Backup Scheduling in Acronis True Image 2019

Hi Steve,

Honestly, I don't think True Image can handle it natively for that exact scenario.  It's either by a Days's name (weekly) or by dates (monthly), but no way to specifically say to run a full on one specific day/date and incrementals on specific days.

However, I could see this working based off of a scheduled task in Windows, which can trigger a backup task by it's ID.  Here are a couple of older references about this, but it's still possible to do in current versions:

https://forum.acronis.com/sites/default/files/mvp/user285/guides/win7scheduler.pdf

https://forum.acronis.com/forum/acronis-true-image-2019-forum/task-not-started-external-scheduler

You could have the scheduled task run a backup after defrag is completed (your full) and then another scheduled task to run it on the days of the week you want (your incremental's). 

However, I believe that for this to work so that the full is always on the first day, you'd need to make sure the script has the right amount of incrementals in the chain.  I don't know of any scripting that will force a full on a certain day/date and it's not an option in the True Image GUI either.  

Bobbo,

Thanks for your reply.

I reviewed the links that you sent me and while helpful, this approach seems like way to much work and as you wrote, "make sure the script has the right amount of incrementals in the chain".  So basically, Acronis True Image has one way of scheduling the base backups (after number of incrementals) and the Windows Task Scheduler has another way of scheduling the prerequisite to the base backup (defrag before base backup).  This looks like a  problem to me.

When looking at the Windows Task Scheduler, it does not look like it is possible to schedule a defrag after X number of incrementals unless I can find a "trigger" for this.  Do you have any ideas here?

As I noted in my original post, Arconis Backup for PC has the same scheduling functionality as the Windows Task Scheduler.  After using Acronis True Image 2019 for over half a year, this lack of scheduling functionality is turning out to be a show-stopper for me and I may look for another backup product for my secondary computer.  I do like Arconis Backup for PC a lot though.

So how does one put in a new feature request to Acronis to improve the scheduling capabilities of True Image?  After all, Acronis Backup for PC has already been doing this for several years.

Thanks,

Steve

I'll have to play around a bit to see if I can come up with something that might work.  I can't think of anything that would schedule defrag after X incrementals that could be linked to task scheduler either.  It would be purely based on something like say, the 1st day of the month.  And would only work if same amount of backups ran every month (1 full on the first, inc 1/2 that week, 3/4 on week 2, 5/6 on week 3 and 6/7 on week 4).  The problem is when there's a 5th week on some months so it's probably a show-stopper without something specifically usable in Acronis.

Yeah, they do have some different features in True Image and Backup.  The thought process (I'm guessing) being that True Image is a home product with fewer features and lesser pricing as a result.  And if you want more features, you'd step up to the bigger product in Backup.

Never hurts to submit feedback in the app though!  True Image 2020 beta is nearly over so I don't think it would find it's way in, in the near future, but having more scheduling options, certainly couldn't hurt and I wouldn't mind seeing it either.

Bobbo,

Thanks again for your reply.  I used the "Send feedback" button to submit a message to Acronis about improving the scheduling in True Image, based on the content of my original post.

I hear you on Backup being the premium product and True Image being the home product so you get what you pay for.  There is a whole lot more going on in Backup over True Image that is very "enterprise specific" and unnecessary for home use.  That is why in my original post, I mentioned that Backup is overkill in some ways.

Adding the same scheduling capabilities as the Windows Task Scheduler to True Image, is a minor functionality improvement that does not involve the "enterprise specific" features of Backup.

Regards,

Maybe some lateral thinking may progress the matter. Given the age of the laptop and the fact that you are defragmenting the drive indicates it is a mechanical HDD. If you replace it with an SSD (which can be simple or hard depending on the laptop) you will avoid the need to defragment the HDD. With SSDs there is no need for defragging and running trim does not impact on backups as it does not involve moving data. So you would be able to schedule trim independently of running backup schedule.

500 gig SSDs are quite inexpensive these days. Under US$65 on Amazon.

Ian

Ian,

I definitely hear you on the lateral thinking.  The laptop is almost 4 years old and only a I3 processor.  I already had to replace the power switch once so I have been thinking about a new laptop but since it is my secondary computer, I don't want to spend the big bucks.  I see that Crucial has 500 GB SSD's for under $70.  Are there any brands of SSD's that are better than others?  Over the years, I have used a range of HD's including Seagate, Toshiba, and WD.

Thanks,

These days SSD (and HDD) seem to be very reliable. In the early days I had a few fail on me (most of which I eventually worked out was due to a faulty power supply on one of my PCs). Just checked the health status of the SSDs on the PC I am using - 3 Samsung 850 EVO and Hard Disk Sentinel gives them health scores of above 90%. They were originally used as OS drives but recently relegated to other duties. Samsung, A-Data/WD, Kingston have performed well for me. Have an ancient 120gig Crucial which is still going strong - was OS drive for about 4 years.

