DK_Monster
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Restore of mailbox in Exchange 2k. Data restored, yet mailbox appears empty
Hi
I am needing to restore a mailbox from an old which has been tken down. I ran up a new restore server running same OS (win2k server std), same level service packs on OS and Exchange. Backup system is Backup exec 9.1. The user cannot be restore to the new mailserver because he was deleted while the new server was implemented. further more the new system runs a different domain and AD structure, hence the use of a recovery server. The recovery server of uses the old AD structure should be identical the now decomissioned server.
The problem now experienced is as follows. Having installed Backup exec 9.1 I try to run a restore of the mailbox on the recovery server and ask backup exec to recreate the mailbox and user automatically as reccomended by several previous posts here and on symantec.com. This however fails with a a0008488 access denied message to each individual mail in the mailbox store.
Failing that I instead performed a restore into the administrative mailbox, which magically works (!) Sort of. The Exchange system manager reports the administrator mailbox now populated with 1Gb data and 8000 odd items as expected, however, when I connect with outlook to the mailbox, the inbox shows as completely empty. I am baffled. I have run ISINTEG, cleanup agent and defragmented the database offline, and am running out of ideas.
Anyone?
I am needing to restore a mailbox from an old which has been tken down. I ran up a new restore server running same OS (win2k server std), same level service packs on OS and Exchange. Backup system is Backup exec 9.1. The user cannot be restore to the new mailserver because he was deleted while the new server was implemented. further more the new system runs a different domain and AD structure, hence the use of a recovery server. The recovery server of uses the old AD structure should be identical the now decomissioned server.
The problem now experienced is as follows. Having installed Backup exec 9.1 I try to run a restore of the mailbox on the recovery server and ask backup exec to recreate the mailbox and user automatically as reccomended by several previous posts here and on symantec.com. This however fails with a a0008488 access denied message to each individual mail in the mailbox store.
Failing that I instead performed a restore into the administrative mailbox, which magically works (!) Sort of. The Exchange system manager reports the administrator mailbox now populated with 1Gb data and 8000 odd items as expected, however, when I connect with outlook to the mailbox, the inbox shows as completely empty. I am baffled. I have run ISINTEG, cleanup agent and defragmented the database offline, and am running out of ideas.
Anyone?
simsjrg
Have you tried to redirect the restore to the new Server\Mailbox? There should have been no need to build a new server. As long as you have the mailbox on tape you can redirect the restore to any mailbox.
Maybe the inbox has another name? Check all the folders of the administrative user.
Maybe theyhave been deleted so try tools-recover deleted items.
ASKER
Thanks for your comments.
Yes I have tried to restore on the production server, and did it again this morning. Same result. The restore job finishes successfully and transfers all data into the mailbox of my choice, however when i connect to it with outlook it appears empty. So, same result as on the restore server. Tried both to the admin mailbox and an emtpy mailbox "john doe"
Also tried to do restore of just two mail items, same result. Restore completes successfully, yet nothing appears in the mailbox
Folder have not been renamed, not deleted. I can see the store in exchange system manager.
Checked your post, but backup exec does not have issues with finding any servers.
Its getting urgent. The user needs the data for a court case.
Yes I have tried to restore on the production server, and did it again this morning. Same result. The restore job finishes successfully and transfers all data into the mailbox of my choice, however when i connect to it with outlook it appears empty. So, same result as on the restore server. Tried both to the admin mailbox and an emtpy mailbox "john doe"
Also tried to do restore of just two mail items, same result. Restore completes successfully, yet nothing appears in the mailbox
Folder have not been renamed, not deleted. I can see the store in exchange system manager.
Checked your post, but backup exec does not have issues with finding any servers.
Its getting urgent. The user needs the data for a court case.
ASKER
The problem seems to be related to the user account somehow. Attempted to perform restore on another user also deleted before decomissioning of the server, and this worked fine. The user in question seems to be the only user who i cannot perform a restore on.
Nevertheless, I can as mentioned see all individual mails in the restore job selection list, and the data is most obvously is there.
Nevertheless, I can as mentioned see all individual mails in the restore job selection list, and the data is most obvously is there.
Maybe a stupid question, but is the exchange agent and the remote agent active on the restore server?
