Restoring Mailboxes Selectively from Backup

You use recovery storage groups to restore mailboxes selectively from any of the regular storage groups in an Exchange organization. The process of using a recovery storage group to restore mailbox data works like this:

1. On the server for which you are recovering mailboxes, create a recovery storage group, and link it to the storage group containing the databases where the mail-boxes you want to restore were originally located. A server can only have one recovery storage group at a time.

2. Use a backup utility, such as Windows Backup, to restore the mailbox databases for the linked storage group, and then mount the databases in the recovery storage group you previously created. Mailboxes in the recovery storage group are disconnected and are not accessible to users.

3. Use the Troubleshooting Assistant to select the mailboxes to restore, and restore them to the original mailbox database. The wizard copies data from the mail-boxes in the recovery databases and merges it with data in the corresponding mailboxes in the specified database.

4. When you are finished using the recovery storage group, dismount the recovery databases and remount the recovery storage group. By dismounting the recovery databases, you allow normal recovery operations of Exchange Server to resume. By removing the recovery storage group, you remove the recovery databases and the recovery storage group itself.

Although restoring mailboxes from backups is a lengthy process, it is the best way to selectively recover mailboxes. Keep in mind that you don't have to use recovery storage groups to recover all the mailboxes in a given mailbox database. In this case, you simply restore the entire mailbox database.

Step 1: Creating and Using Recovery Storage Groups

Regardless of whether you are using Exchange Server 2007 Standard Edition or Exchange Server 2007 Enterprise Edition, each Exchange server in your organization can have a recovery storage group. If you need to recover mailboxes stored on multiple Exchange servers, you don't have to create a recovery storage group on each server. Instead, you can create one recovery storage group and use this for your recovery operations.

Before you create a recovery storage group, plan carefully for the additional storage requirements. During the recovery process, several types of files are created:

• Transaction Transaction files, stored in the recovery transaction log folder, are given the file prefix R00 by default. You'll find a temporary log file that is used as temporary workspace for processing transactions (R00tmp.log) and a transaction log file that is the primary transaction log file for the recovery group. The total space required for transaction files is at least as much as that of the databases for which you plan to restore mailboxes.

• System System files, stored in the recovery system folder, are given the file prefix R00 by default. You'll find a transaction checkpoint file that contains recovered file fragments (R00.chk).

• Database Database files, stored in the recovery database folder, include the database (.edb) files for all mailbox database databases. The total space required for system files is the same as that of the original mailbox database databases.

To create a recovery storage group, follow these steps:

1. In Exchange Management Console, select the Toolbox node. Double-click Database Recovery Management.

2. After the Troubleshooting Assistant checks for updates, click Go To Welcome Screen.

3. Enter an identifying label for the activity, such as Database Recovery.

4. In the Server Name text box, enter the name of the server on which you want to create the recovery group and the domain controller you want to query during recovery, and then click Next.

5. The Troubleshooting Assistant will check connectivity to Active Directory and Exchange Server. Afterward, the troubleshooter will analyze the Exchange database configuration by checking the disks a server is using for messaging to ensure that they are accessible, have free space, and are mounted.

6. Click Create A Recovery Storage Group.

7. Select the Storage Group to link with the Recovery Storage group, and then click Next. You can mount only databases from the linked storage group in the recovery storage group.

8. You'll see the default location for the transaction logs, system files, and database files. If you want to change the location of these files, use the Browse buttons to the right of the related text boxes to set new file locations.

9. Click Create Recovery Storage Group. When the creation process finishes, note the results. Each database should be listed as added successfully, and the recovery storage group should be listed as created successfully. If there are problems, they'll typically be due to running out of free space, and you'll need to resolve this by clearing up the required space.

10. Click Go Back To Task Center. Do not close the Troubleshooting Assistant.

Step 2: Restoring and Mounting the Recovery Databases

When you create the recovery storage group, all databases in the linked storage group are made available automatically for recovery. You then need to restore the databases using Windows Backup, making sure to apply the last full (normal) backup and any subsequent differential or incremental backups, as necessary. When the restore operation is complete, you can mount the database to the recovery storage group. To do this, complete the following steps:

1. Start Windows Backup. If wizard mode is enabled, click Advanced Mode, and then click the Restore And Manage Media tab. Otherwise, just click the Restore And Manage Media tab.

