Active Backup for Business Portal
Active Backup for Business Portal is the affiliated recovery portal of the all-in-one business backup solution, Active Backup for Business. Dedicated to restoration use, this portal allows admin users and end-users delegated by the server admin to access, browse, download and restore backed-up data.
Note:
- Users cannot manage backup versions on this portal. Version management, such as deleting a backup version, can only be performed on the admin console by a user with administrator privileges.
- Only authorized users can access this portal. Refer to Installation for more information.
Installation
The Active Backup for Business Portal is installed automatically with Active Backup for Business.
To access the portal as an admin:
- Via DSM: Go to the DSM Main Menu and click on the Active Backup for Business Portal icon.
- Via the agent: Click Recovery Portal.
To access the portal as an end-user:
Via the agent: Click Recovery Portal.
To allow/deny user access:
- Go to Control Panel > User/Group and select the target user or group.
- Click Edit > Applications, find Active Backup for Business Portal on the list, and select Allow or Deny.
Note:
- Access to the portal is determined by the user and group permission settings. If either of these permissions is set to Deny, the user will not be able to access the portal.
- DSM does not support batch editing for users and groups.
Browsing Versions
Users can switch view roles, view tasks, and browse backup versions on the timeline in the Active Backup for Business Portal.
- Control menu: The signed-in account is displayed in the upper right corner of the portal. The account's privileges determine which roles the user can switch to in the portal.
- Help: Provides documentation on how to use the portal.
- About: Includes the version information of the portal.
- Logout: Click here to sign out of the portal and DSM.
- Task: Click on Task in the upper right corner to view a task or switch to another task.
Note:
- If you cannot find the task, it is possible that you do not have the required permissions to view it. You can either switch to another view role or sign in to the portal using an account that has permission to view the task.
- View role: The current View role will be displayed at the top of the page. To switch view roles, click View role and select a user.
Note:
- Backed up versions of file servers can only be selected and viewed by administrators (group).
- Monitor the restoration progress: To monitor the progress of restoration tasks, click the Restore Task icon in the upper right corner.
- Restore button: To restore files or folders, select one or more files or folders in the file viewer, and click Restore. Refer to Restore for more details.
- Download button: To download files or folders, select one or more files or folders in the file viewer, and click Download.
Note:
- When multiple files or folders are downloaded, they will be compressed into a single archive file which may automatically open upon download completion.
- File viewer: The portal includes a file explorer that closely resembles the one you use on your personal computer. By default, you will see the latest backup version, but you can navigate to a particular point in time either by using the timeline at the bottom of the page, or by selecting a specific date from the calendar. In the file explorer, the following file and folder metadata are displayed, making it easier and quicker to identify the data you need:
- File name
- File size
- File type
- Modified time
- Timeline: Use the timeline slider at the bottom of the page to select a backup version from which you wish to restore files or folders. If there is only one version available for a particular day, clicking on the version number will not display any additional options.
- Select a different date: Click the Select a different date (calendar) icon on the left side of the timeline to select a specific date and time for a backup version.
- Refresh: If you are using the portal while a backup is still in progress, the new backup version may not immediately appear on the timeline once it is ready. You can retrieve the latest backup version by clicking the Refresh button located next to the calendar button.
Restore
The portal is designed for granular restore, allowing you to recover all backed-up files and folders to the source directory or download them to a chosen destination. However, the restoration process may vary based on the completeness of the version and the type of device being used.
To restore a backed up version from a specific point in time:
- Select a specific backup time:
Once you have selected a task from the Task menu, the latest version will be displayed by default. If the latest version is not the one you want, you can use the timeline slider located at the bottom of the portal or click on the Select a different date (calendar) icon on the left side of the timeline to select the correct backup time.
- Select a specific backup version:
Once you have switched to the desired time (day), the latest version of that day will be shown by default. If there are multiple backup versions from that day, you can click on the number displayed on the timeline to view the list of all available versions.
To restore files and folders to another location:
You can restore files and folders to a different device by specifying the destination from a list in Restore Details.
Note:
- File or folder restorations to a different operating system are not supported. For example, you cannot restore a file from a Windows device to a Linux device.
- You must install the latest version of the Active Backup for Business Agent on the restore destination, and the device must be connected to your Synology NAS.
- The backup devices that a user can view on the portal are determined by their account privileges. For example, users with administrator or restore permissions can view all of the backup devices on the portal.
To configure the naming conflict/overwrite policy:
By default, if the name of the restored or downloaded file conflicts with the name of an existing file in the target directory, the existing file will be replaced. However, a confirmation dialogue will appear and give you the option to skip restoration or download this particular version of the file.
To recover a file from a partially successful backed up version:
If a backup task was only partially successful, whether or not you can recover its data depends on the type of device used for the backup.
Device type | Personal computer | Physical server | File server | Virtual machine |
---|---|---|---|---|
Can recover from a partially successful backed up version | X | O | O | O |
To recover files in batch:
Only files and folders under the same directory can be recovered in batch. Select all of the files and folders you want to recover and click Restore.
Note:
- Bare-metal, volume-based, or disk-level recoveries for Windows and Linux can only be implemented via recovery media, which can only be created by administrators using a separate tool. Refer to the Recovery Media Creation Guide for more information.
- To restore an entire mac computer, download the Active Backup for Business Recovery Wizard for Mac and refer to How to recover your entire Mac for more details.
Download
To download one or more files or folders from the file explorer, select them and then click Download. Alternatively, you can double-click on a file to download it.
Note:
- When multiple files or folders are downloaded, they will be compressed into a single archive file which may automatically open upon download completion.
- To learn about the default policy for filename conflicts, refer to To configure the naming conflict/overwrite policy.