Restoring Exchange data

This procedure details how to select restore job properties for Exchange, and provides definitions for restore options specific to Exchange.

Use the Exchange System Manager utility to manually dismount any databases that are being restored or check Dismount database before restore when creating the restore job.

See Requirements for restoring Exchange 2000, 2003, and 2007.

Note:

After you restore a storage group or mailbox store from a CPS Exchange backup, you must restart the CPS Exchange backup job. Otherwise, the continuous protection job and any associated recovery points do not restart.

To restore Exchange data

  1. On the navigation bar, click the arrow next to Restore.

  2. Click New Restore Job.

  3. On the Properties pane, under Source, click Selections.

  4. In the restore selections list, select the backup sets that you want to restore, or expand the backup sets to select individual items for restore.

    See About restoring Exchange data.

  5. On the Properties pane, under Settings, click Microsoft Exchange.

  6. Select the appropriate options as follows:

    Automatically recreate user accounts and mailboxes

    Check Automatically recreate user accounts and mailboxes when restoring mailboxes to recreate the user accounts and their mailboxes if they do not already exist on the target server. The restore job fails if a mailbox that is being restored does not exist on the destination server.

    Note:

    To restore any mailboxes that were backed up with the legacy backup method, the option Back up the information used to automatically recreate user accounts and mailboxes must have been selected for the backup job.

    See Backing up individual Exchange mailboxes.

    When Automatically recreate user accounts and mailboxes is checked, the password that is entered on the Exchange Options - Set Application Defaults dialog box is used as the password for accounts that are recreated.

    See Setting default backup and restore options for Exchange data.

    Automatically recreate user accounts and mailboxes applies only if mailboxes are being restored to their original location. If the mailbox restore is being redirected, the user account and mailbox must already exist on the target server.

    When restoring individual mail messages and folders, restore over existing messages and folders

    Check When restoring individual mail messages and folders, restore over existing messages and folders to replace an existing item with the message or folder. A new object ID is not created for the message or folder; only the contents and properties are replaced.

    If this check box is not checked, or if the original message or folder does not exist, then it is recreated as a new message or folder; that is, a new object ID is created for it by Backup Exec.

    If this check box is not checked and if the original message or folder does exist, then the message or folder is skipped.

    Exchange 5.5

    Use the following options with Exchange v5.5 servers:

    No loss restore (do not delete existing transaction logs)

    Check No loss restore (do not delete existing transaction logs) to preserve the existing transaction logs on the Exchange 5.5 Server. Transaction logs from the storage media are then restored and added to the existing set of transaction logs on the Exchange server. When the restore operation finishes, Exchange automatically updates its databases with the uncommitted transactions found in the existing and newly restored transaction logs. This option is selected by default.

    If you are restoring individual databases into a storage group, the No loss restore check box should be selected. If this check box is not selected, uncommitted transactions for other databases in the storage group may be lost.

    This option is not applicable to snapshot backups.

    Restore public folder

    Check Restore public folder to restore only the Information Store's public database (PUB.EDB). Although this database cannot be backed up separately from the Information Store's private database (PRIV.EDB), it can be restored separately.

    Restore private mailboxes

    Check Restore private mailboxes to restore only the Information Store's private database. Although this database cannot be backed up separately from the Information Store's public database (PUB.EDB), it can be restored separately.

    If the Restore public folder and Restore private mailboxes options are selected independently, the No loss restore option is automatically selected and cannot be cleared.

    Guide Me

    Click Guide Me to start a wizard that helps you choose restore job properties for Exchange Server 5.5 data.

    Exchange 2000 and later

    Use the following options with Exchange 2000 and later.

    Restore all transaction logs; do not delete existing transaction logs (no loss restore)

    Select this option to preserve the existing transaction logs on the Exchange server. Transaction logs from the storage media are then restored and added to the existing set of transaction logs on the Exchange server. When the restore operation finishes, Exchange automatically updates its databases with the uncommitted transactions found in the existing and newly restored transaction logs. This option is selected by default.

    If you are restoring individual databases into a storage group, you should select this option. If this option is not selected, uncommitted transactions for other databases in the storage group may be lost.

