Restoring Exchange 2003 from BE 10d snapshot backup

[S_T_2]

Now i know that snapshot backup of Exchange should not have been done but that is how it was & i need to restore some old email and i am trying to restore it into my RSG.

I've got the msg stating the db is mounted.  I saw one blurb regarding regediting to bypass the status (i dont want to force over production) but also saw to dismount all db's (which im assuming is the production store-which i dont want to do!!) 

CAN anyone help me restore it into my RSG????????  Please?????????

THANKS!

[S_T_2]

i am curious.  even though 10d was promoting snapshots of exchange 2003, seems there are alot of limitations to this format......

[Backup_Exec1]

Hi

When an Exchange Server is protected via snapshot, the snapshot backup cannot be restored using the Recovery Storage Group (RSG).This is a Microsoft inter operability limitation due to the Exchange RESTORE.ENV file that contains drive mapping information for the RSG recovery process, which is not available during a snapshot backup.

Please refer to the following Microsoft documentation:
 http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;824126

Please check below link for more information on other limitation

http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH44580

Thanks

[CraigV]

You can consider duplicating your backup to disk first, and then running standard MS DR processes to get the *.edb brought up on your second Exchange server.

Don't use AOFO when backing up databases either...

THanks!

[Jaydeep_S]

As CraigV has already mentioned, you could either consider to duplicate the job to a disk in case it was GRT enabled or attempt to restore the information store to a file system using VSS redirection. This should give you an access to Exchange database and logs

http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH87383

[S_T_2]

Hi

sorry my comment didnt get posted somehw yesterday.

BE-

is there a doc that shows how to restore snapshots if it cant use RSG?  Other limitations wont help me in restoring what i need.

CraigV

I'm sorry i dont understand. Duplicate backup to disk?  i dont have a second exchange to restore to.  My main goal is to retreive emails from 7 years back.

JayDeep

not sure about grt and i dont see anything about vss in BE10 for the redirection.

THanks PEOPLE!!

[Jaydeep_S · Accepted solution]

Is it possible to install higher version of BE on a different server in trial and restore from there. Or you could try using file redirection restore job properties. Redirect to local drive on media server. Also if possible unplug the network cable from the media server.

[S_T_2]

Thanks JayD

We do have maintenance so i can install but since this has taken too long, we may have to rely on archived pst... 

ON a side note, i've read bad things about BE 2010.  should i go there or stay w/ 11 or 12?

THANKS

[CraigV]

I suspect you mean BE 2012, and yes there were problems which Symantec are addressing, hopefully, through BE 2012 R2 which will be in Beta testing soon.

BE 2010 R3 was actually very stable! As with all software though, somebody is going to have issues.

If you stay on anything less than BE 2010 R3, don't expect any further support. Your version is old and isn't being developed for. Already there is talk around lack of support (so far) for applications like vSphere 5.1, Windows Server 2012 etc in BE 2010 R3. If you're going to stay on your current software (OS etc) and never move off it, then your version is fine if you don't mind not getting support for it.

Thanks!

[S_T_2]

D'OH!!  yes BE 2012 issues.. So i could upgrade to BE2010 R3 on my Windows 2003 until EOL support is done - which may/will be soon?

THANK YOU JayD!

[CraigV]

...if you mean EOL support for BE 2010 R3 it might be a while!

If you have a support/maintenance contract in place you could ask to get your free upgrade you should be entitled too. Then ask for the licenses to be downgraded to BE 2010 R3 and then install that instead.

You'd need to upgrade to BE 12.5 first, than to BE 2010 R3. Stop your BE services if you decide to upgrade and grab copies of the Data/Catalogs folders BEFORE running the upgrade.

THanks!

http://trialware.norton.com/files/fc/Backup_Exec_2010_13.0.5204_MultiPlatforms_Multilingual_DVD.iso

[Jaydeep_S]

Yes, I feel go ahead and upgrade to 2010 R3. Here is the upgrade pocess in brief, you could either upgrade to 11d or 12.5 first and then upgrade to 2010 as a direct upgrade will not work.

http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH74415

http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH159557

Chris has already posted the download link for 2010 R3

[CraigV]

My name is Craig  & I already mentioned the basic upgrade process...

[S_T_2]

Thank you JayD & Craig.  How do i close?

[jmiles]

Jaydeep, I'm looking at doing a flat file restore of an Exchange snapshot backup as the original poster, and am considering the process identified here:

http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH87383

My concern is with making the setting, "Purge existing data and restore only the database and transaction logs from the backup sets". Is this going to purge the data for my existing mailbox stores that match what I'm trying to restore and redirect?

Or does the redirection override this value and leave the existing mailbox stores data intact and untouched?

[CraigV]

...Just hit the Mark as Solution button on the bottom-left of the post.