File-Level Backup


The most commonly used type of backup in CloudBerry Backup is file-level backup. It essentially allows you to back up individual files from your computer to the backup destination (local or cloud storage). This is great for backing up important project files, source code, personal documents, photos, presentations, Microsoft Office documents, and so forth. This type of backup is mainly designed to ensure that your most sensitive and important information is regularly backed up and therefore not vulnerable in the event of hardware malfunction or ransomware strike.

File-level backup can be configured in the Backup Wizard by clicking on the Backup button on the main toolbar or by using the CMD+B shortcut.

Step 1. Selecting a Backup Destination

Once the Backup Wizard starts, go ahead and select the preferred backup destination. If you don't have one, click on the plus button at the bottom or read our article that explains the process of adding backup destinations in detail.

Step 2. Specifying the Plan's Name

Next, specify the plan's name. This name will be displayed throughout the app when referring to the plan.

Also, indicate if you want to use block-level backup to upload only modified parts of your files during subsequent backups and therefore reduce upload volumes and bandwidth utilization.

Without block-level backup, each file is reuploaded entirely whenever it is modified. For example, if you add a single entry to a 5-gigabyte database, the entire database will be reuploaded during the next backup plan execution. A more efficient solution would only take the modified bits of a particular file and upload them instead of the entire file. That's exactly what block-level backup in CloudBerry Backup does.

Step 3. Selecting Files for Backup

Next, select the files and folders you'd like to back up. Optionally, select the Show hidden files and folders checkbox at the bottom to display files and folders hidden by default.

It is possible to specify how CloudBerry Backup should treat symlinks in the app's settings.

Step 4. Advanced File Filtering

The next step is file filtering. This step allows you to explicitly specify the types of files that should be backed up as well the types that should be skipped.

Optionally, it is possible to instruct CloudBerry Backup to back up empty folders and system and hidden files by selecting corresponding checkboxes at the bottom.

By default, CloudBerry Backup backs up all files in the specified folders.

Step 5. Compression and Encryption

Here you can enable compression and encryption. CloudBerry Backup supports up to 256-bit military grade encryption by default.

CloudBerry Backup doesn't store the key anywhere for security purposes. If you forget it, the data is permanently gone.

This step also contains options exclusive to certain cloud storage services. For example, if you're backing up data to Amazon S3, the range of available options includes:

  1. Server-Side Encryption. Use this option to employ multi-factor encryption provided by Amazon to augment CloudBerry Backup's encryption.
  2. Standard-IA Storage. Being the middle option between S3 and Glacier, Standard-IA offers high durability and low latency of S3 at a lower price.
  3. S3 Transfer Acceleration. Use this option to accelerate file transfer for an extra fee. The target bucket must have this feature enabled.

Step 6. Retention Policy

The next step is Retention Policy. Here you can set a policy for versions management. In other words, CloudBerry Backup can be explicitly instructed to retain a certain number of versions of each file in the cloud for a specified period.

The last option enables you to remove locally deleted data from the cloud. By default, if you deleted a file that had been previously backed up, CloudBerry Backup will ensure that it remains in the cloud in case you need it. To avoid storing locally deleted data in the cloud, select the Delete files that have been deleted locally checkbox and specify the period after which the data will be removed from the cloud.

Setting the Delete after textfield to 0 will remove locally deleted data from the cloud during the next backup plan execution.

Step 7. Schedule

Next up is Schedule. Scheduling can be configured in the following ways:

  1. No schedule. The backup plan will not be executed unless started manually.
  2. Specific date. The backup plan will only be executed once, on the specified date. Not recommended.
  3. Recurring. This is by far the most flexible option. Here you can schedule the backup plan to be executed daily, weekly, or monthly.

Step 8. Full Schedule

If you've enabled block-level backup, you will also need to schedule full backups to ensure that retention policy can be applied to older versions. We recommend you at least schedule monthly full backups if you perform daily backups of critical files.

You can also optionally terminate the backup plan if it executes longer than the specified time period. To do that, select the Stop plan if it runs for checkbox and indicate the required threshold.

Step 9. Email Notifications

Next, indicate if you'd like to receive email notifications following backup execution. If the plan completes or fails, we'll send you an email that contains all of the information regarding the status of the plan.

Specify your email, user name, and the preferred email subject. The email subject can contain the following macros:

  2. %RESULT%
  3. %PLAN_NAME%

For example, you could enter the following subject:

Backup Plan: %PLAN_NAME% executed with status: %RESULT% 

Step 10. Plan Review

On the last page of the Backup Wizard, review the plan and optionally select the Run plan now checkbox. Click Done.

The backup plan has been successfully created!

Step 11. Plan Execution

If you selected the last checkbox when reviewing the plan, the backup plan will automatically execute. Otherwise, click on the Start button on the main toolbar to manually execute it. In the meantime, you can observe the backup process in the progress bar at the bottom of the plan view.

When the plan completes, you will be notified over email about the status. With scheduling enabled, the plan will recurrently execute without you having to open the app or click any buttons.