11D / Exchange 2003 - GRT - Unable to attach to a resource

[Chris_Wood_-_IT]

Hi All,

I'm hoping someone can assist with my problem. I'll firstly give you my system details.

Two Microsoft Windows Server 2003 STD Servers running virtually within Virtual Server 2003R2.
MSC3 - AD Domain CTRL, DNS, DHCP running Exchange 2003 with a few test mailboxes.
MSC2 - Backup Server running only Backup Exec 11D - installation of Hotifxes 2 and 11 at the moment.
XPWKSN - Windows XP workstation added to the domain running Outlook 2003 for testing.

Both servers are part of the domain and function normally as expected running all apps. I can send mail between my test users without a problem and have verified the exchange environment is sound.

I'm in the process of evaluating BUE 11D and for love nor money can restore mail items using the new fangled GRT. I can make backups successfully of MSC3, and can even restore standard NTFS data. When I come to restore any mail items from my mailboxes, the restore errors out with

Unable to attach to a resource. Make sure that all selected resources exist and are online.

When I've made the backups, I've been sure to select the options for Enable the restore of individual mail messages etc. I've tried dismounting the exchange store first, leaving it mounted, getting BUE to mount and dismount for me - all with no joy. I'm starting to run out of ideas.

The product straight out the box doesn't seem to do "exactly what it says on the tin". Either that, or I'm missing something blindingly obvious. (I've been working with Backup Exec for years and have never had a product like this that just fails to work)

Wondered if anyone else had encoutered the same problem or had any suggestions?

Thanks in advance for your time and any suggestions..

Regards,

Chris.

[Patty_McGowan]

Chris,

My first question is, what version of Backup Exec are you running?

If you are running 11.0.6235 there are several hotfixes that address GRT issues.

Please let me know.

Thanks.

Patty

[Chris_Wood_-_IT]

Patty,

I'm running version 11.0 Rev 6235 with Hotfixes 2, 9, 11 and 15 installed.

Still no luck!

Cheers,

Chris.

[Chris_Wood_-_IT]

Hey All!

For those interested - managed to finally resolve this.

The problem was permissions on the mailbox being restored to. There's an security option on a mailbox called "Associated External Account" which basically allows the account your using to restore, permissions to restore. You'll need to create say a domain admin account and enable this security option for that account on the mailbox. You can't enable this option on the default Administrator account for the domain because of an Exchange system policy that prevents this.

So there you go - it's nice to know that Symantec error messages are so helpful (!!??)

[Patty_McGowan]

Thanks for posting the fix Chris.

[Andre_White_-_I]

Hello,

I am having this same problem when restoring mailbox contents from tape that was backed up using GRT on Exchange server 2003.  I have tried the "Associate External Account" thing with no luck.  Any ideas?

[Andre_White_-_I]

After a few hours of troubleshooting I found an answer to restoring Exchange mailboxes that were backed up using GRT (Granular Recovery Technology).  I tried the solution using the "Associated External Account" security option suggested in Acitive Directory but that did not work. 

For me the answer was ensuring that the account you are using to restore has a mailbox on the exchange server and the proper permissions.  In other words when restoring check that:

(1) The account you use to backup MS Exchange must me the same account you use to restore data to MS Exchange

(2) The restoration account must have full access to the mailboxes you are restoring (add to Domain admin, Backup Operators, and Exchange services group etc)

(3) The account MUST have a mailbox on the Exchange server. Send a few messages to the mailbox to verify that it is working (or logon to it and send a few messages).

Once I verified that the restoration account had an MS Exchange mailbox (previously it did not) I was able to restore MS Exchange data that was backed up using GRT normally.

[Gurn]

Andre, I want to thank you personally for posting the resolution to your own issue.  I was having problems with an Exchange mailbox restore and only received cryptic messages and false resolutions leading to hours of chasing down the Backup Exec restore log leads.  I went through your steps and my Exchange restore worked the first time.

Good karma coming your way!