How to Backup Windows Network Shares and UNC Paths
Last updated
Last updated
eazyBackup can back up Windows network shares (SMB), however, because eazyBackup runs as a background service user, there are some issues with authentication to be aware of.
When possible, the best option would be to to install eazyBackup directly on the device rather than backing up over the network.
Network Authentication
On Windows, your logged-on user session may have its own mapped network drives. These mapped drives belong to your logged in user session and are not available to background service accounts.
Most UNC shares will require network authentication. If your backup logs show messages like WARNING Lstat: CreateFile \\?\UNC\...: Access is denied., this is likely because the eazyBackup service account is not logged into your network shares.
We will show you how to configure the backup with network authentication to avoid these issues.
Add a new Protected Item or modify an existing file and folder protected item.
Name the Protected Item and select the "Files and Folders" backup type and then proceed to the next step
Go to the 'Custom' tab, Click the "+" button to reveal the extra options and select "Log in to network share"
Enter the UNC path to your network share
Enter the username of an account that has permission to access the network share
Enter the password for your network account
When adding the Username, in some cases you may need to specify the network name of the server before the username in this format
myservername\Username
Click the "+" button to reveal the extra options and select "Choose items".
Click the "Options" button, select "Browse UNC path".
Type the UNC path to your network share, click "OK".
Your network share should now appear in the list of items, and you will be able to browse the directory tree to select the files and folders you want included in the backup.
At this point, if your network share is not visible in the list of items, you may have incorrectly entered the share username, password or UNC path.
Run the backup job immediately when you click finish or let the backup run according to the schedule you made.
