Create a Plugin Backup job

Create a new plugin backup job (or edit an existing plugin backup job as well, as the overall concept is the same, except for editing an existing backup job you would first have to open the job using the job open icon in the top toolbar) visual steps:

1. First to get to the "Backup" tab, to create a new backup or or edit an existing backup job, click on the "Backup" tab from anywhere in the client.

2. Make your plugin method (SQL, Hyper-V, and System State) selection. In that case you can also combine files/folders + plugins in the same single backup job if you prefer to do that. There may however be use cases that having a separate plugin only backup job, per plugin type, would be optimal to utilize but that is down to an individual use case, mainly to do with how you can schedule backup jobs more optimally, so that not all of the selected content is in a single large backup job.

3. Set the destination (target) for where to backup to, click on the "Backup to..." button at the bottom left of the "Backup" tab, which will then open the "Select Device" dialog:

   

   Example "SQL" and "System State" plugins only backup job, that has no files/folders.
4. In the above additional pop-up "Select Device" dialog, click on the device in the list that you want the backup to use as the primary backup target to save to. In this case we select the "Local Backup C" device name, which is a "Local Backup" device (which uses the new backup engine added in 21.x). Note: There are two plugin method of backups that do not support the new backup engine device types added in 21.x, which are VMware backups and MS Exchange backups, and for that matter the MS SQL and Hyper-V backup methods that are compatible with the new backup engine device types added in 21.x can only support restoring to an alternate location, not to the original location, so keep that in mind. Notice: By default this dialog in 21.x will only display non-legacy device types keep in mind; and you can view the guide on how to enable legacy storage devices in 21.x here: https://support.novabackup.com/hc/en-us/articles/16161957844637-How-to-Enable-Legacy-Storage-Devices-in-NovaBACKUP-in-version-21-and-higher.

5. If you want to change any of the default backup job settings you can, and it would be recommended to do so, by clicking on the "Settings" button at the bottom right of the "Backup" tab dialog. There you can change items such as retention related settings, job "Run As" settings, and "Notification" (email) settings.

6. Save the backup job, which is required anytime you make a change to it, otherwise it will prompt you to do so (or you can answer no to forget all of the changes), using the "Save" (floppy disk) button in the toolbar at the top of the "Backup" tab dialog.

7. If you want this backup job to be a scheduled job, you can click on the "Schedule..." button at the bottom right of the "Backup" tab dialog. You can then schedule the backup job in the resulting "Schedule Options" dialog that will display after that.

8. The "Estimate" button can be utilized to check on the total size of the selected files/folders items, but keep in mind it only knows about calculating files/folders, not any plugin related objects, such as MS SQL/Hyper-V/System State in that calculation. If you do have a plugin only backup job, with no files/folders selected in it as well, then the "Estimate" button will be of no use since it will only display a null or 0 bytes output.

9. You are done with configuring the backup job at this point. And from here you can run the backup job manually using the "Backup" button at the bottom right of the "Backup" tab dialog if you wish to, or you can wait for it to run on schedule if you did define a schedule for it. And also if you want to, you can at this point switch to the "Schedule" tab, to check the properties of this and other scheduled jobs in that "Schedule" tab dialog.