How to Create Recovery Database In Exchange 2016? Complete Solution
Summary: If you are looking for a solution on how to create recovery database in Exchange 2016, then you are reading the right article. Here, we will guide users to create Exchange recovery database, its features and in what situation users can use to recover data from RDB. Additionally, you will also get to know how to recover data by using recovery database.
Exchange recovery database (RDB) is a special kind of database that allow users to mount the restored database and extract Exchange mailboxes & its data items from the restored mailbox database as a party of recovery option.
Note: Users can also use the Exchange PowerShell command i.e. “New-MailboxRestoreRequest” to extract the Exchange data from the recovery database.
When the Exchange users and administrator extract the data from RDB, then they can export to the folder or merge into an existing mailbox. Only Exchange admin has the rights to use the recovery database other than this no users cannot use the RDB. It also enable the users to recover the data from copy or backup of the database without interrupting the user access recent data.
Note: If the users doesn’t have any RDB and its Exchange mailboxes and data items are permanently deleted or corrupted. In that case, they can use the SysTools EDB File Repair Tool that provides dual scanning option which easily recovers & repair EDB file from major as well as minimal corruption and recover purged mailboxes and items from loaded offline/dismounted Exchange database file with no data loss. User can use the option to repair Exchange mailbox and recover deleted mailbox after retention period.
Know How Recovery Database is Different From Standard Mailbox Database
- The RDB only store lost Exchange mailboxes and data items
- Recovery database cannot send and receive message
- In RDB users cannot connect their Exchange mailboxes
- It is created by using the Exchange Management Shell
- For recovery database online maintenance cannot be performed
- User can’t create any of the mailbox database copies of an RDB
How You can Use the Recovery Database?
Before proceeding further, user have to met some specific requirement to use RDB.
- Recovery database can be use only when it is created by Exchange 2016 as well as later Exchange mailbox database only
- Exchange 2013/2010 & lower version mailbox database are not supported
- The target Exchange mailbox used for merge and extract the data must be in same AD (Active Directory Forest)
Following are the several condition in which Recovery Database can be used to recover data
1. Exchange Server Dial Tone Recovery
User’s can use the recovery database to perform the recovery when the original database is restored from backup as a part of Exchange dial tone recovery. You can do this on the same or in the alternate server and after that recover data from the RDB.
2. Mailbox Recovery
When the retention period of deleted Exchange mailboxes expires, then also user can recover the individual mailbox from backup by using recovery database. Then user can copy the extracted data from the restored mailbox to the target folder or merge it to the another mailbox.
3. Specific Item Recovery
User can restore the data from backup which is deleted or purged.
Note: Recovery database cannot be used restore multiple database and entire Exchange Server.
How to Create Recovery Database in Exchange 2016?
The New-MailboxDatabase command in Exchange PowerShell can be used to create RDB. Follow the steps given below to for Exchange 2016 create recovery database and restore the Exchange mailboxes.
Step 1: Restore Exchange Database From Window Server Backup
The first and foremost thing to do is to use the Windows Server backup to restore Exchange database.
Step 2: Check the Exchange Database State
When the Microsoft EDB file and Logs are restored, check the state of the Exchange database by using the eseutil /mh cmdlet given below.
If EDB is clean shutdown then proceed to the next step, but if it is in the Exchange dirty shutdown state then user have to perform the soft recovery and hard recovery in Exchange 2016 database.
For soft recovery use the eseutil /r command:
and for hard recovery use eseutil /p cmdlet:
Step 3: Create Recovery Database Exchange 2016
Use the New-MailboxDatabase PowerShell command to create RDB when the Exchange database is restored and in a clean shutdown state:
New-MailboxDatabase -Recovery -Name RDB11 -Server SysTools -EdbFilePath “C:\Recovery\RDB11\RDB11.edb” -LogFolderPath “C:\Recover\EDB11”
Step 4: Verify RDB is created successfully
Get-MailboxDatabase “name_of_recovery_database” | Format-List
Step 5: Mount the Recovery Database (RDB) on Server
After creating RDB users can mount it by using the cmdlet given below:
Mount-Database “name_of_recovery_database”
Example:
Mount-Database RDB11
Use the PowerShell command to verify that the database is mounted successfully
Get-MailboxDatabase -Status| Format-List name, server, mounted -AutoSize
Step 6: Extract Data From RDB
When the recovery database is mounted then user can copy the extract data from RDB to the folder or they can merge it in the existing mailbox.
1. Use the Exchange Management Shell command to check the mailboxes in recovery database
Get-MailboxRestoreRequest -Database “name_of_RDB”
2. Find and note down the GUID mailboxes name to restore the Exchange mailbox and data items from recovery database
Get-MailboxStatistics -Database “name_of_RDB” | Format-List DisplayName, mailboxGUID
3. User can restore the mailbox or items from recovery database with the helps of GUID name of Exchange mailboxes on the source server & the mailbox alias name of the target server.
New-MailboxRestoreRequest -Name “SysTools01” -SourceDatabase “name_of_RDB” -SourceStoreMailbox MailboxGUID -TargetMailbox “SysTools02”TargetMailboxAlias -AllowLegacyDNSMismatch
Now user can restore the Exchange mailbox and its data from the recovery database to the original mailboxes
4. If the user wants to restore the Exchange mailbox to the archive mailbox, then use the command given below:
New-MailboxRestoreRequest -SourceDatabase “Recovery_database_name” -SourceStoreMailbox "SysTools01" -TargetMailbox "SysTools02" -TargetIsArchive
5. Use the -IncludeFolder in the cmdlet to extract the specific folder and save the mailbox data in it
New-MailboxRestoreRequest -SourceDatabase “Recovery_database_name” -SourceStoreMailbox "SysTools01" -TargetMailbox "SysTools02” -IncludeFolders "Inbox"
6. Also use can use the /* in the command to include all sub folder by using subfolder
New-MailboxRestoreRequest -SourceDatabase “Recovery_database_name” -SourceStoreMailbox "SysTools01" -TargetMailbox "SysTools02” -IncludeFolders "Inbox/*"
7. To ExcludeFolders use the PowerShell command:
New-MailboxRestoreRequest -SourceDatabase “Recovery_database_name” -SourceStoreMailbox "SysTools01" -TargetMailbox "SysTools02" -ExcludeFolders "#Inbox#","#Contacts#"
Step 7: Check the MailboxRestoreRequest Status
You should have to check the status of your mailbox restore request because if any Exchange mailbox request stop or failed, user will know about it.
Get-MailboxRestoreRequest
When all Exchange mailbox and data items are restored successfully, remove the restore request by using the Remove-MailboxRestoreRequest cmdlet.
Bringing It All Together
This write-up provides detailed information on how to create recovery database in Exchange 2016, extract data from RDB and its usage. Recovery database is also a part of Exchange Server disaster recovery plan that helps users to restore the mailboxes and data items when their retention period expires. Therefore, this method requires Exchange database backup and many steps to complete it. Additionally, users can’t use it to recover the failed MS Exchange Server and to recover the corrupted/damaged Exchange database. In that case, you can use the third-party tool i.e. SysTools Exchange EDB file repair software which easily recover damaged or corrupt offline/dismounted Exchange database, recover hard deleted EDB mailboxes and data items without any loss of data and export it to the Live Exchange Server, Office 365 and multiple file formats.