RE: SBS 2003 Backup

From: Jerry zhao (v-jerryz_at_online.microsoft.com)
Date: 02/08/05 

Date: Tue, 08 Feb 2005 08:15:25 GMT

Hi,

Thanks for posting here!

>From the description, I understand that your issue is that you can not
backup your system successfully. If I'm off base, please let me know.

First of all, please make sure the problem is NOT caused by the merging
System State and Exchange 2003 store into one backup:

'820272 Backup Operation Fails When You Back Up Exchange Server 2003
Databases
- http://support.microsoft.com/?id=820272
and
- http://support.microsoft.com/?id=820852

If that's the case, we need to segment the backups to help isolate why some
are failing, you have 2 options here:

1) Keep exchange separate from the System State disk volume.

Or
 
2) Perform Separate Backup Operations for System State and Exchange
Store respectively.

Couple of notes here:

 กค We shouldn't backup the Exchange log files since we are backing up
the information store. If the line "Server Name\Microsoft Information
Store\First Storage Group\Log Files" is in the bks file, remove it.

กค To make a successful edit of .bks file, you need to apply the
hotfix '872937 The .bks file may not run successfully when you use the
NTBackup utility http://support.microsoft.com/?id=872937'. If it is NOT
installed, don't use notepad to modify the .bks, only use ntbackup GUI.

If the issue still persists, please help me collect the following
information:

1. What happens if you manually backup the Exchange Store? To do so:
== backup Database ==
a. Start Exchange System Manager.
b. Open the administrative group that contains the database that you want
to change.
c. Under "Storage Group", right-click the mailbox store or the public
folder store that you want to change, and then click "Properties".
d. Click the "Database" tab.
e. Next to the database that you want to change, click Browse, and then
specify a new drive or folder location for the files.
 
Notes
       - With the databases, you can decide to move the Exchange
Database (.edb file), the Exchange Streaming Database (.stm file), or both.
       - If the databases are still mounted, you receive the following
message:
              
               You are about to perform the following operation(s):
        - change Exchange database location
               
              To perform the requested operation(s), the store must be
temporarily dismounted which will make it inaccessible to any user.
          Do you want to continue?
              
              Click Yes to dismount the database automatically and move the
location.
 
f. When you finish moving the databases, remount the databases manually.
 
During the process of moving log files and database files, your store is
temporarily dismounted. Because the store is temporarily dismounted, it is
inaccessible to your users until the process is completed. Moving log
files or database files invalidates all existing incremental and
differential backups; therefore, make a full backup after these changes.
 
 
== backup log files ==
 If you want to move exchange log files as well, use the following
procedures.
 
a. Start Exchange System Manager.
b. Click "Administrative Groups". Note If "Administrative Groups" does not
appear, it may not be turned on. To turn on "Administrative Groups",
right-click "Exchange Organization" in Exchange System Manager, and then
click "Properties". Click to select the "Display Administrative Groups"
check box.
c. Locate the storage group where you want to change log file paths,
right-click the storage group, and then click "Properties".
d. Click the General tab, click the Browse button next to the Transaction
log location box, and then specify the new drive or folder location for the
log files.

2. Can you mount the Exchange 2003 data stores on SBS 2003? To do so:
===== Configure the mailbox store
Configure the existing mailbox store so that it can be overwritten during a
restore. To do this, follow these steps:
a. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then
click System Manager.
b. In the left pane, expand Servers, expand the server that you installed
Exchange on, and then expand the storage group.

Note In Exchange 2000, you must first expand Administrative Groups, and
then expand the administrative group where the mailbox store is located.
c. Right-click Mailbox Store, and then click Properties.
d. On the Database tab, click This database can be overwritten by a
restore, and then click OK.

==== Copy the database files
Copy the database files that you backuped before. To do this, follow these
steps:

a. Stop the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service.
b. Click Start, click Run, type Drive:\Program Files\Exchsrvr, and then
click OK.

Note In this path, Drive is the hard disk that Exchange Server 2003
Standard Edition or Exchange 2000 is installed on.
3. Right-click MDBDATA, click Rename, and then type MDBData.bak.
4. Copy the files that you backed up before to the MDBDATA folder.
5. Start the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service.

==== Mount the mailbox store
To mount the mailbox store follow these steps:
a. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then
click System Manager.
b. In the left pane, expand Servers, expand the server that you installed
Exchange on, and then expand the storage group.

Note In Exchange 2000, you must first expand Administrative Groups, and
then expand the administrative group where the mailbox store is located.
c. Right-click Mailbox Store, and then click Mount Store.
d. Right-click Public Folder Store, and then click Mount Store

3. Does this issue happen when you try to backup to a local disc?

4. Are there any application logs related to this issue?

If there is anything else that I can do for you, please feel free to
contact me, and I will be happy to help!

Best regards,

Jerry Zhao (MSFT)

Microsoft Online Partner Support

Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

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