Restoring Exchange Server  

In the event that you need to restore your Exchange Server, the steps you need to perform are dependent upon the method used to backup Exchange AND they also depend upon whether you need to perform a full system restore (disaster recovery) or just restore your Exchange Server data to a previous point in time (roll-back).

Rolling your Exchange Server back to a point in time

When the computer running Exchange Server is running fine but something has corrupted the Exchange Database files, you can restore the Exchange Databases to a previous point in time.  The goal is to restore the Exchange Server to a point in the past before the corruption occurred.  Note that this will restore the entire store to a point in the past, all current email that arrived after the restore date will be lost.

  1. Run the Backup for Workgroups Backup Client on the Exchange Server computer.

  2. Go to the Restore panel.

  3. Press Selected Files.

  4. From the Restore-Selected Files and Folders panel, select the Exchange Server item from the directory list.

  5. Select the date/time backup set to which you want your Exchange data restored to.

  6. Begin the restore process.  The Backup Client now interacts with your running Exchange Server to roll-back the databases to the state of the selected backup.  Please note that you will not be asked to re-boot your computer during this process. 

To perform a disaster recovery of your Exchange Server

Restoring Your Exchange Server Computer

  1. Replace equipment as deemed necessary.

  2. Go to the computer running the Backup Server at your location.

  3. Run Backup for Workgroups and select the Clients panel.

  4. From the Client List, select the appropriate client account name for the Exchange Server computer.

  5. Press Generate Disaster Recovery Report. The Disaster Recovery Report for your Exchange Server computer appears inside a browser window.

  6. From the browser window, press Print to generate a hard copy of the disaster recovery report.

  7. At the Exchange Server computer, follow the steps on the printed disaster recovery report to:

Special Note for Exchange Server Version 5.5 Users:  Until the Exchange Server data is restored, certain Exchange Server Services will fail to start.  Windows will report that some Services have failed to start.  Do not be alarmed by these warnings.  Simply proceed to the next section and complete the steps described to restore your Exchange Server data.  Once these steps have been completed, the Exchange Server Services will start normally and the warning messages will not reappear.

After you complete the restore of the Exchange Server computer - reboot the computer to return the computer to normal operation.  If you had been running Exchange Server 2003 or higher or Small Business Sever 2008 or higher, the Exchange Data is restored at the time of the Disaster Recovery process and you should be back to normal operation. 

If you had been running Exchange Server 2000/5.5 or SBS 2003, then you need to perform the following additional steps:

  1. At the Exchange Server computer, run the Backup Client software.

  2. Go to the Restore panel.

  3. Press Selected Files.

  4. From the Restore-Selected Files and Folders panel, select the Exchange Server item from the directory list.

  5. Select the date/time backup set to which you want your Exchange data restored to.

  6. Begin the restore process.  The Backup Client now interacts with your running Exchange Server to restore the databases to the state of the selected backup.  Please note that you will not be asked to re-boot your computer during this process.