage to be assigned to the discovered Groups.


    πŸ“ Note

    The default backup settings from the profile will be applied.


  6. Select the checkbox to apply these backup configuration settings to Groups that have already been discovered but have not yet been configured for backup.

  7. Click Save.
    ​


    πŸ“ Note
    To retain the backups for an unlimited period, enter 0 as the value for all daily, weekly, and monthly retention settings.


Manual backup of Groups data

Use this method to manually assign backup configuration settings to Groups and their associated apps. Refer to this video or perform the following steps:

  1. Select the Group(s) you want to backup and click Configure for Backup. The Configure for Backup window will then appear.

  2. Enter the name or email address of the Group to be backed up.

  3. Select the storage region. Storage, once assigned, cannot be changed.

  4. Use either default or custom backup settings.

Default backup settingsβ€”The default settings are already defined in the profile. To edit them, see Edit default backup settings.

Custom backup settings -

Field

Description

Backup Frequency

Select the frequency of backups for Teams. For scheduled backups, at least one AD Connector should be registered and connected to inSync Cloud. For more information see Prerequisites to back up SaaS Apps data.

Retain daily data backups for

Type the number of days that you want to retain all backups.

At the end of the backup period, inSync will delete the data from the storage.

For example, if you specify that you want to retain all backups for five days and inSync completes the backup operation on January 6, 2023, inSync will delete the backup data from the storage on January 11, 2023.

Data Lock


πŸ“ Note

Only Cloud Administrators can enable the Data Lock feature.


Enables the Data Lock feature. For more information, see Data Lock.

To enable the Data Lock feature, select the Enable Data Lock checkbox​​​​​​ and click Yes in the confirmation window. On the summary page, the Data Lock status is displayed as enabled. These details will be captured in the Admin Audit Trail for auditing purposes.


πŸ“ Note

Once you enable the Data Lock feature, you cannot:

  • Delete the snapshots.

  • Edit the retention period.

  • Disable the Data Lock setting.

  • Go back to default settings.​​​​


Site Settings

Exclude Teams Meeting Recordings

The backups will exclude all files from the default folder path of Teams Meeting Recordings (TMR) by default. This setting applies to Teams sites only.

The default folder path is /Channel name/Documents/Recordings.

If you want to back up TMR files, enable this setting.


πŸ“ Note

  • The first backup after disabling the exclusion setting will be a full scan backup.

  • To avoid a full scan backup of all configured sites, disable the exclusion setting only for sites that require TMR files to be backed up.


Exclude File Types and Extensions

Type the file types that you want to exclude from the backup of a SharePoint site collection. The file extensions are automatically added to the adjacent field. If you want to remove a file type, click the file type.

Exclude Relative URL Paths

Specify the relative URL path of a subsite, Document Library, or List separated by a semicolon to exclude the specified paths from SharePoint backup.

6. Click Save.

The Backup Now option is disabled on the Groups page for the disabled groups.

7. The backup begins only after the storage is assigned. Select a storage from the Assign Storage list. When auto-configuration is enabled, storage is auto-assigned when you add a group. Update the backup and retention settings if required and click Save.

8. On the Summary tab, click Backup Now to trigger the backup.

After the backup activity is completed, the Backup Status on the Groups page changes to Backed Up Successfully.


πŸ“ Note

Restoring a group as a mail-enabled security group is not supported. The Mail-enabled security groups and Distribution groups can be restored only as Microsoft 365 groups.


Edit default backup settings

Edit the default backup settings to change the backup and retention settings from the default profile. To do that:

  1. Go to the Settings tab.

  2. From the Default Backup Settings section, click Edit.
    ​

    ​

    The Edit Default Backup Settings window is displayed.
    ​

  3. Select the frequency of backups. By default, it is once a day. You can change it to Twice a Day, Thrice a Week, Twice a Week, or Once a Week. For more information, see Define backup interval for SaaS Apps.

  4. In the Retain daily data backup for fields, specify the number of days, weeks, or months for which you want to retain all backups. At the end of the backup period, inSync will delete the data from the storage. For example, suppose you specify that you want to retain all backups for five days and inSync completed the backup operation on January 6, 2022. In that case, inSync will delete the backup data from the storage on January 11, 2022.
    ​


    πŸ“Notes
    The backup and retention settings for groups apply only to the groups' metadata. The group site complies with the associated SharePoint Site settings.
    To retain the backups for an unlimited period, enter 0 as the value for all daily, weekly, and monthly retention settings.


  5. Select the Exclude Teams Meetings Recordings checkbox to exclude the default folder path of Teams Meeting Recordings (TMR) from the backup.
    ​


    β€‹πŸ“Notes
    If you don’t select this option, a full scan backup of selected sites will be triggered if the previous backup excluded Teams Meeting Recordings.


  6. In the Exclude File Types and Extensions field, specify the file types you want to exclude from the backup of a SharePoint site collection. The file extensions are automatically added to the adjacent field. If you want to remove a file type, click the file type.

  7. Select the Include Private Plans checkbox if you want to include private plans in the backup.

  8. Click Save.

Where to go from here

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