How to Restore File Copies of Databases to a Recovery Storage Group

This procedure describes how to restore file copies of databases to a recovery storage group.

Procedure

To restore file copies of databases to a recovery storage group

1. In Windows Explorer, copy .edb and .stm database files into the locations defined for them in the recovery storage group directory.

   If the file names defined in Exchange System Manager for the database and streaming database files are different than the filenames of the actual files, you can either rename the files or delete the recovery storage group database in Exchange System Manager, and start over with the correct names. If you intend to replay log files into the databases at this point, you should choose the latter method. However, it is a best practice to replay log files "out of place" as described in the previous section. This practice is important if you are restoring multiple databases in a single recovery storage group.

2. In Exchange System Manager, disconnect from any databases currently mounted in the recovery storage group.

3. In Windows Explorer, remove transaction log files (*.log) and checkpoint files (*.chk) from the recovery storage group directory to prevent them from interfering with recovery.

4. Using Exchange System Manager, verify that the This database can be overwritten by a restore check box is selected for each newly recovered database.

5. If you need to run soft recovery manually, use the following steps:

   1. In Windows Explorer, copy necessary transaction logs to the same location as the database files.

   2. Identify the log file with the highest sequence number, and then truncate the last five characters of its file name. For example, if the log file with the highest sequence number is E0001234.log, rename it E00.log.

   3. At a command prompt, change your default directory to the folder in which the database files have been restored. All transaction log files should be in this folder as well. Run the command Eseutil /r Enn /i /d to complete soft recovery. Replace Enn with the file name that you used for the log file in the step above. In this example, the file name is E00. After soft recovery finishes, verify that the database files are in Clean Shutdown state by running Eseutil /mh [database filename].edb.

6. Using Exchange System Manager, mount the database.

7. If appropriate, mount other databases in the recovery storage group.

   The following figure shows a recovered database with several mailboxes in Exchange System Manager.

   Recovered mailboxes in Exchange System Manager