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Exchange Server 2016 vm backup failing

Y a h y a 416 Reputation points
2020-08-16T10:35:36.497+00:00

Hi

Windows Server 2016 Hyper-V Host +
Windows Server 2016 DC Hyper-V VM +
Windows Server 2016 Hyper-V VM with Exchange Server 2016.

The hard drives controller crashed and afte harwdare was fixed the Exchange VM would not come up. I restored Exchange hyper-v virtual drive from backup. Since then the Exchange VM back up is failing in the host scheduled windows backup.

How can I fix this please?

Thanks

Regards

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Hyper-V
A Windows technology providing a hypervisor-based virtualization solution enabling customers to consolidate workloads onto a single server.
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  1. Y a h y a 416 Reputation points
    2020-08-16T15:59:47.83+00:00

    Hi Jon

    Many thanks and I appreciate what you are saying. Its finding down time slot that is problem at the moment. Business has just restarted after lock down and its difficult to take system offline. I am trying to do everything I can to avoid disruption.

    Thank again

    Regards

    1 person found this answer helpful.
  2. Jon Alfred Smith 541 Reputation points
    2020-08-16T11:18:32.593+00:00

    I think your issues are caused by your restore. In order to fix it, remove your Exchange VM and create a new one. Follow the steps detailed in the link to docs.mirososoft.com. It looks scarier than it sounds. It should not take too long time either. But that's what I would have done as an old (next-to geriatric) Exchange admin. Good luck :-).

    Now, this is by the text book. Having said this, there could be other reasons why your Exchange backup is not working.

    Exchange does not support time travel. You should never restore a complete Exchange server from backup. In stead you must do a recovery installation of Exchange Server. When the server is up and running, you can restore the databases (if needed) from your backup. The steps to restore a Failed Exchange server are:

    • You install a new Windows Server instance with the same characteristics as the failed server (the same server name, Windows Server version, drive letters, and performance/capacity)
    • You perform a recovery install of Exchange 2016 by running setup with the /mode:recoverserver switch
    • You re-apply any custom configurations that were not automatically re-applied by the recovery install
    • You restore the Exchange databases if those volumes were also lost in the server failure.

    For details, see Recover Exchange servers
    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/high-availability/disaster-recovery/recover-exchange-servers?view=exchserver-2019

    See also Paul Cunningham: Recovering a Failed Exchange Server 2016 Server
    https://practical365.com/exchange-server/recovering-a-failed-exchange-server-2016-server/

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  3. Falcon IT Services 226 Reputation points
    2020-08-16T19:48:18.057+00:00

    Hello Yahya,

    What are you using to back up and where are you backing up to? Please look through the Windows logs or the backup software logs for error messages. You might also want to run an SFC /SCANNOW or DISM image repair to make sure the OS files are intact. Corrupted files could also affect backup.

    Also try switching the back up media and starting a new full backup. It's possible the backup software's database was damaged when the controller crashed.

    Miguel Fra

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