AvePoint Cloud Backup and Restore: A Step-by-Step Guide

Configuring AvePoint Cloud Backup Options

AvePoint Cloud Backup is a streamlined service to back up your Office 365 components that is scaled to your organization’s size.  We perform up to four backups per day while giving you the option of allowing us to store your data or using your own storage devices.

Step 1: In order to configure your Cloud Backup solution, log in to AvePoint Online Services (AOS). In the middle of the page, click AvePoint Cloud Backup.

Step 2: On the homepage, you’ll see tiles that represent the six Office 365 services which can be backed up: Exchange Online, One Drive for Business, SharePoint Online, Project Online data, Public Folder data, and O365 Groups.  For each, you’ll see a link that reads “Change the backup scope”.

Step 3: After clicking the “Change the backup scope” link for one of the services, you’ll see the option for selecting whether to backup that service’s contents. Change the setting by toggling between “Yes” and “No”.  Below the toggle, you can determine which containers to backup.

Note: Containers, also called AvePoint Online Services Dynamic Object Registration Groups, are configured at the AOS tenant level. The groups are useful for bringing in objects from O365.

Ex: If you need Exchange Online mailboxes designated by teams, you can create AOS Dynamic Object Registration Groups. In Cloud Backup, the groups display separately, allowing you to pick and choose what you want to back up or exclude.

Dynamic Object Registration Groups can be configured for Exchange Online, One Drive for Business, SharePoint Site Collections, and O365 Groups.

Beyond selecting what to backup, AvePoint Online Services Cloud Backup is designed to be straightforward and simple to use. For instance, there is no schedule to configure–backups simply happens automatically behind the scenes. Some options remain available to you, such as the following, found under Settings:

Notification settings – Allows you to receive an email when backup jobs complete

Backup settings – You can choose to back up versions, encrypt your backups, or Disable IRM settings.  The Storage Location option is only available if you have been licensed to use your own storage location. If not, the storage location is provided by AvePoint as part of a standard license

Mapping Settings – Used for performing out-of-place restores

If you wish to see how your backups are performing, you may do so from the home page. Additional details can be viewed for each back up by clicking the “More details” link.

Performing a Restore from AvePoint Cloud Backup

Step 1: On the AvePoint Cloud Backup side-bar, click Restore. Click the tile that represents the O365 object type which you would like to restore.

Step 2: To locate the data you wish you restore, you can input the exact url, use “Advanced Search” to choose the restore item’s level and set search parameters, or browse for the item based on the backup job by clicking “Find the items in specific backup job”. The last option brings up a calendar which can be navigated through using the arrows up at the top left. Hover over a backup job to view information about that job.

Step 3: If browsing, once you select a backup job, you can drill down through the object hierarchy to locate the specific item you are looking to restore.  Sorting and filtering is available using the column headers.

Step 4: After selecting an item and clicking “Restore”, you set appropriate conflict resolution (if necessary), and define whether the content should be restored in place or out of place (somewhere else in SharePoint Online, or to One Drive for Business).

Step 5: Click “Restore” to execute the restore job. You can see the status of that job within the “Activity Report” on the side-bar.