Create a maintenance backup plan in SQL Server 2008 R2 using the wizard

When you create a maintenance backup plan in SQL Server® 2008 R2, you must
identify how you want the plan to be set up. This example sets up the maintenance
plan with full backups, differentials, and transaction logs.

Check SQL Server Agent service

Verify that the SQL Server Agent service is running and set to automatic. The
maintenance plan depends on this service to run.

On the server, open the Run dialog box, type in services.msc, and
press Enter.
Find the SQL Server Agent service in the list and double-click it.
Click the Recovery tab and set the failure value to Restart the
Service.
Click the General tab, select Automatic as the startup type, and
then start the service by clicking on Start.

Create the maintenance plan

Launch the SQL Server Management Studio and log in.
In the Object Explorer pane, expand the Management folder,
right-click on Maintenance Plans, and select Maintenance Plan Wizard.
On the welcome page of the wizard, click Next.
On the Select Plan Properties page, specify a name for the plan, select
Separate schedules for each task, and then click Next.
On the Select Maintenance Tasks page, select the Back Up Database
(Full), Back Up Database (Differential), and Back Up Database
(Transaction Log) checkboxes, and then click Next.
On the Select Maintenance Task Order page, leave the order as shown, and
then click Next.

Define full backup settings

On the Define Back Up Database (Full) Task page, set up the full backup
according to the following instructions.

Select the databases that you want to back up (typically All user
databases).
Specify when you want the backups to expire. The following example
specifies 14 days.

Note: This setting overwrites the oldest backup file for rotation.
Select your backup media (typically Disk).
Specify a location (either Default or as assigned by you) for your backup
files.
Select the Verify backup integrity check box.
To configure the scheduling options for this task, click Change near the
bottom of the page.
In the Job Schedule Properties dialog box, select Recurring for the
Schedule type.
Specify the frequency of the backup. The following example shows full backups
running on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Alter this to fit your backup
plan.
Adjust the daily frequency according to when your backup needs to run.
Under Duration, adjust the Start and End dates. The example
selects No end date.
Click OK.
On the Define Back Up Database (Full) Task page of the Maintenance Plan
Wizard, click Next.

Define differential Backup Settings

On the Define Back Up Database (Differential) Task page, set up the
differential backup according to the following instructions. The settings are
similar to the settings for the full backup.

Select the databases that you want to back up (typically All user
databases).
Specify when you want the backups to expire.
Select your backup media (typically Disk).
Specify a location (either Default or as assigned by you) for your backup
files.
Select the Verify backup integrity check box.
To configure the scheduling options for this task, click Change near the
bottom of the page.
In the Job Schedule Properties dialog box, select Recurring for the
schedule type.
Specify the frequency of the backup. For example, you could choose to run
differential backups on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Under Duration, adjust the daily frequency according to when your backup
needs to run.
Adjust the Start and End dates.
Click OK.
On the Define Back Up Database (Differential) Task page of the
Maintenance Plan Wizard, click Next.

Define transaction log backup settings

On the Define Back Up Database (Transaction Log) Task page, set up the
transaction log backup according to the following instructions.

Select the databases that you want to back up (typically All user
databases).
Do not select the Backup set will expire check box.

The following Set up the transaction log cleanup task section configures
the expiration of transaction log backups.
Select your backup media (typically Disk).
Specify a location (either Default or as assigned by you) for your backup
files.
Copy the path for the backup file and paste it to Notepad. You will need to
refer to this path in later steps.
Select the Verify backup integrity check box.
To configure the scheduling options for this task, click Change near the
bottom of the page.

Note: You need to determine transaction log backup intervals based on
transaction log growth. It might be necessary to run the transaction log
backups at shorter intervals to prevent transaction logs from growing.
In the Job Schedule Properties dialog box, select Recurring for the
Schedule type.
Specify the frequency of the backup. In the following example, the
transaction log backups are running daily.
Adjust the daily frequency. The following example sets it to run
every hour.
Under Duration, adjust the Start date and End date fields.
Click OK.
On the Define Back Up Database (Transaction Log) Task page of the
Maintenance Plan Wizard, click Next.
On the Select Report Options page, specify how you want to save the
details of the maintenance plan, and then click Next.
On the Complete the Wizard page, click Finish.
On the Maintenance Plan Wizard Progress page, click Close.
When you return to the SQL Server Management Studio main window, press
F5 to refresh the maintenance plan with the new settings.

The Maintenance Plans section of the Object Explorer pane lists
the new maintennce plan.

Set up the transaction Log Cleanup Task

This section demonstrates how to set up a maintenance cleanup task, such as a task
to clean up the transaction logs after three days. This setting keeps the
one-hour transaction logs for three days until the maintenance cleanup task
deletes the old data. The transaction log cleanup must include a series of three
days, which ensures that if you need to revert to the second differential
backup, you can apply the transaction logs from that time period. The goal is to
have enough transaction log backups between the full and differential backups.

Click the maintenance plan name.
In the Design pane, select Subplan_3.
In the Toolbox pane, select Maintenance Cleanup Task and drag it into the
transaction log backup area under the Design pane.
Right-click on the Maintenance Cleanup Task and choose Edit.
In the Maintenance Cleanup Task dialog box, select Backup files.
Select Search folder and delete files based on an extension.
In the Folder text box, enter the path you pasted into a notepad in
the previous task. Ensure that you include the same path to which your
transaction logs are backing up.
Enter the file extension type, trn. Do not precede the extension with
a period.
Select the Include the first-level sub-folders check box.
Select the Delete files based on the age of the file at task run time
check box, and set the file age to 3 Days.
Click OK to return to the Management Studio main window.
Drag the green arrow from the differential backup task to the maintenance
cleanup task.
Double-click the connected green line.
In the Precedence Constraint Editor, set Value to Completion.

This setting allows the task to become conditional. Thus, if the
differential backup did not run, then the transaction cleanup task is not
run, or if the backup did run, the cleanup task runs.
Click OK to return to the Management Studio main window. The line should
now appear blue.
Save your work by selecting Save All from the File menu. You have
finished setting up your maintenance backup plan. You can adjust your backup
plan to your needs, but you should first test it.

Test your setup

After you finish setting up your maintenance plan, verify that it works. You can
wait a few days to see if the job completes, or you can force the job to run by
performing the following steps.

In the Object Explorer pane of SQL Server Management Studio, browse to SQL
Server Agent > Jobs.
Right-click the maintenance plan and select Start Job at Step.

This command runs the first section of the maintenance plan.
If the job completes without error, run the next step of the maintenance plan
and test run the setup. Repeat this step for all sub plans that you created
in the maintenance plan.

If all of your steps run without error, your maintenance plan works, and you are
finished.

Troubleshoot errors by viewing the job history

If any of the jobs fail when testing the maintenance plan, view the job history
to see what failed.

In the Object Explorer pane, right-click the failed sub-plan and select
View History.

The Log File Viewer window, which shows the job history, is displayed.

If the job failed, a red X icon is displayed next to the time that you ran
the job.
Click the row for the failed job.

Details about the error appear below the table. Scroll or expand the pane to
see more information.
Troubleshoot the error and repeat the test job.

When your maintenance plan is reliable, check it in a few days to see if it is
running as expected. Verify that the .bak files are removed after the
expiration and that the transaction logs are cleaned up after three days.