BE 12.5 Incremental backups on Exchange 2007 always 0 bytes

[richlux]

I know this was posted before, but there was no resolution, so I'm posting it again.  We're using BE 12.5 and the Agent for Microsoft Exchange.  Full backups work great, but when I set the backup option for Microsoft Exchange to be "Incremental - Logs (flush logs)", my backup succeeds, but only the logs are backed up.  The mail store is not backed up at all (0 bytes).  Has anyone else seen this and is there a resolution for it?

Thanks,

Richard

[Steve_W_]

"Incremental - Logs (flush logs)", will only backup the transaction logs for Exchange.  The only time that the information store is backed up is during a full or a copy.  Backup Exec is functioning as designed.  For more information regarding backup methods for Exchange please look at page 1243 in the Backup Exec Admin Guide.  I have provided the link below for your convenience.  

http://support.veritas.com/docs/308400

[richlux]

Thank you for the response.  I guess that means there is no way to do an incremental backup in Exchange.  Our Exchange data store is very large and I didn't want to have to backup the entire store every night.  I guess there's no other option.

Thanks,

Richard

[JasonV1]

I just wanted to add something to what the Symantec employee said.

A delta of the Exchange database is backed up during an Exchange incremental, but as far as I know that file is only useful to Backup Exec (and even then, only for granular restores). If you have a product such as Ontrack PowerControls (Exchange database tool) you would need to assemble your last full Exchange backup plus all the logs that were backed up via the incrementals, which is exactly what BE would do if you did a full Exchange DB restore.

Jason

[richlux]

Jason,

How do I do an Exchange Incremental?  I don't see any option for that.  The only incremental I see is for the log files.  I've done that, but then there is nothing to restore from that backup.

Thanks,

Rich

[JasonV1]

You need to check the "Use Backup Exec Granular Recovery Technology....." box in the Exchange options of the backup job; this is what makes it possible to do an incremental restore. This is what catalogs the log files and builds a delta of the Exchange database.

Please note that you will have to run a GRT enabled full backup first before you run your first GRT incremental.

Also note that if an incremental fails between fulls all incrementals after the failed one will not be GRT enabled. Each incremental builds on the last so until you "start again" with a new full GRT backup your remaining incrementals will be log file backups only.

Please note that this option is available for incrementals only, not differentials. In the event that you already have this box checked and you aren't seeing the individual mailboxes/folders/messages available for restore that means that you have a problem (or should I say one of many possible problems).

Jason

Message Edited by JasonV1 on 12-10-2008 04:02 PM

[richlux]

Jason,

I appreciate you helping me through this, but perhaps I'm missing something, so let me clarify what I am doing...

In my backup job, under the Microsoft Exchange settings, the GRT option is only available if I select "Full - Database & Logs".  If I select "Incremental - Logs", the GRT option is grayed out and it will only backup the log files.  I know this is true because when I try to do a restore, the Information Store is not available for that date (since it was not backed up).

If I change the backup job type in the General settings to "Incremental", it does not seem to affect the backup of Exchange.  It does whatever I've selected in the Microsoft Exchange settings.  I cannot find a way to do an Incremental such that I can restore a message from the date the incremental is performed.

Thanks,

Rich

[JasonV1]

Did you create your Exchange jobs using a backup policy?

I checked real quick with a standalone backup and GRT is greyed out (under incremental) so you probably just need to create a backup policy.

The policy should contain the full job and the incremental job; create the full first.

Jason

[richlux]

That's it!  Thanks so much for figuring this out for me.  I'm not sure why I can't do an incremental with GRT on a standalone backup.  Seems like a bug to me.  Anyway, I'm running them now to see if the incremental really is an incremental of the Message Store or just the Log again.

Thanks,

Rich

[JasonV]

Yeah the policies were new to me too.

Now that I have gotten used to them I configure all my full/diff-inc backups as policies. I like the fact that you are less likely to "accidentally" change a job that is a policy since you have to open the policy first.

Plus the BE job list ends up looking more organized/less cluttered.

Jason

[richlux]

The policies do make it nice.  I had never used them before.

Can I ask you one more question about the restore of an incremental?  Normally, when I restore from an incremental of the file system, I only see the files that were backed up in during that incremental.  When I went to restore from the Exchange incremental, I saw all the emails, even those that did not change since the last full backup.  I can tell from the Job log that the incremental was not backing up everything, but for some reason, everything shows when I try to restore from that incremental session.  Do you experience the same behavior?  It just seems a bit odd since I'm used to file system incrementals.

Thanks,

Rich

[JasonV1 · Accepted solution]

Normal behavior.

When a GRT incremental is cataloged (post backup; happens during "updating catalogs" phase") it mounts the last full database plus any incrementals that have occured since.

It is probably easier for BE just to generate a new one than to try and general an incremental view.

Jason

[richlux]

Thanks again for all the info!

Rich

[JasonV1]

No problem.

One other thing: if an incremental fails all the ones that occur after it (up until the next full) will not be GRT backups, they will just be log file backups.

BE cannot recover from a failed incremental as each incremental builds upon the previous one, at least for GRT purposes.

Jason

[richlux]

I saw that.  In fact, I originally posted to you that the incrementals still weren't working, but then I did a Full and the incrementals started working again, so I changed my post.  It really stumped me for a while.  I'm sure it's documented somewhere, but we have so many agents for different things (database, email, etc) that I haven't had time to read all the docs.

Thanks,

Rich