Exchange2010 backup missing mailbox's

[sheld0r]

I thought I had this down, I guess not.  I posted awhile back about not being able to restore an Exchange 2010 backup.  I was missing the Information Store.  I have since selected the Information Store.

Under my FULL backup, and DIFF backups I only see -

Mailbox > DB1 > catalogdata-5ab04k-83a4450-3435-af534

Microsoft Information Store > Logs (E00000153434.log - E000001A343.log

I don't understand why I can't see the mailboxes, or the .edb for that matter.  I selected every option for the Exchange server to backup.  I see the .bkf on the SAN where it's backed up.  Something doesn't make sense here.  What am I doing wrong?

Any thoughts? 

--I'm running Server 2008 R2 with BackUp Exec 2010 R3

[CraigV]

Hi,

You won't see the *.edb on a selection list if you select from the Exchange Information Store. If you try to backup the *.edb file, it will be excluded by BE's Active File Exclusion.

Also make sure you comply with the requirements below for Exchange 2010:

http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=HOWTO24128

Thanks!

[sheld0r]

Heya CraigV,

So am I not able to do a restore of a particular inbox again?  Will I need a 3rd party application?  Gosh I hope I'm not in the same boat again :( 

Thanks for the quick reply

[CraigV]

Nope, you will...are you using AOFO in your job? Try duplicating your backup to disk first and then restoring.

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/articles/restoring-exchange-or-individual-mailboxesitems-using-backup-exec-howto

Thanks!

[Colin_Weaver]

Please open a new support case and quote this article

http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH172176

Note: We were never able to reproduce this problem and additionally the very small number of customers that reported this problem (for whetever reason) stopped helping us debug in their environments, as such we do need any customers with the issue now to open formal support cases so that we can try to identify the cause.

[sheld0r]

I actually do not have the AOFO enabled.  I should probably enable that, right?  

So my backups are actually going to disk already, a SAN volume.  At the end of the month I archive it to tape.

It's getting pretty late, so I'm going to read over the link you provided tomorrow morning and attempt to restore.  Thank you so very much for taking the time to help.

@ Colin Weaver
I would love to help and provide as much feedback as I can. But we no longer have support, so I can't open a formal support ticket .  They tried to cut costs, so support was the first to go :( 

[CraigV]

No, never turn on AOFO when backing up DBs. It will cause issues. So I guess the next question to ask is where you're trying to restore from? Disk or tape?

If restoring from tape, are you backing up the *.bkf files to tape, or duplicating them (which is what you should be doing in order to retain catalog information).

Thanks!

[sheld0r]

Alright, good to know. 

I actually tried restoring from both disk and tape. When I backup to tape, I point BE to the directory off the SAN to backup the files in that volume. 

I'm by no means a backup guy, this task was just dropped on me.  They pretty much told me here, do backups and don't mess up.  Gee thanks. So trying to figure it all out, and just make sure I have correct backups running. 

So by duplicating them, is that pointing it directly to that volume?  Am I doing it correctly?                                                                                                                                                                                                        

[CraigV]

Yes, backing up the *.bkf files is going to ensure you can't restore. Duplicating them to tape is the correct process.

Check below:

http://www.backupexecfaq.com/how-to-duplicate-a-backup-set/

When restoring from disk, there is no need to stage or duplicate the backup to disk first...it's already there!

Thanks!

[sheld0r · Accepted solution]

I found the issue as to why I can't see the mailboxes.  I didn't have the GRT enabled for that particular Exchange backup.  This is of course the option needed to view the individual mailboxes, along with public folders from the Information Store.