Can I delete full backup (vbk) in the backup chain ?

[Archdragoon]

Hello All,

My NAS storage is running out of space and I make a decision to reduce the retention for synthetic backup from 4 week to 2 week. However still can see that the old vbk is still stay in the storage.

Can I manually delete it ?

Also If I wish to change to incremental backup forever can I just delete all vbk file except the first one in the backup chain ?

[veremin]

Can I manually delete it ?

If you have other (newer full backups), you can remove part of backup chain (from one .vbk to other one) manually.

Also If I wish to change to incremental backup forever can I just delete all vbk file except the first one in the backup chain?

Yes, you can remove everything prior to newest .vbk file and disable full backup schedule making a job work in forward forever incremental mode.

Thanks!

[foggy]

Hi Itsarapong, retention applies at the end of the successful job run, not right after you change the job settings. If you need to free up space immediately, you can manually delete the old part of the chain (full + depending increments) and then use the forget missing restore points functionality to clean up the database.

As to your second question, again, you can delete the old parts but leave the most recent full along with its increments. The chain will be continued.

[Archdragoon]

Understood. Thank you both.