Backup of Exchange Databases with NTBACKUP

We recommend that you back up the Exchange databases with NTBACKUP using the online backup method. Online backup allows you to back up the Exchange server databases without interrupting the Exchange services.

To back up each server running Exchange databases (mailbox or public folder stores), the following steps must be performed:

Mounting Backup Storage

Mount a storage for backups (a separate physical disk is recommended) as a separate drive U:\.

Creating Backup Selection Files (.bks) for Each Storage Group

1. Run ntbackup.exe
2. Select the Backup tab.
3. Expand Microsoft Exchange Server > EXBE01 > Microsoft Information Store.
4. Select the first storage group (SG1).
5. Click the Job menu, and then click Save Selection As.
6. Type SG1 for the file name (as an example for the first storage group), select folder C:\BackupCfg\ and click Save to store the file on a disk.
7. Cancel the selection of the first storage group.
8. Repeat steps 4-7 for the remaining storage groups using SG2, SG3 and SG4 names for the corresponding storage groups if required.

Scheduling Backup Jobs

For each backup Selection File (SG1.bks, SG2.bks, SG3.bks, and SG4.bks), perform the following steps that schedule the corresponding backup job:

1. Execute the following command to create the file C:\BackupCfg\SG1.cmd:

   echo ntbackup.exe backup "@C:\BackupCfg\SG1.bks" /n "SG1" /d "SG1" /v:no /r:no /rs:no /hc:off /fu /m normal /j "SG1" /l:s /f "U:\SG1.bkf" > C:\BackupCfg\SG1.cmd

   Note: For a complete list of the command-prompt switches and their definitions, refer to https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb490952.aspx.

2. Schedule daily backup job:

   SCHTASKS /Create /SC DAILY /TN "SG1_backup" /TR "C:\BackupCfg\SG1.cmd" /ST 04:00

3. Type the password of a currently logged-in user when prompted.