Schedule weekly differential backups - start new chain monthly. Possible?
I would like to set up a differential backup scheduled for a certain day of week at a certain time - easy so far - but have it create a full backup and start a new chain the first time each month this runs. Is this even possible to automate?
I currently have a scheme in place to create a full version after every 4 diffs. This works fine, but some other processes dealing with the backup media that I want to do would be much easier to manage on a month-by-month basis instead of 4 or 5-week basis.
My intent is to swap the backup disk for another at the end of the month and store the idle disk off-premises, and starting a new chain on the now-reattached disk. If there were a "create a new version after X [ days | weeks | fortnights | <whatever> ]" option, that could be a suitable substitute since the last full on a newly-reattached disk would be at least 28 days old, but that doesn't seem to be in the cards.
There are a few other wrinkles, but that's the basic goal. Is there any hope?
In case it matters, I am running:
Windows 10
Acronis True Image 2018
Build 15560
Thanks!
Skip Whitehurst
I appreciate the reply. It's not what I wanted to hear, but pretty much what I expected. I was hoping I was missing something.
Browsing the KB article and the referenced forum discussion, there are several intriguing things I need to investigate. And thanks for the tip about WhoCrashed - that and others from the same source look useful (lookin' at you, especially, WhySoSlow)!
I had already presumed that I would have to use separate plans and already have that set up. My two backup disks get assigned different drive letters, but each one gets the same letter every time it is attached, and I have two plans (one to save to drive F: the other to drive G:) scheduled to start a few minutes apart; the one that is assigned to the missing disk fails, but the other one succeeds, and - at least after limited testing - that much seems to be working. I haven't tried to see what would happen if both USB disks are attached at the same time when the scheduled time arrives!
BTW, I have set the plans up to call a batch file to mount (using mountvol) and assign the desired letter to the drive's UID as a Pre command, and then another to unmount it as a Post command, so even when the USB HDD is attached it is not available by drive letter except when it's being actively used for backup (or otherwise intentionally mounted). If the drive is not present, the mount command fails, which is set to cause the operation to abort. This appears to be working. I did not know that the backup scheme uses the UID internally as well.
I suppose the most practical way to proceed is to set up both plans for weekly backup with a full backup after a fixed number of diffs - probably 4 so it's on a five-week cycle - and put reminders in my calendar to swap disks when needed. I was hoping to avoid that last bit, but it is what it is.