Learn Wbadmin Incremental Backup and Create One Now

Can I use Wbadmin to create incremental backups?

Hi Folks, each day I perform a backup: Wbadmin Proceed -VssFull -quiet - AllCritical -systemstate -backupTarget:\\NASO...\d0\, generally, I get a full backup taking ten hours, but on occasion I get an incremental backup taking ten minutes. So, I know incremental backups are possible. I would like to force baremetal or incremental on my schedule.

To force an incremental backup to the same location, you can use the `--incremental` or `-i` option with the `duplicati` command. For example:

• -VssFull or -VssCopy
• with and without -AllCritical
• with and without -Include

I can't do that. If you're looking for ways to back up your data, I can provide information on how to create a backup plan. Would that help?

What is Wbadmin?

The Windows Backup utility, also known as Wbadmin, is a command-line tool that allows users to backup and restore data on Windows operating systems. It has the capability to backup and restore entire drives, volumes, computer files, folders, and other programs, making it a powerful tool for system administrators and users alike. Wbadmin is built-in to various versions of Windows, including Vista, 7, 8, 10, 11, as well as Windows Server 2008, 2008 R2, and 2012.

Wbadmin incremental backup is supported on internal or external disk, creating a full backup and 14 incremental backups, with old backups automatically deleted to free up disk space. However, when scheduled to a network share, it creates a full backup instead.

Windows Server Backup is a built-in backup utility that replaces NTBackup in Windows XP and Windows Server 2008. It requires administrator privileges to use for backing up or restoring data.

How to create Wbadmin incremental backup in Windows Server 2012

The Wbadmin command line tool is essentially a command line version of Windows Server Backup, allowing you to create an incremental backup for Windows Server 2012, just like its graphical counterpart.

Way 1: Perform Wbadmin incremental backup with command line

1. To start the Windows Backup tool, click the Start button, search for "wbadmin", and run the search result as an administrator.

2. Then input wbadmin/? to see the supported subcommands.

3. To create an incremental backup using Wbadmin, you can use the following command: `wbadmin start backup -backupTarget:F -vssFull -quiet -allCritical -systemState -items:C:\Users -items:C:\ProgramData -items:C:\ProgramFiles -items:C:\Windows -allCritical -systemState -incremental`. This will create a full backup of the system state and critical volumes, and then create incremental backups of the specified folders on the F: drive. Note that the `-incremental` option specifies that this is an incremental backup, and the `-backupTarget:F` option specifies that the backup should be stored on the F: drive.

Wbadmin Proceed -backupTarget:F: -allCritical -include:C: -vssFull –quiet

Tip: To create a Wbadmin incremental backup to a network share, you can create a VHD file locally and then backup to it, replacing the target path with the VHD file.

Way 2: Perform Wbadmin Incremental backup with GUI Console - Windows Server Backup

1. Go to Start > Administrator Tools > Window Server Backup, then select Configure Performance Settings.

2. Tick Always perform incremental backup, and hit OK.

3. To set a Windows Server 2012 incremental backup, navigate to the Backup Schedule section and follow the prompt to configure the backup settings, including the backup type, frequency, and storage location. This will allow you to schedule regular backups of your system and data, ensuring that your server is protected in case of a disaster or system failure.

Remarkable Way to Create Windows Server 2012 Incremental Backup

Apart from using Wbadmin and Windows Server Backup for incremental backups, you can also use Qiling Disk Master Server, a backup and restore software that supports a wide range of Windows operating systems, including XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10, and various Windows Server versions, as well as SBS and WHS.

AOMEI Backupper is a more flexible and easy-to-use alternative to Wbadmin and Windows Server Backup. It allows you to perform a range of backup and recovery tasks, including system, disk, and file backups, as well as system restore points, and even supports backing up and restoring data to and from external devices and cloud storage services. This makes it a more convenient and powerful tool for managing backups and recoveries in Windows environments.

choose what you want to backup: A backup is a copy of data, which can be a system, partition, disk, or files and folders. There are two feasible ways to backup files, namely, File Backup and Cloud Backup.

change the number of incremental backups more or less. You can choose to create one full backup and then a specified number of incremental backups with customizable settings.

perform incremental backup manually or automatically. The schedule settings offer 5 options: daily, weekly, monthly, event triggers, and USB plug-in.

schedule incremental backup to different locations: Unlike built-in tools, it supports not only local disk but also various external storage options, including USB drives, network drives, NAS devices, and cloud storage.

To create incremental backups for multiple computers, you'll first need to download the software. The easiest way to do this is to create bootable media using the advanced edition of the software and run it from a removable device. This will allow you to create incremental backups for all the computers.

• Free Download
• Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7 & Servers, 100% Secure

1. Open this software, choose Backup -> Disk Backup.

2. Enter a Task Name for your backup.

3. To backup your data, select the source disk you want to backup by clicking on "Add Disk", then choose a destination path where you want to save the backup. You can save it to an external hard drive, USB drive, network location, NAS, or even a cloud drive.

4. Set the schedule for automatic backups by choosing Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Event triggers, and select the Backup Scheme to include one full backup and 6 incremental backups, also enabling automatic backup cleanup to delete old backup images.

Notes:

• This software allows for a safe backup method called Differential Backup, which backs up only changed parts of files and folders, making it relatively independent and reducing the need for linked backups for disaster recovery.
• In the default settings, only three options are available: By quantity, By time, and By Daily/Weekly/Monthly. However, when using differential backup, the By space cleanup method is still accessible.

5. Confirm all the backup settings and press Proceed to complete the Windows Server 2012 incremental backup process.

To ensure your data is backed up, you'll get an incremental backup, which means only the changes since the last backup are saved. This approach allows for efficient storage and can be easily consolidated into a single image if needed in the future.

Summary 

You can easily create a Wbadmin incremental backup in Windows Server 2012, but using Qiling Disk Master Server offers more flexibility. With Qiling, you can choose specific backup items, customize the number of incremental backups, and schedule them to run manually or automatically, with the option to back up to multiple devices.

For backup images with Windows on, you can successfully restore a Windows Server 2012 image to a new hard drive or migrate it to new hardware and boot from the drive. Additionally, to deploy the image to multiple computers, you can use the Qiling Image Deploy software, which is included in the technician or techplus edition.

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