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SnapCenter Software 5.0

Restore Exchange databases

Contributors netapp-nsriram netapp-asubhas
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You can use SnapCenter to restore backed-up Exchange databases.

Before you begin

  • You must have backed up the resource groups, database, or Database Availability Groups (DAGs).

  • When Exchange database is migrated to another location, restore operation does not work for old backups.

  • If you are replicating Snapshots to a mirror or vault, the SnapCenter administrator must have assigned you the SVMs for both the source volumes and destination volumes.

  • In a DAG, if an active database copy is on a non-NetApp storage and you want to restore from the passive database copy backup that is on a NetApp storage, make the passive copy (NetApp storage) as active copy, refresh the resources and perform the restore operation.

    Run the Move-ActiveMailboxDatabase command to make the passive database copy as active database copy.

    The Microsoft documentation contains information about this command.

About this task

  • When restore operation is performed on a database, the database is mounted back on the same host and no new volume is created.

  • DAG-level backups must be restored from individual databases.

  • Full disk restore is not supported when files other than Exchange database (.edb) file exist.

    Plug-in for Exchange does not perform a full restore on a disk if the disk contains Exchange files such as those used for replication. When a full restore might impact Exchange functionality, Plug-in for Exchange performs a single file restore operation.

  • Plug-in for Exchange cannot restore BitLocker encrypted drives.

  • The SCRIPTS_PATH is defined using the PredefinedWindowsScriptsDirectory key located in the SMCoreServiceHost.exe.Config file of the plug-in host.

    If needed, you can change this path and restart SMcore service. It is recommended that you use the default path for security.

    The value of the key can be displayed from swagger through the API: API /4.7/configsettings

    You can use the GET API to display the value of the key. SET API is not supported.

  • For ONTAP 9.12.1 and below version, the clones created from the SnapLock Vault Snapshots as part of restore will inherit the SnapLock Vault expiry time. Storage admin should manually cleanup the clones post the SnapLock expiry time.

Steps

  1. On the left navigation pane, click Resources in the upper left corner of the Resource page.

  2. Select the Exchange Server plug-in from the drop-down list.

  3. In the Resources page, select Database from the View list.

  4. Select the database from the list.

  5. From the Manage Copies view, select Backups, from the Primary Backups table, and then click restore icon.

  6. In the Options page, select one of the following log backup options:

    Option Description

    All log backups

    Choose All log backups to perform up-to-the-minute backup restore operation to restore all of the available log backups after the full backup.

    By log backups until

    Choose By log backups until to perform a point-in-time restore operation, which restores the database based on log backups until the selected log.

    Note The number of logs displayed in the drop-down list are based on UTM. For example, if full backup retention is 5 and UTM retention is 3, the number of log backups available are 5 but in the drop-down only 3 logs will be listed to perform restore operation.

    By specific date until

    Choose By specific date until to specify the date and time up to which transaction logs are applied to the restored database. This point-in-time restore operation restores transaction log entries that were recorded until the last backup on the specified date and time.

    None

    Choose None when you need to restore only the full backup without any log backups.

    You can perform one of the following actions:

    • Recover and mount database after restore - This option is selected by default.

    • Do not verify the integrity of transaction logs in the backup before restore - By default, SnapCenter verifies the integrity of transaction logs in a backup before performing a restore operation.

      Best Practice: You should not select this option.

  7. In the Script page, enter the path and the arguments of the prescript or postscript that should be run before or after the restore operation, respectively.

    Restore prescript arguments include $Database and $ServerInstance.

    Restore postscript arguments include $Database, $ServerInstance, $BackupName, $LogDirectory, and $TargetServerInstance.

    You can run a script to update SNMP traps, automate alerts, send logs, and so on.

    Note The prescripts or postscripts path should not include drives or shares. The path should be relative to the SCRIPTS_PATH.

  8. In the Notification page, from the Email preference drop-down list, select the scenarios in which you want to send the emails.

    You must also specify the sender and receiver email addresses, and the subject of the email.

  9. Review the summary, and then click Finish.

  10. You can view the status of the restore job by expanding the Activity panel at the bottom of the page.

    You should monitor the restore process by using the Monitor > Jobs page.

When you restore an active database from a backup, the passive database might go into suspended or failed state if there is a lag between the replica and the active database.

The state change can occur when the active database's log chain forks and begins a new branch which breaks replication. Exchange Server attempts to fix the replica, but if it is unable to do so, after restore, you should create a fresh backup, and then reseed the replica.