The Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Block Volume service provides you with the
capability to perform volume backups and volume group backups automatically on a
schedule and retain them based on the selected backup policy.
With user defined policies, you can also enable scheduled cross-region backups, so that scheduled volume backups are automatically copied to a second region, see Scheduling Volume Backup Copies Across Regions.
These features allow you to adhere to your data compliance and regulatory requirements.
Volume backups are point-in-time snapshots of volume data. For more information about volume backups, see Overview of Block Volume Backups.
There are two kinds of backup policies:
User defined: Custom backup policies that you create and configure schedules for.
Oracle defined: Predefined backup policies that have a set backup frequency and retention period. You cannot modify these policies.
Note
Timing for Scheduled Backups
Scheduled volume backups are not guaranteed to start at the exact time specified by
the backup schedule. You may see up to several hours of delay between the scheduled
start time and the actual start time for the volume backup in scenarios where the
system is overloaded. This applies to both user defined and Oracle defined backup
policies.
User Defined Backup Policies
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure enables you to customize your backup schedules with user defined policies. These are backup policies that you define the backup frequency and retention period for. There are two parts to user defined backup policies, the backup policy itself, and then one or more schedules in the policy.
To get started with user defined backup policies, you need to first create the backup policy, see To create a user defined backup policy. After this step, you have an empty backup policy, so the next step is to define and add schedules to the policy.
Schedules 🔗
Schedules define the backup frequency and retention period for a user defined backup policy, just like Oracle defined backup policies. The difference is that you can customize the schedules associated with user defined policies. This gives you control over the backup frequency and retention period.
When defining a schedule for a user defined backup policy, the first thing you configure is the schedule type, this specifies the backup frequency. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure provides the following schedule types:
Daily: Backups are generated daily. You specify the hour of the day for the backup.
Weekly: Backups are generated weekly. You specify the day of the week, and the hour of that day for the backup.
Monthly: Backups are generated monthly. You specify the day of the month, and the hour of that day for the backup.
Yearly: Backups are generated yearly. You specify the month, the day of that month, and the hour of that day for the backup.
Important
Block Volume runs only one scheduled backup per volume per day. If more than one backup is scheduled for a volume on a particular day, the service runs only one of them, using the following priority:
Yearly
Monthly
Weekly
Daily
In addition to frequency, you also configure the following:
Retention time: The amount of time to keep the backup, in days, weeks, months, or years. The time period is based the schedule type.
Backup type Options are full or incremental, see Volume Backup Types for more information.
Timezone The time zone to use for the backup schedule. Options are UTC or the regional data center time zone.
You can create a new backup policy by duplicating any of the existing backup policies.
If one of the Oracle defined policies is close to meeting your volume backup requirements, but with some changes, you can create a new backup policy by duplicating the Oracle defined policy. This creates a new user defined backup policy with schedules already assigned, enabling you to use the Oracle defined policy's settings as a starting point to save time and simplify the process.
You can also duplicate an existing user defined policy. For more information, see To duplicate a backup policy. You can then add, edit, or delete schedules for the new backup policy.
Scheduling Volume Backup Copies Across Regions 🔗
The Block Volume service enables you to copy volume backups from one region to another for business continuity and disaster recovery scenarios, for more information, see Copying Block Volume Backups Across Regions. With user-defined policies, you can automate this process, so that volume backups are copied to another region on a schedule. Enabling the automatic copying of scheduled volume backups is only supported with user-defined policies, so if you need to use this feature for a volume currently configured with an Oracle defined policy, you need to duplicate the policy and then enable cross region copy. The volume backup copy in the target region has the same retention period as the volume backup in the source region.
Note
Vault encryption keys for volumes aren't copied to the destination region
for scheduled volume and volume group backups enabled for cross region copy. Instead,
you can specify a Vault encryption key for the backup
copied to the destination region when you assign the backup policy. When you assign the
backup policy, if it's enabled for cross region backup copies, select Encrypt using
customer-managed keys for Cross region backup copy
encryption to encrypt the volume backup in the destination region. If
you select this option, you must specify the OCID for a valid encryption key in the
destination region, see Requirements for Customer-Managed Encryption Keys for Cross-Region Operations for more
information.
Note
It might take up to 24 hours for daily scheduled volume
backups to be copied to the target region. You can verify that the volume backup was
copied by switching to the target region and checking the list of volume backups for
that region. If the volume backup hasn't been copied yet, you can perform a manual copy
of that volume backup to the target region using the steps described in Copying a Volume Backup Between Regions.
Cost 🔗
Once this feature is enabled, your bill will include charges for storing volume
backups in both the source region and the destination region. You may also see an
increase in network costs. For pricing details, see Oracle Storage Cloud Pricing. The Object Storage price
applies to backup storage. Outbound Data Transfer price will be applicable for
network costs with cross-region backup copies.
Oracle Defined Backup Policies 🔗
There are three Oracle defined backup policies, Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Each backup policy is comprised of schedules with a set backup frequency and a retention period that you cannot modify. If the backup policy settings for Oracle defined policies don't meet your requirements, you should use User Defined Backup Policies instead. With user defined backup policies you define and control the schedules. You can also enable the automatic copying of volume backups to a second region, which is not supported with Oracle defined policies.
Note
Oracle defined backup policies are not supported for scheduled volume
group backups.
Caution
Full Backups and Oracle Defined Policies
As of November 3, 2021, Oracle defined policies no longer include full backups. See Full backups removed from Oracle defined backup policies. Incremental backups are functionally the same as full backups for data recovery purposes. Some compliance scenarios may require scheduled full backups. For these compliance scenarios, configure a user defined backup policy instead. You can create a new user defined policy from an existing backup policy, see Duplicating Existing Backup Policies.
