Backing up Exchange 2000/2003 with NTBACKUP
By: Daniel Petri Page updated: 21-05-2006
Quick Links
: Knowledge Base
: Active Directory
: Cisco And Routing
: Disaster Recovery
: Disk Management
: DNS
: Exchange Server
: Installation & Deployment
: Networking
: Security
: OS Tweaking
: Virtualization
: Windows Vista
: What's New?
: Forums
: Forums Archive
: Feedback
: ‫עברית‬
Read More
Most Popular Articles
: Forgot the Administrator's
Password?
: Customize the XP Installation
: Windows Update Problems
: How to Write ISO Files
: Change the Serial in Windows
XP
: Download Free Windows 2000
Resource Kit Tools
: How to Install Active Directory
on Windows 2003
: Install Windows XP Pro
: How to Install Active Directory
on Windows 2000
Read More
Daniel Petri's #1 Picks
Top-Rated Windows 2003 &
Cisco CCNA Video Training
courses. Products feature
Instructor-Led Videos & Lab
Books!
: Active Directory Training
: MCSE Video Training
: Exchange Server Training
: Cisco CCNA Video Training
: ISA Server 2004 Video Training
: CWNA Video Training
: Cisco CCNP Video Training
: XP Professional Video Training
: Windows 2003 Video Training
: MCSE Training Videos
: Comptia Network+ Training
Read More
Sponsored Ad
Microsoft MVP Program
Author is a Windows Server
System - Exchange Server MVP
Read More
Sponsored Links
Free IT Training
http://www.petri.co.il/backup_exchange_2000_2003_with_ntbackup.htm
Page 1 of 4
How do I backup my Exchange 2000/2003
server?
Web Petri.co.il
Google Search
One of the most important tasks for an Exchange administrator is the regular, day-by-day, Sponsored Ads
backing up of all the Exchange databases. This can be easily accomplished by use of the
built-in NTBACKUP.EXE software found on your Exchange 2000/2003 server.
Some administrators might choose to your 3rd-Party backup tools, such as:
l Veritas Backup Exec (currently version 10.0)
l BrightStor ARCserve Backup (currently version r11.1)
Essential solution for creating and
l Legato Co-StandbyServer Advanced (currently version 5.1) managing Microsoft Exchange
Server
and SBS 2000/2003 rules for
However, as stated above, you do NOT need to buy expensive 3rd-Party tools just to backup processing incoming messages.
Free 21-day trial is available.
your Exchange server.
Daniel Petri's Exchange Server Recommendations
By the way, if you are looking to really master Exchange Server (or
other Windows 2003 networking skills), I strongly recommend that
you try the Windows 2003 Video Training at Train Signal. I receive
hundreds of emails a month asking for my “recommendation for IT
training” and I discovered this company several months ago. I like to
send people their way because the training is so good (and it cuts
down on a lot of my email!). I have used and reviewed A LOT of
training products over the years and none of them come close to Automatically detect security
vulnerabilities on your network
matching the quality or amount of detail found in Train Signal’s with GFI LANguard Network
courses. Read more (and watch a demo!) on their Exchange Server Security Scanner! Free version
available for download!
2003 Training.
Daniel Petri
Generally, you can backup Exchange 2000/2003 in 2 ways: Online backup and Offline
backup.
Online Backup - An Online backup is performed while the Information Store is still mounted
and the Exchange server is operational. The Exchange is Online and available for
transactions, therefore it still allows users to work without interruption. Online backups also
Automatic network & server
automatically clear the database logs upon completion. monitoring made easy with GFI
Network Server Monitor! A
freeware version available for
Another major advantage of the Online backup method is the fact that the Exchange store is download!
checked for corruption at the file-system level. This check is done by verifying the checksums
on each 4 KB (Kilobyte) block or page in the database. If there is a checksum failure, backup
will terminate. Exchange will not allow you to back up an Exchange store with a wrong
checksum in it.
Therefore, after an online backup is complete, you should check the Event Viewer to find out
whether your Exchange store is corrupted. If you see a failed backup with a page read error
event in Event Viewer, this may be an early indication of a problem in the database.
Offline Backup - Offline backup is performed by shutting down the Exchange Information 15+ Hours of Video Training by
an Expert-Level CCIE Instructor.
Store service and performing COPY procedures on the Exchange databases (Public Folder or Network Admin’s #1 Choice for
Mailbox stores). Using an Offline Backup provides a method to restore the Exchange system Cisco Training!
to its last known state or specific "point in time", and is usually considered to be less
attractive than the Online backup. Google Ads
However, you may need to perform an Offline backup in the following situations:
l Your Online backup failed. You can complete an Offline backup in situations where an
Online backup might fail (for example, due to an error such as a checksum1018
JET_errReadVerifyFailure).
l Your backup software does not support Exchange Online backup APIs, requiring you to
dismount the Exchange 2000/2003 mailbox and public folder stores before you backup
the server.
Some disadvantages to performing an Offline backup include:
l You must stop IS services (You do not need to stop the IS if you only want to backup
the store, for that you can simply just dismount it. However if you want to backup the
log files you do need to stop the IS service).
1/8/2007
Backing up Exchange 2000/2003 with NTBACKUP Page 2 of 4

