Applies to: Exchange Server 2007 SP3, Exchange Server 2007 SP2, Exchange Server 2007 SP1, Exchange Server 2007
Topic Last Modified: 2006-12-19

This topic explains how to perform a hard recovery of your Exchange mailbox or public folder database using the Exchange Server Database Utilities (Eseutil.exe) restore mode. The /C option cannot be used on transport queue databases because the databases are not backed up. The Eseutil restore mode allows you to run hard recovery on a database restored from an online backup, and to view the Restore.env file. The Restore.env file is created during restoration of an online backup, and it controls the hard recovery process.

Before You Begin

Before you run Eseutil /C on your Exchange mailbox or public folder database, check the following:

  • Make sure you log on by using an account that is delegated membership in the local Administrators group for that computer.

  • Make sure you have folder-level rights and permissions to the folder where the repair database files and log files are.

  • Make sure you have access to the local computer where the database and log files are, and where Exchange binary files (Eseutil.exe and its dependencies) reside.

Procedure

To run Eseutil restore mode

  1. After your backup has been restored and you want to initiate a hard recovery, open a Command Prompt window.

  2. Navigate to the folder where the Restore.env file is located.

  3. Run the following command to replay the logs:

    Copy Code 
    eseutil /cc
    Note:
    When the transaction logs finish replaying successfully, the message "Operation completed successfully" appears.

To run Eseutil /C using other options

  • To view the Restore.env file, use this basic command-line syntax:

    Copy Code 
    ESEUTIL /CM "d:\temp\First Storage Group"
    Note:
    If you run the command from the directory where Restore.env exists, it is not necessary to specify any path information. If you specify path information, do not append Restore.env to the end of the path.

  • To force a database that has not been victimized (see the second Note below for an explanation of victimized) to be recovered, you can run the following command as if the database has been victimized, as shown in the following example:

    Copy Code 
    ESEUTIL /CC /T
    Note:
    Do not use any parameters with the /T switch. Use of the /T switch causes all transaction logs in the Restore.env location to be replayed, whether they are listed in the Restore.env file or not. No logs in the running folder will be replayed.
    Note:
    If you are restoring to an alternative server, or you have deleted and re-created the original database, only transaction logs in the temporary folder are replayed. Transaction logs in the normal database folder are not replayed. This distinction avoids transaction log replay conflicts in cases where Exchange Server knows that the database to which it is restoring is not the same as that from which it was backed up. A database restored in this circumstance is called a victimized database.

For More Information

You can see the complete command-line reference and syntax for Eseutil /C by typing eseutil /? at a command prompt and then by selecting C for restore.

For more information about Eseutil, see the following topics: