Install and configure Windows Server Backup in Windows Server 2022

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Jasmin Kahriman

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Windows Server Backup is considered a basic backup solution, and it works pretty well if you need to back up a single Windows Server. You can back up system images, data, and applications.

This article is about installing, configuring, and scheduling backup jobs in Windows Server 2022.

Install Windows Server Backup

In the first step, you need to install Windows Server Backup on your Windows Server 2022. You can do it via Server Manager (GUI) or PowerShell by executing Install-WindowsFeature Windows-Server-Backup.

To do so using Server Manager:

1. Open Server Manager and click Add Roles and Features.
2. Under Before you begin, click Next.
3. Under Select installation type, click Next.
4. Under Select destination server, select the server, and then click Next.
5. Under Select server roles, click Next.
6. Under Select features, select Windows Server Backup, and then click Next.
   

   Add feature Windows Server Backup

7. Under Confirm installation selections, click Install, and wait until the feature is installed.
8. Once done, click Close.

Manual backup

Start a manual backup whenever you feel that a copy of your system is required, for instance, when you are planning major changes.

To configure a manual backup in Windows Server 2022:

1. Open Server Manager on Windows Server 2022.
2. Click Tools in the top right corner of the window, and then select Windows Server Backup.
3. Right-click Local Backup and then select Backup Once.
4. Under Backup Options, select Different options, and click Next. Choose this option if you have not created a scheduled backup or want to specify a location or items for this backup that are different from the scheduled backup.
   

   Backup options backup once

5. Select the type of configuration you want to schedule: Full server (recommended) or Custom. The full server backup will back up all your server data, applications, and system state. Use the custom backup to select what you want to back up.
   

   Select Backup Configuration backup once

6. Under Specify Destination Type, choose the type of storage to back up, and click Next. There are two options available: Local drives or Remote shared folders. For demonstration purposes, I use a remote shared folder.
   

   Specify Destination Type backup once

7. Under Specify Remote Folder, enter a location, and click Next.
   

   Specify Remote Folder backup once

8. Under Confirmation, click Backup.
   

   Confirmation window backup once

9. Wait until the backup is done.
   

   Confirmation window (backup once)

Once a backup is done, you will see the status message: Successful.

Backup is done backup once

Scheduled backups

Scheduled backups are convenient, and ensure that your data is regularly backed up without requiring manual intervention. To create a backup schedule, you should decide what to back up, when, and how often to back up your server, and where to store the backups. Here is how.

1. Open Server Manager on Windows Server 2022.
2. Click Tools in the top right corner of the window, and select Windows Server Backup.
3. Right-click Local Backup, and select Backup Schedule.
   

   Backup schedule

4. Click Next.
5. Select the type of configuration you want to schedule: Full server (recommended) or Custom. The full server backup will back up all your server data, applications, and system state. Use the custom backup to select what you want to back up.
   

   Select Backup Configuration schedule backup

6. Under How often and when you want to run backups, click Once a day, and then click Next. You can also choose whether you want to run a backup more than once a day.
   

   Specify Backup Time schedule backup

7. Under Specify Destination Type, select Back up to a shared network folder, and click Next. You can also choose:

• Back up to a hard disk that is dedicated to backups (recommended)
• Back up to a volume
  

  Specify Destination Type schedule backup

  Note that you use a remote shared folder as the storage destination for scheduled backups. Each backup will erase the previous backup, and only the latest backup will be available.

8. Under Specify Remote Share Folder, add a remote location, and click Next. Note that to schedule backups, you will need to provide usernames and passwords.
   

   Specify Remote Share Folder schedule backup

9. Under Confirmation, click Finish.
10. Click Close to close the window. You will see that a new scheduled backup is configured on the server.

A regularly scheduled backup is configured for this server

Restore a backup

In case of any issues with your Windows Server, you will need to restore your data. I'll show you how to restore the system image backup (full backup). You can apply the same procedure to other backups as well.

1. Open Server Manager on your Windows Server 2022.
2. Click Tools in the top right corner of the window, and then select Windows Server Backup.
3. Right-click Local Backup, and then click Recover.
4. Under Getting Started, select the location where the backup is stored, and click Next. As I did a backup to a remote location, I'll choose A backup stored on another location.
   

   Backup stored at another location

5. Under Specify Location Type, select the location type, and click Next. In my case, it is a Remote shared folder.
   

   Specify Location Type

6. Under Specify Remote Folder, type the backup path, and click Next.
   

   Specify Remote Folder

7. Under Select Backup Date, select the date of the backup you want to use for recovery, and click Next.
   

   Select Backup Date

8. Under Select Recovery Type, select what you want to recover, and click Next. You can choose files and folders, volumes, applications, and system states.
   

   Select Recovery Type

9. Under Select Items to Recover, browse the tree, and select the files and folders you want to recover.
   

   Select Items to Recover

10. Under Choose Recovery Options, select the recovery destination, and click Next.
    

    Specify Recovery Options

11. Confirm by clicking Recover.
    

    Recovery progress

You're done. Go to the location where you restored the data and access it.

Conclusion

Windows Server Backup is a native backup feature integrated into Windows Server 2022 and lower. It includes basic backup functionalities and helps you manually back up your system image, data, and application, or perform backups according to schedule.

In case of any issues with Windows Server 2022, you can recover your backup in a few clicks. I have provided a detailed guide in this article outlining the step-by-step process.