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GRT and Exchange - Should I Exclude anything?

GROBSON
Level 4

I have been implimenting something on a lot of our clients and wanted to check if it is the correct way to do things?

 

When enabling GRT on an exchange backup job, should I be excluding the directory containing the mailbox database? I AM currently because if you have incrimentals then all of the incrimentals are the same size as a full backup (the mailbox database file has changed so gets backed up entirely).

 

It doesnt seem to have caused any problems to date and I can restore Exchange items perfectly fine from the GRT backup.

I have 1 client whose automatic catalog after a GRT backup is failing with the following error and I want to make sure its not related to the way I am doing things.

 

"V-79-57344-918 - Unable to complete the operation.  The following error was returned when opening the Exchange Database file:  '-546 The log file sector size does not match the sector size of the current volumn. "

 

I am not backing up the log files so maybe the cause? Its confusing though because this works at lots of other clients with no issues.

2 ACCEPTED SOLUTIONS

Accepted Solutions

CraigV
Moderator
Moderator
Partner    VIP    Accredited

Hi,

 

BE has Active File Exclusion, so if you include the directory that Exchange is installed too, BE will automatically exclude files like the *.stm and *.edb files.

What I WOULD recommend is the following:

1. Split the data and Exchange backups from each other (ie. Data files, System State in 1 job, Exchange in another).

2. Run AOFO when backing up files and the System State;

3. Do not run AOFO when backing up Exchange, and rather let VSS do the application quiescing.

Thanks!

View solution in original post

GROBSON
Level 4

See my new post below about the reg key.

 

I tried posting my fsutil but it says its awaiting approval by moderators.

View solution in original post

15 REPLIES 15

GROBSON
Level 4

Here are the outputs of sector size:

 

HYPER-V Host (Media Server):

C:\Users\administrator.GCAB>fsutil fsinfo ntfsinfo c:
NTFS Volume Serial Number :       0x56723a87723a6bbd
NTFS Version   :                  3.1
LFS Version    :                  2.0
Number Sectors :                  0x00000000e8c4ffff
Total Clusters :                  0x000000001d189fff
Free Clusters  :                  0x0000000014c319dc
Total Reserved :                  0x0000000000000f80
Bytes Per Sector  :               512
Bytes Per Physical Sector :       512
Bytes Per Cluster :               4096
Bytes Per FileRecord Segment    : 1024
Clusters Per FileRecord Segment : 0
Mft Valid Data Length :           0x00000000086c0000
Mft Start Lcn  :                  0x00000000000c0000
Mft2 Start Lcn :                  0x0000000000000002
Mft Zone Start :                  0x00000000000c7a40
Mft Zone End   :                  0x00000000000cc820
Resource Manager Identifier :     F9CDB9D0-6134-11E4-824D-E4F84C53B601

 

Hyper-V Machine (Exchange 2010):

C:\Users\administrator.GCAB>fsutil fsinfo ntfsinfo e:
NTFS Volume Serial Number :       0x0c4434164434054c
Version :                         3.1
Number Sectors :                  0x000000003e7fe7ff
Total Clusters :                  0x0000000007cffcff
Free Clusters  :                  0x0000000006f65d98
Total Reserved :                  0x0000000000000000
Bytes Per Sector  :               512
Bytes Per Cluster :               4096
Bytes Per FileRecord Segment    : 1024
Clusters Per FileRecord Segment : 0
Mft Valid Data Length :           0x0000000002140000
Mft Start Lcn  :                  0x00000000000c0000
Mft2 Start Lcn :                  0x0000000000000002
Mft Zone Start :                  0x00000000000c2140
Mft Zone End   :                  0x00000000000cc880
RM Identifier:        DB9A487D-699B-11E4-A659-00155D0A2C03

CraigV
Moderator
Moderator
Partner    VIP    Accredited

Hi,

 

BE has Active File Exclusion, so if you include the directory that Exchange is installed too, BE will automatically exclude files like the *.stm and *.edb files.

What I WOULD recommend is the following:

1. Split the data and Exchange backups from each other (ie. Data files, System State in 1 job, Exchange in another).

2. Run AOFO when backing up files and the System State;

3. Do not run AOFO when backing up Exchange, and rather let VSS do the application quiescing.

Thanks!

VJware
Level 6
Employee Accredited Certified

Regarding the -546 error, do ensure bytes per sector and the physical bytes per sector values match with the Exchange DB volume and the GRT staging area volume.
 

GROBSON
Level 4

Iv tried posting my fsutil output but its awaiting approval by moderators (for some reason). They appear to match though. 

GROBSON
Level 4

I have also just tried creating a VHDX file of the exact same configuration as the log file VHDX, attached it to the host, and set the staging area to be this and am getting the exact same problem...?

 

also, weirdly enough I have an empty mailbox database on the same drive which is not getting this error but my public folders and the full mailbox database IS getting this error

VJware
Level 6
Employee Accredited Certified

If backing Exchange to tape, the staging area is on the Exchange server and if backing up to disk, the staging is on the BE server.

Are you using the Hyper-V agent or the Exchange agent (RAWS) to backup the Exchange data ?


 

GROBSON
Level 4

Its backup to disk and I am using RAWS.

VJware
Level 6
Employee Accredited Certified

Where have you created the "OnHostTemp" reg key ? And does the value of this key match the one which is set in the UI ?

Lastly, can you try attaching the output of fsutil of the GRT staging volume and the Exchange DBs volume ? Thanks.

GROBSON
Level 4

Well it seems as though I have fixed this by creating a VHDX file, attaching it to the host machine and setting the staging area via registry setting HKLM>SOFTWARE>Symantec>Backup Exec For Windows>Backup Exec>Engine>Exchange>OnHostTemp

Changing the staging area from within backup exec itself did not seem to work.

 

So for some reason backup exec seems to think the Sector Size is different between my host machine and VHDX files even though FSUTIL says its the same?

GROBSON
Level 4

See my new post below about the reg key.

 

I tried posting my fsutil but it says its awaiting approval by moderators.

VJware
Level 6
Employee Accredited Certified

When the staging area from the UI is changed, a new job is to be created for the changes to take effect.

If the sector sizes match, then debugging will help to understand the cause of failure and such will be better to log a formal support case.

GROBSON
Level 4

Unfortunately we cant open a support case because the client is a Charity and Charity versions of Backup Exec do not come with any support. We rely on the helpful assistance of good folks like yourself.

 

I can live with the solution I have come up with for the time being but I am guessing it wont just be myself having the issues so am happy to provide any debugging info you need to get this sorted?

VJware
Level 6
Employee Accredited Certified

What was the staging location set to prior to attaching the vhdx ? If the "OnHostTemp" key didn't help that time, then its highly probable the earlier location didn't meet the staging requirements.

 

GROBSON
Level 4

It was previously c:\Temp on the host machine.

I had checked though and the sector size was 512 the same as the VHDX file.

VJware
Level 6
Employee Accredited Certified

If it was C:\Temp and there was sufficient space and no AV scans running, debug will probably help us to find out why this location wasn't considered for GRT staging.

Just to double-check, setting the OnHostTemp to C:\temp didn't help either, right ?