Microsoft KB Archive/298901

= Restoring a Database in a Storage Group Without Replaying Subsequent Log Files =

Article ID: 298901

Article Last Modified on 10/25/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Enterprise Edition

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This article was previously published under Q298901



SUMMARY
This article provides an overview of the process to restore a database in a storage group without replaying subsequent log files.



MORE INFORMATION
You might need to restore one or more databases in a storage group without replaying the transaction logs that were created since the backup and without affecting the other databases in the storage group.

For example, you might attempt to restore information that was accidentally deleted. You restore the information from a backup that was made before the accidental deletion. However, that information might disappear after the restoration because the delete operation is replayed from the log files. To recover the deleted information, you must restore the database without replaying subsequent log files. However, you do not want to affect users' mailboxes in the same storage group.

To meet the requirements and restore a database, not replay log files that were created since the backup, and not affect other databases in the storage group:  Restore the database, ensuring that you click to clear the Last Backup Set check box. Perform a manual hard recovery with the /cc and /t switches of the eseutil command (where  is the folder that is specified in the Microsoft Windows NTBackup restoration temporary location for log and patch files dialog box, for example, &quot;C:\Temp\My Backup&quot;):

eseutil /cc &quot; &quot; /t

 Mount the database.

Exchange 2000 and Exchange Server 2003 database architecture provides some isolation among the multiple databases in a storage group, which allows you to perform maintenance on one database without affecting the other databases in the storage group.

In Exchange 2000 and Exchange 2003, the eseutil command provides several switches, including the /cc switch and the accompanying /t switch. You can use the /t switch to specify which &quot;instance&quot; log files should be played from (see the following overview of the restoration process for additional information). If you specify nothing after the /t switch, no further log files will be replayed after those log files in the temporary folder.

The following is an overview of the restoration process:
 * The .edb and .stm files are copied to the production folder (for example, C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\Mdbdata).
 * All of the log files and pat files (.pat and .log) from the backup are copied to the temporary folder that is specified in the Microsoft Windows 2000 Backup program under temporary location for log and patch files. The Restore environment (the Restore.env file) is also created in this folder.
 * The log files in the temporary folder are replayed.
 * The log files in the &quot;instance&quot; are played. By default, this is the production storage group log file location (for example, C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\Mdbdata), but you can use the /t switch to specify another location. If there is no folder location specified after the /t switch, no log files are played in this step of the recovery process.
 * Recovery is complete.

This article assumes that you are familiar with using the Windows 2000 Backup program to restore Exchange 2000 and Exchange 2003 databases. If you have a third-party backup program, contact the manufacturer of the third-party backup program for specifics about restoration procedures using the third-party product.

For additional information, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

296788 XADM: Offline Backup and Restoration Procedures for Exchange 2000 Server

296843 XADM: Error -1216 Recovering an Exchange 2000 Database

297336 XADM: How to Use the Eseutil Utility to Checksum a Streaming File

192185 XADM: How to Defragment with the Eseutil Utility (Eseutil.exe)

Additional query words: reviewdocid eseutil/cc &quot;subsequent log files&quot; XADM

Keywords: kbinfo KB298901

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