Ads by Goooooogle
l Users will not be able to access their mailboxes during the offline backup.
l Log files that contain transactions already written to the database files will not be
Insite Europe
purged after the completion of the backup. Low risk migration to
l The database is not checked for corruption during an Offline backup. You might have a Server 2003 Exchange
corrupt database and backup sets that cannot be used to restore your server to full 2003 & Active Directory
www.terminalservices.com
functionality.
l An increased chance of data loss due to files being copied to and from a backup
location.
Backup Exchange
Server
In this article I will discuss the Online backup method. Reat-time Server Backup
and Recovery - try it now!
www.acronis.com
Backup Exchange with NTBACKUP

Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003 already have the NTBACKUP software
installed by default. However, installing Exchange 2000 Server or Exchange Server 2003 on linux OS Software News
Linux OS News, Reviews
these machines will upgrade NTBACKUP and allow it to be used to backup the Exchange
& Blogs Sign Up For Free
databases (also known as Stores). Subscription Now!
www.itpro.co.uk
Note: You can also Backup Exchange 2000/2003 from a Non-Exchange Server.

To perform an Online backup of Exchange Server 2003 follow these steps (note that 99% of Hosted Exchange 2003
the steps outlined here also work for Exchange 2000, although the screenshots were taken Secure corporate Outlook
on Exchange Server 2003): email Competitive pricing
and free trial.
www.virtual-email.net
1. Click Start, point to Run, type NTBACKUP and click Ok (or press Enter).
2. If the Backup or Restore Wizard appears, on the Welcome to the Backup or Restore
Wizard page, click Advanced Mode.
Ibm server
Microsoft and IBM
Independent Software
Vendors
www.TheChannelInsider.com

Advertise on this site

3. Click on the Backup tab.

4. On the Backup tab expand Microsoft Exchange Server, expand servername (you should
see your own server name of course... duh), expand Microsoft Information Store, select
the correct Storage Group's check-box or the entire Information Store check-box.

Note: It is always best to backup an entire Storage Group rather than individual
Stores, and if possible, try to backup the entire IS in one job, although lack of
time or storage might force you to selectively backup just parts of the IS at a
time.

4. On the Backup Destination choose the right tape device (if you have one, and you
should), or, like in the above screenshot, a local File.
5. In the Backup Media or Filename make sure you enter a descriptive name for the
backup job.
6. Click on the Start Backup button.
7. In the Backup Job Information window make sure you have your settings right. If you
already have a backup job on the destination tape or file, make sure you select Append
to make the file bigger and hold both jobs, or Replace to delete the old file and re-
create it with the new job.

You can also press the Advanced button and select the Backup Type. For this
demonstration I've chosen Normal. I'll discuss the differences between the
backup types in a different article.

Another thing you can do is schedule the job to automatically run by pressing the
Schedule button. This too will be discussed in a different article.

When you're done press the Begin Backup button. The backup job should begin:

http://www.petri.co.il/backup_exchange_2000_2003_with_ntbackup.htm 1/8/2007
Backing up Exchange 2000/2003 with NTBACKUP Page 3 of 4

8. When the backup is finished, in the Backup Progress dialog box, click Report.

9. In the backup01.log window, verify that no errors are listed in the report. If no errors
are listed, the backup was successful. Close backup01.log.
10. In the Backup Progress dialog box, click Close.

To verify that Exchange recognizes that an online backup was performed follow these steps:

1. In Exchange System Manager, browse to Administrative Groups\First Administrative

Group\Servers\servername\First Storage Group\Mailbox Store (servername) (as
always, use your own path...)
2. In the console tree, right-click either the Mailbox Store or the Public Store, and then
click Properties.
3. In the store properties dialog box, click the Database tab.
4. On the Database tab, in the Time of last full backup box, verify that the time of the
backup you just performed is recorded, and then click OK.

Note regarding the backing-up of the System State AND the Information Store in
one backup job: In Windows Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2003 you cannot perform a
backup of the System State AND the Exchange IS in one job, due to limitations in the Volume
Shadow Copy service (VSS). These limitations are described in the following KB Article:

Backup of the Exchange Server 2003 Information Store and the Windows Server 2003
System State Data Does Not Complete Successfully and Event ID 8019 Is Logged -
820852

Related articles

You might also want to read the following related articles:

l Brick Level Backup of Mailboxes by using EXMERGE

l Delete Messages from Mailboxes by using EXMERGE

l Download EXMERGE for Exchange 2000/2003

l EXMERGE and Hebrew Fonts

l Grant Full Mailbox Rights to an Administrator on Exchange 2000/2003

l Recover a Deleted Mailbox

l Restore Exchange 2000/2003 with NTBACKUP

Links

How to Back Up and Restore an Exchange Computer by Using the Windows Backup
Program - 258243

Exchange Server 2003 data backup and Volume Shadow Copy services - 822896

Offline Backup and Restoration Procedures for Exchange - 296788

up

back

http://www.petri.co.il/backup_exchange_2000_2003_with_ntbackup.htm 1/8/2007
Backing up Exchange 2000/2003 with NTBACKUP Page 4 of 4

Copyright © 1998 Daniel Petri Ltd. No portion may be reproduced without my written permission. Microsoft, MS-DOS,
Windows, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows NT, Windows 98, Windows 95 are either registered
trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S.A. and other countries. All other names are registered
trademarks of their respective companies. Should any right be infringed, it is totally unintentional. Send me an e-mail and I
will promptly and gladly rectify it. All external sites will open in a new browser. Petri.co.il does not endorse external sites and
is not responsible for their content. For broken links, site problems - please send Feedback.

http://www.petri.co.il/backup_exchange_2000_2003_with_ntbackup.htm 1/8/2007