Configure on-premises file and folder backups
Let's review how to use the MARS agent and Azure Backup to complete backups of your on-premises files and folders. The following diagram shows the high-level steps to use the MARS agent for Azure Backup.
Step 1: Create Recovery Services vault
The first step is to create a Recovery Services vault for your backups. The vault must be created within your Azure subscription, as described in the previous section.
Step 2: Download MARS agent and credentials file
On the Backup center dashboard, the Recovery Services vault page provides a link to download the MARS agent (Recovery Services Agent). To complete the MARS agent installation, you also need to download the vault credentials file. For details, see Download the MARS agent.
Step 3: Install and register MARS agent
The MARS agent installer provides a wizard to configure the installation location, proxy server, and passphrase information. The downloaded credentials file is used to register the agent. The MARS agent is installed on your local machine.
Important
You must install the latest version of the MARS agent. MARS agent versions earlier than 2.0.9083.0 must be upgraded by uninstalling and reinstalling the agent.
Step 4: Configure backups
Now you're ready to use the MARS agent to create a backup policy. You can specify when to do the backup, what data to back up, how long to retain the backup items, and other settings such as network throttling.