Recipe11.2.Backing Up a Database

Recipe 11.2. Backing Up a Database

Problem

You need to back up a single mailbox database to backup media or files.

Solution

Using a graphical user interface

Start the Windows Backup (Ntbackup.exe) utility. If you see the Backup and Restore wizard start page, click the Advanced Mode link.
Click the Backup tab.

Use the Backup destination and Backup media or file name controls to specify where you want the backup to go.

The options you see here will vary, depending on whether you have a tape drive with Windows drivers installed or not. For example, one Exchange server in our lab has an ADIC FastStor tape library attached; no tape drives appear in NTBackup, so we have to back up files and then use a separate third-party tool that understands tape libraries to put them to tape.

In the left pane of the Backup window, expand the Microsoft Exchange Server node. Beneath it, you'll see one entry for each Exchange server:
1. Mark the Microsoft Information Store checkbox to back up all storage groups on the server, or
2. Expand Microsoft Information Store and check off the individual storage groups you want to back up. (Note that storage groups with no mounted databases will appear here, but if you try to back them up, the backup process will fail).
From the Microsoft Exchange Server node, select the storage group that contains the database that you want to back up.
In the right pane of the Ntbackup window, select the databases you want to include in this backup job.
Click Start Backup.
In the Backup Job Information dialog box, give the backup job a description. Optionally, use the Schedule button to schedule the backup to occur at a later time.
Click the Advanced button and use the Backup Type drop-down to select the backup type you want. By default, it will be a full backup. Click OK.
Click Start Backup to begin the backup. The Backup Progress dialog will appear to show what's going on.
When the backup completes, review the backup report (backup*.log, which can be found by using the Tools Report option within Ntbackup) and the application event logs to look for errors.

Using a command-line interface

Create a text file with the extension .bkf containing the names of the databases you wish to back up:

 JET servername\Microsoft Information Store\First Storage Group\Mailbox Store1 JET servername\Microsoft Information Store\First Storage Group\Mailbox Store2 JET servername\Microsoft Information Store\First Storage Group\Public Folder  Store (servername) JET servername\Microsoft Information Store\Second Storage Group\Mailbox Store3

Run NTBackup from a command line, specifying the options file and backup target file:
```
> ntbackup BACKUP "<@X:\path\filename.bks>" /f "<X:\path\target.bkf>"
```
To see the options that the NTBackup command take, run the command:
```
> ntbackup /?
```

Discussion

When you use Ntbackup as described earlier, you get an online backup of the selected databases. You'll usually want to back up entire storage groups (as described in Recipe 11.3) at one time, so that your transaction logs will be flushed, but from time to time you may want to back individual databases up by themselves. See the Introduction for an overview of what an online backup entails.