When Amanda is configured and licensed for MS Exchange backup, Amanda uses the Microsoft Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) to back up the Exchange database and logs. ZWC backs up and restores MS Exchange at Storage Group level. However, ZWC supports restoring individual stores as well.
These instructions assume you have already installed and licensed the Amanda server and the MS Exchange server being backed up. Because the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) takes care of any necessary file locking and transaction log pruning during the backup process, the requirements are simple:
In case of Windows 2003 Small Business Server edition, the Exchange Writer is disabled by default. Please follow the instructions this MS knowledgebase article to enable the Exchange Writer: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/838183
The Zmanda Client for Windows uses snapshots for Exchange server backups. The procedure described below only backs up the Exchange database and related data files. Other files (such as the Exchange installation directory) require separate configuration for backup.
Create a dedicated backup set for each MS Exchange server you intend to back up. On the Backup What page you are prompted to select what type of object you want to back up. Choose MS Exchange, and the following options are displayed:
After you have set the options, click Add to add the MS Exchange object to the backup set. You can then configure the backup set just as you would any other by setting the options on Backup Where, Backup How, and Backup When, etc.
Please make sure no other backup software is scheduled to run on the Windows Client at the same time as the Amanda Exchange backup.
Important note: ZWC supports Full and Incremental backup method of Exchange.
Servers running Exchange Server 2003, 2007 and 2010 use Active Directory extensively for the following:
Because Exchange depends so heavily on Active Directory, it is crucial to back up the System State of an Exchange Server along with System State of the Domain Controller running in the Exchange environment so that the Exchange configuration stored in the Active Directory also gets backed up.
Zmanda recommends that you configure separate backup sets for Exchange and System State backups.
In the event of a server loss, how you perform the recovery will depend on the server role and your disaster recovery plan. Server loss can be caused by software or hardware failure, or by the physical loss of the site where the server was housed. One would also need to recover Exchange databases in case of issues such as database corruption, loss of transaction logs, accidental deletion of mailboxes, etc. Exchange databases can be restored to the same server or to an alternate server depending on the Disaster Recovery plan decided by the Exchange Administrator.
3 types of recovery operations are allowed by Microsoft Exchange:
The state of the MS Exchange server when the restore is started determines what type of recovery will be available. Please see this Microsoft documentation for details on Exchange recoveries.
Here are the steps to follow to restore and recover Exchange using ZWC to the original server or a different server.
When restoring to the original location, the ZWC restores via VSS. This means that the MS Exchange Information Store service will not be stopped before the restore. The Exchange Writer runs its own pre and post restore operations which are logged in the Windows Application Event log. ZWC does not mount the databases after restore. Therefore you must manually mount the storage groups that were dismounted before the restore. When the storage group is mounted, the Exchange store automatically replays any pending transactions using the Exchange Server soft recovery feature.
There are two reasons to restore to a different machine than that from which the backup was taken:
There are some pre-requisites to restore to a recovery server:
To recover a mailbox, restore to a recovery server as described above, then follow these additional steps:
The deleted emails should now be recovered.
To restore few deleted mails, one might want to restore the storage group or database to a recovery storage group or database first and then use exmerge.exe tool to recover the required mails as shown in the previous section.
Note: Restoring to a Recovery Storage Group/Database is not supported for Exchange 2003.
Exchange 2007
Exchange 2010
1. Add "amandabackup" user to "View-Only Organization Management" group using
Exchange Powershell as follows:
Add-RoleGroupMember "View-Only Organization Management" -Member amandabackup
2. Set "AllowUnencrypted" flag to "True".
---------------------------------------------------------------
AllowEncrypted is defined on the client end, via the WSMAN: drive. You must be
running powershell.exe (or powershell_ise.exe) as an elevated process.
ps> cd WSMan:\localhost\Client
ps> dir
Name Value
---- -----
NetworkDelayms 5000
URLPrefix wsman
AllowUnencrypted false
Auth
DefaultPorts
TrustedHosts
You would change it like so (after changing to the directory above):
ps> set-item .\allowunencrypted $true
------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Enable the Exchange Server Certificate in case it is not enabled.
------------------------------------------------------------------
[PS] C:\Windows\system32>get-exchangecertificate
Thumbprint Services Subject
---------- -------- -------
18DDD379D721792012001D294F342FF8380A61F1 IP.WS. CN=Ex-2010
[PS] C:\Windows\system32>enable-exchangecertificate
cmdlet Enable-ExchangeCertificate at command pipeline position 1
Supply values for the following parameters:
Services: IIS
Thumbprint: 18DDD379D721792012001D294F342FF8380A61F1
-------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Once the Exchange server certificate is enabled, go to Start > Run. Type
'mmc'. Add 'Snap-in' for 'Certificates > Computer Account'.
Copy the certificate with 'Friendly Name' as 'Microsoft Exchange' from
'Personal > Certificates' to 'Trusted Root Certification Authorities'.
5. Open 'IIS Manager'. Under 'Exchange Computer Name > Sites > Default Web Site
> PowerShell' click on 'Authentication'. Change 'Basic Authentication' to
'Enable'.
1.Open the Zmanda Management Console and go to the Restore Page.
2.Enter the original Exchange Server details in the Initial Host field. Select
msexchange as the Initial Directory. Click Explore" to view the data. Select
the data to be restored and click Next.
3.On the Restore->Where page, enter the details of the destination Exchange
Server in the Destination Host field, and fill the rest of the form out as
follows:
- Select Windows as the Destination Host Type.
- Enter the Destination Username if it is something other than amandabackup.
- Select 'Exchange Recovery DB' radio button and specify the name of the
recovery storage group or database.
4.Review the Restore From and Restore To settings on the Restore->Restore page.
Once confirmed, click Restore to start the restore process.
Examine the Windows Event Viewer for any VSS or Exchange Writer errors. Run the command vssadmin list writers at the Windows command prompt and check that the state of the Exchange Writer is stable. If not (or if there are any VSS errors), restart the Volume Shadow Copy Service.