Backup Exec 11d Best Practices Guide: Agent for Microsoft Exchange Server.

Article: TECH83299

Created: 2006-01-02

Updated: 2012-02-09

Article URL http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH83299

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Problem

Backup Exec 11d Best Practices Guide: Agent for Microsoft Exchange Server.

Solution

Backup Exec for Windows Servers 11d Agent for Microsoft Exchange Server

Agent installation:

The Exchange Agent is installed locally as a separate, add-on component of Backup Exec for Windows Servers to protect local or remote Exchange Server databases. To install the Exchange Agent on the local system:

1. On the Tools menu, click License Keys and Installation.
2. Verify that Local Install and Additional Options are selected, and then click Next. Follow the instructions in the wizard to add the serial number and enable the Agent for Exchange Servers.
Note: To back up the Exchange database on remote server, add the serial number for the Exchange Agent on the media server and install the Remote Agent for Windows Servers on the Exchange Server.

Exchange Agent functionalities:

The Agent for Microsoft Exchange Server provides the functionality to Backup and Restore the Exchange Server Data through the Microsoft provided Exchange Backup and Restore APIs. It provides the following functionality:

· Backup the Exchange Mailbox and Public Folder Stores for Exchange 2000 and 2003)

· Restore the Information Store database to a specific "point in time"

· Restore to the Recovery Storage Group on an Exchange 2003 server (database must be Exchange 2000 SP4 or later)

· Backup and restore using the Shadow copy components services for an Exchange 2003 server running on Windows 2003 Server

· Restore individual Mail and Public Folder items from a full or incremental backup of the Information Store (Incremental supported only with B2d)

· Backup and restore the Exchange mailboxes and public folders on the individual mailbox, folder or message level using the "legacy mailbox support" method

· Redirect the restore of individual Mail and Public Folder items

For Exchange data protection and recovery to work successfully the user logon for Backup Exec must have an equivalent Windows Domain account that has administrative rights to the Exchange Server both locally, through the domain and on the Exchange objects as well. The account used must have rights to the Exchange server registry and file system. The user account must also have a mailbox that has been successfully initialized using a MAPI client.

MAPI client components and CDO must be correctly configured on the Exchange server. The Backup Exec remote Agent Service on the Exchange server should be running in the context of the Local System account.

Protecting Information Store Data

All Versions of Exchange

1. Perform a full backup of the Exchange Server. Include all drives and special objects as necessary. Repeat after any configuration changes are made to the server.

2. Disable Circular Logging on the Exchange Server - this allows for much more precise control over the Information Store recovery process.

3. On the Exchange Server set Mailbox and Mailbox item retention to appropriate levels for available disk space. Make sure to enable the "do not delete items until a full backup is performed" feature.

4. Perform Online Full Backups as well as Incremental or Differentials as space allows AND perform periodic full offline backups as well.

5. Isolate Exchange Information Store backup jobs. This will be helpful for troubleshooting potential issues and recovering store data.

6. Locate transaction log files on a separate physical disk or array.

7. Allow sufficient disk space for maintenance and recovery procedures.

8. Make sure the Information Store Maintenance process is not running at the time of the database backup.

9. Monitor the Application and System Event Logs for relevant events which may affect Exchange server functionality.

10. Document the Exchange server configuration in detail and document any subsequent changes. Make particular note of hotfixes and service packs applied.

11. Perform tests periodically to make certain that disaster recovery and data recovery scenarios produce the results expected.

12. Become familiar with Microsoft's documentation for Exchange database management and disaster planning and recovery.

Exchange 2000 and 2003 Only

1. Be certain to back up the Active Directory Domain Database on a regular basis.

2. Backup the Exchange Server System State Object. Make a new backup after any changes to system or application settings.

3. Make sure that all versions of the ESEBCLI2.dll file are the most current and that all versions are the same in any relevant locations.

4. If performing offline backups be certain to backup the streaming database files as well as the database file. These files with the .stm extension are required for database recovery.

