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How to Perform a Basic Restore of Exchange Databases

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Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 will reach end of support on April 11, 2017. To stay supported, you will need to upgrade. For more information, see Resources to help you upgrade your Office 2007 servers and clients.

 

Applies to: Exchange Server 2007, Exchange Server 2007 SP1, Exchange Server 2007 SP2, Exchange Server 2007 SP3

This topic explains how to perform a basic restore of a Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 database by using Windows Backup in Windows Server 2003.

Note

Windows Server Backup in Windows Server 2008 no longer supports Exchange-aware backups or restores. Unlike earlier versions of Windows Backup, you cannot make or restore streaming backups of Exchange by using Windows Server Backup. Therefore, to back up and restore Exchange Server 2007 SP1 or Exchange 2007 RTM on Windows Server 2008, you must use an Exchange-aware application that supports the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) writer for Exchange 2007, such as Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager, a third-party Exchange-aware VSS-based application, or a third-party Exchange-aware application that uses the streaming backup APIs locally on the Exchange server to make a backup locally on the Exchange server. An application that uses a backup agent that runs locally on the Exchange server and streams the backup remotely to a backup application is considered a local backup.
However, Exchange 2007 SP2 includes a new plug-in that enables you to make Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS)-based backups of Exchange data using Windows Server Backup in Windows Server 2008. You can use Windows Server Backup to back up and restore your Exchange 2007 SP2 databases. A thorough understanding of what needs to be backed up, where to store backups, and how to restore backups is key to being an effective Exchange administrator. For more information about what needs to be backed up in Exchange 2007, see Using Windows Server Backup to Back Up and Restore Exchange Data.

Before You Begin

To perform the following procedure on a computer that has the Exchange Management Console installed, the account you use must be delegated membership in the local Administrator group on the computer on which you are restoring the database. For more information about permissions, delegating roles, and the rights that are required to administer Exchange 2007, see Permission Considerations.

Make sure that the database you are restoring is not currently mounted. If there is a database present, make sure that you have a copy of it before you overwrite it, and that the database is configured to allow overwrite.

Procedure

To perform a basic restore of an Exchange 2007 database

  1. Set the database that you want to restore so that it can be overwritten by running the following Exchange Management Shell command:

    Set-MailboxDatabase <restored_database> -AllowFileRestore $true

  2. Start Backup in Advanced Mode.

  3. Click the Restore and Manage Media tab, and then select the Exchange storage group or database. If the catalog for the backup that you want to restore does not appear, you might have to rebuild the catalog. Use the following steps to rebuild the catalog:

    1. Click Tools, and select Catalog a backup file. Select the backup file to be cataloged, and then click OK.

    2. Locate, and then select the backup file under Backup Identification Label.

  4. In the Restore files to list, select the location where you want the files restored. By default, the location specified is Original location.

  5. Click Start Restore to start the restore operation.

  6. In Confirm Restore, click Advanced to specify advanced restore options, or click OK to start the restore.

  7. After the database has been restored, mount the database by running the following Exchange Management Shell command:

    Mount-Database <restored_database>

  8. Remove the Do not mount this database at startup setting from the Exchange databases by running the following Exchange Management Shell command:

    Set-MailboxDatabase <restored_database> -MountAtStartUp $true

For More Information

For complete details about Backup and how to troubleshoot it, see Backing up and restoring data in Windows Server 2003 online Help.