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ExMerge.exe

http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=2743

Overview

Use the Mailbox Merge Program to extract data from mailboxes on a Microsoft Exchange Server and then merge this data into mailboxes on another Microsoft Exchange Server. The program copies data from the source server into Personal Folders (.PST files) and then merges the data, in the Personal Folders, into mailboxes on the destination server. The ability to merge data to and from an Exchange Server makes this program an invaluable tool with a variety of uses- especially during disaster recovery. The program can also replace existing data instead of merging new data if specified by the Administrator. Mailbox Merge has some limitations. Please read the tools documentation before using this program.

NoteThis version of Mailbox Merge should only be run from Exchange Server 2003 or from computers with the Exchange 2003 administrative tools loaded. It can be run against Exchange 5.5, 2000, and 2003.
 

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System requirements

Supported Operating Systems: Windows 2000 Service Pack 3, Windows Server 2003

 

Exchange System
Microsoft Corporation
Version: 6.5.7638.1

ExchMem.dll

For Exchange Server 5.5


1. Reset the Exchange store on PROD_SRVR:
    a. Rename the EXCHSRVR\MDBDATA directory on each drive on PROD_SRVR to EXCHSRVR\MDBDATA.BAK.
    b. Create a new EXCHSRVR\MDBDATA directory on each drive on PROD_SRVR.
    c. Start the Exchange Information Store service on PROD_SRVR
    d. Users on PROD_SRVR are now able to send and receive mail but currently have no old mail.
    e. If you have to, back up the data in the EXCHSRVR\MDBDATA.BAK directories.
 

2. On RECOV_SRVR, stop the Exchange Information Store service.
 

3. Move all files from the EXCHSRVR\MDBDATA directories on every drive of the RECOV_SRVR server.
 

4. If a valid online backup is available for the information store on PROD_SRVR:
    a. Verify that the MDBDATA directories on all drives of RECOV_SRVR are empty.
    b. Copy any transaction logs generated on PROD_SRVR from the EXCHSRVR\MDBDATA.BAK directory that contains the logs to the EXCHSRVR\MDBDATA directory on RECOV_SRVR. Verify that this is the directory that should contain the transaction logs. For information about where to put the transaction logs, see the "DB Log Path" Registry value under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\ParametersSystem.
    c. Restore the online backup to RECOV_SRVR.
    d. Start the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service.
 

5. If a valid online backup is not available, you may have to repair the existing Exchange store databases:
    a. Back up the original databases on PROD_SRVR in the EXCHSRVR\MDBDATA.BAK directory.
    b. Copy the PRIV.EDB and PUB.EDB files to the RECOV_SRVR.
    c. Contact Microsoft Product Support Services before you proceed.
 

6. Assume that the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service on RECOV_SRVR is restored from backup or has been repaired and is running correctly. This information store is typically large and contains all the user data, except for the data that was generated after the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service was reset on PROD_SRVR.
 

