Manage Azure file share backups with the Azure CLI
The Azure CLI provides a command-line experience for managing Azure resources. It's a great tool for building custom automation to use Azure resources. This article explains how to perform tasks for managing and monitoring the Azure file shares that are backed up by Azure Backup. You can also perform these steps with the Azure portal.
Prerequisites
This article assumes you already have an Azure file share backed up by Azure Backup. If you don't have one, see Back up Azure file shares with the CLI to configure backup for your file shares. For this article, you use the following resources:
- Resource group: azurefiles
- RecoveryServicesVault: azurefilesvault
- Storage Account: afsaccount
- File Share: azurefiles
If you prefer to run CLI reference commands locally, install the Azure CLI. If you're running on Windows or macOS, consider running Azure CLI in a Docker container. For more information, see How to run the Azure CLI in a Docker container.
If you're using a local installation, sign in to the Azure CLI by using the az login command. To finish the authentication process, follow the steps displayed in your terminal. For other sign-in options, see Sign in with the Azure CLI.
When you're prompted, install the Azure CLI extension on first use. For more information about extensions, see Use extensions with the Azure CLI.
Run az version to find the version and dependent libraries that are installed. To upgrade to the latest version, run az upgrade.
- This tutorial requires version 2.0.18 or later of the Azure CLI.
Monitor jobs
When you trigger backup or restore operations, the backup service creates a job for tracking. To monitor completed or currently running jobs, use the az backup job list cmdlet. With the CLI, you also can suspend a currently running job or wait until a job finishes.
The following example displays the status of backup jobs for the azurefilesvault Recovery Services vault:
az backup job list --resource-group azurefiles --vault-name azurefilesvault
[
{
"eTag": null,
"id": "/Subscriptions/ef4ab5a7-c2c0-4304-af80-af49f48af3d1/resourceGroups/azurefiles/providers/Microsoft.RecoveryServices/vaults/azurefilesvault/backupJobs/d477dfb6-b292-4f24-bb43-6b14e9d06ab5",
"location": null,
"name": "d477dfb6-b292-4f24-bb43-6b14e9d06ab5",
"properties": {
"actionsInfo": null,
"activityId": "3cef43ed-0af4-43e2-b9cb-1322c496ccb4",
"backupManagementType": "AzureStorage",
"duration": "0:00:29.718011",
"endTime": "2020-01-13T08:05:29.180606+00:00",
"entityFriendlyName": "azurefiles",
"errorDetails": null,
"extendedInfo": null,
"jobType": "AzureStorageJob",
"operation": "Backup",
"startTime": "2020-01-13T08:04:59.462595+00:00",
"status": "Completed",
"storageAccountName": "afsaccount",
"storageAccountVersion": "MicrosoftStorage"
},
"resourceGroup": "azurefiles",
"tags": null,
"type": "Microsoft.RecoveryServices/vaults/backupJobs"
},
{
"eTag": null,
"id": "/Subscriptions/ef4ab5a7-c2c0-4304-af80-af49f48af3d1/resourceGroups/azurefiles/providers/Microsoft.RecoveryServices/vaults/azurefilesvault/backupJobs/1b9399bf-c23c-4caa-933a-5fc2bf884519",
"location": null,
"name": "1b9399bf-c23c-4caa-933a-5fc2bf884519",
"properties": {
"actionsInfo": null,
"activityId": "2663449c-94f1-4735-aaf9-5bb991e7e00c",
"backupManagementType": "AzureStorage",
"duration": "0:00:28.145216",
"endTime": "2020-01-13T08:05:27.519826+00:00",
"entityFriendlyName": "azurefilesresource",
"errorDetails": null,
"extendedInfo": null,
"jobType": "AzureStorageJob",
"operation": "Backup",
"startTime": "2020-01-13T08:04:59.374610+00:00",
"status": "Completed",
"storageAccountName": "afsaccount",
"storageAccountVersion": "MicrosoftStorage"
},
"resourceGroup": "azurefiles",
"tags": null,
"type": "Microsoft.RecoveryServices/vaults/backupJobs"
}
]
Create policy
You can create a backup policy by executing the az backup policy create command with the following parameters:
- --backup-management-type - Azure Storage
- --workload-type - AzureFileShare
- --name - Name of the policy
- --policy - JSON file with appropriate details for schedule and retention
- --resource-group - Resource group of the vault
- --vault-name - Name of the vault
Example
az backup policy create --resource-group azurefiles --vault-name azurefilesvault --name schedule20 --backup-management-type AzureStorage --policy samplepolicy.json --workload-type AzureFileShare
Sample JSON (samplepolicy.json)
{
"eTag": null,
"id": "/Subscriptions/ef4ab5a7-c2c0-4304-af80-af49f48af3d1/resourceGroups/azurefiles/providers/Microsoft.RecoveryServices/vaults/azurefilesvault/backupPolicies/schedule20",
"location": null,
"name": "schedule20",
"properties": {
"backupManagementType": "AzureStorage",
"protectedItemsCount": 0,
"retentionPolicy": {
"dailySchedule": {
"retentionDuration": {
"count": 30,
"durationType": "Days"
},
"retentionTimes": [
"2020-01-05T08:00:00+00:00"
]
},
"monthlySchedule": null,
"retentionPolicyType": "LongTermRetentionPolicy",
"weeklySchedule": null,
"yearlySchedule": null
},
"schedulePolicy": {
"schedulePolicyType": "SimpleSchedulePolicy",
"scheduleRunDays": null,
"scheduleRunFrequency": "Daily",
"scheduleRunTimes": [
"2020-01-05T08:00:00+00:00"
],
"scheduleWeeklyFrequency": 0
},
"timeZone": "UTC",
"workLoadType": “AzureFileShare”
},
"resourceGroup": "azurefiles",
"tags": null,
"type": "Microsoft.RecoveryServices/vaults/backupPolicies"
}
Example to create a backup policy that configures multiple backups a day
This sample JSON is for the following requirements:
- Schedule: Back up every 4 hours starting from 8 AM (UTC) for the next 12 hours.
