Azure Backup has been updated to provide new capabilities:
- Azure Backup now supports backing up NTFS ACL’s set on Azure Files (see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/files/storage-files-active-directory-overview to know more about). This means when you restore Azure Files, the NTFS permissions will be also restored. This capability is currently in preview.
- PowerShell can now be used to run backup and restore operation for Azure Files. This requires the latest version of the PowerShell Az module (at least version 1.0.0 – see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/azure/new-azureps-module-az?view=azps-1.1.0) and you need to register the Azure Backup provider (on each subscription you plan to use) and have a recovery vault available
Register-AzResourceProvider –ProviderNamespace “Microsoft.RecoveryServices”
You can check if this is already enabled (or if the registration has been completed successfully) with the command
Get-AzResourceProvider –ProviderNamespace “Microsoft.RecoveryServices”
of course you can also do this through the Azure administration portal using the Subscriptions\<the subscription to use>\Resource providers and search for Microsoft.RecoveryServices
Then you create a protection policy with the commands
$schPol = Get-AzRecoveryServicesBackupSchedulePolicyObject -WorkloadType “AzureFiles”
$retPol = Get-AzRecoveryServicesBackupRetentionPolicyObject -WorkloadType “AzureFiles”
New-AzRecoveryServicesBackupProtectionPolicy –Name <name of the protection policy> -WorkloadType “AzureFiles” -RetentionPolicy $retPol -SchedulePolicy $schPol
And finally enable the protection using the policy created above
$afsPol = Get-AzRecoveryServicesBackupProtectionPolicy -Name <name of the protection policy>
All the details are available here https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/backup/backup-azure-afs-automation
- Finally you can manage Azure Backup for Azure Files from the portal. This replace the options “View Snapshots” and “Create Snapshots”
If you don’t see the option, check there is no notification saying “Backup is not enabled”
If this is the case, you need to go to the Recovery Vault first to enable Azure File Share for backup by creating a policy and configure Azure File backup (or use the PowerShell commands shown above)
Preview Limitations
- Backup for Azure File is only available in Central US, East US, East US 2, North Europe, Southeast Asia, West Europe and West Europe 2
- Backup for Azure File can not be used with storage account with read-access geo-redundant storage