Frequently Asked Questions for SharePoint Server Agent

Can I individually restore list resource type, resource or reservations?

To restore sites created using a Room Equipment Reservations template, restore a SharePoint server site collection from the database backup set level. Restoring individual lists, such as resources, reservations, and resource type is not supported unless the site and lists exist. Lists are restored in the following order:

Items from List Resource Type
Items from List Resources
Items from List Reservations

Why am I unable to back up data that was created using a third-party feature?

Verify if the third-party feature is installed on your computer. If it has been uninstalled, then we cannot perform a backup operation on the data that was created using the third party feature.

Why are documents in the CommCell Console a different size than the same documents in the SharePoint user interface?

While browsing documents in the CommCell Console, the size of the documents may not match the size that appears in the SharePoint server user interface. This is due to the metadata getting backed up with the document that artificially increases the document size.

What do I do when I upgrade the SharePoint server to a newer version?

After running a backup operation, the CommCell Console automatically detects and displays the newer version of the SharePoint server.

When does a non-full backup automatically converts to a full backup?

A non-full backup automatically converts to a full backup in the following cases:

First backup of the subclient.
To promote a secondary storage policy copy that is not synchronized with a primary copy (for all the subclients of a storage policy).
CommCell Migration operation.

Why do site collection backups have low or no deduplication ratio?

For each site collection backup, the SharePoint backup API generates a file that contains data for the entire site. If data is modified in between backups, the new API generated file does not have repeated blocks of data from the previously generated file.

Are there size limits on site collection restores?

It is recommended to limit the size of site collections to 100 GB for SharePoint 2010 and 2013. For SharePoint 2007, the limit for site collection is 15 GB.

Are cross-application restores supported?

No. Cross-application restores of databases between different versions of SharePoint servers are not supported. Also, restore operations across clients with different Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) service pack levels are not supported.

Can I restore SharePoint data to a different client?

Yes, you can restore SharePoint data to a different client if the destination client meets the following criteria:

Destination client and source client reside in the same CommCell Console.
Destination client has the SharePoint Server Agent installed and operational.
Destination client and source client have the same SharePoint server version.
Destination client and source client are in the same domain. If destination client is on a different domain than the source client, the destination domain should have a trust relationship established with the source domain.

What happens when a new subclient has the same name as a deleted subclient?

If a new subclient has the same name as a deleted subclient, a UNIX time stamp is appended to the deleted subclient name in the backup Job History report to to distinguish the two subclients.

For example, subclientname_1104257351.

I am using SharePoint 2007, and I am unable to see Alternate Access Mapping for the non-default zones?

Backup and restore of web application's Alternate Access Mapping is not supported for SharePoint 2007.

You need to document the Alternate Access Mapping (AAM) settings. To do this, export your AAM settings to a text file by using the following command:

stsadm -o enumalternatedomains

Use File System agent to back up the text file.

For example:

Write the AAM settings for the Contoso site to a text file on drive C using the following command:

stsadm -o enumalternatedomains -url http://contoso:1234 > c:\aambackup.txt

Note: Ensure that you recreate the AAM after running a restore operation from the CommCell Console.

Is SharePoint VSS writer the only backup method to protect SharePoint farm?

The SharePoint VSS writer supports content database and Search Service Applications backups. All other SharePoint components can be protected without a VSS writer. By default, content databases are excluded from the SharePoint database backup operation. Use the SQL Server agent to back up the content databases.

Is Microsoft Office Project Server 2013 protected by the SharePoint Server agent?

Yes, you can backup and restore Microsoft Office Project Server 2013 using the SharePoint farm subclient.

To back up Project Server 2013, configure a farm subclient and back up the following components:

Project Server service application and associated proxy service
Web application and content database of the Project Server service application instance

To restore Project Server 2013, restore the above mentioned backed up components from the farm subclient.

Note: After running a restore operation, add users to the user policy of the associated web application of Project Server service application instance. If not added, users will not be able to access Project Server service application instance.

Is Microsoft SharePoint 2013 apps protected by the SharePoint Server Agent?

Yes, you can back up and restore Microsoft SharePoint 2013 apps using the SharePoint document subclient.

To back up Microsoft SharePoint 2013 apps, configure a SharePoint document subclient with web or a higher level data as content (like site collection or web application).

Note: For apps with user data, only those that use a SharePoint list internally are backed up, else only the app is protected. For restoring the data, select both SharePoint apps and the corresponding SharePoint list.

Can I restore list items to a different list?

List items can only be restored to lists of the same type. Restore of a list may fail if it is restored to a site that does not have that list template type. For example, some Meeting Workspaces have lists that are specific to the Meeting Workspace, so these cannot be restored to a Document Workspace or to a Team Site. List template keywords from the Knowledge Base site might not exist on Non-English setup.

Is SharePoint farm restore of configuration database and content database restore of the central administration supported?

Yes, you can restore configuration database and content database of the central administration using the SharePoint agent. These components are restored in the SQL restore phase of the restore operation. However, we can skip restoring these components in the SharePoint restore phase of the restore operation.

When is CVSPDatamigrator database created and what does it contain?

CVSPDatamigrator database is created when you install SharePoint Storage Manager agent on your setup. In the CVSPDatamigrator database, you can find the Storage Manager configuration details such as RBS front end web server details, user information and content management schedules like data migration schedule and RBS maintainer schedule. It is always a best practice to back up CVSPDatamigrator database. The size of this database is only 20 MB, so there is no need to truncate the transaction logs.

How can I enhance the backup performance of SharePoint Server Agent?

To enhance the backup performance of the agent, configure multiple Network Interface Cards (NIC) on the application server.

For example, if there are 2 NICs configured on the application server, the first NIC could be used for pulling the data from the SQL server, and the second NIC could be configured to send data to the MediaAgent.

How can I perform a restore to disk operation when the source client is deconfigured?

To perform a restore to disk operation when the source client is deconfigured, ensure that the destination computer has both, the SharePoint agent and any version of the SharePoint application installed.