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I have access to the Exchange Server but the domain controller RAID card died and the restored backup causes the new server to reboot without even a blue screen. I have rebuilt a new domain controller and another Exchange server. What is the best way to migrate the data to the new Exchange Store from the old Exchange Server?

Jon
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  • The backup was probably for a computer with a different Windows HAL, or a few drivers are missing. It's (probably) possible to fix both of these things offline and get the backup to boot, but it's likely more work than it's worth to you at this point. This is why your servers should always be under warranty (any why you should always get big name servers, they keep parts around forever). – Chris S May 30 '10 at 14:43
  • Yes I was trying to restore to a Dell Poweredge, and the old server was a custom box. Usually the HAL errors produce some kind of BSOD, this just reboots. I suspect it may be the old AV (AVG) or some other 3rd party software modifications causing the failure. But it may just be the backup is corrupt. – Jon May 30 '10 at 19:01
  • I've always found absolutely **awful** that the only way to restore an AD backup is to restore the full System State... which is strongly hardware-dependant. – Massimo May 30 '10 at 22:14
  • Tried it on the same hardware with the same results. Almost have time to log on in safe mode. Ran Autoruns right after the restore (before restart) of the system state and didn't see anything out that might be causing it to not boot. The system does complain about "vcrtl.man" being wrong version and I am not able to resolve this. – Jon May 31 '10 at 01:41
  • Reinstalling the Windows Server 2003 SP2 and selecting last know good configuration allowed me to boot the old custom built server after restoring system state. There may still be hope in bring back the domain controller. – Jon May 31 '10 at 03:02

3 Answers3

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If you manage to set up a recovery Active Directory and a new Exchange server where all of the following Exchange-related parameters are exactly the same as in the old environment, then you can succesfully mount the databases from the old Exchange server on the new one:

  • Domain name
  • Exchange organization name
  • Exchange administrative group name
  • Exchange routing group name
  • Exchange server name
  • Exchange storage groups names
  • Exchange stores names
  • Exchange stores physical paths
  • Exchange server version, service pack and patch level

Create the domain and the new Exchange server using exactly the right parameters, make sure Exchange works, shut down all of its services and replace its databases with the ones you've recovered; then start Exchange services again and (hopefully) the stores should mount. You'll have to re-associate mailboxes with the new user accounts, of course.

Massimo
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  • +1, I have done this once before. It does actually work. I hope you kept the default names for everything, or have a record of what they were. – Chris S May 30 '10 at 14:40
  • Any way to export this information to be sure it is exact? My old Exchange server is still running. – Jon May 30 '10 at 19:02
  • All of this is stored in Active Directory, and Exchange looks it up there; this is why is especially important to have your recovery AD match exactly what Exchange expects it to be. But if your original AD is lost, you have to rely on documentation... or just hope who installed it didn't modify the default names. – Massimo May 30 '10 at 19:35
  • The only thing you can look up in your original Exchange server, besides obvious things like the server name, are the physical paths of the database files. – Massimo May 30 '10 at 19:36
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You can use a third party product called OnTrack PowerControls to recovery any data out of the database without a domain controller or even an Exchange server.

You should also be able to to restore the database to a Recovery Storage Group in your new environment. Use the Exchange Troubleshooting Assistant to help guide you through the process.

amargeson
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Would agree with amargeson apart from the other tips, if you have less time, get a exchange db recovery tool like ontrack or stellar exchange recovery

[Stellar Exchange Recovery][1]

[Kroll Ontrack PowerControls for Exchange][2]

Hope that Helps

Mutahir
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