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What do these restore options in backup exec mean when restoring a Lotus Notes database?

  1. Retain original IDs
    • Select this option to restore the original database IDs.
  2. Assign new database ID
    • Select this option to assign new IDs to the database.
  3. Assign new database ID and replica ID
    • Select this option to assign new IDs to the database. A replica ID is used to synchronize two or more databases that are being replicated in the Lotus Domino environment. You can assign a new replica ID during a restore to prevent other databases under replication from overwriting the restored database files.

When restoring a mailbox do any of these options overwrite the data or just restore missing records? I need to restore some mailbox data but I do not know if these options will overwrite any changes since the backup.

Matthew Rohrich
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1 Answers1

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Lotus Domino relay on IDs. There are an IDs for every document and IDs for every DB (see here).

So in general the system ask you if you wish to restore the DB in the original state or if you wish to generate a new set of ID. For example if you you let the system generate a new replica ID (more infos here and here) and a new database ID it will not "stack" on the same icons the user has on his desktop. It will look like a brand new DB for him. Same for the server as he will not try to replicate the DB to some other server as the other servers do not have the DB with that ID.

So what we have done in the past is, we restored the DB with a new database ID and replica ID. Then we gave the user read access to the restored DB and he has then 7 days time to copy the elements he need from the backup DB to the original DB he owns. After that we deleted the restored DB again.

BastianW
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