Create a synchronization plan

Procedure

1. Log on to the Cloud Backup console.

2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Synchronization > Data Synchronization.

3. In the top navigation bar, select a region.

4. On the Data Source List tab, find the data source that you want to synchronize and click Sync to Another in the Actions column.

5. In the Create Sync Plan panel, perform the following steps:

   1. Associate a client group and click Next.

      A client is used to execute the synchronization plan that you create. The client can be installed on the source or destination server.

      You can add multiple clients to a client group to concurrently run a synchronization job.

      • Create Backup Client Group: Select Create Backup Client Group, enter a name for the client group in Client Group Name, and add the required clients to the client group.

      • Select Backup Client Group: Select an existing client group.

      After you add clients to the client group, you can modify or delete the clients in the client group in the View Client Groups panel. If no client is installed, download and activate a Cloud Backup client. For more information, see Download and activate a Cloud Backup client.

   2. Configure the parameters of the synchronization plan and click OK. The following table describes the parameters.

      Parameter	Description

      Parameter	Description
      Source	The data source from which you want to synchronize data. You must add the data source in advance. For more information, see Add a data source. Source File Path: the path of the file to be synchronized. Example: /source. Important The following limits apply to the path of the source file: Subdirectories or files whose names are . or .. cannot be synchronized. Files whose paths contain backslashes (\) and double forward slashes (//) cannot be synchronized. Subdirectories or files whose names contain forward slashes (/) cannot be synchronized.
      Destination	The data source to which you want to synchronize data. You must add the data source in advance. For more information, see Add a data source. Destination: Select the destination data source from the drop-down list. Destination File Path: the path of the files on the destination. You must create the destination path in advance. Important Note that an existing file may be overwritten when you write a file to the destination file path. Exercise caution when you select a file conflict policy in the destination file path. When a file with the same name exists in the path: Skip the file with the same name and do not overwrite it: ignores the file and does not synchronize it. Overwrite the file if the file is updated: synchronizes the file if the file is updated and overwrites the existing file. Always overwrite the file with the same name: synchronizes the file as the source file.
      Synchronization Policy	Specifies a synchronization policy. Synchronization Policy: Scan and Slice Source Data (Default): scans the source files, slices the scan results, and delivers the scan results to the client group for data synchronization. Specify files: synchronizes only specified files. Enter one path in each row. The path must be a relative path in the source path. Example: /dir1/example.txt. Note When you specify files, the path cannot exceed 3,000 characters in length. If you want to synchronize a large number of files, select Scan and Slice Source Data (Default) to synchronize data. Scan Policy: You can use File Path Filter and Incremental File List to configure the scan policy and improve data synchronization efficiency. No: No scan policy is used. File Path Filter Include the Following Paths or Exclude the Following Paths: The rules are mutually exclusive and only one of them takes effect at a time. You must enter the names of the files that you want to include or exclude in the Filter Paths field. Cloud Backup synchronizes files based on the specified rule. Incremental File List: You can synchronize data based on incremental files only if Source is set to OSS or S3 Compatible Storage. The path must be a subdirectory in the source path. For more information, see Incremental file list (ChangeList). On Data Source: Select the data source where the incremental file list resides. Incremental List Path: Enter the location of the incremental file synchronization table on the source or destination in Incremental List Path. Note For example, when you create a plan for synchronization from S3-Compatible Storage to Object Storage Service (OSS), you can use the incremental file list to specify the files to be synchronized. If the incremental file lists changelist1.csv and changelist2.csv are stored in the source path /changelist, the value of the path for the incremental file list is /changelist.
      Sync Plan	Specifies the execution frequency of the synchronization plan, such as the start time and interval. Sync Plan Name: the name of the synchronization plan. If you do not configure this parameter, a random name is specified. Plan Execution Mode: You can select periodic automatic execution or manual execution. Periodic Automatic Execution: Start Time of Automatic Execution: the start time of synchronization. Automatic Execution Interval: the interval at which data is synchronized. Data can be synchronized by minute, hour, day, and week. The minimum interval is 10 minutes. Manual Execution Only: Click Run Now in the Actions column of the synchronization plan.
      Enable Data Verification	The data verification feature compares the checksums calculated for the source and destination data to ensure data correctness. This feature is enabled by default.
      Advanced Settings	By default, you do not need to modify the advanced settings. We recommend that you modify the advanced settings in the following conditions: A large amount of data or a large number of files are synchronized, and the synchronization job has performance issues and needs to be optimized. Maximum Number of Files Per Task: Change the value based on your business requirements. Maximum Amount of Data Per Task: Change the value based on your business requirements.

      After the synchronization plan is created, you can view the plan on the Sync Plan tab. Cloud Backup then periodically synchronizes data based on the synchronization plan.

Synchronization is successful

• When the synchronization execution time is reached, Cloud Backup executes a synchronization job. If the Status of the synchronization job is Completed, the synchronization is complete.

  

• The system generates a list of successfully synchronized files. You can download the report of completed synchronization jobs for further analysis.

  path	        type	size	reason	mtime	        checksum	                verified	metaOnly	hardlinks	inode	deviceID
  test1.pdf	file	365934		1.71748E+18	crc64:12677785020004273628	TRUE				
  test2.pdf	file	254230		1.71748E+18	crc64:13165410458929610029	TRUE				
  test3.pdf	file	302860		1.71748E+18	crc64:7755652143268969263	TRUE	

Configure alert settings for the synchronization plan

If a synchronization job fails or the client is disconnected from the server, Cloud Backup sends an alert notification by default.

1. Choose More > Alert Settings in the Actions column of the synchronization plan.

2. The following alert notification methods are available. After you configure alert settings, click OK.

   • Disabled: The Cloud Backup client does not send alert notifications.

   • Notify Alibaba Cloud Account: The Cloud Backup client sends alert notifications to the owner of the Alibaba Cloud account by using internal messages, emails, and text messages.

   • Custom: If you select this option, you must select one or more alert contacts or alert contact groups. After the configuration is complete, the Cloud Backup client sends synchronization alert notifications to the selected alert contacts or alert contact groups. For more information, see Manage alert contacts.

Troubleshooting

If a synchronization job fails, we recommend that you perform the following troubleshooting:

• Modify and confirm the configurations as prompted.

• View the client logs and locate the error code.

  Note

  The Cloud Backup client is installed in one of the following paths by default. The following paths are for reference only. The actual installation path may be different.

  • On Windows, you can view the logs in the C:\Program Files\Aliyun Hybrid Backup Service Client\logs path.

  • On Linux, you can view the logs in the /opt/alibabacloud/hbrclient/logs path.

• Check whether a File Storage NAS (NAS) file system fails to be mounted.

  • The Cloud Backup client for Windows does not support mounting of Network File System (NFS) file systems. If NFS files systems exist on the source or destination, select the Cloud Backup client for Linux when you create a synchronization plan.

  • If no exception occurs on the network path to which the Server Message Block (SMB) file system is mounted, obtain the error code from the log file. Then, find and handle the error code by referring to the Microsoft Documentation Center.

What to do next

After a synchronization plan is created, you can select the required operation in the Actions column. The following table describes the available operations.