ntbackup exchange recovery

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Restoring Exchange Server 2003 with NTBackup Version 1.00

Exchange server holds all the email messages for network users.

NTBackup software can backup the Exchange data for recovery. There are two ways that you can recover Exchange email data. You can

firstly restore the complete Information Store. This will over write any existing email information. Alternatively, you can restore a recovery mail store and then merge or copy the email data into the active Exchange information store. The procedures below out line how to complete both of these options when using NTBackup software to restore your Exchange information.

To Restore the complete Exchange Information Store 1. Ensure that Exchange services are running. You can do this from

Services in the Administration Tools. 2. Open the Exchange System Manager via Start | All Programs |

Microsoft Exchange | System Manager. 3. In Exchange System Manager navigate to Servers | <Servername> |

First Storage Group. Underneath this folder you should see Mailbox store (SERVER) and Public Folder Store (SERVER)

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4. Dismount both stores. Right mouse click on Mailbox store (SERVER)

and select “Dismount store”. Repeat the process with the Public Folder Store (SERVER). You can tell whether the mail store is dismounted by the fact it has a small red icon over the picture for the store name.

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5. Right mouse click on the Mailbox store (SERVER) again and select

“Properties”. 6. Select the Database Tab 7. Check the option “This Database can be overwritten by a restore”

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8. Right mouse click on the Public Folder Store (SERVER) and select

“Properties”. 9. Click the Database Tab 10. Check the option “This Database can be overwritten by a restore” 11. Locate the Exchange MDBDATA folder. Normally this will be in

d:\program files\exchsrvr\mdbdata. 12. Delete any files that appear in this directory. 13. Open NTBackup from start | programs | accessories | system tools |

backup, Select Restore files and settings, click next 14. Expand <MediaName> | backup.bkf. Then select SERVER\Microsoft

Information Store\First Storage Group by placing a tick in the check box on its right. Then click next

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In this example we are restoring from a file, normally you would restore from a tape 15. The server name should be displayed in the restore to: field. Type

D:\temp in the Temporary location for log and patch files. Tick the checkbox Last Restore Set (Log file replay will start after this restore completes.). Click next.

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16. Make sure the Preserve existing volume mount points checkbox is

ticked, Click Next

17. Click Finish

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18. Once the restore is complete, Click Close

19. Once the restore has completed navigate to the MDBDATA directory and check to see whether priv1 and pub1 files exist and are of the correct size.

20. Return to the Exchange System Manager. Right mouse click the Mail

Store (SERVER) and select Mount Store. 21. Right mouse click the Public Folder Store (SERVER) and select Mount

Store. To Restore the Information Store to Recovery Storage Group 1. Ensure that Exchange services are running. You can do this from

Services in the Administration Tools. 2. Open the Exchange System Manager via Start | All Programs |

Microsoft Exchange | System Manager. 3. In Exchange System Manager navigate to Servers | <Servername> .

Right mouse click on <Servername> and Select New | Recovery Storage Group.

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4. Set the location of the recovery storage group. Ensure that you allow

enough space for the entire store to be recovered. This means that during the process a copy of the entire information store will be installed in the location you specify here. Thus, you will have 2 copies of your Exchange Information Store on your server.

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5. You should now see an item called “Recovery Storage Group” listed in

the Exchange System Manager tree. Right mouse click on this and select “Add Database to recover”.

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6. You will be presented with a list of Mailbox stores that you can recover.

For SBS systems only one should appear, select it and hit “OK”.

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7. You will now be presented with the Mailbox store (SERVER) Properties

window. Select “OK” to save your settings.

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8. If you now look under the “Recovery Storage Group” item you should

see Mailbox Store (SERVER”. You should also see that this store is dismounted, leave it this way. Don’t mount the recovery mail store until after you have completed a restore from backup.

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9. Open NTBackup from start | programs | accessories | system tools |

backup, Select Restore files and settings, click next 10. Expand <MediaName> | backup.bkf | SERVER\Microsoft Information

Store\First Storage Group. Then select ONLY Log Files and Mailbox Store (As displayed in the diagram below) by placing a tick in the check box on its right. Then click next

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In this example we are restoring from a file, normally you would restore from a tape 11. The server name should be displayed in the restore to: field. Type

D:\temp in the Temporary location for log and patch files. Tick the checkbox Last Restore Set (Log file replay will start after this restore completes.). Click next.

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12. Make sure the Preserve existing volume mount points checkbox is

ticked, Click Next

13. Click Finish

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14. Once the restore is complete, Click Close

15. Once the restore has completed navigate to the MDBDATA directory and check to see whether priv1 is the same size as the priv1 in the Recovery Storage Group.

16. If you are not using Exchange 2003 Service Pack 1 you will need to use

the Exmerge utility to extract and import mailboxes between the Recovery Store and the normal Mailbox store.

17. If you are using Exchange 2003 Service Pack 1 you can recover

mailboxes directly from the Exchange System Manager. 18. Mount both the Recovery Storage Group | Mailbox Store (SERVER) and

the First Storage Group | Mailbox Store (SERVER).

19. From the Action Menu, Select refresh

20. To use the Exchange System Manager to recover email boxes locate the mailbox folder under Recovery Storage Group | Mailbox Store (SERVER) and select it. On the right you should see a list of all the mailboxes in your Exchange with a red cross through them indicating they are not connected. To recover an email box simply right mouse click on a user email box and select “Exchange Tasks”.

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21. Once the Exchange Tasks Wizard has started select “Next”. On the next

screen the only item that should be available is “Recover Mailbox Data”. Ensure this is selected and press “Next”.

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22. The destination mailbox store is show, click “Next” to continue.

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23. You can now choose whether you wish to Merge the Data into the

existing mailbox ( this will merge data with what already exists in the users mailbox ). You can also choose to Copy Data into the users mailbox ( this will recover data into a folder in the user’s current mailbox ). Once you have made your preferred option select the “Next” button.

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24. You can select when you wish the merging to commence ( immediately

by default ). You can optionally specify when to stop the merging process ( to prevent the merge hanging or running during production hours ). Beware that the time required to restore the data to the original mailbox may take quite a while depending on the size of the mailbox.

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25. When you have completed restoring the mailbox data you should delete

the Exchange Recovery Storage Group to free up disk space. To delete, highlight the Mailbox Store under the Recovery Storage Group ( not the Mailbox store under the First Storage Group which is your live Exchange Data ) and press the delete key. Check you are deleting the correct Mailbox store and press “Yes”. You will be prompted with a message about manually deleting database file, press “OK” to proceed.

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26. You must now delete the Recovery storage group from windows explorer. Usually in D:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\

27. Open System Manager. There should now be nothing under the

Recovery Storage Group. To delete the Recovery Storage Group simply select it in Exchange System Manager and press the Delete key. When prompted, select “Yes” to remove the Group. Once deleted the Recovery Group should no longer appear in Exchange System Manager.

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