One constraint is the size of the drive - many notebooks use thin 2.5" HDD, others use much thicker ones. Thin SSD often ship with a buffer to keep the SSD firmly in place.

Ian

Hi Ian,

Thanks for the reply.

I did some quick on-line research and a lot of people have recommended the Samsung 850 EVO 500GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD, but Amazon says "We're not sure this item fits your DELL INSPIRON 15 5558"

Do you have any comments on how I can find out if this is correct?

Crucial has SSD's that do fit my DELL INSPIRON 15 5558.

In the meantime, I am also looking at a different approach of "putting the cart before the horse".  Instead of focusing in the "defrag before base backup schedule", I am now looking at a "defrag after last incremental schedule".  I see that under Backup -> Options -> Advanced -> Pre/Post Commands, I can run a command after a backup is completed.  I also read a bit about running scripts in True Image.

So my idea, is to set my number of incrementals to lets say 8 or 9 and after each incremental run a Post Command consisting of a Python script (or batch file that runs a Python script) that will check if I am at the last incremental and then email me a reminder to run a defrag before True Image runs the next scheduled base.  Once I do the defrag, the script will stop sending me reminder emails.

I got the part of Python sending me an email done.  Now I have to figure out how to identify that I am at the last incremental in a chain.  Does True Image write a file (log or other) that lists all of the incrementals in a chain that I can have Python look at to see if I am at the last incremental in a chain -or- will I need Python to look at the directory where the backup files are to figure this out?

Thanks,

Steve, looking at the Samsung 850 EVO SATA SSD and the spec for your Dell Inspiron 15 5558, I would say that the only real difference will be the thickness of the SSD at 6.7mm versus your current HDD probably being 9mm, but which should not be a significant factor!

That said, I hit an issue when swapping a HDD for a Crucial SSD recently in an older Dell Inspiron laptop for my brother where the SSD did not fit fully home into the SATA internal connector when the outer bezel was attached to the SSD in the carrier.  Without the bezel it went fully home and worked fine!  That was the first / only time I have hit such an issue when swapping out laptop drives.

With ref to using Pre / Post Commands, I have never tried using Python for this as I mainly use PowerShell these days and this mainly outside of the Pre / Post area for when launching tasks via the Windows Task Scheduler.

You should be aware of changes coming with ATI 2020 when Acronis are moving to .tibx file format for Disk & Partition backups and where it will become harder to detect the type of backup scheme being used, i.e. all incremental backups are all held within the same .tibx file as the original full backup for a task!

ATI does use log files but these again are changing with ATI 2020 where the amount of data being shown is being reduced in terms of detail.

My reason for mentioning the above changes is to help you consider how much effort to put into any Python scripting when the playing field may change!  The MVP Log Viewer tool (link below) will show you the available log files (though not some that are more actively used in 2020).

Steve,

Thanks for your reply.

I am actually working with the MVP Log Viewer tool right now.  There are log files from over 6 months ago for backups that are well beyond my 60 day retention plan so I got rid of the older ones.

The Python script can easily be written to accommodate one big happy backup file.  Instead of counting the incremental files created in the directory, it can maintain a count of when an incremental is created.  I have not used PowerShell so I don't know it.  It has been on my to-do list for a few years but I have never gotten to it.  Am I missing some important stuff by not knowing PowerShell?

Thanks,

Steve, there is a tool within the MVP Log Viewer to clean up old log files based on age that can be worth using.

In terms of Python versus PowerShell - I wouldn't expect you to be missing very much - the key advantage of the latter being that it is integrated into Windows without the need to install extra software and is Microsoft's preferred replacement for the old batch script tools & command prompt.

When using Pre / Post Commands, you would need to call both Python or PowerShell scripts via a .BAT or .CMD file as this is all this it understands as far as I know.

Steve (OP),

I had a similar issue which I solved by creating a pre-command to cause a backup job to be run on alternate weeks. To get it to work right, I made a .vbs script and a batch file to call the script. The RunBackup.bat file is used in the pre-command.

I'm attaching them here. Maybe they will be useful to you (or others).

EDIT: I see after upload that the names have changed. The first file listed I call AcronisDayTest.vbs. The second file listed is the RunBackup.bat file.

The alternative approach here is to launch your Acronis backup task via the Windows Task Scheduler and take advantage of the extra scheduling options that this offers.

Since ATI 2019 if you want ATI to run in the background without showing the main GUI window, then some extra steps are needed than were needed for earlier versions.

The attached zip file contains a Powershell script that I use for this purpose - the script checks for ATI being open and closes it if so, then relaunches ATI without any script identifier to have it ready in the background hidden, before running the ATI task.

The script has been used with both ATI 2019 & 2020 (beta).

The script is launched via the Windows Task Scheduler with full privileges from an Administrator user account using the action: 
powershell -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -File pathto\Run_ATI_Task.ps1

Steve, I'm not a Powershell programmer (yet), so just wondering a couple things after looking at your script.