Recovering Information Store Data

All Versions of Exchange

1. Perform Server and, or Exchange Server disaster recovery steps as necessary per Microsoft recommended procedures.

2. Be aware of the effect of the "No loss restore" setting. Take note that any transactions which existed in transaction log files left in place following a "No loss restore" operation will play back when starting or mounting the Information Store database. Thus, if there are deletions that occurred after the backup was performed those deletions will play through and may potentially remove the very data that the restore process was intended to recover. In this case, either the Exchange data generated after the backup will need to be discarded by the process of a "Loss" restore operation OR a second recovery server will be needed to perform the restore, (unless the Recovery Storage Group feature of Exchange 2003 is used to perform the data recovery operation).

3. Make sure the recovery server has sufficient disk space for running a repair of the database using the Eseutil command, in case this should be required to complete the recovery process. Eseutil may require as much as 125% of the actual size of the Information Store database to perform the repair operation. However, another disk or volume can be specified as a temporary location to perform the database operation needed.

Exchange 2000 and 2003 Only

1. DO NOT select the "Mount database after restore" option. Manually mount the store following the restore to be sure to isolate any potential errors that may occur when the store attempts to mount.

2. Make certain that a valid temporary location on the Exchange server for log and patch files is specified, and that there is sufficient space in that location to accommodate the transaction logs being recovered.

3. Note that the "Restore in Progress" registry key has been replaced by the Restore.env file. This file contains roughly the same information as the registry value. It is placed in the temporary location during the restore process. This file can be used to troubleshoot issues that may be encountered when trying to mount a store after a restore operation. To read the contents of this file use Eseutil with the /cm switch. Please refer to Microsoft documentation for additional information regarding the Restore.env file.

4. If recovery of more than one store from the same storage group is necessary the restore operations should be completed as separate jobs. In addition, separate temporary file locations should be specified for each restore operation.

5. If the "Commit after restore completes" option was not chosen during the restore job configuration the database will fail to mount. In this case simply run the Eseutil /cc command to perform a manual hard recovery. Please see Microsoft documentation for additional details regarding the use of the Eseutil command.

6. Simultaneous restores of more than one store can be performed. However, if the stores are in the same storage group you must specify different temporary file locations for each restore operation. You must also be sure not to choose the "Commit after restore completes" option and perform the hard recovery manually after the last restore completes. Note, if restores from incremental or differential backups is required they must point or the same temporary location as the job restoring from the full backup job.

7. The Mbconn utility replaces the IS/DS consistency adjuster and allows the mailboxes to be connected to accounts in Active Directory in bulk.

8. Recovery servers must be installed in a different Active Directory Forest from the original production server. However, the org and administrative group names must be the same. Although the server name does not matter, the logical name of the stores must match those on the original server.

Protecting Individual Mailbox and Public Folder Items

1. Even though the Individual Mailbox and Public Folders items feature (now known as "legacy mailbox support") is still available in Backup Exec 11d, the use of the Granular Restore Technology is the preferred method to allow the restore of individual items. Simply backup the Exchange Information Store databases with the "Enable the restore of individual mail messages and folders from Information Store backups" function for Exchange Backup defaults checked. Please read the Administrator's guide, readme and help documentation for details regarding the use and limitations of this feature.

2. When using the Granular Restore Technology (GRT) feature to perform Exchange data backups setting the Device to submit the data to a Backup-to-Disk folder is preferred. This will allow an image on disc, which can be used to create restore selections dynamically, and could greatly reduce the time required to restore individual Exchange data items. Make certain the B2d location is on a Local NTFS volume and is not on a NAS, ISCSI or USB attached device.

3. After performing the GRT backup to the specified B2d device run a duplicate job to tape in case the space used in the original B2d location may be needed at a later time

4. If a Backup to tape must be used in conjunction with the GRT feature, make certain that there is sufficient disk space on a NTFS volume local to the media server to perform the restore operation. Disk space equivalent to the size of the database containing the item, or items, to be restored is required.

