Deploying in a Microsoft Active Directory environment
Note that the MSI version of SyncBackPro/SE V7 (or newer) is no longer available. Please consider using the SyncBack Management System or SyncBack Touch to manage and backup multiple computers/devices.
The instructions below apply to those users who have implemented MSI for V6.
The following instructions also apply to SyncBackPro (change the filenames and paths as appropriate). Note that SyncBackPro also connects with the SyncBack Management Service (SBMS) and this article also covers a number of additional SBMS installation command line parameters at the base of this page.
The following are recommendations for the deployment of SyncBackSE to multiple workstations in a Microsoft Active Directory environment. Please note that these are recommendations only. It is also possible that the Windows Active Directory terms and definitions are slightly different from the ones used in this article.
The deployment consists of 3 stages:
- Preparation of pre-defined backup profile(s) for SyncBackSE and writing the profile import script
- Remote installation of SyncBackSE
- Assignment of profile import script to users' Windows profiles
Stage 1 - predefined profile(s)
Predefined profiles should be created by the system administrator before the remote installation. It is advised to use system variables (e.g. %USERPROFILE%) in the source and destination specifications instead of hard-coded paths. This is to ensure the profile becomes universal inside the domain structure and can be used on all workstations. You may also want to password protect the profile if you don't want users changing it. Once the profile is created export it to a file, e.g. MyProfile.SPS. After that the profile import script (of any preferred form) should be created. This script will be executed at every workstation at Windows logon time. The .BAT script for example, e.g. SBSE_prof_imp.bat, will contain the following:
"%ProgramFiles%\2BrightSparks\SyncBackSE\SyncBackSE.exe" \\myserver\share\MyProfile.SPS
The above example will import the MyProfile.SPS profile into SyncBackSE. All prepared files should be copied to a commonly accessed network location, e.g. \\myserver\share\
Stage 2 - installation
The next stage is the remote installation. Using MSAD you can install SyncBackSE on any workstation from the server administrative console. For that you will need the MSI version of SyncBackSE setup (or the SyncBackPro MSI version). Both these versions are in development and are not currently available.
Use the PIDKEY parameter to pass the SyncBackSE serial number to the MSI installer. The example below uses a dummy serial number for the PIDKEY. You must use the serial number supplied to you when SyncBackSE was purchased. In command line implementation the silent MSI installation with all defaults would look like following:
msiexec /quiet /i c:\downloads\SyncBackSE_Setup.msi PIDKEY=0000000000-0000-0000-0000-0000-0000
where PIDKEY is the SyncBackSE serial number (received when SyncBackSE is purchased). If you have upgraded from SyncBackSE to SyncBackPro then you will also have a SyncBackPro serial number. You must pass that upgrade serial number in PIDKEY2, e.g.:
msiexec /quiet /i c:\downloads\SyncBackPro_Setup.msi PIDKEY=0000000000-0000-0000-0000-0000-0000 PIDKEY2=0000000000-0000-0000-0000-0000-0000
Stage 3 - profile import
The last stage is to assign the SBSE_prof_imp.bat login script to the users' windows profiles from the server administrative console. After you have made sure that all users have logged on at least once and have their profiles imported you can unassign that script from users' windows profiles. However it's not harmful to leave them in place: every time they are imported during the user logon they will replace the existing SyncBackSE backup profile.
In case of network backups it is not recommended to schedule all backups at the same time: the network collisions will make backups unpredictably slow. It is recommended to use different schedule times for different groups of users.
SBM Service and SyncBackPro V7 (or newer versions)
For the SyncBackPro V7 (or newer versions) installation there are a number of installation command line parameters related to the SBM Service:
SBMSHOSTNAME="hostname" : This is the hostname, IP address, or URL of the SyncBack Management Service (SBM Service). If you are using a HTTP connection type then this is the complete URL include the port number. For example: SBMSHOSTNAME="http://myserver.com:8099/BIN/". If you are using a TCP or Named Pipe connection type then this is the hostname or IP address. For example: SBMSHOSTNAME="192.168.0.1".
SBMSPORT="port number" : This is the port number of the SBM Service. It is only used when the connection type is TCP, and the default port number is 8095. For example: SBMSPORT="8095"
SBMSUSERNAME="username" : This is the login username for the SBM Service. Typically each user has their own login username for the SBM Service.
SBMSPASSWORD="password" : This is the login password for the SBM Service.
SBMSCONTYPE="connection type" : This is the connection type to the SBM Service and is specified using an integer value: 1 = HTTP (the default), 2 = TCP, and 3 = Named Pipe. For example, for a TCP connection: SBMSCONTYPE="2"
SBMSPIPE="pipe name" : This is the name of pipe to the SBM Service. It is only used when the connection type is Named Pipe, and the default pipe name is SBMService