Manage Azure file share backups with PowerShell

This article describes how to use Azure PowerShell to manage and monitor the Azure file shares that are backed up by the Azure Backup service.

Modify the protection policy

To change the policy used for backing up the Azure file share, use Enable-AzRecoveryServicesBackupProtection. Specify the relevant backup item and the new backup policy.

The following example changes the testAzureFS protection policy from dailyafs to monthlyafs.

$monthlyafsPol =  Get-AzRecoveryServicesBackupProtectionPolicy -Name "monthlyafs"
$afsContainer = Get-AzRecoveryServicesBackupContainer -FriendlyName "testStorageAcct" -ContainerType AzureStorage
$afsBkpItem = Get-AzRecoveryServicesBackupItem -Container $afsContainer -WorkloadType AzureFiles -Name "testAzureFS"
Enable-AzRecoveryServicesBackupProtection -Item $afsBkpItem -Policy $monthlyafsPol

Track backup and restore jobs

On-demand backup and restore operations return a job along with an ID, as shown when you run an on-demand backup. Use the Get-AzRecoveryServicesBackupJobDetails cmdlet to track the job progress and details.

$job = Get-AzRecoveryServicesBackupJob -JobId 00000000-6c46-496e-980a-3740ccb2ad75 -VaultId $vaultID

 $job | fl


IsCancellable        : False
IsRetriable          : False
ErrorDetails         : {Microsoft.Azure.Commands.RecoveryServices.Backup.Cmdlets.Models.AzureFileShareJobErrorInfo}
ActivityId           : 00000000-5b71-4d73-9465-8a4a91f13a36
JobId                : 00000000-6c46-496e-980a-3740ccb2ad75
Operation            : Restore
Status               : Failed
WorkloadName         : testAFS
StartTime            : 12/10/2018 9:56:38 AM
EndTime              : 12/10/2018 11:03:03 AM
Duration             : 01:06:24.4660027
BackupManagementType : AzureStorage

$job.ErrorDetails

 ErrorCode ErrorMessage                                          Recommendations
 --------- ------------                                          ---------------
1073871825 Azure Backup encountered an internal error. Wait for a few minutes and then try the operation again. If the issue persists, please contact Microsoft support.

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 may be a cost associated with leaving the recovery points in storage, as the underlying snapshots created by Azure Backup will be retained. However, the benefit of leaving the recovery points is you can restore the file share later, if desired. 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.

Stop protection and retain recovery points

To stop protection while retaining data, use the Disable-AzRecoveryServicesBackupProtection cmdlet.

The following example stops protection for the afsfileshare file share but retains all recovery points:

$vaultID = Get-AzRecoveryServicesVault -ResourceGroupName "afstesting" -Name "afstest" | select -ExpandProperty ID
$bkpItem = Get-AzRecoveryServicesBackupItem -BackupManagementType AzureStorage -WorkloadType AzureFiles -Name "afsfileshare" -VaultId $vaultID
Disable-AzRecoveryServicesBackupProtection -Item $bkpItem -VaultId $vaultID

WorkloadName     Operation         Status         StartTime                 EndTime                   JobID
------------     ---------         ------         ---------                 -------                   -----
afsfileshare     DisableBackup     Completed      1/26/2020 2:43:59 PM      1/26/2020 2:44:21 PM      98d9f8a1-54f2-4d85-8433-c32eafbd793f

The Job ID attribute in the output corresponds to the Job ID of the job that's created by the backup service for your “stop protection” operation. To track the status of the job, use the Get-AzRecoveryServicesBackupJob cmdlet.

Stop protection without retaining recovery points

To stop protection without retaining recovery points, use the Disable-AzRecoveryServicesBackupProtection cmdlet and add the -RemoveRecoveryPoints parameter.

The following example stops protection for the afsfileshare file share without retaining recovery points:

$vaultID = Get-AzRecoveryServicesVault -ResourceGroupName "afstesting" -Name "afstest" | select -ExpandProperty ID
$bkpItem = Get-AzRecoveryServicesBackupItem -BackupManagementType AzureStorage -WorkloadType AzureFiles -Name "afsfileshare" -VaultId $vaultID
Disable-AzRecoveryServicesBackupProtection -Item $bkpItem -VaultId $vaultID -RemoveRecoveryPoints

WorkloadName     Operation            Status         StartTime                 EndTime                   JobID
------------     ---------            ------         ---------                 -------                   -----
afsfileshare     DeleteBackupData     Completed      1/26/2020 2:50:57 PM      1/26/2020 2:51:39 PM      b1a61c0b-548a-4687-9d15-9db1cc5bcc85

Next steps

Learn about managing Azure file share backups in the Azure portal.