When will the second monthly GFS point be created?

[wa15]

We have a backup copy job with GFS configured that's pointing to a SOBR with capacity-tier for long-term archiving in the cloud. We need a monthly backup archived for 7 years so I have the backup copy job configured as:

Copy every: 5 days
Restore points to keep: 3
GFS settings: Monthly = 84. Everything else is set to zero. Create monthly backup first Saturday of the month.

Restore points look as follows:
First GFS point (M Retention) was created on 1/4
Second VBK (R Retention) created on 1/31
VIBs created on 2/5 and 2/10

1. Since it has been 30 days since the first VBK on 1/4, and the job is set to create monthly backup first Saturday of the month, shouldn't I have seen the 2/10 run transform the 2/5 VIB into a full for GFS keeping?
2. If my understanding is incorrect (which probably is), when I can expect the second GFS be created and what would it be dated?

[HannesK]

Hello,
because of your "copy ever 5 days", you cannot really calculate with "every day" (30).

the first Saturday restore point (or whatever is the first RP after first Saturday) will be marked as the next monthly backup. Marked means, that it will become a future monthly restore as soon as it is merged into the full of the incremental forever chain. (the restore points to keep: 3).

3x5=15. That means, there are still some days left - give it some time

Best regards,
Hannes

PS: if you switch to daily copy, then you can simulate what happens when in the restore point simulator https://rps.dewin.me/ -> check "manual run" and simulate

[wa15]

Thanks Hannes.

the first Saturday restore point (or whatever is the first RP after first Saturday) will be marked as the next monthly backup.

Does that mean that the 2/5 VIB (Thursday, after first Saturday), will be transformed into a full and become my next monthly GFS restore point?

3x5=15. That means, there are still some days left

Can you help me understand this part? Multiplying the number of retention points by the "copy every" interval gets us 15 meaning?

[HannesK]

Does that mean that the 2/5 VIB (Thursday, after first Saturday), will be transformed into a full and become my next monthly GFS restore point?

yes.

You have a transform operation only every 5 days. And the "first Saturday" backup is marked as monthly backup. With three restore points, it takes at least 15 days until your marked backup becomes a monthly full. Your setup is probably one of the most complicated things to understand. Maybe this helps https://www.veeam.com/kb1931

Or just wait - it will work

[wa15]

Got it, thanks.

One more (hopefully last!) question: will it cause any problems with retention if I change the “copy every” setting to daily on an existing job so we can get the monthly copy created and offloaded sooner?

[HannesK]

Hello,
no problem, you can change it.

Best regards,
Hannes