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PC Knowledge Base - Rebuilding an Exchange 2000 Member Server
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To rebuild an Exchange 2000 member server, you must reinstall Windows 2000 and other software applications, restore the Windows 2000 System State data, run Exchange 2000 Setup in Disaster Recovery mode, and then restore Exchange databases. It takes more time to rebuild a server; however, the resulting operating environment is cleaner than if you were to restore a server from a full computer backup set. For general information about the "rebuild the server" recovery method, see "Rebuilding the Server".

To rebuild an Exchange 2000 member server

  1. (Optional) If you can still access the hard disks of the damaged server, and if you have sufficient time, copy the Exchange 2000 database files from that server to a folder on a network share or to a removable storage device. Even if the files are damaged, you should copy these files as a safely precaution. In the event that the restore process is unsuccessful, you can revert back to the original versions, which might be repairable. To archive the database files:
    1. Determine where on the server the database and log files resided prior to the disaster. For more information about how to locate these files, see "Determining the Database and Log File Locations of the Files You are Restoring".
    2. Copy these files to a folder on a network share or to a removable storage device. For more information about how to copy database files, see "Copying or Moving the Existing Versions of the Database Files You are Restoring".
      Note If you have sufficient time, you should also archive the log files of the damaged server. If you do not have a copy of the most recent log files, you cannot bring your recovered Exchange databases up-to-date to the moment the disaster occurred.
  2. (Optional) Before you perform the remaining procedures involved in the "rebuild the server" method of server recovery, consider repairing your operating system, your Exchange 2000 installation, or your Exchange databases. To repair your operating system, your installation, or your databases, perform the appropriate procedure:
    1. Search the Microsoft Knowledge Base at http://search.support.microsoft.com for a solution to the problem.
    2. Repair Windows 2000. For more information about how to repair Windows 2000, see "Repairing Windows 2000".
    3. Repair your Exchange 2000 installation. For more information about how to repair your Exchange 2000 installation, see "Repairing Exchange 2000".
    4. Repair your Exchange databases. For more information about how to repair Exchange databases, see "Repairing Exchange 2000 Databases".
    Note Unless your server experiences a major hardware failure that results in complete data loss, you should attempt to repair the damaged files instead of restoring them from a Windows backup set. Repairing these files may help your server recover from minor data corruption or other problems that render the server unusable.
  3. Replace any damaged hardware. If possible, ensure that all replacement hardware in the server you are rebuilding is identical to the hardware that existed in the server that experienced the disaster.
  4. Install Windows 2000 on the server that you are rebuilding. To install Windows 2000, perform the appropriate procedure:
    1. If you have a Windows 2000 disk image of the damaged server, restore that image, and then start Windows 2000. If the disk image included every Windows 2000 service pack and software update that was on the damaged server, go to Step 6. For more information about Windows 2000 disk images, see "Creating Windows 2000 Disk Images".
    2. Install Windows 2000 on the server you are rebuilding. During Windows 2000 Setup, install Windows with the optional NNTP and SMTP components, install the computer into a temporary workgroup instead of a domain, and allow Setup to create a random computer name (NetBIOS) instead of manually specifying a name.
  5. Restore the Windows backup set that was performed on the damaged server to the server you are rebuilding. Restoring the Windows backup set restores the Windows 2000 system files (including the registry database and IIS metabase files). This process also provides the server you are rebuilding with its original NetBIOS name, and returns it to the correct domain. If you do not perform this step, you cannot properly run Setup in Disaster Recovery mode. For more information about how to restore the Windows 2000 System State, see "Restoring Windows 2000 Backup Sets".
  6. Install any Windows 2000 service packs and software updates that were running on the damaged server to the server you are rebuilding. For information about how you can archive these updates to a network share or to a removable storage media, see "Software and Firmware Updates" .
  7. Install any other applications (other than Exchange 2000) that run on the server. Note Install the applications to the same locations and with the same configurations as the applications that were installed on the damaged server.
  8. On the server you are rebuilding, restore any additional dynamic data backups that were performed on the damaged server.
