Recipe11.6.Restoring a Database to a Different Machine in Exchange 2000


Recipe 11.6. Restoring a Database to a Different Machine in Exchange 2000

Problem

The database from your original Exchange 2000 server needs to be restored, but the original Exchange server hardware cannot be used for the restore.

For best-practices disaster recovery, the original server that hosted the database should be used as the recovery point; this recipe should only be used as a last resort. However, this procedure is very useful to perform test restores to retrieve a point-in-time database state, or recover information without affecting the production server.


Solution

Using a graphical user interface

  1. Reset the machine account for the old server:

    1. Start the Active Directory Users and Computers (ADUC) snap-in.

    2. Find the old Exchange server's computer account (its location will depend on whether you have your Exchange servers segregated by OU or domain).

    3. Right-click the computer account and use the Reset command.

  2. Build the replacement server. It must have the same version of Windows (with the same service pack) and the same name as the original server.

  3. Log on to the replacement server using an account that has Exchange Full Administrator rights.

  4. If necessary, install any Windows hotfixes that were present on the old server.

  5. If necessary, configure the disks or arrays on the new server so that drive letter and partition assignments match those on the old server.

  6. Ensure that the SMTP and NNTP components of IIS are installed on the new server (see Recipe 2.2).

  7. Reinstall Exchange with the /disasterrecovery switch

  8. Install the same Exchange service pack that was installed on the original server using the /disasterrecovery switch.

  9. Install any Exchange hotfixes that were installed on the original server.

  10. Make sure that the legacyExchangeDN attribute matches the value from the original server. You can use the LegacyDN utility from the Exchange 2000 SP1 or later CD.

  11. Using your backup software, restore the storage groups and their associated database files to the same locations used on the original server. Remember to tell the backup software when you've loaded the last backup set for each so that it can play back the transaction logs.

  12. If you were using full-text indexing on the original server, recreate the indexes on this server:

    1. Launch Exchange System Manager.

    2. Expand the server object for the server you're restoring, then find the mailbox databases you just restored.

    3. Right-click each mailbox database and use the Create Full-Text Index command.

  13. Specify the location where you want the index files (ideally, not the volumes you're using for your databases or transaction logs), then click OK.

Discussion

As long as your AD is intact, you can recover from the loss of an Exchange server by using the /disasterrecovery switch during the reinstallation process. Before beginning this process, use Exchange System Manager to verify that the server object still exists.

The /disasterrecovery switch tells the setup program to reclaim configuration data such as storage group names, mailbox store names, and virtual server configuration settings from AD. Reinstalling in this mode ensures that the databases will not mount immediately after the installation is completethis is important, as you will restore the database files (.edb and .stm) from the original installation's backup media in order to recover your data.

The /disasterrecovery switch does not work on clustered systems.


See Also

Recipe 2.2 for checking installation prerequisites, MS KB 323016 (Setup with DisasterRecovery Does Not Work on a Clustered Exchange Server), MS KB 296790 (Setup /disasterrecovery Does Not Detect Previously Installed Components), MS KB 297289 (How to Move Exchange 2000 to New Hardware and Keep the Same Server Name)



Exchange Server Cookbook
Exchange Server Cookbook: For Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange 2000 Server
ISBN: 0596007175
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 235

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