7. Stop the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service on RECOV_SRVR and PROD_SRVR and swap the MDBDATA directories on both servers. If PROD_SRVR has sufficient disk space to hold the original PRIV.EDB and PUB.EDB, in addition to the databases created after the Information was reset, you can additionally reduce downtime by the following steps:
    a. Stop the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service on RECOV_SRVR only.
    b. On PROD_SRVR, on each drive that contains an EXCHSRVR\MDBDATA directory, create a new directory named EXCHSRVR\MDBDATA.NEW.
    c. On RECOV_SRVR, rename the EXCHSRVR\MDBDATA directory on each drive to MDBDATA.NEW.
    d. On RECOV_SRVR, create a new EXCHSRVR\MDBDATA directory on each drive.
    e. Copy the PRIV.EDB and PUB.EDB files from the MDBDATA.NEW directory on RECOV_SRVR to the appropriate MDBDATA.NEW directory on PROD_SRVR. This is the directory on the drive that contains the currently used PRIV.EDB or PUB.EDB. Therefore, if the location of the PRIV.EDB on PROD_SRVR is E:\EXCHSRVR\MDBDATA, copy the PRIV.EDB from RECOV_SRVR to E:\EXCHSRVR\MDBDATA.NEW and do the same for the PUB.EDB file.
    f. After you copy the PRIV.EDB and PUB.EDB files to the MDBDATA.NEW directory on PROD_SRVR, stop the Exchange Information Store service on PROD_SRVR.
    g. On PROD_SRVR, rename the EXCHSRVR\MDBDATA directories on each drive to MDBDATA.RESET.
    h. On PROD_SRVR, create new EXCHSRVR\MDBDATA directories on each drive.
    i. On PROD_SRVR, move the PRIV.EDB and PUB.EDB files from the MDBDATA.NEW directory to the MDBDATA directory.
    j. Copy the PRIV.EDB and PUB.EDB files from the MDBDATA.RESET directory on PROD_SRVR to the EXCHSRVR\MDBDATA directory on RECOV_SRVR. Make sure that you are copying the files to the correct drive on RECOV_SRVR. If you are not sure, see the "DB Path" Registry value under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\ParametersPrivate and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\ParametersPublic.
    k. Now you have exchanged the PRIV.EDB and PUB.EDB files between PROD_SRVR and RECOV_SRVR. The MDBDATA directories on both servers should contain only the PRIV.EDB and PUB.EDB files, and no other files should be in these directories.
    l. The PRIV.EDB and PUB.EDB on PROD_SRVR are the information store as it existed at the time of the crash and contain all user data generated until the time of the failure. The PRIV.EDB and PUB.EDB on RECOV_SRVR contain any data generated after you reset the Exchange Information Store service in Step 1. The database files on RECOV_SRVR should be much smaller than those on PROD_SRVR.
 

8. On both PROD_SRVR and RECOV_SRVR, at a command prompt, change to the EXCHSRVR\BIN directory, and run the following command:
ISINTEG -patch
 

9. Start the Microsoft Exchange Information Store services on PROD_SRVR and RECOV_SRVR. To additionally reduce downtime, you can perform Step 8 on RECOV_SRVR after you complete Step 7(i) and then start the Exchange Information Store service on PROD_SRVR. In other words, you can start the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service on PROD_SRVR before the copy process in Step 7(j) is completed.
 

10. As soon as the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service has been started on RECOV_SRVR, you might need to run the DS/IS consistency adjuster to create directory entries for the mailboxes in the information store database files.
 

11. Run ExMerge.exe against RECOV_SRVR, and merge all data from RECOV_SRVR into PROD_SRVR. You can use the one-step merge procedure or the two-step merge procedure. If you use the latter, you must first extract data on RECOV_SRVR to .pst files and then run ExMerge.exe again, against PROD_SRVR and merge the data from the .pst files into the mailboxes on PROD_SRVR. It is recommended that you specify an interval for the program to extract data. This interval should be approximately the time the Information Store was reset on PROD_SRVR.
 

12. At this point, after you reset the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service (Step1), all user messages and folders created on PROD_SRVR should be merged back into the mailboxes on PROD_SRVR and there should be no loss of data.
 

13. Perform a full online backup of the information store on PROD_SRVR.
 

Note:   Resetting the information store on the production server invalidates all client offline stores (.ost) files. Users receive an error when they try to log on to the Exchange client or Microsoft Office OutlookŪ or when they synchronize with the Exchange server. Users will have to create a new .ost file to work with the new store. When the original store is restored on the production server, any .ost files users create for the temporary store become invalid, and the users must create another .ost file.
The above procedure will not recover all user data. Read the section on the limitations of ExMerge.exe in this document. The above procedure will only merge data in the private information store. To recover data from the public information store, you must manually log on to a client connected to a mailbox on RECOV_SRVR and copy public folder data to a .pst file. Then, you must log on to a mailbox on PROD_SRVR, add the same .pst file to the profile, and copy the data from the copied public folders in the .pst file to the server-based public folders.