  9. On the server you are rebuilding, run Exchange 2000 Setup in Disaster Recovery mode. This process installs Exchange applications and any necessary Exchange files to the server you are rebuilding. This process also uses the configuration information that is stored on the Exchange Server object in Active Directory to reclaim the configuration of the original server.
    The configuration information that is reclaimed includes the Exchange storage group names, mailbox store names, public folder store names, virtual server configuration settings, and so on. When you run Exchange in Disaster Recovery mode, ensure that all of the components that existed on the damaged server are selected. For information about Exchange 2000 Setup modes, see "Exchange 2000 Server Setup Functionality".
    To run Exchange 2000 in Disaster Recovery mode:
    1. Insert the Microsoft Exchange 2000 CD.
    2. Click Start, click Run, and then type D:\SETUP\I386\Setup.exe /DisasterRecovery, where D is the CD-ROM drive.
    3. On the Welcome page, click Next.
      1. On the Components Selection page, under Action, next to each component that was installed on the damaged server, select Disaster Recovery.
      2. If any components that were originally installed do not have Disaster Recovery selected, then you must manually select them.
      3. You should install Exchange 2000 to the same drive and directory that it was installed to on the damaged server. At a minimum, you should ensure that all the drive letters on which databases and log files were kept are available. Important When recovering an Exchange server, always use the DisasterRecovery switch. If you run Setup without using the DisasterRecovery switch, Setup runs in Reinstall mode and automatically mounts the mailbox stores and public stores after the Setup process completes.
      4. Mounting mailbox stores and public folder stores before restoring your Exchange databases can cause problems, including the potential loss of e-mail messages.
    5. On the Components Summary page, click Next to reinstall Exchange in Disaster Recovery mode.
    Note During Disaster Recovery mode, a dialog box appears reminding you that you cannot restore Exchange 2000 unless Active Directory contains a server object for the server being restored. To verify that the server object still exists for the server you are restoring, use Exchange System Manager on another Exchange 2000 server. If the server object does not exist, the recovery process will not succeed.
  10. Install any Exchange 2000 hotfixes that were running on the damaged server to the server you are rebuilding.
  11. Install any Exchange 2000 service packs in Disaster Recovery mode that were running previously on the damaged server to the server you are rebuilding. Installing Exchange 2000 service packs in Disaster Recovery mode prevents the Exchange databases from being mounted at the end of the service pack installation process; therefore, you can proceed directly to restoring the Exchange databases from backup. To install an Exchange 2000 service pack in Disaster Recovery mode, perform Step 9 of this procedure, but replace Setup.exe with Update.exe, and replace D: with the location of the service pack installation.
  12. If the drives that contain the Exchange database files and log files were also lost in the disaster, restore the Exchange 2000 databases that existed on the damaged server to the server you are rebuilding. For information about how to restore Exchange 2000 databases, see "Recovering an Exchange 2000 Database". Important If you were able to archive the log files from the damaged server as recommended in Step 1 of this procedure, copy these files to the correct location on the recovery server. If you do not copy the most recent log files to the proper locations on the server you are rebuilding, changes that were made to Exchange databases up to the time the disaster occurred are lost.
  13. If the server that experienced the disaster included any Exchange full-text indexes, you may need to repair full-text indexing by re-creating full-text indexes on the server you are rebuilding. For information about how to repair full-text indexing, see "Repairing Full-Text Indexing" earlier in this chapter.
  14. If the Exchange databases on the restored server fail to mount, attempt to repair the server again. To repair the server again, use the repair techniques in Step 2 of this procedure.
  15. If the damaged server was running SRS, you must restore the SRS database to the server you are rebuilding. For more information about how to restore the SRS database, see "Restoring Exchange 2000 Site Replication Service".
  16. If the damaged server was running Key Management Service, you must restore the Key Management Service database to the server that you are rebuilding. In addition, you must also restore the CA to the server you are rebuilding if the CA was running on the damaged server. For more information about how to restore the Key Management Service database and the CA, see "Restoring Exchange 2000 Key Management Service".

The information in this article applies to:



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