Exchange and BackupExec

[dfortin]

Hello,

I'm very new to BackupExec and the software is more or less intuitive, but be that as it may I'm having issues with it.

Here is my situation:

I set up a testbed domain, installed a domain controller, installed a 2003 exchange server, and installed a BackupExec Server. The backup exec server (version 10d) backs up to disk which is simply a NAS device.

My first question is, what do I back up on the Exchange server? I know I need System State, Information Store, public folder store, and the exchange mailboxes, but what else? Do I need the log files? Do I need to backup the entire contents of the c drive?

I performed 1 full backup of my test exchange server which contained all the system mailboxes, and one other mailbox that I had created and did some things in, ie created calendar entries, contacts, emails ect. I was able to restore single messages contacts and calendar information, that was no problem. I ran into trouble when I reformatted the exchange server and tried to restore from backup.

Nothing worked at all. The BackupExec administrators manual was of little help. I followed their instructions to a T, and it failed horribly.

So I guess my main question are:
1. Exactly what do I need to backup.
2. How do I perform a successful restore from scratch?

Any and all information would be greatly appreciated!

 

[58sniper]

You need the Exchange agent for BackupExec. If you're backing up the Information Store, you don't need to backup the mailboxes.

Backup everything else, including the logs.

Pat Richard, MCSE MCSA:Messaging CNA
Want to know how email works? Read for yourself -

http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2821.txt

 

[dfortin]

So you suggest backing up the information stores, the entire contents of the c-drive, and the system state?

Can you restore all of those things via the exchange remote agent?

 

[58sniper]

The Exchange agent just gives you the ability to backup/restore Exchange items. Without it, some of the options for Exchange are greyed out in BackupExec.

Pat Richard, MCSE MCSA:Messaging CNA
Want to know how email works? Read for yourself -

http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2821.txt

 

[pgaliardo]

Yes, you will want the C drive for a successful retore. Your O/S, system files and critical dll's are most likely on that drive. The remote agent will allow you to restore from a seperate media server. As 58Sniper pointed out, you also need the Exchange agent to back up the Information Store.

 

[dfortin]

When doing a full restore, is it better to simply restore the entire contents of the main os partition as opposed to reinstalling exchange and restoring the information store and logs to an already installed version?

I've tried both ways and failed......:-(

 

[58sniper]

Well, if you're doing a restore from tape, it's likely a disaster recovery scenario. Take a stroll through:

Exchange Server 2003 Disaster Recovery Operations Guide

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/exchange/2003/library/disrecopgde.mspx

To answer your question, unless there's serious problems with lots of files, I can't see why you'd restore everything.

Pat Richard, MCSE MCSA:Messaging CNA
Want to know how email works? Read for yourself -

http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2821.txt

 

[pgaliardo]

You say you formatted the Exchange Server, so we are talking full disaster recovery here. According to Backup Exec, this is a 2 step process. First you need to recover the server. After you have the O/S back and the server up and running, then continue with your Exchange recovery. A search of the Symantec website should bring up some whitepapers and best practices.

 

[pgaliardo]

FYI - don't backup the M drive (The Exchange virtual directory)

 

[dfortin]

The BackupExec Administrators guide gives a procedure to recover the exchange server by restoring the system state, and then restoring the database.

The problem is it didn't work.

I will try again, but the guide gives a poor explaination of how to do it.

When backing up the exchange server, is it a good practice to allow the backup software to delete old logs when its completed the backup, or should the logs always stay on the server?

 

[58sniper]

Have it flush the logs, unless you have a budget that supports adding more drives every week!

Flush flush flush.

Pat Richard, MCSE MCSA:Messaging CNA
Want to know how email works? Read for yourself -

http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2821.txt

 

[dfortin]

I finally got it to work.

It is a two step process as pgailardo said.

I began by reinstalling windows 2k3 server, and NOT configuring the newly formatted machine to log into the domain. The machine must have the same ip and hostname as before the crash.

I then remotely installed the backupexec windows agent from my media server. You must have the exchange agent installed on the media server locally. If you don't do this I don't believe you can restore files to an exchange server.

Next, I restored the entire contents of the c drive and the system state. I made sure to over write existing files on the c drive when doing that restore. The system state restore contains no such option.

I then rebooted, and was able to log on to the domain. In the exchange system manager, I made sure that the information store was able to be over written for restores, and then I restored the exchange mail and public information stores.

I made sure to check the box that says "Commit after restore" so the exchange information stores would be mounted and the transaction logs replayed. Once that was done, my exchange server was back up and running.

thank you all for your help and patience!