You can protect MS Exchange against data loss using the Backup Manager. The feature is available on Windows. The following MS Exchange versions are supported:
- MS Exchange 2003
- MS Exchange 2007
- MS Exchange 2010
- MS Exchange 2013
- MS Exchange 2016
The minimal backup unit is a storage group. Each storage group consists of logs (.log) and stores (*.edb), or databases. There may be one or several stores within a storage group, for example a mailbox store and a public folder store. Storage groups in Exchange 2003 have an additional component – stream media files (*.stm) that contain email attachments.
Prepare the system for backup
Before you start backing up MS Exchange, please make sure your system is properly configured (this is done just once unless the settings get reset in the future).
1. Disable circular logging
Disable circular logging before you start backing up MS Exchange. This is necessary to keep the database consistent and prevent the loss of recent messages.
- Start your Exchange management utility:
- Exchange System Manager for Exchange 2003
- Exchange Management Console for Exchange 2007 and 2010
- Exchange Admin Center (EAC) for Exchange 2013
- In the console tree, expand the server object you need:
- Exchange 2003: Servers > “Exchange-Server-Name”.
- Exchange 2007: Server Configuration > Mailbox.
- Exchange 2010: Organization Configuration > Mailbox.
- Exchange 2013: Servers > Databases.
- Open the properties of the storage group you are going to back up:
- In the Exchange Admin Center, click the storage group and then click the Edit icon above.
- In the Exchange System Manager and Exchange Management Console, right-click the storage group and choose Properties from the context menu.
- Unselect the Enable circular logging checkbox (if it is selected). Click to apply the changes.
2. Check vssadmin list writers
- Open the Start menu. Run Command Prompt (cmd.exe).
- Execute the following command:
vssadmin list writers
- When the list of writers is ready, find the “Microsoft Exchange Writer” entry. Make sure its state is “Stable” and “Last error” is set to “No error”.
3. Make sure the databases are mounted
- Start your your Exchange management utility.
- In the console tree, expand the server object you need:
- Exchange 2003: Servers > “Exchange-Server-Name”.
- Exchange 2007: Server Configuration > Mailbox.
- Exchange 2010: Organization Configuration > Mailbox.
- Exchange 2013: Servers > Databases.
- In the work pane, check if the status of the databases from this mailbox server is “Mounted”.
Configure settings for Exchange replication database backup (if applicable)
By default, the Backup Manager offers the primary Exchange server for backup. If you use Exchange server replication and want to protect the replica server instead, you should specify it before you get down to editing your backup selection.
- Open the config.ini file (instructions). Insert the following string to the [General] section:
ProcessReplicationStores=1
- Start the Services Console (services.msc). Restart the Backup Service Controller service.
The primary Exchange server will not be available for selection in the Backup Manager after that (unless you remove the setting from config.ini).
Run backup
Here is how to start backing up MS Exchange:
- Start the Backup Manager.
- Open the Backup tab.
- Click Add next to the “Exchange” data source.
- Configure your backup selection for MS Exchange. You can select the whole server or a particular database.
- Confirm that circular logging is disabled.
- Click Run backup to start a backup session manually or go to Preferences > Schedule to create a schedule for MS Exchange backup and let it run regularly without your interference.