Checking the status of a server backup with wbadmin

You can see a list of arguments you can give the command by just entering the command wbadmin at a command prompt.

c:\>wbadmin
wbadmin 1.0 - Backup command-line tool
(C) Copyright 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

ERROR - Command incomplete. See the list below.
For Help for this command, type WBADMIN <command> /?.

---- Commands Supported ----

ENABLE BACKUP             -- Creates or modifies a daily backup schedule.
DISABLE BACKUP            -- Disables the scheduled backups.
START BACKUP              -- Runs a one-time backup.
STOP JOB                  -- Stops the currently running backup or recovery
                              operation.
GET VERSIONS              -- Lists details of backups that can be recovered
                              from a specified location.
GET ITEMS                 -- Lists items contained in a backup.
START RECOVERY            -- Runs a recovery.
GET STATUS                -- Reports the status of the currently running
                              operation.
GET DISKS                 -- Lists the disks that are currently online.
GET VIRTUALMACHINES       -- Lists current Hyper-V virtual machines.
START SYSTEMSTATERECOVERY -- Runs a system state recovery.
START SYSTEMSTATEBACKUP   -- Runs a system state backup.
DELETE SYSTEMSTATEBACKUP  -- Deletes one or more system state backups.
DELETE BACKUP             -- Deletes one or more backups.

c:\>

To use the command, though, you need to get a command prompt with administrator privileges, which you can get by moving the mouse pointer to the lower, left-hand corner of the screen until the Start button appears, then right-clicking on it and selecting "Command Prompt (Admin)". Otherwise, you will see the message below:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.2.9200]
(c) 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Windows\system32>wbadmin get versions
wbadmin 1.0 - Backup command-line tool
(C) Copyright 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Backup time: 1/25/2015 1:00 AM
Backup target: 1394/USB Disk labeled Batman Backups (3725.84 GB)
Version identifier: 01/25/2015-06:00
Can recover: Volume(s), File(s), Application(s), Bare Metal Recovery, System State
Snapshot ID: {867f2dbc-5a8a-4d7a-8549-623003bb339d}

Backup time: 1/25/2015 1:00 PM
Backup target: 1394/USB Disk labeled Batman Backups (3725.84 GB)
Version identifier: 01/25/2015-18:00
Can recover: Volume(s), File(s), Application(s), Bare Metal Recovery, System State
Snapshot ID: {2bf3b734-c640-4222-b7a3-df6efbafc9ea}


C:\Windows\system32>

You can obtain information on the currently online internal and external disk drives connected to the system with the command wbadmin get disks.

C:\Windows\system32>wbadmin get disks
wbadmin 1.0 - Backup command-line tool
(C) Copyright 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Disk name: ST31000528AS
Disk number: 0
Disk identifier: {f7b05235-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}
Total space: 931.51 GB
Used space : 73.72 GB
Volumes: <not mounted>[RECOVERY],D:[OS],C:[]

Disk name: ST6000DX000-1H217Z
Disk number: 1
Disk identifier: {6451099e-c41a-4460-9406-328321f6f74a}
Total space: 5589.02 GB
Used space : 98.03 GB
Volumes: G:[Data]

Disk name: WD My Book 1230 USB Device
Disk number: 2
Disk identifier: {6284aa2e-c284-4d47-b2be-d951a05862d2}
Total space: 3725.99 GB
Used space : 110.62 GB
Volumes: <not mounted>[Batman Backups]


C:\Windows\system32>

If you wish to see what items are present in a particular backup, you can use the wbadmin get items command.

C:\Windows\system32>wbadmin get items
wbadmin 1.0 - Backup command-line tool
(C) Copyright 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

ERROR - An option required for the command is missing: Version. See the
syntax below.

Syntax: WBADMIN GET ITEMS
    -version:<VersionIdentifier>
    [-backupTarget:{<BackupDestinationVolume> | <NetworkSharePath>}]
    [-machine:<BackupMachineName>]

Description:  Lists the items included in a specific backup.
To use this command, you must be a member of the Backup Operators group
or Administrators group.

Parameters:
-version       Specifies the version of the backup in MM/DD/YYYY-HH:MM format.
                If you do not know the version information, type WBADMIN GET
                VERSIONS.

-backupTarget  Specifies the storage location that contains the backups for
                which you want the details. The storage location can be a
                locally attached disk drive or a remote shared folder. If
                WBADMIN GET VERSIONS is run on the same server where the
                backup was created, this parameter is not needed. However,
                this parameter is required to get information about a backup
                created from another server.

-machine       Specifies the name of the computer that you want the backup
                details for. Useful when multiple computers have been backed
                up to the same location. Should be used when -backupTarget is
                specified.

Examples:
WBADMIN GET ITEMS -version:03/31/2005-09:00
WBADMIN GET ITEMS -version:04/30/2005-09:00 -backupTarget:\\servername\share
-machine:server01


C:\Windows\system32>

E.g., after using the command wbadmin get versions to list the available backups, to see what was backed up when a particular backup versions was created, you can use the command

wbadmin get items 
-version:versionidentifier

where versionidentifier is one of the versions listed from the prior command. Version identifiers are a date, followed by a dash, followed by the time of the backup in 24-hour clock format, aka "military time". E.g., from the example wbadmin get versions command above, there were two backups available:

The times are 06:00 and 18:00. The backups were actually run at 1:00 AM and 1:00 PM local time, i.e., 01:00 and 13:00, but since the server is in a time zone that is 5 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), aka Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), the times shown in the version identifiers reflect not the local time, but GMT.

