Use Windows Server 2012 Essentials Dashboard to quickly verify backups
On the Windows Server 2012 Essentials Dashboard, you can view the items in the DEVICES tab to quickly determine which of your overnight backups succeeded, and which failed. Despite how handy the Windows Server 2012 Essentials Health Report Add-in is, it doesn't tell you how many backups finished. So while my demonstrated method isn't automatic, but can be done quite quickly, using just your keyboard. Here's how.
- Open Windows Server 2012 Essentials Dashboard
- Single-click on 'DEVICES'
- Single-click on the first of the listed 'Computers'
- On your keyboard, press the following sequence of keys, noting which systems don't show a backup from last night:
Enter
Enter
ESC
ESC
Down-arrow
[Repeat these 5 keystrokes, for each system you wish to view]
This method helps you pinpoint which machines frequently miss daily backups, so you can begin troubleshooting the potential causes (left unplugged, no VPN connection to the server, etc.), without having to wait for the usual warnings that popup only after many days of missed backups.
This daily backup check method is also demonstrated and described right here:
