To configure an automatic backup policy for the preferred or the primary replica of a SQL Server availability group

1. Log on to the primary server as administrator (Windows) or root (UNIX).
2. Open the NetBackup Administration Console.
3. Select Actions > New > Policy.
4. In the Policy name box, type a unique name for the new policy and click OK.
5. On the Attributes tab, configure the following:

   • Select the MS-SQL-Server policy type.

   • Specify a storage unit.

6. On the Instances and Databases tab, select Clients for use with batch files.

   The tab name changes to Clients and the Backup Selections tab now lets you specify and browse for scripts.

7. On the Schedules tab, add a Full Backup schedule.

   NetBackup also creates a Default-Application-Backup schedule. Use this schedule to set the retention level for the policy. See the NetBackup Administrator's Guide for more information.

8. On the Clients tab, add the name of each replica on which you want backups to occur.

   Use the NetBackup client name for each replica. If a replica is hosted on a failover cluster instance (FCI), use the virtual cluster instance name.

9. Repeat step 3 to Configuring an automatic backup policy for the preferred or the primary replica of a SQL Server availability group in this procedure to create a policy for each type of backup (full, differential, transaction log) that you want to perform.

   Each type of backup requires a separate policy.

10. On each replica where you want to perform backups, create a batch file for each type of backup that you want to perform.

    See Creating batch files for the policy that protects the preferred or the primary replica.