Back up OSS objects - Cloud Backup - Alibaba Cloud Documentation Center

To prevent data loss or damage caused by accidental deletion, modification, or overwriting, we recommend that you use Cloud Backup to back up all directories and files in your Object Storage Service (OSS) bucket. Cloud Backup allows you to configure flexible backup policies to back up data to the cloud. You can view and restore data at any time. This topic describes how to use Cloud Backup to back up objects from an OSS bucket.

Prerequisites

Cloud Backup is activated. You are not charged for activating Cloud Backup. If you use the OSS backup feature of Cloud Backup, you are charged for the storage usage of backup vaults and OSS requests. OSS request fees are included in your OSS bills. For more information, see Billing of the OSS backup feature.
An OSS bucket whose storage class is Standard or Infrequent Access (IA) is created. For more information, see Create a bucket.

Usage notes

The first time you create a backup plan or associate a backup plan with a backup policy, Cloud Backup automatically creates a service-linked role named AliyunServiceRoleForHbrOssBackup to obtain the permissions to access related resources. In the dialog box that appears, assign the role as prompted. For more information, see Service-linked roles for Cloud Backup.
Before you use Cloud Backup to protect OSS objects, take note of the following information:
- Cloud Backup allows you to back up and restore buckets whose storage class is Standard or IA. Cloud Backup does not support the backup and restoration of buckets whose storage class is Archive, Cold Archive, or Deep Cold Archive.
- Cloud Backup allows you to back up and restore objects whose storage class is Standard or IA. Cloud Backup does not support the backup and restoration of objects whose storage class is Archive, Cold Archive, or Deep Cold Archive.

Cloud Backup does not support the backup and restoration of access control lists (ACLs) that control the read and write permissions on objects.
- You are charged for OSS API operations that are called by Cloud Backup during the backup of OSS objects. OSS request fees are included in your OSS bills. For more information, see Billing overview.
- When Cloud Backup reads OSS data from buckets or objects that are infrequently accessed, OSS data retrieval fees are incurred. You are charged based on the size of retrieved IA data. OSS data retrieval fees are included in your OSS bills. For more information, see Data processing fees.
- If you delete an existing backup, the data integrity of subsequent backups is not affected.
- The scheduled backup plan that is enabled when you create an OSS bucket is free for 30 days. When the free trial expires, the scheduled backup plan is automatically disabled. We recommend that you switch to paid usage in a timely manner.
  Important
  A free-trial backup plan has limits. You cannot modify the source path and backup cycle. Each free-trial backup plan uses a separate backup vault. You cannot change the backup vault after you switch to paid usage. If you plan to back up all your data to the same backup vault in the future, do not use a free-trial backup plan.

Create a backup plan to periodically back up OSS objects

Note

After you create a backup plan, the first backup job performs a full backup and subsequent backup jobs perform incremental backups.

To create a backup plan for an OSS bucket, perform the following steps:

Log on to the Cloud Backup console.
In the left-side navigation pane, choose Backup > OSS Backup.
In the top navigation bar, select the region where the OSS bucket resides.
On the OSS Backup page, click Create Backup Plan.

In the Create Backup Plan panel, configure the parameters and click OK. The following table describes the parameters.

Note

You can use each backup plan free of charge for 30 days, which starts from the day when the backup plan is created. For example, if you create a backup plan on February 14, 2020, you can use the backup plan free of charge until March 15, 2020.
You cannot modify the source path and backup cycle of a free-trial backup plan. Each free-trial backup plan uses a separate backup vault. You cannot change the backup vault after you change a free-trial backup plan to a paid backup plan. If you plan to back up all your data to the same backup vault in the future, do not use a free-trial backup plan.

This topic describes how to configure a backup plan in paid mode. You can follow a similar procedure to configure a backup plan in free mode.

Click Switch to Paid Plan.

Configure the basic parameters described in the following table.

Important

If the region that you select supports backup policies, you can set a backup plan only by associating it with a backup policy. Cloud Backup periodically backs up OSS objects based on the backup policy.
To view the regions that support backup policies, click Policy Center in the left-side navigation pane of the Cloud Backup console. For more information about how to create a backup policy, see Create a backup policy.