Bronze Policy
The bronze policy includes monthly incremental backups, run on the first day of the
month. These backups are retained for twelve months. This policy also includes an incremental backup, run yearly during the first part of January. This backup is retained
for five years.
Silver Policy
The silver policy includes weekly incremental backups that run on Sunday. These
backups are retained for four weeks. This policy also includes monthly incremental
backups, run on the first day of the month and are retained for twelve months. Also
includes an incremental backup, run yearly during the first part of January. This backup is
retained for five years.
Gold Policy
The gold policy includes daily incremental backups, retained for seven days, along
with weekly incremental backups, run on Sunday and retained for four weeks. Includes
monthly incremental backups, run on the first day of the month, retained for twelve
months. Also
includes an incremental backup, run yearly during the first part of January. This backup is
retained for five years.
Working with Backup Policies 🔗
There are two types of tasks when working with backup policies:
The linked sections listed above provide information for working with backup policies using the Console, CLI, and REST APIs.
Required IAM Policy
To use Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, you must be granted security access in a policy by an administrator. This access is required whether you're using the Console or the REST API with an SDK, CLI, or other tool. If you get a message that you don't have permission or are unauthorized, verify with your administrator what type of access you have and which compartment to work in.
Important
To view or work with backup policies, you need access to the root compartment, which is where the predefined backup policies are located.
When users create a backup from a volume or restore a volume from a backup, the volume and backup don't have to be in the same
compartment . However, users must have access to both compartments.
You can apply tags to your resources to help you organize them according to your business needs. You can update the resource later with the desired tags. For general information about applying tags, see Resource Tags.
Creating and Configuring User Defined Backup Policies 🔗
Using the Console 🔗
You can use the Console to create and update user defined backup policies.
Open the navigation menu and click Storage. Under Block Storage, click Backup Policies.
Click Create Backup Policy.
Specify a name for the backup policy. Avoid entering confidential information.
Select the compartment to create the backup policy in.
While you select a compartment for the backup policy, it's accessible
across your tenancy.
Optionally, you can enable cross region copy to the specified region.
This automates the copying of the volume backup to a second region after each
backup is created. To enable cross region copy, select a target region from the
Cross Region Copy Target list. This is the region the volume backup
will be copied to. For more information, see Scheduling Volume Backup Copies Across Regions.
When you assign a backup policy with cross region copy enabled to a volume, you
can optionally select Encrypt using customer-managed keys for
Cross region backup copy encryption to encrypt the
volume backup with a Vault key from the destination region. See Specifying a Key for Cross-Region Backup Copies for more information.
Click Create Backup Policy to create the backup policy.
Open the navigation menu and click Storage. Under Block Storage, click Backup Policies.
Click the backup policy you want to add the schedule to.
Click Add Schedule.
Specify the backup frequency by selecting from the Schedule Type options: Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Yearly, and then configure the additional schedule options. Depending on the schedule type, the additional schedule options will include one or more of the following:
Hour of the day
Day of the week
Day of the month
Month of the year
Specify the Retention Time, which will be in days, weeks, months, or years, depending on the schedule type you selected in the previous step.
Select Full or Incremental for Backup Type.
Select the Timezoneto base the schedule settings on, either UTC or Regional Data Center Time.
Open the navigation menu and click Storage. Under Block Storage, click Backup Policies.
Click the backup policy that you want to duplicate.Both Oracle defined and user defined backup policies can be duplicated.
Click Duplicate.
Specify a name for the policy. Avoid entering confidential information.
Select the compartment to create the backup policy in. It does not need to be the same compartment as the backup policy you are duplicating.
Optionally, you can enable cross region copy to the specified region.
This automates the copying of the volume backup to a second region that you
specify after each backup is created. For more information, see Scheduling Volume Backup Copies Across Regions.
If a volume is part of a volume group with a backup policy assignment, the backup policy assignment is managed by the volume group. In this scenario, to update the backup policy assigned you must change the assignment for the volume group or remove the volume from the group.
Open the navigation menu and click Storage. Under Block Storage, click Block Volumes.
Click the volume for which you want to assign a backup policy to.
On the Block Volume Information tab click Edit .
In the BACKUP POLICIES section, select the compartment containing
the backup policies.
Select the appropriate backup policy for your requirements.
Optionally, if you select a backup policy enabled for cross region backup copies you
can encrypt the backup copy in the destination region with your own Vault encryption key by selecting Encrypt using
customer-managed keys for Cross region backup copy
encryption. If you select this option, you must specify the OCID for
a valid encryption key in the destination region, see Requirements for Customer-Managed Encryption Keys for Cross-Region Operations for more
information.
Open the navigation menu and click Storage. Under Block Storage, click Block Volumes.
Click the volume for which you want to change the backup policy for.
On the Block Volume Information tab click Edit.
In the BACKUP POLICIES section, select the compartment containing
the backup policy.
Select the backup policy you want to switch to.
Optionally, if you select a backup policy enabled for cross region backup copies
you can encrypt the backup copy in the destination region with your own Vault encryption key by selecting Encrypt using
customer-managed keys for Cross region backup copy
encryption. If you select this option, you must specify the OCID
for a valid encryption key in the destination region, see Requirements for Customer-Managed Encryption Keys for Cross-Region Operations for more
information.
Tracking the Status of Backup Operations with Events 🔗
You can use Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Events to track the status of Block Volume backup operations. See Block Volume Events for a list of these event types. All Block Volume event types include a status attribute. The status attribute value is either operationFailed or operationSucceed, depending on the whether the backup operation succeeded or failed.
Note
You need to manually type the operationFailed
and operationSucceed attribute values into the text box when creating a rule in
the Console.