Granular Restore 8.5 not able to open Exchange Mail

[Mario_Gaucher]

I just updated all my servers with BESR 8.5... it's working fine except for one thing... Granular restore 8.5 is not able to open "Exchange Mail"... I always get the following error :

**************************

(i) Make sure that the volume which contains 'N:\First Storage Group\Mailbox Database.edb' was selected for backup

(ii) Try selecting a different Storage Group

**************************

I get the same problem with all my databases...

if I open the same backup with Granular Restore 8.0 (previous version), it's working fine.

what can be the problem?

should I contact Symantec to get this resolved?

[Tanel]

I too tried this and everything else I could come to think of, unfortunately with no results. Thanks for your input however!

[marcogsp]

Tanel -- Are you using GRO version 8.5.1?  I was curious to know if the steps I outlined in my last post would work work with version 8.5.1.  However, since this has been such an exasperating process to get this product working, I didn't want to uninstall 8.5.3 in order to test.  If you are using version 8.5.3, then I'm guessing that it is back to the ole drawing board...................

Take Care!

[JodyPSU]

I seem to be having the same issue.

Backups of C: and D:

Error messages when selecting Exchange Mail.  Files and Folders open fine.

My question, and I've seen varying answers is the following...

I currently have the Backup Exec 8.5.3 on the Exchange Server, as well as GRO 8.5.3 on Exchange.  The backups are sent to a NAS device.

I've seen different articles or forums referencing running GRO from a different server than Exchange with Microsoft Outlook installed.  I've also seen that the files need to be accessed locally as opposed to opening them from the NAS.

I have tried neither.  We do have Backup Exec 8.5.3 on other servers, so installing GRO on one of them doesn't seem to be an issue, but that would mean it would have to access the backups from another server as they would not be local to that secondary server.

There is so much conflicting information out there, and very little documentation.  Basically out of the box, you need to work with support if you're backing up multiple drives on your Exchange server.  That's just unacceptable.  There has to be another answer.  Can someone from Symantec provide us with a fix?  I thought getting the GRO upgrade to 8.5.3 would resolve the issue, but that doesn't seem to have had any affect.

Where is everyone else storing there backups?

[Tanel]

I am, as earlier mentioned, using GRO 8.5.3. I hope a solution is found quite soon as this is really not acceptable. It feels like sales have forces engineering to release a pre-beta.

[Tanel]

We have a Windows 2008-server with ISCSI-attached storage running BESR 8.5.3, GRO 8.5.3 and Outlook 2007. The BESR-agent of the Exchange-server backs up to a share on the backup-server (ISCSI-storage).

[marcogsp]

Tanel -- I assume you are running Exchange 2007 since you have a Windows Server 2008 server.  There are some differences in the Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2003 mail databases,  so maybe GRO is handling Exchange 2003 better.  At least in my environment it is. 

I have GRO version 8.5.3.32375 installed on a WinXP SP3 32 bit  workstation.  BESR Desktop version 8.5.3.31483 is also installed on this workstation as well as Outlook 2003.  I do not copy the images locally in order to open them with GRO. This is what I do:

• Open a command prompt and temporarily map a drive to the image store location, with the command . pushd \\servername\sharename
• Make note of the drive letter pushed onto the stack and minimize the command prompt window
• Open GRO and open the sv2i file in the target location on the drive just mapped.
• Select all the Versions of the image.  In the Backup Date drop down list, select the earliest version of the backup first.  That seems to be the version that contains the EIF file the most in my experience.
• Open the Exchange Mail tab and wait for the mailstore to mount.  Recover the item(s) needed and close GRO
• In the command prompt enter the command   popd   to unmap the drive and pop it off the stack.

As a side note, my BESR images use medium compression and they are not encrypted.  I can't guarantee this setup will work in anyone else's environment., so glean from it what you will.  When I try this with my Exchange 2007images on my 32 bit workstation, I get the standard EIF error when selection the wrong version of the backup.  However, when I select what I assume is the correct version, I get the error: (i) Microsoft Exchange 2007 can only be recovered on a 64 bit operating system, run this software on a system with a 64 bit OS installed   I need to test this with a 64 bit workstation, but I find this error more encouraging than the missing EIF error.  This tells me that the EIF file was found, and that I need a 64 bit environment in order to get the rest of the recovery process working.

Marco

[stefan_norbart]

I've read this post and I've looked into the suggestion of Marcogps. This is a solution for me. The suggestion I mean is:

When clicking on the "Exchange Mail" tab, chances are, the same old errors will still be thrown. Use the drop down list "Backup Date" in the upper right to manually iterate through the "versions" until the mailstores are opened. 

Current situation:
I'm using the latest version of both BESR (8.5.3.31483) and BEGR (8.5.3.32375) - both fully licensed - on a Windows 2003 server with Exchange 2007. The back-up files are being placed on an other server. C-partition is system and D-partition is Exchange database and logs. Partitions are being back-upped separately.

The trick:
At first when I opened Granular Restore and selected the s2vi file from the other server I only saw the C-partition. When I clicked the "Exchange Mail" tab I got the error "unable to find EIF...).
When I again opened the s2vi file from the network I could also select (on the tab Files and Folders) the orange button Versions. That opened a new window in which I could select all the "versions". In that same window I can select all the versions (in this case there were 3 versions). When I did this I also could see the D-partition of the server. After that I selected the tab "Exchange Mail" and the mailstore opened.

I have made some screen dumps but cannot publish them here. If you like I can mail the files but trust me that I works for me..

Anyway, thanks Marcogps for the suggestion. 

Stefan

[DRainbird]

Had the same problem accessing Exchange Mail as described in this thread since running BESR GRO v8.5.x.

Found that if I copied the file BesrToolsLibrary.dll from a v8.0.2 install into the Exchange Retrieve sub-folder as was able to get it work. Only one backup date is shown per system image (rather than multiple ones for each volume), and also shows all volumes until File and Folder recovery tab

Cheers
Dan

[marcogsp]

Dan -- did you have to register this library after copying it, or did it work as is?

[DRainbird]

Just copied and overwrote the 8.5.x version of the file

[JodyPSU]

I realize this is an old thread but can anyone with the BesrToolsLibrary.dll from a v8.0.2 please send me a copy so I can try it out.

Has anyone tried this fix and if so, were they successful?

[Andreas_Horlach]

JodyPSU,

You are welcome to download the full GRO 8.0 build from the following location:

ftp://supportftp.symantec.com

username: usoruser11

password: d0wnl0@d

You may want to use an FTP download manager (i.e., Filezilla), which seems to work better that the built in FTP client in Internet Explorer.

The folder you want to open to download the ZIP is GRO80. If uninstalling 8.5 and installing 8.0 does not work, this is perhaps related to a bug that is being addressed for the next service pack.

Good luck,
Andreas
Symantec