If the mailbox has content but you can't see it then how about using exmerge to export the mailbox to a PST. Exmerge doesn't work very well as domain admin but if you create a new user and delegate control of Exchange to them it works fine.
ASKER
Yes, the agents are installed and active. I suppose I would not be able to restore the other mailboxes if this was not the case. The tape drive is physically connected to the mailserver.
I can restore all other mailboxes except this one, current or old.
I have tried with Exmerge and it succesfully created a PST file... 32K in size and empty.
Much appriciate your suggestions keep em comming!
I can restore all other mailboxes except this one, current or old.
I have tried with Exmerge and it succesfully created a PST file... 32K in size and empty.
Much appriciate your suggestions keep em comming!
If you have an information store backup then you can try PowerControls from OnTrack, the free trial will show what is recoverable and it is compatible with Backup Exec's tape format.
Did you try recover deleted items? You might need to set dumpsteralwayson reg key first.
Did you try recover deleted items? You might need to set dumpsteralwayson reg key first.
Is it possible this mailbox is "empty" can you try a older backup?
ASKER
I have no older backup than the one tape. It is the end of year tape, later tapes have by now been overwritten. The mailbox on the tape is not empty. I can see and select all the individual mails in the store. There are about 8.000 items.
The remote agent needs to run even if the exchange server is local, but since you can restore other mailboxes that shouldn't be the issue here. The other mailboxes you restored, are they from the same tape? If yes, I suspect the backup of this particular mailbox to be corrupt.
ASKER
Yes they are from the same tape.
ASKER
Tried with powercontrols, it connected to the database but showed the mailbox as empty. Reported no errors when running integrity check. Same results basically as when running Exmerge
Have you tried restoring single mails and not the mailbox itself?
ASKER
yes. Same result. Restore job reports success, but nothing in outlook. I can restore single mails from all other mailboxes on the tape but this one.
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ASKER
Unfortunately, no transaction logs. But yes I did back up the information store, and have already scheduled a restore for it tomorow morning. Another thought was to restore the entire server with system state and all. Not having done this before, i assume "system state" means i will restore active directory as it was back then (It was the only domain server at the time)
In that case, perhaps solving the problem about with the user account. Is that what I should expect to happen?
In that case, perhaps solving the problem about with the user account. Is that what I should expect to happen?
Yes, the system state includes AD, registry etc. It might be a problem on different hardware, I think it also restores drivers. But I think it is worth a try. Something else I though of but don't know anything about, is if the user used some sort of encryption, then it might be that restoring the data to another user account that doesn't have the necessary keys to decrypt the data, wouldn't be able to read it. But I don't even know if encryption is possible within an exchange mailbox.
ASKER
Good point. I dont think so though, but I will check. No problem with the hardware, my recovery server just happens to be the old decomissioned server. Thanks.
I think you misunderstand what I was saying about using powercontrols, sounds like you are using it to look at the database when I was saying to use it to look at the raw backup tape. That eliminates any possibility of a rule deleting all the contents when Exchange starts up since Exchange won't have been run on the data.
ASKER
Thanks for your ideas. Ended up restoring the entire information store, which would then not mount. I then purchased PowerControls to access the offline .edb file and extract the data I needed to a pst file. Realy a lifesaver PowerControls!
>Realy a lifesaver PowerControls!
Yeah, but it costs money, I wouldn't normally suggest it except you said "Its getting urgent. The user needs the data for a court case." so it sounded worth the money to buy proper recovery software. Next time there is litigation pending you can fuck yourself.
Yeah, but it costs money, I wouldn't normally suggest it except you said "Its getting urgent. The user needs the data for a court case." so it sounded worth the money to buy proper recovery software. Next time there is litigation pending you can fuck yourself.
Thanks. I also think david should have gotten credit, he mentioned this before me.
ASKER
Yes Sorry I wanted to split the points between you for the suggestion for powercontrols but after i clicked accept answer to Rindi, I didn't see any such option. Thanks to David never the less.
No worries. And pardon my French but having data available for litigation is getting so important nowadays. We are shifting quite a few copies of Enterprise Vault to enforce data retention compliance.
You can still ask in community support to reopen the question so you can split the points.