1. What happens if the user is doing something in ATI (or if another backup is running) when the script gets activated on schedule?

2. Can the Powershell script take an argument so as to be able to use if for any backup task?

Bruno and Steve,

It looks like True Image does not require a specific directory to put the scripts in and I do not see any Acronis or TrueImage director under AppData.  I have some applications that have a dedicated directory for scripts and some where I just put the scripts in my personal "bin" directory.  Do you have any preferences on where you like to put your scripts for True Image?

Thanks,

Steve

I created the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\Acronis\Tools where I keep extra tools like MVP Log Viewers, ATI Scheduler Manager, VSS Doctor, Cleanup tool, my scripts, and anything else that may come along.

Bruno,

I was bad!  I looked at the wrong computer when I asked this question.  There is an AppDate\Roaming\Acronis\BackupScripts directory and the path has no blanks in it too!  This problem solved.  I am going over your VB script and I should be able to do the same in Python and I may have some more questions for you on its implementation in the Windows Task Manager.  I am thinking;

If 1st Saturday of the month,

then run base backup,

else

run Tuesday and Friday incrementals already in the built-in True Image scheduler.

So I am breaking from the built-in scheduler only for the base.  Any comments?

Thanks,

To All,

First I would like to thank everyone for their help.  I am now posting my solution.

Here is an abbreviated version of my original question:

I run my backups with a monthly base and then incrementals 2 times a week.  With the Windows Task Scheduler, I have my computers set up to run disk cleanups and defrags the first Saturday of the month before I run my monthly base as one should not defrag after the monthly base.  In Acronis Backup for PC 11.7 (I need to upgrade to 12.5), I can schedule my monthly base for the first Saturday of the month and then every Monday and Thursday night.  There appears to be no such scheduling options in Acronis True Image 2019.  How can I best simulate on Acronis True Image 2019 the schedule that I am already doing on Acronis Backup for PC?

My decision was instead of trying to make Acronis True Image's scheduling behave like Acronis Backup's scheduling, I came up with a solution that would work using the default Acronis True Image scheduling.  Because the problem involved around the importance of doing a defrag before the base backup, instead of automatically doing the defrag using the Windows Task Scheduler, I decided to do the defrag manually, but to have Acronis True Image run a Post-command that would send me a notification email that would remind me to do a manual defrag before my next base backup.  The Post-Command ran a batch file which then ran a Python script.

The Python script keeps track of the number of backups done and when the last incremental backup is done, it sends the email.  I have tested this with the Post-Command test feature and the Python script appears to be working.  I have attached the batch and Python files for you.

Regards,

BrunoC wrote:

Steve, I'm not a Powershell programmer (yet), so just wondering a couple things after looking at your script.

1. What happens if the user is doing something in ATI (or if another backup is running) when the script gets activated on schedule?

2. Can the Powershell script take an argument so as to be able to use if for any backup task?

Bruno, the Powershell script was fairly basic as provided but can be changed to handle the situation of a running task plus to handle arguments.

See the updated script attached with these changes included.

The parameter / argument can be passed as the example below:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File “D:\PowerShell\Acronis\Backup\Run_ATI_Task.ps1" -task "A46C9D16-6E12-400E-B28E-58B1E49AE5F8”

or simply

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File “D:\PowerShell\Acronis\Backup\Run_ATI_Task.ps1" "A46C9D16-6E12-400E-B28E-58B1E49AE5F8”

Steve (OP), I have some questions.

Your plan calls for 9 backups a month, one full on Saturday and then 8 incrementals over the next four weeks on Tuesdays and Fridays. Correct?

1. How have you scheduled this in ATI so that you only have one Saturday backup per month instead of one every week.

2. I can see it happening where your count may get out of sync with the Full and Increments such that the reminder may occur after an increment rather than the full. And since there are not exactly four weeks in a month, how do you handle the difference?

3. Rather than an email reminder, why not just enable/disable your scheduled defrag task in Windows Task Scheduler?

Bruno,

I am now disabling the defrag task in the Windows Task Scheduler and doing them manually after I receive the email reminder.  I am also doing away with the once a month Saturday backup and moving it to either a Tuesday or Friday depending on where 1 base and 9 incrementals lands it.

In ATI, I am using the weekly schedule for Tuesday and Friday with a new base every 9, but after just looking at a calendar, 8 may be better.

Steve wrote:

In ATI, I am using the weekly schedule for Tuesday and Friday with a new base every 9, but after just looking at a calendar, 8 may be better.

The number in the rules is the number of increments, so if you specify 9, then you'll have ten files in the chain and it will take five weeks. 

BrunoC wrote:

Steve wrote:

In ATI, I am using the weekly schedule for Tuesday and Friday with a new base every 9, but after just looking at a calendar, 8 may be better.

The number in the rules is the number of increments, so if you specify 9, then you'll have ten files in the chain and it will take five weeks. 

Right, I just changed the code to max_baks = 8 and I uploaded the revised Python script.  Thanks for pointing this out.