2. Expand the backup media containing the last full backup of the Exchange server information store, and then select the check box for the storage group that contains the databases with which you want to work. If you want to restore an individual mailbox database, expand the storage group node, and then select the check box for the mailbox database and any associated log files.

3. Click Start Restore. The Restoring Database Store dialog box appears.

4. In the Restore To text box, type the name of the computer on which you want to restore files, such as Mailer1, or click Browse to search for the computer.

5. In the Temporary Location For Log And Patch Files text box, type the folder path for a temporary restore location, such as C:∖Temp.

6. If this is the last backup set you need to recover, select the Last Restore Set and Mount Database After Restore check boxes.

7. Click OK to start the restore operation. When the restore is completed, click Close to complete the process. Keep in mind the databases aren't recovered to the Exchange information store-they are written to the recovery storage group.

   Tip 

   If you need to apply differential or incremental backups, repeat steps 2–7, making sure to select the correct backup media. With differential backups, you need to restore only the last differential backup. With incremental backups, you must restore each incremental backup sequentially, starting with the first one made after the last full (normal) backup.

8. In the Troubleshooting Assistant, click Mount Or Dismount Databases In The Recovery Storage Group.

9. Select the check boxes for the databases to mount, and then click Mount Selected Database.

10. Review the Mount Or Dismount Databases Report to ensure the mount operations were successful.

11. Scroll down, and then click Go Back To Task Center. Do not close the Troubleshooting Assistant.

Step 3: Selecting and Restoring Mailboxes

Now that you've recovered the databases and mounted them in the recovery storage group, you can use the Troubleshooting Assistant to select mailboxes and restore them. The Troubleshooting Assistant copies data from the mailboxes in the recovery databases and allows you to merge it with the existing data in the mailboxes of the original database.

You can use the Troubleshooting Assistant to select and extract mailbox data by completing the following steps:

1. In the Troubleshooting Assistant, click Merge Or Copy Mailbox Contents.

2. The mounted databases in the recovery storage groups are listed by name. Select the database with which you want to work, and then click Gather Merge Information.

3. The details for the database mounted in the recovery storage group and the original database in the linked storage group are listed by name, item count, and total size.

4. At this point, you can choose to swap the entire database configurations or continue with mailbox selection. If you select the Swap Database Configurations check box and then click Next, the database mounted from backup for recovery is moved to the linked storage group and becomes the active database in the original database location. Only select this check box if you want to completely replace the original database.

5. To continue merging individual mailbox data, click Next, and then click Perform Pre-Merge Tasks.

6. On the Select Mailboxes For Copy Or Merge page, a list of matched mailboxes is provided. All matched mailboxes are selected by default. However, only select the check boxes for the recovered mailboxes you want to merge with the original mailboxes.

   Note 

   To save a list of the matched mailboxes to a file, click Save. In the Save As dialog box, select a save location, type a file name for the saved data, and then click Save.

7. To set advanced options, click Show Advanced Options. You can now match all source mailboxes to a single destination mailbox; set filter options for start date, end date, and message subject; and set a maximum bad item limit.

8. Click Perform Merge Actions to merge or copy mailbox contents from the database in the recovery storage group to the original database.

9. Note any errors listed on the Error tab. To print a report of the errors, click Print Report. To export the errors to a file, click Export Report. In the Export Report dialog box, select a save location, type a file name for the saved data, and then click Save.

10. On the Information tab, review the list of mailboxes that were restored. To print a report of the mailboxes restored, click Print Report. To export the list to a file, click Export Report. In the Export Report dialog box, select a save location, type a file name for the saved data, and then click Save.

11. Click Go Back To Task Center. Do not close the Troubleshooting Assistant.

Step 4: Dismounting Recovery Databases and Removing the Recovery Storage Group

When you are finished using the recovery storage group, you should dismount the recovery databases by completing the following steps:

1. In the Troubleshooting Assistant, click Mount Or Dismount Databases In The Recovery Storage Group.

2. The currently mounted databases are listed. Because you are done working with the recovery storage group, select the check boxes for all mounted databases, and then click Dismount Selected Database.

3. Review the Mount Or Dismount Databases Report to ensure that the dismount operations were successful.

4. Scroll down, and then click Go Back To Task Center.

5. Click Remove The Recovery Storage Group.

6. When you click Perform Remove RSG Action, the Troubleshooting Assistant removes the recovery databases and the recovery storage group.

7. Review the results to ensure that the remove operations were successful. Click Go Back To Task Center.