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Friday 30 May 2014
5/30/2014 12:13:00 am 0

How to restore Exchange Server Stores from backup?

In my previous article entitled: “How to perform Backup of Exchange data?” I have already discussed the methods to take back up of Exchange database files.

In current article, I am going to describe the procedure to restore Exchange Server Stores from backup.

Below given is the procedure to restore Exchange Server Stores from backup:

For Exchange Server 2003, 2008, or 2010 on Windows Server 2003, Server 2008, SBS2003, or SBS2008:

•    First download your Exchange *.edb and *.log files
•    Once the exchange database files are downloaded, dismount the existing Exchange Server Store
•    And then mount the new Exchange Server Store.

For other versions of exchange and Windows server, follow the given steps:

In such case ntbackup utility can be used to restore your Exchange data.
•    First, download the dump of your Exchange Server Database that was generated with ntbackup (your *.bkf files)
•    And then follow a process to use ntbackup to restore your data.

Illustration of the above restore procedures is given below:

Exchange Server 2003 or 2008 or 2010 on Windows Server 2003/2008 (or later):

You can directly replace the production information store with the restored copy.

In this case the actual information store files were backed up themselves and can be restored directly. You can use recovery storage group if you want to restore only some selected mailboxes. Using   recovery storage group you can easily mount the data without affecting the production information store.

Follow the given steps to restore the Exchange information stores:

1.    Go to Backup Manager > Control Panel page > Manage or Restore Files. And open File Manager
2.    Select the files((*.edb, *.stm, *.log, *.chk)) to be restored
3.    Restore Data: Options screen will prompt you to select a location for restoring the selected exchange database files. You can choose any desired folder location on your local hard disk.( folder that is different from the folder containing your existing Exchange database files)
4.    Proceed further with the restore wizard
5.    Dismount the Exchange Mailbox Store(s) that are being  restored
6.    Copy your exchange database files (*.edb, *.stm, *.log, and *.chk files) to a desired location.
7.    Move the exchange database files to their original locations.
8.    Now, Mount the Exchange Mailbox Stores

Note: The above steps are only applied for Exchange Server 2003 or 2008 or 2010 on Windows Server 2003/2008 (or later).
 
Follow the given steps to perform restore for Older Versions of Exchange Server or Windows Server:

1.    Go to Backup Manager > Control Panel page > Manage or Restore Files and open File Manager
2.    Select the file to be restored that is dump of the Exchange Store or .bkf file (that was created using ntbackup
3.    The Restore Data: Options screen will prompt you to select a location for restoring the selected exchange database files. You can choose any desired folder location on your local hard disk.
4.    Continue the steps in the restore wizard
5.    Now restore the information using the bkf file/downloaded dump file e using ntbackup /Exchange backup respectively.

This is how you can perform a backup and restore operation for Exchange Server Stores.

Thus, the backup files prove to be very important in case of data loss. If you have lost your exchange data then you can easily recover it from backup. You can also use the backup files as a mean of archiving old data. If you require using that data, you can restore and access it.

But what if the Exchange backup files have got corrupt? You cannot access and use that data in such case.

In order to access the data from corrupt Exchange backup files, first you need to repair it then, restore the repaired files to Exchange. To perform recovery of Exchange backup files you need some “Exchange BKF Recovery” tool.

In my next article, I am going to discuss more about the Exchange backup corruption and its repair methods. Be in touch!

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