How to replay log files that have been generated since the last full backup on an Exchange 2000 Server that is in a different forest

This step-by-step article describes how to replay log files that have been generated since the last full backup if the following conditions exist:

• You restored the Information Store database from an on-line backup.
• You restored the Information Store database to a server that is in a different forest than your production server is in.

You must put these log files in the folder that you specify in the Temporary Location for log files and patch files box. You cannot replay log files if they are placed in the Transaction Log Location folder as defined in the properties of the storage group.

Notes

• If your recovery server is in the same forest as the production server, it is best to put the log files in the Transaction Log Location folder to replay them.
• If you are running Exchange 2000 Service Pack 2 (SP2) or later, you will not have any patch files (.pat files) after the restore.

To replay log files that have been generated since the last full online backup under the conditions that are described in the "Summary" section, follow these steps:

Step One: Move All Old Files from the MDBdata Folder to Another Location

1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Explore.
2. Open the Local Disk (C:)\Program Files folder.
3. Click File, click New, and then click Folder.
4. Type a name for the new folder (for example, Oldexchfiles), and then press Enter.
5. Open the Local Disk (C:)\Program Files\Exchsrvr\MDBdata folder.
6. Click MDBdata, click Edit, click Select All, click Edit, and then click Move to Folder.
7. In Move Items, locate the folder that you created in step 4, and then click Move.

Step Two: Restore the Information Store from a Backup

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Backup.
2. Click the Restore tab.
3. In the tree view, click the backup media that you want to restore.
4. Click to select the check boxes next to the storage groups and the databases that you want to restore.
5. Click Start Restore.
6. In the Restoring Database Store dialog box, specify the Exchange 2000 computer where you want the databases restored in the Restore to box.
7. In the Temporary location for log and patch files box, specify a folder to store log and update files in during the restore process.
   
   Make sure that there is sufficient space in the folder to store the files (the disk space requirement is about 10 MB more than the size of the files that you want to restore).
   
   Important If the folder that you specify in the Temporary location for log and patch files box is the same folder as the original location of the database or log files, the restore process will fail.
8. Click to clear the Last Backup Set check box.
   
9. If Backup prompts you for the location of the backup file to use in the restore process, select the correct backup name, and then click OK.
10. Verify that the restore process was successful in the Restore Progress dialog box, and then click Close.

Step Three: Replay the Log Files That Have Been Generated Since the Last Backup

1. When the restore is complete, copy the log files that have been generated since the last full backup to the Temporary Location for log files and patch files folder that you specified in step 7 of the "Step Two..." section of this article.
2. Click Start, click Run, type cmd in the Open box, and then click OK.
3. At the command prompt, type cd \, and then press ENTER.
4. Type cd Path_to_Temporary_location_for_log_and_patch_files, where Path_to_Temporary_location_for_log_and_patch_files is the path that you specified in step 7 of the "Step Two..." section of this article.
   
   Note This folder must contain the file Restore.env
5. Type eseutil /cc, and then press ENTER.
   
   Note You may have to run the eseutil /cc command from the Exchsvr\Bin folder and explicitly reference the path that you specified in step 7 of the "Step Two..." section of this article: eseutil /cc Path_to_Temporary_location_for_log_and_patch_files
6. Mount your databases.

Notes About the Eseutil /Cc Command

• When you run eseutil /cc, you will see output similar to the following :
  

  C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\BIN>eseutil /cc "c:\Path_to_Temporary_location_for_log_and_patch_files\first storage group"
   
  Microsoft(R) Exchange Server(TM) Database Utilities
  Version 6.0
  Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation 1991-2000.  All Rights Reserved.
   
  Using restore environment
     Restore log file: c:\Path_to_Temporary_location_for_log_and_patch_files\first storage group
   
                   Restore Path: c:\Path_to_Temporary_location_for_log_and_patch_files\first storage group
                     Annotation: Microsoft Information Store
                         Server: 
                Backup Instance: First Storage Group
                Target Instance:
   Restore Instance System Path:
   Restore Instance Log Path:
   
                      Databases: 2 database(s)
                          Database Name: Mailbox Store 
                                   GUID: 062A731E-17E2-4F6D-35A74F6DD9A781EF
                           Source Files: C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\mdbdata\priv
  db C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\mdbdata\priv1.stm
                      Destination Files: C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\mdbdata\priv
  db C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\mdbdata\priv1.stm
   
   
                          Database Name: Public Folder Store 
                                   GUID: 136438E8-2FC5-4317-7E9743177A2B8FAF
                           Source Files: C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\mdbdata\pub1
  b C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\mdbdata\pub1.stm
                      Destination Files: C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\mdbdata\pub1
  b C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\mdbdata\pub1.stm
   
   
              Log files range: E000000C.log - E000000C.log
            Last Restore Time: Wed Dec 31 18:00:00 1969
   
                 Recover Status: recoverNotStarted
                 Recover Error: 0x00000000
                 Recover Time: Wed May 07 15:40:18 2003
   
  Restoring ....
    Restore to server: 
      Target Instance: First Storage Group
  Operation completed successfully in 22.313 seconds.

• The Log files range will be the log files from the online backup that are read from the Restore.env file. The extra logs that you placed in this folder are not in this range, but they will be replayed into the database. You can verify that the logs are replayed by looking for the following event in the Application log:

  Event Type: Information
  Event Source: ESE
  Event Category: Logging/Recovery
  Event ID: 301
  Date: date
  Time: time
  User: N/A
  Computer: ComputerName
  Description: Information Store (2236) Restore0001: The database engine has begun replaying logfile c:\Path_to_Temporary_location_for_log_and_patch_files\first storage group\E000000D.log.
  For more information, click http://search.support.microsoft.com/search/?adv=1.

  When you run the Eseutil /cc command, the first event that appears is Event ID 100. This event indicates that the database engine is starting. The following event appears next:

  Event Type: Information
  Event Source: ESE
  Event Category: Logging/Recovery
  Event ID: 204
  Date: date
  Time: time
  User: N/A
  Computer: ComputerName
  Description: Information Store (2236) The database engine is restoring from backup. Restore will begin replaying logfiles in folder c:\temp\first storage group\ and continue rolling forward logfiles in folder c:\temp\first storage group\.

  This event indicates that the database engine is looking in the Temp folder to continue to play log files forward.
• If you perform the restore process by placing all log files since the last backup, including E00.log, in the MDBdata folder (transaction log location) and then restore from the online backup by selecting the last backup set, the restore process appears to be successful. Event ID 301 is logged and indicates that the log files in the MDBdata folder were played into the database. However, the data in the logs in the MDBdata folder are not in the database.
• When you restore to a server in the same production forest, event ID 204 is logged. The event description is slightly different from the description for event ID 204 that appears in the recovery forest:

  Event Type: Information
  Event Source: ESE
  Event Category: Logging/Recovery
  Event ID: 204
  Date: date
  Time: time
  User: N/A
  Computer: ComputerName
  Description: Information Store (2264) The database engine is restoring from backup. Restore will begin replaying logfiles in folder c:\temp\first storage group\ and continue rolling forward logfiles in folder C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\mdbdata\.
  For more information, click http://search.support.microsoft.com/search/?adv=1.

  
  
  As you can see from this event, Eseutil looks in the Transaction log location (the MDBdata folder) to roll the logs forward.

For additional information about Disaster Recovery for Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: