Delete backups from Passport 2 drive using WD Backup
I purchased a 2 TB Passport 2 drive several months ago and it is now full because the WD Backup software does full backups, not incremental, and has no way to automatically delete a backup after a certain period of time. Is there a way to delete specific backups using this software? When I select delete backup, it only gives me the option of deleting the oldest version of the backup. I'd like to remove some of intermittent backups, maybe two out of every three days, at least for BU's over a month old.
I may have to purchase some other backup software to get incremental backups and automatically delete aged backups. Any body have any suggestions?
I may have to purchase some other backup software to get incremental backups and automatically delete aged backups. Any body have any suggestions?
ASKER
Alex,
I would like to keep some of those backups.
Is there similar script that will work for a single date?
I would like to keep some of those backups.
Is there similar script that will work for a single date?
You stipulated you wanted to remove backups after a certain date right? So what is that date from today? 2 months?
Get-ChildItem –Path “C:\Backups” –Recurse | Where-Object CreationTime –lt (Get-Date).AddDays(-60) | Remove-Item
I mean that script will do the job however if you want to remove "intermittent backups" you'll need to explain what you mean
Cheers
Alex
Get-ChildItem –Path “C:\Backups” –Recurse | Where-Object CreationTime –lt (Get-Date).AddDays(-60) | Remove-Item
I mean that script will do the job however if you want to remove "intermittent backups" you'll need to explain what you mean
Cheers
Alex
ASKER
What I would like is to be able to delete backups from 2 Jan - 14 Jan, but I would settle for a specific date
Does that all go a .bat file a vbscript file, or something else?
Does that all go a .bat file a vbscript file, or something else?
the above is a powershell script...
ummmm, I could figure it out.. give me 2 minutes
ummmm, I could figure it out.. give me 2 minutes
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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ASKER
Alex,
I'm not sure this is going to work for the files on the Passport that were backed up with WD Backup. The file structure of that drive looks like:
the attached image, but when I go into the WD Backup software to the restore option, it shows backups for
Passport-Drive-Structure.jpg
I'm not sure this is going to work for the files on the Passport that were backed up with WD Backup. The file structure of that drive looks like:
the attached image, but when I go into the WD Backup software to the restore option, it shows backups for
Passport-Drive-Structure.jpg
I smiled.... :-) Alex's homework..
Um, right so basically that's your backup location, in there you should have files, some of which extremely large files, can you post up an example of a file which is quite big, that will be your single backup file...
If you use treesize, it should tell you which folders are the biggest.
Cheers
Alex
Um, right so basically that's your backup location, in there you should have files, some of which extremely large files, can you post up an example of a file which is quite big, that will be your single backup file...
If you use treesize, it should tell you which folders are the biggest.
Cheers
Alex
ASKER
So, in the folder structure that looks like:
H:\WD Backup.swstor\Admin\Histor
I see files that look like: VMName.nvram###aaaa
where the ###aaaa looks to be sequence numbers and with modified dates ranging from 12/23/16 - 2/4/17.
This is because I'm making changes in my VM daily, this is where I do most of my work. In other folders, it may only have two copies of a file, one which indicates the first backup of the file, dated 12/23/16 and another which looks like: filename.extension with the added characters "_LAST". I assume that when the backup occurs, it compares file properties of this "_LAST" copy to the current version and then creates a new copy if there have been changes.
The problem is that many of these VM files are over 4 G, and since several of the files inside the VM are changing almost every day, it is backing up the entire VM drive. So, as an example, one of my VMs has 60 GB dedicated to it, and the BU software is backing up that entire 60 GB VM every day, despite the fact that only four or five actual files might be changing in the VM on a given day. I could go in that folder and delete all the files from January 2nd, but I don't know what effect that will have on the WD backup software.
I'm tempted to simply reformat that 2TB drive and try something different..
H:\WD Backup.swstor\Admin\Histor
I see files that look like: VMName.nvram###aaaa
where the ###aaaa looks to be sequence numbers and with modified dates ranging from 12/23/16 - 2/4/17.
This is because I'm making changes in my VM daily, this is where I do most of my work. In other folders, it may only have two copies of a file, one which indicates the first backup of the file, dated 12/23/16 and another which looks like: filename.extension with the added characters "_LAST". I assume that when the backup occurs, it compares file properties of this "_LAST" copy to the current version and then creates a new copy if there have been changes.
The problem is that many of these VM files are over 4 G, and since several of the files inside the VM are changing almost every day, it is backing up the entire VM drive. So, as an example, one of my VMs has 60 GB dedicated to it, and the BU software is backing up that entire 60 GB VM every day, despite the fact that only four or five actual files might be changing in the VM on a given day. I could go in that folder and delete all the files from January 2nd, but I don't know what effect that will have on the WD backup software.
I'm tempted to simply reformat that 2TB drive and try something different..
ASKER
Alex, appreciate the trouble you went to on this one. But I decided to take the easy way out. I purchased Acronis True Image as had been recommended to my on several occassions. I've been running it for a couple of months now and am very pleased.
Get-ChildItem –Path “C:\Backups” –Recurse | Where-Object CreationTime –lt (Get-Date).AddDays(-5) | Remove-Item
That will delete any backups older than 5 days.
You will need to change your c:\backups to the backup location.
BTW run this as a scheduled task :-)
Cheers
Alex