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--- title: Create backup policies via REST API in Azure Backup description: In this article, you'll learn how to create and manage backup policies (schedule and retention) using REST API. ms.topic: how-to ms.date: 02/25/2025 ms.assetid: 5ffc4115-0ae5-4b85-a18c-8a942f6d4870 ms.service: azure-backup ms.custom: engagement-fy24 author: AbhishekMallick-MS ms.author: v-mallicka # Customer intent: "As a cloud administrator, I want to create and manage backup policies via REST API, so that I can automate backup schedules and retention settings for various Azure workloads." --- # Create Azure Recovery Services backup policies by using REST API This article describes how to create policies for the backup of Azure VM, SQL database in Azure VM, SAP HANA database in Azure VM, and Azure Files. Learn more about [creating or modifying a backup policy for an Azure Recovery Services vault by using REST API](/rest/api/backup/protection-policies/create-or-update). ## Create or update a policy To create or update an Azure Backup policy, use the following *PUT* operation. ```http PUT https://management.azure.com/Subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/resourceGroups/{resourceGroupName}/providers/Microsoft.RecoveryServices/vaults/{vaultName}/backupPolicies/{policyName}?api-version=2019-05-13 ``` The `{policyName}` and `{vaultName}` are provided in the URI. Additional information is provided in the request body. ## Create the request body If you want to create a policy for Azure VM backup, the request body needs to have the following components: |Name |Required |Type |Description | |---------|---------|---------|---------| |properties | True | ProtectionPolicy:[AzureIaaSVMProtectionPolicy](/rest/api/backup/protection-policies/create-or-update#azureiaasvmprotectionpolicy) | ProtectionPolicyResource properties | |tags | | Object | Resource tags | For the complete list of definitions in the request body, see the [backup policy REST API article](/rest/api/backup/protection-policies/create-or-update). ### Example request body This section provides the example request body to create policies for the backup of Azure VM, SQL database in Azure VM, SAP HANA database in Azure VM, and Azure Files. **Choose a datasource**: # [Azure VM](#tab/azure-vm) The following request body defines a standard backup policy for Azure VM backups. This policy: - Takes a weekly backup every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday at 10:00 AM Pacific Standard Time. - Retains the backups taken on every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday for one week. - Retains the backups taken on every first Wednesday and third Thursday of a month for two months (overrides the previous retention conditions, if any). - Retains the backups taken on fourth Monday and fourth Thursday in February and November for four years (overrides the previous retention conditions, if any). ```json { "properties": { "backupManagementType": "AzureIaasVM", "timeZone": "Pacific Standard Time", "schedulePolicy": { "schedulePolicyType": "SimpleSchedulePolicy", "scheduleRunFrequency": "Weekly", "scheduleRunTimes": [ "2018-01-24T10:00:00Z" ], "scheduleRunDays": [ "Monday", "Wednesday", "Thursday" ] }, "retentionPolicy": { "retentionPolicyType": "LongTermRetentionPolicy", "weeklySchedule": { "daysOfTheWeek": [ "Monday", "Wednesday", "Thursday" ], "retentionTimes": [ "2018-01-24T10:00:00Z" ], "retentionDuration": { "count": 1, "durationType": "Weeks" } }, "monthlySchedule": { "retentionScheduleFormatType": "Weekly", "retentionScheduleWeekly": { "daysOfTheWeek": [ "Wednesday", "Thursday" ], "weeksOfTheMonth": [ "First", "Third" ] }, "retentionTimes": [ "2018-01-24T10:00:00Z" ], "retentionDuration": { "count": 2, "durationType": "Months" } }, "yearlySchedule": { "retentionScheduleFormatType": "Weekly", "monthsOfYear": [ "February", "November" ], "retentionScheduleWeekly": { "daysOfTheWeek": [ "Monday", "Thursday" ], "weeksOfTheMonth": [ "Fourth" ] }, "retentionTimes": [ "2018-01-24T10:00:00Z" ], "retentionDuration": { "count": 4, "durationType": "Years" } } } } } ``` The following request body defines an enhanced backup policy for Azure VM backups creating multiple backups a day. This policy: - Takes a backup every 4 hours from 3:30 PM UTC everyday - Retains instant recovery snapshot for 7 days - Retains the daily backups for 180 days - Retains the backups taken on the Sunday of every week for 12 weeks - Retains the backups taken on the first Sunday of every month for 12 months ```json { "properties": { "backupManagementType": "AzureIaasVM", "policyType": "V2", "instantRPDetails": {}, "schedulePolicy": { "schedulePolicyType": "SimpleSchedulePolicyV2", "scheduleRunFrequency": "Hourly", "hourlySchedule": { "interval": 4, "scheduleWindowStartTime": "2023-02-06T15:30:00Z", "scheduleWindowDuration": 24 } }, "retentionPolicy": { "retentionPolicyType": "LongTermRetentionPolicy", "dailySchedule": { "retentionTimes": [ "2023-02-06T15:30:00Z" ], "retentionDuration": { "count": 180, "durationType": "Days" } }, "weeklySchedule": { "daysOfTheWeek": [ "Sunday" ], "retentionTimes": [ "2023-02-06T15:30:00Z" ], "retentionDuration": { "count": 12, "durationType": "Weeks" } }, "monthlySchedule": { "retentionScheduleFormatType": "Weekly", "retentionScheduleWeekly": { "daysOfTheWeek": [ "Sunday" ], "weeksOfTheMonth": [ "First" ] }, "retentionTimes": [ "2023-02-06T15:30:00Z" ], "retentionDuration": { "count": 12, "durationType": "Months" } } }, "tieringPolicy": { "ArchivedRP": { "tieringMode": "DoNotTier", "duration": 0, "durationType": "Invalid" } }, "instantRpRetentionRangeInDays": 7, "timeZone": "UTC", "protectedItemsCount": 0 } } ``` > [!IMPORTANT] > The time formats for schedule and retention support only DateTime. They don't support Time format alone. # [SQL in Azure VM](#tab/sql-in-azure-vm) The following request body defines the backup policy for SQL in Azure VM backup. This policy: - Takes a full backup everyday at 13:30 UTC and a log backup every 1 hour. - Retains the daily full backups for 30 days and log backups for 30 days as well. ```json "properties": { "backupManagementType": "AzureWorkload", "workLoadType": "SQLDataBase", "settings": { "timeZone": "UTC", "issqlcompression": false, "isCompression": false }, "subProtectionPolicy": [ { "policyType": "Full", "schedulePolicy": { "schedulePolicyType": "SimpleSchedulePolicy", "scheduleRunFrequency": "Daily", "scheduleRunTimes": [ "2022-02-14T13:30:00Z" ], "scheduleWeeklyFrequency": 0 }, "retentionPolicy": { "retentionPolicyType": "LongTermRetentionPolicy", "dailySchedule": { "retentionTimes": [ "2022-02-14T13:30:00Z" ], "retentionDuration": { "count": 30, "durationType": "Days" } } } }, { "policyType": "Log", "schedulePolicy": { "schedulePolicyType": "LogSchedulePolicy", "scheduleFrequencyInMins": 60 }, "retentionPolicy": { "retentionPolicyType": "SimpleRetentionPolicy", "retentionDuration": { "count": 30, "durationType": "Days" } } } ], "protectedItemsCount": 0 } ``` The following is an example of a policy that takes a differential backup everyday and a full backup once a week. ```json "properties": { "backupManagementType": "AzureWorkload", "workLoadType": "SQLDataBase", "settings": { "timeZone": "UTC", "issqlcompression": false, "isCompression": false }, "subProtectionPolicy": [ { "policyType": "Full", "schedulePolicy": { "schedulePolicyType": "SimpleSchedulePolicy", "scheduleRunFrequency": "Weekly", "scheduleRunDays": [ "Sunday" ], "scheduleRunTimes": [ "2022-06-13T19:30:00Z" ], "scheduleWeeklyFrequency": 0 }, "retentionPolicy": { "retentionPolicyType": "LongTermRetentionPolicy", "weeklySchedule": { "daysOfTheWeek": [ "Sunday" ], "retentionTimes": [ "2022-06-13T19:30:00Z" ], "retentionDuration": { "count": 104, "durationType": "Weeks" } }, "monthlySchedule": { "retentionScheduleFormatType": "Weekly", "retentionScheduleWeekly": { "daysOfTheWeek": [ "Sunday" ], "weeksOfTheMonth": [ "First" ] }, "retentionTimes": [ "2022-06-13T19:30:00Z" ], "retentionDuration": { "count": 60, "durationType": "Months" } }, "yearlySchedule": { "retentionScheduleFormatType": "Weekly", "monthsOfYear": [ "January" ], "retentionScheduleWeekly": { "daysOfTheWeek": [ "Sunday" ], "weeksOfTheMonth": [ "First" ] }, "retentionTimes": [ "2022-06-13T19:30:00Z" ], "retentionDuration": { "count": 10, "durationType": "Years" } } } }, { "policyType": "Differential", "schedulePolicy": { "schedulePolicyType": "SimpleSchedulePolicy", "scheduleRunFrequency": "Weekly", "scheduleRunDays": [ "Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday", "Saturday" ], "scheduleRunTimes": [ "2022-06-13T02:00:00Z" ], "scheduleWeeklyFrequency": 0 }, "retentionPolicy": { "retentionPolicyType": "SimpleRetentionPolicy", "retentionDuration": { "count": 30, "durationType": "Days" } } }, { "policyType": "Log", "schedulePolicy": { "schedulePolicyType": "LogSchedulePolicy", "scheduleFrequencyInMins": 120 }, "retentionPolicy": { "retentionPolicyType": "SimpleRetentionPolicy", "retentionDuration": { "count": 15, "durationType": "Days" } } } ], "protectedItemsCount": 0 } ``` # [SAP HANA in Azure VM](#tab/sap-hana-in-azure-vm) The following request body defines the policy for SAP HANA database in Azure VM backup. This policy: - Takes a full backup every day at 19:30 UTC and a log backup every 2 hours. - Retains the daily backups for 180 days. - Retains the weekly backups for 104 weeks. - Retains the monthly backups for 60 months. - Retains the yearly backups for 10 years. - Retains the log backups for 15 days. ```json { "properties": { "backupManagementType": "AzureIaasVM", "timeZone": "Pacific Standard Time", "schedulePolicy": { "schedulePolicyType": "SimpleSchedulePolicy", "scheduleRunFrequency": "Weekly", "scheduleRunTimes": [ "2018-01-24T10:00:00Z" ], "scheduleRunDays": [ "Monday", "Wednesday", "Thursday" ] }, "retentionPolicy": { "retentionPolicyType": "LongTermRetentionPolicy", "weeklySchedule": { "daysOfTheWeek": [ "Monday", "Wednesday", "Thursday" ], "retentionTimes": [ "2018-01-24T10:00:00Z" ], "retentionDuration": { "count": 1, "durationType": "Weeks" } }, "monthlySchedule": { "retentionScheduleFormatType": "Weekly", "retentionScheduleWeekly": { "daysOfTheWeek": [ "Wednesday", "Thursday" ], "weeksOfTheMonth": [ "First", "Third" ] }, "retentionTimes": [ "2018-01-24T10:00:00Z" ], "retentionDuration": { "count": 2, "durationType": "Months" } }, "yearlySchedule": { "retentionScheduleFormatType": "Weekly", "monthsOfYear": [ "February", "November" ], "retentionScheduleWeekly": { "daysOfTheWeek": [ "Monday", "Thursday" ], "weeksOfTheMonth": [ "Fourth" ] }, "retentionTimes": [ "2018-01-24T10:00:00Z" ], "retentionDuration": { "count": 4, "durationType": "Years" } } } } } ``` The following is an example of a policy that takes a full backup once a week and an incremental backup once a day. ```json "properties": { "backupManagementType": "AzureWorkload", "workLoadType": "SAPHanaDatabase", "settings": { "timeZone": "UTC", "issqlcompression": false, "isCompression": false }, "subProtectionPolicy": [ { "policyType": "Full", "schedulePolicy": { "schedulePolicyType": "SimpleSchedulePolicy", "scheduleRunFrequency": "Weekly", "scheduleRunDays": [ "Sunday" ], "scheduleRunTimes": [ "2022-06-13T19:30:00Z" ], "scheduleWeeklyFrequency": 0 }, "retentionPolicy": { "retentionPolicyType": "LongTermRetentionPolicy", "weeklySchedule": { "daysOfTheWeek": [ "Sunday" ], "retentionTimes": [ "2022-06-13T19:30:00Z" ], "retentionDuration": { "count": 104, "durationType": "Weeks" } }, "monthlySchedule": { "retentionScheduleFormatType": "Weekly", "retentionScheduleWeekly": { "daysOfTheWeek": [ "Sunday" ], "weeksOfTheMonth": [ "First" ] }, "retentionTimes": [ "2022-06-13T19:30:00Z" ], "retentionDuration": { "count": 60, "durationType": "Months" } }, "yearlySchedule": { "retentionScheduleFormatType": "Weekly", "monthsOfYear": [ "January" ], "retentionScheduleWeekly": { "daysOfTheWeek": [ "Sunday" ], "weeksOfTheMonth": [ "First" ] }, "retentionTimes": [ "2022-06-13T19:30:00Z" ], "retentionDuration": { "count": 10, "durationType": "Years" } } } }, { "policyType": "Incremental", "schedulePolicy": { "schedulePolicyType": "SimpleSchedulePolicy", "scheduleRunFrequency": "Weekly", "scheduleRunDays": [ "Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday", "Saturday" ], "scheduleRunTimes": [ "2022-06-13T02:00:00Z" ], "scheduleWeeklyFrequency": 0 }, "retentionPolicy": { "retentionPolicyType": "SimpleRetentionPolicy", "retentionDuration": { "count": 30, "durationType": "Days" } } }, { "policyType": "Log", "schedulePolicy": { "schedulePolicyType": "LogSchedulePolicy", "scheduleFrequencyInMins": 120 }, "retentionPolicy": { "retentionPolicyType": "SimpleRetentionPolicy", "retentionDuration": { "count": 15, "durationType": "Days" } } } ], "protectedItemsCount": 0 } ``` # [Azure Files](#tab/azure-file-share) The following request body defines the policy for Azure Files backup. This policy: - Takes a backup every day at 15:30 UTC. - Retains the daily backups for 30 days. - Retains the backups taken every Sunday for 12 weeks. ```json "properties": { "backupManagementType": "AzureStorage", "workloadType": "AzureFileShare", "schedulePolicy": { "schedulePolicyType": "SimpleSchedulePolicy", "scheduleRunFrequency": "Daily", "scheduleRunTimes": [ "2022-06-13T15:30:00Z" ], "scheduleWeeklyFrequency": 0 }, "retentionPolicy": { "retentionPolicyType": "LongTermRetentionPolicy", "dailySchedule": { "retentionTimes": [ "2022-06-13T15:30:00Z" ], "retentionDuration": { "count": 30, "durationType": "Days" } }, "weeklySchedule": { "daysOfTheWeek": [ "Sunday" ], "retentionTimes": [ "2022-06-13T15:30:00Z" ], "retentionDuration": { "count": 12, "durationType": "Weeks" } } }, "timeZone": "UTC", "protectedItemsCount": 0 } ``` --- ## Responses The backup policy creation/update is a [asynchronous operation](../azure-resource-manager/management/async-operations.md). It means this operation creates another operation that needs to be tracked separately. It returns two responses: 202 (Accepted) when another operation is created. Then 200 (OK) when that operation completes. |Name |Type |Description | |---------|---------|---------| |200 OK | [Protection PolicyResource](/rest/api/backup/protection-policies/create-or-update#protectionpolicyresource) | OK | |202 Accepted | | Accepted | ### Example responses Once you submit the *PUT* request for policy creation or updating, the initial response is 202 (Accepted) with a location header or Azure-async-header. ```http HTTP/1.1 202 Accepted Pragma: no-cache Retry-After: 60 Azure-AsyncOperation: