Lost and found: Use an Exchange recovery database to restore data- Valutrics
Build the Exchange recovery database
Create the new database to hold the content we want to retrieve with the PowerShell command below. The –Recovery flag instructs Exchange that this database should not be treated as a typical mailbox database.
New-MailboxDatabase -Server EXCHANGE2016 -Name MyRecoveryDatabase -Recovery -EdbFilePath c:exchange.edb -LogFolderPath c:logs
Next, restore the production Exchange database with software or the other backup processes. For example, administrators who use Windows Server Backup would pick the location of the backup files and the date of the backup, and then choose Files and Folders to locate the database file (EDB) and the log files associated with the database. The administrator would then restore files to the locations used in the PowerShell command above to create the Exchange recovery database.
Next, use the ESEUtil utility to put the database in a readable condition. Find the location of the recovery database, and run the following at the command prompt:
eseutil /r log_file_base_name /l c:path_to_log_files /d c:path_to_database
Run the command below from the database directory to make sure the State field says Clean Shutdown, which indicates a successful recovery.
eseutil /mh databasename.edb
Next, use the name of the database to mount it with this command:
Mount-Database MyRecoveryDatabase
Once the database mounts, choose from one of the following restore options:
- Restore content from a mailbox on the recovery database to an identical mailbox on the production database;
- Restore content from the recovery database to an archive database;
- Restore content from one mailbox on the recovery side to a different mailbox on the production side; or
- Restore specific folders from within a mailbox into a corresponding mailbox, a different mailbox or a target archive mailbox.
Here are some sample commands that illustrate the required PowerShell syntax:
New-MailboxRestoreRequest -Name “Tim Jones Restore” -SourceDatabase MyRecoveryDatabase -SourceStoreMailbox “Tim Jones” -TargetMailbox “Tim Jones”
New-MailboxRestoreRequest -Name “Tim Jones Restore” -SourceDatabase MyRecoveryDatabase -SourceStoreMailbox “Tim Jones” -TargetMailbox “Tim Jones” –TargetRootFolder “Your Restored Items”
New-MailboxRestoreRequest -Name “Susan Smith Restore” -SourceDatabase MyRecoveryDatabase -SourceStoreMailbox “Susan Smith” -TargetMailbox “Susan Smith” –TargetIsArchive –TargetRootFolder “Restored Items In Your Archive”
New-MailboxRestoreRequest -Name “Susan Smith to New Info Mailbox” -SourceDatabase MyRecoveryDatabase -SourceStoreMailbox “Susan Smith” -TargetMailbox “General Info” -TargetRootFolder “Susan Smith Items” -AllowLegacyDNMismatch
New-MailboxRestoreRequest -Name “Tim Jones Recovery of Acme Matter Content” -SourceDatabase MyRecoveryDatabase -SourceStoreMailbox “Tim Jones” -TargetMailbox “Tim Jones” -IncludeFolders “Acme Litigation/*”
To restore content from the built-in folders, surround the folder names with hashtags — for example, #Inbox# or #Deleted Items#.