- Retention: Daily - 5 days, Weekly - Every Sunday for 12 weeks, Monthly - First Sunday of every month for 60 months, and Yearly - First Sunday of January for 10 years.
{
"properties":{
"backupManagementType": "AzureStorage",
"workloadType": "AzureFileShare",
"schedulePolicy": {
"schedulePolicyType": "SimpleSchedulePolicy",
"scheduleRunFrequency": "Hourly",
"hourlySchedule": {
"interval": 4,
"scheduleWindowStartTime": "2021-09-29T08:00:00.000Z",
"scheduleWindowDuration": 12
}
},
"timeZone": "UTC",
"retentionPolicy": {
"retentionPolicyType": "LongTermRetentionPolicy",
"dailySchedule": {
"retentionTimes": null,
"retentionDuration": {
"count": 5,
"durationType": "Days"
}
},
"weeklySchedule": {
"daysOfTheWeek": [
"Sunday"
],
"retentionTimes": null,
"retentionDuration": {
"count": 12,
"durationType": "Weeks"
}
},
"monthlySchedule": {
"retentionScheduleFormatType": "Weekly",
"retentionScheduleDaily": null,
"retentionScheduleWeekly": {
"daysOfTheWeek": [
"Sunday"
],
"weeksOfTheMonth": [
"First"
]
},
"retentionTimes": null,
"retentionDuration": {
"count": 60,
"durationType": "Months"
}
},
"yearlySchedule": {
"retentionScheduleFormatType": "Weekly",
"monthsOfYear": [
"January"
],
"retentionScheduleDaily": null,
"retentionScheduleWeekly": {
"daysOfTheWeek": [
"Sunday"
],
"weeksOfTheMonth": [
"First"
]
},
"retentionTimes": null,
"retentionDuration": {
"count": 10,
"durationType": "Years"
}
}
}
}
}
Once the policy is created successfully, the output of the command will display the policy JSON that you have passed as a parameter while executing the command.
You can modify the schedule and retention section of the policy as required.
Example
If you want to retain the backup of first Sunday of every month for two months, update the monthly schedule as below:
"monthlySchedule": {
"retentionDuration": {
"count": 2,
"durationType": "Months"
},
"retentionScheduleDaily": null,
"retentionScheduleFormatType": "Weekly",
"retentionScheduleWeekly": {
"daysOfTheWeek": [
"Sunday"
],
"weeksOfTheMonth": [
"First"
]
},
"retentionTimes": [
"2020-01-05T08:00:00+00:00"
]
}
Modify policy
You can modify a backup policy to change backup frequency or retention range by using az backup item set-policy.
To change the policy, define the following parameters:
- --container-name: The name of the storage account that hosts the file share. To retrieve the name or friendly name of your container, use the az backup container list command.
- --name: The name of the file share for which you want to change the policy. To retrieve the name or friendly name of your backed-up item, use the az backup item list command.
- --policy-name: The name of the backup policy you want to set for your file share. You can use az backup policy list to view all the policies for your vault.
The following example sets the schedule2 backup policy for the azurefiles file share present in the afsaccount storage account.
az backup item set-policy --policy-name schedule2 --name azurefiles --vault-name azurefilesvault --resource-group azurefiles --container-name "StorageContainer;Storage;AzureFiles;afsaccount" --name "AzureFileShare;azurefiles" --backup-management-type azurestorage --out table
You can also run the previous command by using the friendly names for the container and the item by providing the following two additional parameters:
- --backup-management-type: azurestorage
- --workload-type: azurefileshare
az backup item set-policy --policy-name schedule2 --name azurefiles --vault-name azurefilesvault --resource-group azurefiles --container-name afsaccount --name azurefiles --backup-management-type azurestorage --out table
Name ResourceGroup
------------------------------------ ---------------
fec6f004-0e35-407f-9928-10a163f123e5 azurefiles
The Name attribute in the output corresponds to the name of the job that's created by the backup service for your change policy operation. To track the status of the job, use the az backup job show cmdlet.
