SkinnerTech
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SBS / Exchange 2003 Recovery
Hello All
Here is the situation:
1. ESXi 5.1 running a single SBS 2003 SP2 VM is BSODing on boot-up. I've tried a chkdsk /R but it states that there is unrecoverable errors on the file system.
2. The most recent backup is now 17 days old.
Here is my plan:
1. Recover server from the 17 day old backup.
2. Download the vmdk file from ESXi and mount the disk to a drive.
3. Extract the Exchange Server data from the crashed server and copy it to the recovered server.
Questions:
1. Is this my best option?
2. If so, what steps do I need to follow in order to recover the Exchange 2003 data from the file system of the crashed server and then get it up and running on the recovered server?
Thank you in advance for your time and assistance.
Here is the situation:
1. ESXi 5.1 running a single SBS 2003 SP2 VM is BSODing on boot-up. I've tried a chkdsk /R but it states that there is unrecoverable errors on the file system.
2. The most recent backup is now 17 days old.
Here is my plan:
1. Recover server from the 17 day old backup.
2. Download the vmdk file from ESXi and mount the disk to a drive.
3. Extract the Exchange Server data from the crashed server and copy it to the recovered server.
Questions:
1. Is this my best option?
2. If so, what steps do I need to follow in order to recover the Exchange 2003 data from the file system of the crashed server and then get it up and running on the recovered server?
Thank you in advance for your time and assistance.
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ASKER
Before copying the database back onto the restored server, follow the restore steps outlined in this KB article:Those instructions assume that I can boot into the OS to make a backup of Exchange. Unfortunately I cannot.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/258243
To clarify, I have to restore the 17 day old backup AND overwrite it's Exchange data with the data pulled directly from the file system of the crashed server. I can't lose those 17 days worth of Exchange data.
If you need to do that you can follw my blog post on how to retrieve data from a VMDKThat utility looks like its going to help a lot. However, I still don't know which files to pull off of the crashed server's file system once I mount the vmdk.
http://vpirate.in/2013/11/29/vmware-disk-mount-utility-retrieve-data-present-on-vmdk/
Thanks again guys!
Though, the support KB article has good explanation for restoring exchange server data. Alternatively, you can also have checkout some third party for restoration of exchange server data from available backup.
Sorry, I had actually meant to get you this KB article:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/313184
That one will allow you to just use the .edb and .stm files you recover from your mounted vmdk.
Jeff
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/313184
That one will allow you to just use the .edb and .stm files you recover from your mounted vmdk.
Jeff
Before copying the database back onto the restored server, follow the restore steps outlined in this KB article:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/258243
Jeff