5. If multiple non-concurrent restore operations of individual items may be required, and the GRT backup data was written to tape, consider performing a set copy operation of the data to a backup-to-disk folder prior to performing the initial restore operation. This will allow the use of dynamically created selections for individual items and will save a great deal of time in the event that multiple non-concurrent restore operations are required.

6. Enable and configure the "Deleted items retention" and "Deleted mailbox retention" options on the Exchange Server Mailbox Store and the "Deleted items retention" option on the Public Folder Store limits properties.

7. Perform all individual mailbox and public folder backup operations as separate jobs. This will isolate potential problems and allow for faster data recovery should the need arise.

8. In mixed Exchange 5.5 and Exchange 2000, environments place the mailbox belonging to the logon account being used to perform backup and restore operations in the first store on the first Exchange 2000 server. Alternately, a separate mailbox can be configured on the Exchange 5.5 server if necessary.

9. Make certain that Active Directory Connector Connection Agreements, if present, are configured correctly.

10. It is not recommended to install the Outlook client application on an Exchange server. However, this may be done as a troubleshooting measure when the MAPI subsystem on an Exchange server is not functioning as expected.

11. Make certain that the cdo.dll and mapi32.dll files on the Exchange server are the most current versions and that they are in appropriate locations available in the system path. Example: x:\program files\exchsrvr\bin\cdo.dll AND x:\winnt\system32\mapi32.dll.

12 GRT backup operations are supported for Full and Incremental backups to disk configured via a policy.

Note: The Full backups and the Incremental backups can be targeted to different Backup to Disk folders but the folders must reside on the same volume.

13. GRT backup to tape will display granular restore data for Mailboxes only . GRT backup must be written to a B2d device to display granular restore data for Public Folders

Recovering Individual Mailboxes and Public Folders

1. The "legacy mailbox support" functionality must be used with Exchange 5.5 server.

2. Manually recreate mailboxes when restoring mailboxes in a NT4 or Exchange 5.5 environment.

3. When redirecting the restore of individual Mailbox or Public Folder items to an alternate location the mailbox or public folder must already exist.

4. If problems performing a restore operation are encountered, try selecting specific mail messages only for restore.

5. If permissions problems occur Example: "Access denied", try restoring to the mailbox associated with the BE logon account used for the restore.

6. After a successful restore of public folders some, or all, of the folders may need to be "rehomed". Please see Microsoft documentation for further details.

7. If problems are encountered on a restore attempt (example: "Unable to attach" error) and a Mapistub.dll file is present in the x:\winnt\system32 directory on the Exchange server, rename the file to Mapistub.old and retry the operation.

8. If unable to attach to the mailboxes node try stopping the Exchange and BE Remote Agent services on the Exchange server and running the fixmapi command. Simply go to Start\Run and enter fixmapi and press the enter key. Most likely there will be no return codes displayed. Then, restart the services and retry the operation. This is only applicable if Outlook is present on the server.

9. If redirecting a restore to an alternate mailbox, go to the properties for the user of the restore targets mailbox in Active Directory and in the Exchange Advanced tab, click on the Mailbox Rights button. Check the box to allow the "Associated external account' permission for the SELF user.

10. If redirecting Public Folder data make sure the BE user account has the Owner role on both the source and target Public Folders.

Continuous protection of Exchange server:

The following Best Practices will help ensure smooth operations during continuous backups of Exchange logs.

Note the following items when using continuous protection as part of your backup strategy

1. Symantec recommends that you back up only one Exchange server for each continuous backup job. Create a separate selection list for each Exchange server resource.

2. If you must copy backup sets to tape for offsite storage or vaulting, create a job to duplicate backup sets. You can configure the job to copy the backup sets to tape after each occurrence of the full backup job.

If the job template is in a policy, create a duplicate backup sets template to copy the backup sets after the last incremental backup before the full backup to tape. If necessary, you may consider creating a copy job to run before the full backup to copy all of the transaction logs as well as the full backup sets to tape.

3. Consider creating a custom filter to limit the display of recovery points in the Job History view.

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