Parameter	Description
Source OSS Bucket	Select the name of the OSS bucket that you want to back up from the drop-down list. Cloud Backup automatically obtains all OSS buckets in the region within your account.
Source Path	Select a directory of the OSS bucket from the drop-down list. By default, all objects in the root directory of the OSS bucket are backed up.
Backup Policy	Select a proper backup policy from the drop-down list. Cloud Backup automatically backs up data sources based on the backup policy that you configure. Backup policies help you flexibly manage data sources. A backup policy includes the following settings: backup vault encryption method, backup interval, retention period, cross-region replication policy, automatic archiving of backup data, and virus detection for backup points. If the default backup policy does not meet your requirements, you can click Manage Policy to go to the Policy Center page to create or modify a backup policy. For more information about the parameters in a backup policy, see Manage backup policies.
Performance Optimization
Use OSS Inventory	Specify whether to enable the OSS inventory feature to back up data from the OSS bucket. Default value: No. If you need to back up a large amount of data from an OSS bucket, we recommend that you enable this feature. For more information, see Back up a large amount of OSS objects by using the OSS inventory feature.

After the backup plan is created, the backup plan is in the Running state. Cloud Backup backs up OSS objects from the specified start time at the specified backup interval.

Backup is successful

When the backup execution time is reached, Cloud Backup runs a backup job. If the Status of the backup job is Completed, the backup job is completed on the current day.

You can view each backup record in the Backup History section. Later, you can restore files based on these historical backups. For more information, see Restore OSS objects.

Troubleshooting

If the Status of the backup plan or backup job is abnormal, you can resolve the issue based on the following instructions.

Status of the backup job: Failed (The OSS bucket does not exist.)
The OSS bucket is deleted.
- If the OSS bucket is deleted as expected, ignore the backup job status. To prevent additional backup storage fees, we recommend that you perform the following operation to delete the related storage vault: Click Storage Vaults in the left-side navigation pane, and find and delete the storage vault.
- If the OSS bucket is deleted unexpectedly, perform the following operation to restore the OSS bucket: Create an OSS bucket in the corresponding region and use the OSS bucket as the restoration destination to restore OSS objects. For more information, see Restore OSS objects.
- Status of the backup plan: Suspended
  The backup plan has been suspended. After the backup plan is suspended, Cloud Backup no longer backs up objects from the OSS bucket. We recommend that you resume the backup plan at your earliest opportunity.

Browse and download backup files

Browse backup files
You can use the Browse feature to view files that have been backed up. If virus detection has been performed on a backup point, Cloud Backup marks the files that are infected with viruses.
1. On the Backup Plans tab, find the OSS bucket and click Backup History in the Actions column.
2. In the Backup History section, find the backup point that you want to view and click Browse.
Download backup files
You cannot directly download backup files. However, you can restore files to a specified temporary path in your OSS bucket and then download files from the OSS bucket.

Virus detection

To prevent virus-infected files from being restored to the production environment, Cloud Backup provides the Backup Point Virus Detection feature. The feature allows you to select a clean and safe backup point for future data restoration. You can click Virus Detection to check for viruses. For more information, see Backup point virus detection.

Cross-region backup

To prevent regional disasters from affecting business continuity, Cloud Backup allows you to create a remote mirror vault for a general-purpose backup vault. Data in the backup vault is automatically replicated to the mirror vault across regions for geo-redundancy. You can create a remote mirror vault for a backup vault that stores the backup data of OSS objects. For more information, see Back up data across regions.

You can also create mirror vaults for general-purpose backup vaults that you create by using the following features: ECS file backup, SAP HANA backup, File Storage NAS, on-premises NAS backup, and on-premises file backup. In addition, you can use enterprise-class features such as cross-account backup, automatic archiving, KMS-based encryption, and immutable backup.

Related operations

The following table describes the operations that you can perform in the Actions column on the Backup Plans tab.

Operation	Description
Backup History	Views all the backup records of the OSS bucket or the backup records in the last three months.
Execute Immediately	Immediately runs a backup plan.
Edit	Modifies the parameters of an OSS backup plan that does not meet your business requirements.
Suspend Plan	Suspends a running backup plan.
Resume Plan	Resumes a suspended backup plan.
Delete Plan	Deletes a running backup plan. After you delete the backup plan, Cloud Backup no longer runs backup jobs for the backup plan but retains the backup data.
Alert Settings	If a backup job fails or the client is disconnected from the server, Cloud Backup sends alert notifications based on the alert policy that you configure. For more information, see Configure an alert rule for on-premises file backup.

Restore OSS objects

For more information, see Restore OSS objects.

References

If you need to back up a large amount of objects, you can use the OSS inventory feature, which significantly improves the efficiency and performance of data backup. For more information, see Back up a large amount of OSS objects by using the OSS inventory feature.
Cloud Backup provides resource plans for various backup scenarios so that you can enjoy higher discounts and minimize your costs. For more information, see Purchase resource plans.
Cloud Backup provides the data synchronization feature to help you synchronize a large amount of OSS objects from the source to the destination. For more information, see Overview of the data synchronization feature.
For more information about Cloud Backup, see What is Cloud Backup?