https://management.azure.com/Subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/SwaggerTestRg/providers/Microsoft.RecoveryServices/vaults/testVault/backupPolicies/testPolicy1/operations/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000?api-version=2016-06-01 X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff x-ms-request-id: db785be0-bb20-4598-bc9f-70c9428b170b x-ms-client-request-id: e1f94eef-9b2d-45c4-85b8-151e12b07d03; e1f94eef-9b2d-45c4-85b8-151e12b07d03 Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains x-ms-ratelimit-remaining-subscription-writes: 1199 x-ms-correlation-request-id: db785be0-bb20-4598-bc9f-70c9428b170b x-ms-routing-request-id: SOUTHINDIA:20180521T073907Z:db785be0-bb20-4598-bc9f-70c9428b170b Cache-Control: no-cache Date: Mon, 21 May 2018 07:39:06 GMT Location: https://management.azure.com/Subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/SwaggerTestRg/providers/Microsoft.RecoveryServices/vaults/testVault/backupPolicies/testPolicy1/operationResults/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000?api-version=2019-05-13 X-Powered-By: ASP.NET ``` Then track the resulting operation using the location header or Azure-AsyncOperation header with a simple *GET* command. ```http GET https://management.azure.com/Subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/SwaggerTestRg/providers/Microsoft.RecoveryServices/vaults/testVault/backupPolicies/testPolicy1/operationResults/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000?api-version=2019-05-13 ``` Once the operation completes, it returns 200 (OK) with the policy content in the response body. ```json { "id": "/Subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/SwaggerTestRg/providers/Microsoft.RecoveryServices/vaults/testVault/backupPolicies/testPolicy1", "name": "testPolicy1", "type": "Microsoft.RecoveryServices/vaults/backupPolicies", "properties": { "backupManagementType": "AzureIaasVM", "schedulePolicy": { "schedulePolicyType": "SimpleSchedulePolicy", "scheduleRunFrequency": "Weekly", "scheduleRunDays": [ "Monday", "Wednesday", "Thursday" ], "scheduleRunTimes": [ "2018-01-24T10:00:00Z" ], "scheduleWeeklyFrequency": 0 }, "retentionPolicy": { "retentionPolicyType": "LongTermRetentionPolicy", "weeklySchedule": { "daysOfTheWeek": [ "Monday", "Wednesday", "Thursday" ], "retentionTimes": [ "2018-01-24T10:00:00Z" ], "retentionDuration": { "count": 1, "durationType": "Weeks" } }, "monthlySchedule": { "retentionScheduleFormatType": "Weekly", "retentionScheduleWeekly": { "daysOfTheWeek": [ "Wednesday", "Thursday" ], "weeksOfTheMonth": [ "First", "Third" ] }, "retentionTimes": [ "2018-01-24T10:00:00Z" ], "retentionDuration": { "count": 2, "durationType": "Months" } }, "yearlySchedule": { "retentionScheduleFormatType": "Weekly", "monthsOfYear": [ "February", "November" ], "retentionScheduleWeekly": { "daysOfTheWeek": [ "Monday", "Thursday" ], "weeksOfTheMonth": [ "Fourth" ] }, "retentionTimes": [ "2018-01-24T10:00:00Z" ], "retentionDuration": { "count": 4, "durationType": "Years" } } }, "timeZone": "Pacific Standard Time", "protectedItemsCount": 0 } } ``` If a policy is already being used to protect an item, any update in the policy will result in [modifying protection](backup-azure-arm-userestapi-backupazurevms.md#changing-the-policy-of-protection) for all such associated items. ## Next steps [Enable protection for an unprotected Azure VM](backup-azure-arm-userestapi-backupazurevms.md). For more information on the Azure Backup REST APIs, see the following documents: - [Azure Recovery Services provider REST API](/rest/api/recoveryservices/) - [Get started with Azure REST API](/rest/api/azure/)