    If continuous protection is enabled, select backup sets from the last full backup or recovery point to restore up to the latest full transaction log.

    This option is not applicable to snapshot backups.

    For continuous protection jobs only, restore all transaction logs until point-in-time; skip transaction logs after this time

    Note:

    This option only supports restoring data from continuous protection backups. If you select this option to restore other types of backup data, the option is ignored, and a loss restore job runs.

    Select this option to restore transactions from a transaction log up to and including a point in time in the transaction log. After the point in time, recovery from the transaction log is stopped.

    Select the backup sets from a full backup or a recovery point, and then specify the point in time.

    In the date and time box, select the part of the date that you want to change. Enter a new date, or click the arrow to display a calendar from which you can select a date.

    Then, select the part of the time you want to change, and enter a new time.

    Purge existing data and restore only the databases and transaction logs from the backup sets

    Select this option to delete the existing transaction logs. Only the databases and transaction logs from the backup sets are restored.

    If continuous protection is enabled, select the backup sets from a full backup or a recovery point that you want to restore the database to.

    When you restore an Exchange 2007 database and you enable this option, Backup Exec adds a .DELETE file name extension to all existing Exchange log files that it finds in the destination storage group.

    For example, Backup Exec renames e0001.log to e0001.log.delete.

    Backup Exec preserves the existing Exchange log files in the storage group until you manually delete them.

    Path on Exchange Server for temporary storage of log and patch files

    Type a location where the associated log and patch files are to be kept until the database is restored. The default location is \temp, and a subdirectory is created for each storage group. The log and patch files for each storage group are kept in the corresponding subdirectory.

    Make sure the temporary location for log and patch files is empty before you start a restore job. If a restore job fails, check the temporary location (including subdirectories) to make sure any previous log and patch files from a previous restore job were deleted.

    This option is not applicable to snapshot backups.

    Dismount database before restore

    Check Dismount database before restore if you want Backup Exec to automatically take the Exchange database offline before the restore job runs. If this option is not selected, you must manually take the database offline before the restore job can run.

    When restoring a snapshot backup, or when restoring an individual Exchange database from a snapshot, all databases in a storage group must be taken offline. Selecting this option automatically takes all databases in a storage group offline.

    Commit after restore completes

    Check Commit after restore completes if your selection contains the last backup set to be restored. This option directs the restore operation to replay the log files and roll back any uncompleted transactions. If this option is not selected, the database is left in an intermediate state and is not yet usable.

    If Commit after restore completes is checked when an intermediate backup is being applied, you cannot continue to restore backups. You must restart the restore operation from the beginning.

    After the database is restored, the log and patch files in the temporary location are applied to the database, and then the current log files are applied. After the restore is complete, the log and patch files are automatically deleted from the temporary location (including any subdirectories).

    This option is not applicable for snapshot backups.

    Mount database after restore

    Check Mount database after restore to mount the database so that it is available to users. This check box is only available if Commit after restore completes is selected.

    Guide Me

    Click Guide Me to start a wizard that helps you choose restore job properties for Exchange Server data.

  7. For backups that use Granular Recovery Technology, ensure that default staging locations are set correctly.

    See Recommended devices for backups that use Granular Recovery Technology.

  8. Select other restore options from the Properties pane as appropriate, and then start the restore job.

    If you restore data from a CPS Exchange backup, you must restart the continuous protection job and any associated recovery points.

  9. Do the following in the order listed after the job completes:

    • On the navigation bar, click Job Monitor.

    • Right-click the scheduled CPS Exchange backup job.

    • Click Run now.

  10. For Exchange 5.5, do the following:

    After the job completes, restart the destination Exchange server or start the Exchange services manually. You can also put a batch file in a post-job command to restart the services.

    See Advanced options for restore jobs.

    When the Exchange server is back online, run the Directory Store/Information Store (DS/IS) consistency adjuster to resolve any inconsistencies.

    Results of the consistency adjustment appear in the Windows Event Log. For more information concerning the DS/IS consistency adjuster, refer to your Exchange documentation.

  11. Run a full backup of the restored databases.

More Information

About restoring Exchange mailboxes and public folders from mailbox backups

Requirements for restoring Exchange 2000, 2003, and 2007