Recover Exchange server

[mike722]

Can't find anything on the net about this simple and very common scenario.

2 Exchange servers in an site/organisation. 1 suffers a permanent hardware failure, so need to replace server and recover IS onto new server. Whats the best way to do this.

If I build new exchage server with a new name, join existing site (so DS replicates) i won't be able to restore the IS of the failed server to the new server because in the DS all those mailboxes are assiociated with the old server.

At this point I thought of deleting the old server from the site, but the problem is that it deletes all the old server mailboxes from DS, so there is no point in restore the IS to new server, if there are no objects assiociated with them.

I can't set up the new server with the same name as the old server and join the site again, because the DS thinks the old server is still there and won't let me join another server with the same name. I'm stumped.
Can anyone offer the answer? I'm sure there is a way.

Thanks

MFD

 

[Alshrim]

Greetings ...

when doing a recovery -- the name of the 'recovery' server SHOULD match that of the old one. You must also ensure that all connectors, and add-ins that were installed on the older server are also configured the same as on the old.

I have written a faq on all of this... i was in the same boat as you in the summer...and decided to write a faq about it to help people out ...

faq10-2260

Alshrim
System Administrator
MCSE, MCP+Internet

 

[Alshrim]

*Subsequent thinking* -- what you should be trying to accomplish is to duplicate the crashed server exactly. So long as you have backups for it ..

Bronto? Thoughts...

If he was to delete the current server from the site... install the new 'recovery' server into the site - then did a restore on that server ... delete checkpoint files, start services, watch Information store fail -- then isinteg-path, restart the Information Store .. it should work right? Alshrim
System Administrator
MCSE, MCP+Internet

 

[brontosaurus]

Good question Alshrim, never tried it that way. I do agree about trying to duplicate the crashed server and restoring to that. As for the deleting of the crashed server from the site, i'm concerned about what effect that would have on the directory...you'd probably have to get a backup of the DS and restore it after rejoining the deleted server. Then, when you do the fresh install of the new server, it would probably be wise to run SETUP /R so the services don't start. Hmm..

Tell you what, I'd go with the offline restore and exmerge (2 step mode) all the lost mailboxes to PST (and put those someplace safe). Then uninstall exchange, and reinstall, but this time rejoin the Site/Org. Once that's done, exmerge the PST's back into the appropriate accounts...

 

[GrmpyGs]

I may be wrong but, I believe you could delete the old server, bring in your clone (must be exactly same), once online, run consistency adjustment to "create new directory entries for mailboxes that do not have a corresponding directory entry". There are other options within this utility that may apply.

To access Consistency Adjustment Utility:

Site
configuration
servers
name of server (view properties)

Advanced tab
consistency adjuster.

GrmpyGs

 

[Alshrim]

Ya.. that was my theory too... Brontos is the safe way too..

I'd try both suggestions in a lab environment... better to be safe than sorry! Alshrim
System Administrator
MCSE, MCP+Internet

 

[brontosaurus]

Yeah, I would love to know if that works, 'cause MS has always said "don't do it that way", and typically when a server crashes, you just don't have the time to experiment with ideas like this, you just need to get it fixed.

If I only had a couple of spare machines....

Mike, if you get the chance to try it, please let us know if it works.

 

[Andy542]

I had such scenarios in the past when my Exchange server just died for one reason or the other. I have had to set up another server - the same organisation, site and server names. In most cases I use an offline backup for both the DS and the IS - it's always worked for me. My latest 'crash' occured last week. I had an online backup of the IS and not the DS. I tried using an old DS backup but didn't succeed. I had to use the DS created during setup. The only problem is that despite running the consistency adjuster, the mailboxes were not mapped to the NT accounts meaning that I had to map each of them individually - not a very pretty task!

 

[Alshrim]

How old was the DS backup that you used? Alshrim
System Administrator
MCSE, MCP+Internet

 

[mike722]

First off, thanks for the responses. Also, I forgot to mention that I am on exchange 5.5.

I'm doing all this in a lab environment, trying to prepare for the day it happens. I have a PDC (taken from the live network as a BDC, taken offline and then promoted)
Then I cloned the main exchanger server by building it and then restoring the DS & IS. Now I have the matched the scenario of 1 server dying completly.
So I want to add the other server as I would if one died in the live network, but on a differnet server (hardware speaking).
GrmpyG idea sounds like something that might work, thats the 1st thing I am gonna try.

To answer your question Alshrim The DS will be last nights.!

I'll let you know what happens after trying GrmpyG's idea.
Imagine if this situation was real. God,it would take months to get everything back as it was. Think of all those moaning users!

Mike

 

[Alshrim]

Ok.. well.. if the DS recovery doesn't work.. use an older DS backup .. I have found that the if you use a too current DS - when it tries to recover by running the transaction logs -- the logs seem to think that the DS is already up to date .. and everything fails.

Make sure to delete anything DS related (or Move to another location is better) so that DSDATA is empty before recovery... Alshrim
System Administrator
MCSE, MCP+Internet

 

[fuego007]

Consult knowledge base article 155216 (I think that's the right number). It details how to replace an existing Exchange 5.5 server with new hardware while keeping the same server name. It's fairly straight forward, but I found it could use some improvement. If you ask me real nice, I'll create a FAQ.

Bob

 

[Alshrim]

I already have : faq10-2260 Alshrim
System Administrator
MCSE, MCP+Internet

 

[mike722]

I tried GrmpyGs suggestion (see above) but after restoring the IS it wouldn't start (probably because DS & IS don't match), so was unable to run consistancy adjuster if the IS service isn't running on the target server.

I tried running the isinteg -patch and got a
jet FileAccessDenied error. I'm gonna have to try again.

Alshrim..
in your article you don't mention about installing exchange. Do you join the existing site?

 

[Alshrim]

I quote the FAQ: " It is very important to note that you must install the new server into the same state as your original server. Document all the paths to the MTA, Log Files, and to the Database files (PUB.EDB, PRIV.EDB). And make sure that the Site Name, Organizational Unit names and the Server name are typed identically to your production server. These values are Case-Sensitive (we found this out the hard way). Should you miss a capital letter anywhere in these values, the restores will not work."

You have to install the server to the exact same state as your production server. Alshrim
System Administrator
MCSE, MCP+Internet

 

[bfralia]

I've done this in a lab environment using Exchange 5.5 and Veritas Backup Exec with Exchange agents.

1) You need to have a full offline backup of the server.

2) You need the latest DS/IS backups.

3) Rebuild old server or build new server installing NT in an NTTEMP directory.

4) Server needs the same domain name as the crashed server.

5) Restore offline backup to server.

6) Start server using the WINNT directory.

7) Restore DS/IS and it's a done deal. Takes a few hours but works like a hose.

Alshrim - Good Faq.