What a backup job is
A job says what to back up, where, how and when. Every run of it writes a set you can restore from.
On this page
Everything in GBM AI hangs off one idea. A job answers four questions: what to back up, where to, how, and when. Each time a job runs it writes a set to the destination, and every set is a restore point you can go back to.
The four parts of a job#
| Part | Wizard step | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| What: the sources | 3 What | Documents and Desktop, D:\Users\Alex\Projects, Outlook data, one single file |
| Where: the destination | 2 Where | H:\Backups\Documents & Desktop, \\nas\backups, an S3 bucket |
| How: the settings | 4 Settings | Incremental, Balanced compression, encrypted, keep 5 sets, verify after each run |
| When: the schedule | 5 Schedule | Daily at 02:00, every 4 hours, Sundays at 01:00, manual only |
Step 1 gives the job its name and an optional description. The name is shown in the app and the tray, and every set folder on the destination starts with it.
Runs and sets#
A run is one go of the job. It has a start time, a result, six counters, a log and a report. A run that finishes writes one new set in its own folder on the destination. A mirror then removes the previous one.
Restore and Find read the sets. An incremental or differential set builds on the sets before it, back to a full set. That group is a chain, and retention never removes part of one. See Retention: how long backups are kept.
The Jobs page#
Open Jobs in the rail, or press Ctrl+J.
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Job | The name and the sources. A lock means encrypted; a Genie pill means Ask Genie drafted it. |
| Where | The destination, with an icon for a drive, a share or the cloud. |
| Type & schedule | For example Incremental above Daily 02:00. |
| On destination | How much the job holds there, and how many sets. |
| Last 14 runs | One block per run: green completed, amber skipped files or stopped, red failed. Hover a block for its result. |
| On | Off stops the schedule. Nothing is deleted. |
Each row ends with Run, Edit and ⋯. The ⋯ menu has Run now, Run as full, Edit, Duplicate, Rename…, Export job JSON…, Create desktop shortcut, Show destination in Explorer, Run history and Delete job….
Above the table are a search box and the chips All, Needs attention, Scheduled, Encrypted, Local, Network and Cloud. Pick several chips and they combine. Tick rows to act on several jobs at once: the bar that appears offers Run, Duplicate, Export JSON and Delete.
A job's own page#
Click a job's row to open its page. Double-click the row to open it straight in the wizard.
- Overview: what, where, the settings, health, the last and next run, the On switch, and Size over time (after two completed runs).
- Runs: every run with its type, result, changes, bytes written and duration. Click one for its report.
- Files: searches every file this job has backed up. Restore… on a match opens the restore picker with that file ticked.
- Schedule: the schedule in words and its next five times, with Run now and Run as full.
The header has Edit, Run now and ⋯ (Run as full, Filters & exclusions…, Export job JSON…, Show destination in Explorer).
How many jobs you can have#
Free covers two jobs that are switched on. Home and Pro have no limit. Several small jobs usually beat one big one: Documents daily, photos weekly, projects every four hours. Each then has its own rhythm, its own retention, and its own report to read when something goes wrong.