Stop protection on a file share
There are two ways to stop protecting Azure file shares:
- Stop all future backup jobs and delete all recovery points.
- Stop all future backup jobs but leave the recovery points.
There might be a cost associated with leaving the recovery points in storage, because the underlying snapshots created by Azure Backup will be retained. The benefit of leaving the recovery points is the option to restore the file share later, if you want. For information about the cost of leaving the recovery points, see the pricing details. If you choose to delete all recovery points, you can't restore the file share.
To stop protection for the file share, define the following parameters:
- --container-name: The name of the storage account that hosts the file share. To retrieve the name or friendly name of your container, use the az backup container list command.
- --item-name: The name of the file share for which you want to stop protection. To retrieve the name or friendly name of your backed-up item, use the az backup item list command.
Stop protection and retain recovery points
To stop protection while retaining data, use the az backup protection disable cmdlet.
The following example stops protection for the azurefiles file share but retains all recovery points.
az backup protection disable --vault-name azurefilesvault --resource-group azurefiles --container-name "StorageContainer;Storage;AzureFiles;afsaccount" --item-name “AzureFileShare;azurefiles” --out table
You can also run the previous command by using the friendly name for the container and the item by providing the following two additional parameters:
- --backup-management-type: azurestorage
- --workload-type: azurefileshare
az backup protection disable --vault-name azurefilesvault --resource-group azurefiles --container-name afsaccount --item-name azurefiles --workload-type azurefileshare --backup-management-type Azurestorage --out table
Name ResourceGroup
------------------------------------ ---------------
fec6f004-0e35-407f-9928-10a163f123e5 azurefiles
The Name attribute in the output corresponds to the name of the job that's created by the backup service for your stop protection operation. To track the status of the job, use the az backup job show cmdlet.
Stop protection without retaining recovery points
To stop protection without retaining recovery points, use the az backup protection disable cmdlet with the delete-backup-data option set to true.
The following example stops protection for the azurefiles file share without retaining recovery points.
az backup protection disable --vault-name azurefilesvault --resource-group azurefiles --container-name "StorageContainer;Storage;AzureFiles;afsaccount" --item-name “AzureFileShare;azurefiles” --delete-backup-data true --out table
You can also run the previous command by using the friendly name for the container and the item by providing the following two additional parameters:
- --backup-management-type: azurestorage
- --workload-type: azurefileshare
az backup protection disable --vault-name azurefilesvault --resource-group azurefiles --container-name afsaccount --item-name azurefiles --workload-type azurefileshare --backup-management-type Azurestorage --delete-backup-data true --out table
Resume protection on a file share
If you stopped protection for an Azure file share but retained recovery points, you can resume protection later. If you don't retain the recovery points, you can't resume protection.
To resume protection for the file share, define the following parameters:
- --container-name: The name of the storage account that hosts the file share. To retrieve the name or friendly name of your container, use the az backup container list command.
- --item-name: The name of the file share for which you want to resume protection. To retrieve the name or friendly name of your backed-up item, use the az backup item list command.
- --policy-name: The name of the backup policy for which you want to resume the protection for the file share.
The following example uses the az backup protection resume cmdlet to resume protection for the azurefiles file share by using the schedule1 backup policy.
az backup protection resume --vault-name azurefilesvault --resource-group azurefiles --container-name "StorageContainer;Storage;AzureFiles;afsaccount” --item-name “AzureFileShare;azurefiles” --policy-name schedule2 --out table
You can also run the previous command by using the friendly name for the container and the item by providing the following two additional parameters:
- --backup-management-type: azurestorage
- --workload-type: azurefileshare
az backup protection resume --vault-name azurefilesvault --resource-group azurefiles --container-name afsaccount --item-name azurefiles --workload-type azurefileshare --backup-management-type Azurestorage --policy-name schedule2 --out table
Name ResourceGroup
------------------------------------ ---------------
75115ab0-43b0-4065-8698-55022a234b7f azurefiles
The Name attribute in the output corresponds to the name of the job that's created by the backup service for your resume protection operation. To track the status of the job, use the az backup job show cmdlet.
Unregister a storage account
If you want to protect your file shares in a particular storage account by using a different Recovery Services vault, first stop protection for all file shares in that storage account. Then unregister the account from the Recovery Services vault currently used for protection.
You need to provide a container name to unregister the storage account. To retrieve the name or the friendly name of your container, use the az backup container list command.
The following example unregisters the afsaccount storage account from azurefilesvault by using the az backup container unregister cmdlet.
az backup container unregister --vault-name azurefilesvault --resource-group azurefiles --container-name "StorageContainer;Storage;AzureFiles;afsaccount" --out table
You can also run the previous cmdlet by using the friendly name for the container by providing the following additional parameter:
- --backup-management-type: azurestorage
az backup container unregister --vault-name azurefilesvault --resource-group azurefiles --container-name afsaccount --backup-management-type azurestorage --out table
Next steps
For more information, see Troubleshoot Azure file shares backup.