This entire document is available within the Minion Backup product using the stored procedure Minion.HELP.

System requirements: 

• SQL Server 2008* or above.
• The sp_configure setting xp_cmdshell must be enabled**.
• PowerShell 2.0 or above; execution policy set to RemoteSigned.

Once Minion Backup has been installed, nothing else is required.  From here on, Minion Backup will run nightly to back up all non-TempDB databases.  The backup routine automatically handles databases as they are created, dropped, or renamed. 

See "Minion Install Guide", or the “Minion Install Guide.docx” (in the extracted MinionWare folder) for full instructions and information on the installer. The basic steps to installing Minion Backup are:

1. Download MinionMaintenance1.1.zip from MinionWare.net and extract all files. Note: If you have never used a MinionWare product, extract the “MinionWare” folder and files to the location of your choice.  If you have an existing MinionWare folder from previous downloads, extract the files there.
2. Open Powershell as administrator, and use Get-ExecutionPolicy to determine the current execution policy. If it is Unrestricted or RemoteSigned, the script should be able to run. Otherwise, use Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned
3. In Powershell, within the Minion Maintenance folder, run the command dir -recurse | unblock-file. (This allows you to run scripts downloaded from the web using RemoteSigned.)
4. Run MinionSetupMaster.ps1 in the PowerShell window as follows:
   .\MinionSetupMaster.ps1 <servername> <DBName> <Product>
   
   Examples:
   .\MinionSetupMaster.ps1 localhost master Backup
   or
   .\MinionSetupMaster.ps1 YourServer master Backup

Note that you can install multiple products, and to multiple servers. For more information, see "Minion Install Guide", or the “Minion Install Guide.docx” (in the extracted MinionWare folder). 

Once Minion Backup has been installed, nothing else is required.  From here on, Minion Backup will run nightly to back up all non-TempDB databases.  The backup routine automatically handles databases as they are created, dropped, or renamed. 

For simplicity, this Quick Start guide assumes that you have installed Minion Backup on one server, named “YourServer”.


*There is a special edition of Minion Backup specifically for SQL Server 2005.
But, be aware that this edition will not be enhanced or upgraded,
some functionality is reduced, and it will have limited support.

** xp_cmdshell can be turned on and off with the database
PreCode / PostCode options, to help comply with security policies.

For more information on xp_cmdshell, see “Security Theater”
on www.MidnightDBA.com/DBARant.