URGENT: Import/Use EDB into Exchange

rh 0 Reputation points
2024-04-08T07:31:51.3666667+00:00

Due to catastrophic server damage, we have lost virtually all our data. Luckily, i recently backed up (just copied it to another drive that didnt fail) the edb file from our exchange server, so we only lost a few days of emails at best. The old Exchange server was running Exchange 2012 on a 2012 server iirc. Now i'd like to use exchange 2019 on Windows Server 2022.

Is it possible to "just" use the edb? How would i go about that? What precautions need to be taken?

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  1. Andy David - MVP 150.3K Reputation points MVP
    2024-04-08T11:53:52.1733333+00:00

    You cant upgrade to 2019 using just the database. I assume you mean Exch 2013 or Exch 2010 is what you are running now?

    If the database is in a clean shutdown state, you can recover the server running the same Exch Version and CU and same Windows O/S and drop the database in same drive structure and it should work:

    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/recover-an-exchange-server-exchange-2013-help

    Or you can use database portability and mount on another server running the same version of Exchange:

    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/database-portability-exchange-2013-help

    Or purchase 3rd party software to recover.

    Once recovered, then you can upgrade.


  2. Amit Singh 4,986 Reputation points
    2024-04-15T10:18:08.81+00:00

    Database would mount only on the Exchange server version it was created on. No “cross-version” mount possible. You would have to deploy Exchange server 2010 or 2013, restore database and only then migrate. Also check following link for the same.

    Alternatively creating a new mail database on the new server in ECP and then convert offline edb file to pst. use 3rd party tools to extract data.

    Please Note: Since the web sites are not hosted by Microsoft, the links may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.

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