Configuring Backup Exec to run a consistency check before every SQL backup

Last published : Apr 02, 2026
If you back up a database or transaction log that contains errors, these errors will still exist when the backup is restored. In some cases, this can prevent a successful restore. Backup Exec enables you to check the logical and physical consistency of the data before and after a backup. SQL reports any consistency check failures in the Backup Exec job log. It is strongly recommended that you always run a consistency check before the backup.
By default, the backup job default option Consistency check before backup is enabled for Physical check only.
Backup Exec's consistency check uses the following SQL consistency check utilities:
  • CHECKDB
  • CHECKCATALOG
  • PHYSICAL_ONLY
CHECKDB, CHECKCATALOG, and PHYSICAL_ONLY are performed for database-related operations.
For more information concerning these utilities, see your Microsoft SQL documentation.
To run a consistency check before a SQL backup
  1. Click the Backup Exec button, select Configuration and Settings, and then selectJob Defaults.
  2. Select a backup job type.
For example, if you want to set up the default options for SQL Server backups to disk, select Back Up to Disk. The options that appear vary depending on what types of storage devices that you configure. You can configure different default options for backup jobs that you send to different types of storage.
  1. On the Backup Job Defaults dialog box, on the left pane, click Microsoft SQL.
  2. Ensure that a consistency check is enabled in the field Consistency check before backup .
  3. Click OK.
More Information
Backing up SQL databases and transaction logs