Restore Lotus Notes NSF file to flat file on disk (i.e. no Notes, Domino server)

Hi,

In order to restore Lotus .nsf files you need to have lotus installed on the destination server.

If you already have lotus notes installed then you need a Netbackup lotus agent to accomplish the restore.

Once the above are in place follow the instructions below to redirect a Lotus Notes restore to a different client


A restore redirected to a different client is performed like a regular restore except that a different destination client is selected. Optionally, a different source client can also be selected.

1 On the NetBackup client, open the Backup, Archive, and Restore interface.

2 (Windows) Open a Restore window. (UNIX or Linux) Click the Restore Files tab.

3 (Windows) Select Actions > Specify NetBackup Machines and Policy Type. (UNIX or Linux) Select File>SpecifyNetBackupMachinesandPolicyType.

4 From the Source client for restores list, select the client. The source client is the machine name whose backup images you want to browse.

5 From the Policy type for restores list, select Lotus-Notes.

6 From the Destination client for restores list, select the client to which to redirect the restore.
The NetBackup for Lotus Notes agent must be installed on the destination client.

7 Click OK.

NetBackup browses for Lotus Notes backup images.

Restoring individual Lotus Notes documents or mail messages

The NetBackup for Lotus Notes agent restores entire Lotus Notes databases. To restore individual documents or mail messages, restore the entire database under a temporary name on the production server or an alternate server. Once the restore completes, you can copy individual documents or mail messages from the
temporary database into the actual database with the Lotus Notes client.

Think of it this way:

When you do an agent backup, you backup data only - like the water in the bucket.

To restore, you need 'something' to provide the bucket (Lotus Notes) so that you can put back the water (data).

Thanks everyone. Eventually I managed to stand up a temporary Domino server to perform the restore. Once I had the NSF files restored, I could burn them to DVD and give to the client which has Notes, but no longer has NetBackup.

Regards,

Jonathan