Create policies

Follow the instructions below to add a Data Protection [Policy|Policies] in Server Backup Manager. Note that when creating a new policy, an unassigned Disk Safe must be available for the protected machine that you select. To create a new Disk Safe, see [ServerBackupManager:Create Disk Safes].

1. In the Main Menu, click *Settings* and then *Policies* to open the _Policies_ screen. Click the *+ New Policy* button to add a new policy.

!Policies - Add New Policy button.png!

2. The _Create New Policy_ window displays. It contains the following tabs:
* *Policy Settings*
* *File Excludes*
* *Advanced Excludes*
* *SQL Server* _(only available for Windows agents)_
* *Exchange *_(only available for Windows agents)_
* *MySQL*
* *Control Panels*
* *Advanced Policy Settings*

!Create New Policy window.png|border=1!

{info:title=Note}
Depending on the limits defined for the Disk Safe to which the current Policy is assigned, some of the tabs might be disabled. For more information about disabled tabs and Disk Safe limits, see [ServerBackup:Create disk safes].
{info}
3. The _Policy Settings_ tab is the main tab for creating a policy. Define the following settings specific to the new policy.

*Identification*
* *Enabled*. Select this check box to enable the policy once you are done creating it. The enabled policy will run according to the schedule. If you clear this check box, the policy will be created as disabled.
* *Name*. Enter a name you can use to identify this policy among others in the _Policies_ list.
* *Description*. Describe your policy in detail. The description can be shown in the corresponding Details pane on the _Policies_ screen.

*Disk Safe*
* *Protected Machine*. From the drop-down menu, select a protected machine whose data you are going to replicate. You will then be able to select a Disk Safe assigned to the machine.
* *Disk Safe*. From the drop-down menu, select an unassigned Disk Safe in which to save the replicated data. 
{info:title=Note}An unassigned Disk Safe must be available for the selected protected machine. For information on how to add a new Disk Safe, see [ServerBackupManager:Create Disk Safes].
{info}

{info}
* *Retention Points*. Defines the retention schedule for the recovery points.

4. In the _File Excludes_ tab, you can manually exclude files and folders from the replication. For more information, see [Exclude files and folders]. !Create New Policy - File Excludes.png|border=1!

5. In the _Advanced Excludes_ tab, you can define a pattern (mask) to exclude files from the replication. For more information, see [Exclude files and folders].

!Create New Policy - Advanced Excludes.png|border=1!

6. _(Windows agents only)_ In the _SQL Server_ tab, you can add a database instance to the policy. For more information, refer to [Configure MS SQL server replication].

!Create New Policy - SQL Server.png|border=1!

7. _(Windows agents only)_ In the _Exchange_ tab, you can configure an Exchange instance for the policy. For more information, see [Configure an Exchange instance].

!Create New Policy - Exchange.png|border=1!

8. In the _MySQL_ tab, you can add a MySQL instance to the policy. When you click the *Add New MySQL Instance* button, the _Add Database Instance_ window displays.

For more information, see [Add a MySQL instance to a policy].

!Create New Policy - MySQL.png|border=1!

9. In the _Control Panels_ tab, you can add a control panel instance to your policy. When you click the *Add Control Panel Instance* button, the _Add Control Panel Instance_ window displays.

For more information, see [Add control panel instance].

!Create New Policy - Control Panels.png|border=1!

10. The _Advanced _{_}Policy Settings_ tab contains all of your advanced policy settings. By default, the check boxes in this tab are all cleared.

!Create New Policy - Advanced Policy Settings.png|border=1!

Define the following advanced settings specific to the new policy.

*Advanced Policy Settings*

* *Force Full Block Scan*. Select this option to mandate the start of a Full Block Scan each time the Replication is performed. If the option is not selected, then an automatic Full Block Scan occurs only under certain conditions. A Full Block Scan compares the MD5 sum of all allocated blocks to perform the backup and synchronize Server Backup. Read more in [TP:3 Stages of CDP 3 Replication] (Technical Papers).
* *Verify checksums server side*. Select this option to ensure that no data is lost during transporting. If this option is activated, then the server side uncompresses the data, unencrypts it if necessary, and compares block packet MD5 with data sent from the server. Verifying encrypted or unencrypted block checksums on server backup allows you to triple-check the integrity of a backup.
* *Specify Backing File Location*. _(Linux only)_ Select this option to define a path to the mount point of a device that should be used to store changed blocks. This option is useful to support backups of devices with low free space. By default, the Linux snapshot driver stores changed blocks (needed to maintain snapshots) in the the free space of the file system on which it is performing a snapshot. When using a server with multiple disks, storing snapshots on a separate dedicated disk can help reduce the load during backup. The disk must have a file system and must be mounted.

{info:title=Example}
Linux system:
|| Mount Point || Disk ||
| {{/dev/sda1}} | {{/boot}} |
| {{/dev/sda3}} | {{/}} |
| {{/dev/sda4}} | {{/var}} |
When {{/boot}} or {{/var}} is 99.99% full, the backups fail because there is no free space to maintain the snapshot. 
Once the user inputs "{{/}}" into the "Backing File Location" field, the {{/dev/sda3}} path will be used as the changed block storage location for all file systems.{info}
* *Exclude Virtuozzo root image files*. Select this option to exclude the Virtuozzo root image files from backing up.
* *Exclude All Volume Shadow Copy Writers*. _(Windows only)_ Select this option if you temporarily want to exclude the Exchange and SQL Server databases from being backed up.
* *Multi-Volume Snapshot*. _(Windows only)_ This option can be useful if the SQL Server or Exchange Server has files across more than one device. Note that if the SQL or Exchange Server has files across more than one Device and the _Multi-Volume Snapshot_ option is *not* selected, the system displays an alert message.

*Recovery Point Retention*
* *Number of Recovery Points to Retain*. Enter the maximum number of recovery points to retain. The default is 10. The limit entered in this field cannot be greater than the limit defined for the current Disk Safe. For more information, see  [ServerBackup:Create disk safes]. 
* *Merge Schedule*. Click the _Edit Schedule_ button in this field to define the frequency and start time for Recovery Point merges (After successful replication, Hourly, Daily or Weekly). See [Scheduling Recovery Point Merges|Schedule recovery point merges].
* *Disk Safe Verification Schedule*. Click the _Edit Schedule_ button in this field to define the frequency and start time for the Disk Safe verification (On Demand, Daily, Weekly or Monthly). See [Scheduling Disk Safe Verification|Schedule Disk Safe verification].

11. Click the *Create* button at the bottom of the _Create New Policy_ window to create and add the policy to the _Policies_ list. You can also click the *Create and Run* button to create the policy and run it immediately. 



{info:title=Tip}
The task results can be sent via email as a report. See [ServerBackupManager:Reports].
{info}

{excerpt:hidden=true}Instructions on how to create a new data protection policy and to define its options in Server Backup Manager.{excerpt}