5 \label{NewFeaturesChapter}
6 \index[general]{New Features}
8 This chapter presents the new features added to the development 2.5.x
9 versions to be released as Bacula version 3.0.0 near the end of 2008.
11 \section{Virtual Backup (Vbackup)}
12 \index[general]{Virtual Backup}
13 \index[general]{Vbackup}
15 Bacula's virtual backup feature is often called Synthetic Backup or
16 Consolidation in other backup products. It permits you to consolidate
17 the previous Full backup plus the most recent Differential backup and any
18 subsequent Incremental backups into a new Full backup. This is accomplished
19 without contacting the client by reading the previous backup data and
20 writing it to a volume in a different pool.
22 In some respects the Vbackup feature works similar to a Migration job, in
23 that Bacula normally reads the data from the pool specified in the
24 Job resource, and writes it to the \bf{Next Pool} specified in the
25 Job resource. The input Storage resource and the Output Storage resource
28 The Vbackup is enabled on a Job by Job in the Job resource by specifying
29 a level of \bf{VirtualFull}.
31 A typical Job resource definition might look like the following:
45 # Default pool definition
49 Recycle = yes # Bacula can automatically recycle Volumes
50 AutoPrune = yes # Prune expired volumes
51 Volume Retention = 365d # one year
59 Recycle = yes # Bacula can automatically recycle Volumes
60 AutoPrune = yes # Prune expired volumes
61 Volume Retention = 365d # one year
65 # Definition of file storage device
72 Maximum Concurrent Jobs = 5
75 # Definition of DDS Virtual tape disk storage device
78 Address = localhost # N.B. Use a fully qualified name here
81 Media Type = DiskChangerMedia
82 Maximum Concurrent Jobs = 4
87 Then in bconsole or via a Run schedule, you would run the job as:
90 run job=MyBackup level=Full
91 run job=MyBackup level=Incremental
92 run job=MyBackup level=Differential
93 run job=MyBackup level=Incremental
94 run job=MyBackup level=Incremental
97 So providing there were changes between each of those jobs, you would end up with
98 a Full backup, a Differential, which includes the first Incremental backup, then two
99 Incremental backups. All the above jobs would be written to the \bf{Default} pool.
101 To consolidate those backups into a new Full backup, you would run the following:
104 run job=MyBackup level=VirtualFull
107 And it would produce a new Full backup without using the client, and the output would
108 be written to the \bf{Full} Pool which uses the Diskchanger Storage.