Both backup versions backed up the same items. To see what was included in the last one, I could use the command below:

C:\Windows\system32>wbadmin get items -version:01/25/2015-18:00
wbadmin 1.0 - Backup command-line tool
(C) Copyright 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Volume ID = {46a6263c-8cbc-11e4-93ed-806e6f6e6963}
Volume 'RECOVERY', mounted at <not mounted> ('RECOVERY', mounted at <not mounted
> at the time
the backup was created)
Volume size = 19.78 GB
Can recover = Full volume

Volume ID = {46a6263e-8cbc-11e4-93ed-806e6f6e6963}
Volume '', mounted at C:
Volume size = 732.42 GB
Can recover = Full volume

Volume ID = {b46726e4-795f-47dc-8c50-c356306bd29a}
Volume 'Data', mounted at G:
Volume size = 5588.90 GB
Can recover = Full volume

Volume ID = {46a6263d-8cbc-11e4-93ed-806e6f6e6963}
Volume 'OS', mounted at D:
Volume size = 179.26 GB
Can recover = Full volume

Application = FRS
Component = 53AFE0AF-2868-4F2D-B38A-24A908F02CE1-E23B813B-9D4E-4D53-B73D-BB1FBF9
F8B10 (SYSVOL\53AFE0AF-2868-4F2D-B38A-24A908F02CE1-E23B813B-9D4E-4D53-B73D-BB1FB
F9F8B10)

Application = AD
Component = ntds (C:_Windows_NTDS\ntds)

Application = Registry
Component = Registry (\Registry)

Application = Windows Server Storage VSS Writer
Component = Client Computer Backups ({B46726E4-795F-47DC-8C50-C356306BD29A}\G:\S
erverFolders\Client Computer Backups\FolderDescription\Client Computer Backups)

Component = {A82B573D-3A97-4E43-A405-67D9E81A34BA} ({B46726E4-795F-47DC-8C50-C35
6306BD29A}\G:\ServerFolders\Client Computer Backups\FolderGuid\{A82B573D-3A97-4E
43-A405-67D9E81A34BA})

Component = Client Computer Backups ({B46726E4-795F-47DC-8C50-C356306BD29A}\G:\S
erverFolders\Client Computer Backups\FolderName\Client Computer Backups)

Component = Company ({B46726E4-795F-47DC-8C50-C356306BD29A}\G:\ServerFolders\Com
pany\FolderDescription\Company)

Component = {3F2FF46C-031E-4ADE-BDEB-E101E9C3D33A} ({B46726E4-795F-47DC-8C50-C35
6306BD29A}\G:\ServerFolders\Company\FolderGuid\{3F2FF46C-031E-4ADE-BDEB-E101E9C3
D33A})

Component = Company ({B46726E4-795F-47DC-8C50-C356306BD29A}\G:\ServerFolders\Com
pany\FolderName\Company)

Component = File History Backups ({B46726E4-795F-47DC-8C50-C356306BD29A}\G:\Serv
erFolders\File History Backups\FolderDescription\File History Backups)

Component = {1B838908-0C23-4D3A-860D-7931978DBD65} ({B46726E4-795F-47DC-8C50-C35
6306BD29A}\G:\ServerFolders\File History Backups\FolderGuid\{1B838908-0C23-4D3A-
860D-7931978DBD65})

Component = File History Backups ({B46726E4-795F-47DC-8C50-C356306BD29A}\G:\Serv
erFolders\File History Backups\FolderName\File History Backups)

Component = Folder Redirection ({B46726E4-795F-47DC-8C50-C356306BD29A}\G:\Server
Folders\Folder Redirection\FolderDescription\Folder Redirection)

Component = {243A0EF3-ABFC-4F74-A652-2180C7098539} ({B46726E4-795F-47DC-8C50-C35
6306BD29A}\G:\ServerFolders\Folder Redirection\FolderGuid\{243A0EF3-ABFC-4F74-A6
52-2180C7098539})

Component = Folder Redirection ({B46726E4-795F-47DC-8C50-C356306BD29A}\G:\Server
Folders\Folder Redirection\FolderName\Folder Redirection)

Component = Users ({B46726E4-795F-47DC-8C50-C356306BD29A}\G:\ServerFolders\Users
\FolderDescription\Users)

Component = {6B2C4CD0-9A34-493F-939C-F7641491B4EE} ({B46726E4-795F-47DC-8C50-C35
6306BD29A}\G:\ServerFolders\Users\FolderGuid\{6B2C4CD0-9A34-493F-939C-F7641491B4
EE})

Component = Users ({B46726E4-795F-47DC-8C50-C356306BD29A}\G:\ServerFolders\Users
\FolderName\Users)


C:\Windows\system32>