QR Disaster Recovery Solution for Building a Windows Standby Exchange Server in Quick Implementation Mode

Overview

Configuration

Bring the Standby Server online

Appendices

Overview

This document describes the procedure to create a Standby Exchange Server in the event that a Production Exchange Server is temporarily or permanently damaged.

These procedures are supported with Exchange 2000 and Exchange 2003 on Windows 2000, and Exchange 2003 on Windows 2003. It has been certified only with the Quick Recovery Agent and QSnap, using the QSnap snap engine for Windows 2000, or the VSS snap engine for Windows 2003. A familiarity with the functionality and configuration of the QR Agent is necessary in order to properly conduct this procedure.

This document contains four sections. First, the Production Server is configured. Second, the Standby Server is configured. Third, the Quick Recovery Volumes that will be used on the Standby Server are created. Fourth, the application is brought online.

Advantages

Disadvantages

Configuration

The following sections discuss preparing the Production and Standby Servers as well as configuring the QR Agent. The basic workflow is described below. For detailed instructions on installation and configuration options, see Quick Recovery Agent.

Prepare the Production Server

This procedure assumes that the Production Server has already been installed with Exchange 2000/2003 with the latest service packs or patches that may be needed, and that the users and mailboxes have already been created and configured.

  1. Place the Exchange Transaction log location and the Exchange System path location on the same volume. The purpose of this step is to ensure that the exchange.chk file will be at the same point in time as the databases and logs when QR Volumes are created.

    NOTE: Keep track of your installation selections and storage locations so that Exchange can be installed identically on the Standby Server.

  2. Install the Quick Recovery Agent and QSnap on your production server. If you want to use VSS as your snap engine, install the VSS Enabler in addition to what's listed above. If necessary, install CommCell Console as a Stand-Alone Application. You don't need to install a MediaAgent or the Exchange Database iDataAgent on the Production Server. 

Prepare the Standby Server

Install the Quick Recovery Agent, QSnap, and MediaAgent software on the Standby Server. If necessary, install the CommCell Console as a Stand-Alone Application.

Configure the Quick Recovery Agent

  1. Create a scratch volume pool that contains the destination volumes on the Standby Server.
  2. Create a QR policy, set the appropriate snap engine type, use the Standby Server's LAN Copy manager, and associate your scratch volume pool.
  3. Under your production server client, create a new QR subclient. Associate the QR policy created above with the new subclient.
  4. When adding content to your subclient, use the Add App button to discover all the Exchange volumes on your Production Server.
  5. When finished creating the subclient, right-click the subclient and select Create QR Volumes. Schedule an incremental update and use the Advanced button to map each source volume to its corresponding destination volume and mount point.
  6. Create QR volume(s) from the Production Server to the Standby Server.

Bring the Standby Server online

The strategy for replacing the original Production Server with the Standby Server is illustrated below:

Due to dependencies that Exchange Server has within Active Directory, changes are required for Exchange to operate correctly on the Standby Server.

  1. At this point assume that a problem has caused the Production Server to fail. Shut down the Production Server machine.
  2. Reset the Production Server from Active Directory. To reset the Production Server from the Active Directory Users and Computers window, Expand domain, Expand Computers. Right-click on the Production Server and select Reset Account

    NOTE: Resetting a computer account breaks that computer's connection to the domain and requires it to rejoin the domain. 

  3. Take the Standby Server out of the domain and then rename the Standby Server to the Exchange Server (Production Server) name and reboot. Put the Standby Server back into the domain and reboot.
  4. After the reboot, continue on to the Standby Server Exchange Configuration below.

Standby Server Exchange Configuration

  1. Install Exchange on the Standby Server from the command line using the /DisasterRecovery command line switch. Select the same components, in Disaster Recovery mode, that were installed on the Production Server. (If this option does not exist, verify that the command line was entered correctly.)

    Example: Z:> setup.exe /DisasterRecovery

    NOTE: If Exchange won't allow you to run the setup with disaster recovery, you most likely have a permissions problem. First, try running the setup.exe command with /DomainPrep.  After these changes have been made and replicated through the domain, you should be able to run the setup /DisasterRecovery command. 

  2. Do not reboot after Exchange has been installed.
  3. Apply the same Service Packs and Patches that are on the original Server.

    Example: Z:> update.exe /DisasterRecovery

    NOTE: If Exchange won't allow you to run the update with disaster recovery, you most likely have a permissions problem. First, try running the update.exe command with /DomainPrep. After these changes have been made and replicated through the domain, you should be able to run the update /DisasterRecovery command.

  4. After the installation, use Exchange System Manager to verify that each of the components selected are installed to the same location on the Standby Server as they are on the Production Server.

    NOTE: You may see these informational messages, which do not apply to this configuration and may be disregarded:

  5. Reboot the Standby Server.
  6. Verify that the Exchange Services have started without any errors and that all applicable Mailbox and Public Folder Stores have mounted.

    WARNING: If a QR volume creation or incremental update is in the copy phase during a Production Server failure and has not completed, the data on the Standby Server will be incomplete and Exchange will not start.

    NOTE: If any of the services fail to start the first time, you may need to manually start them.

  7. If DNS is being used, edit the properties of the Production Server to point to the Standby Server.
    Or, change the IP address on the Standby Server to match the original Production Server's address.

Exchange is now operating on the Standby Server, which now takes the place of the Production Server.

Appendices

Clean up after Quick Implementation for Exchange on a non-cluster machine

  1. Recovery Server
    1. Delete the Outlook profile of the Exchange user.
    2. Delete the user from Active Directory User and Computers.
    3. Delete the Public and Mailbox Stores from the Exchange System Manager.
    4. Delete the storage group from the Exchange System Manager.
    5. To uninstall Microsoft Exchange, proceed as follows:
    6. When you have completed the procedures in the appropriate Microsoft article, if necessary, perform the following:
      • In the registry, delete the registry keys 65D9643D-06E8-47d6-865E-80F4CC9BB879 and 13F9F3AF-9463-4492-854A-191CCC441FDB from the following location:
        HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -> SOFTWARE -> Microsoft -> Windows -> CurrentVersion -> Uninstall
      • If you cannot delete three dlls (exchmem.dll, exsp.dll, pttrace.dll) in the Exchsrvr\bin folder, use procexp.exe to see which processes are using these dlls and kill them.
      • Delete the Exchsrvr folder.
    7. Rename the Recovery Server back to the original name and reboot.
       
  2. Source Server (only for Windows 2003)
    1. The Source server has to be brought up in the Safe mode.
    2. Set all the Exchange services to Manual and boot the system.
    3. Even though it looks like your Source Server is in the domain, it is not. For this you have to take the Server out of the domain and reboot.
    4. Log into the domain and reboot again.
    5. Delete the Outlook profile of the Exchange user.
    6. To uninstall Microsoft Exchange 2003, see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/833396/.
    7. If you cannot delete three dlls (exchmem.dll, exsp.dll, pttrace.dll) in the Exchsrvr\bin folder, use procexp.exe to see which processes are using these dlls and kill them.
    8. Delete the Exchsrvr folder.
       
  3. Source Server (only for Windows 2000)
    1. Even though it looks like your Source Server is in the domain, it is not. For this you have to take the Server out of the domain and reboot.
    2. Log into the domain and reboot again.
    3. Delete the Outlook profile of the Exchange user.
    4. To uninstall Microsoft Exchange, proceed as follows:
    5. In the registry, delete the registry keys 65D9643D-06E8-47d6-865E-80F4CC9BB879 and 13F9F3AF-9463-4492-854A-191CCC441FDB from the following location:
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -> SOFTWARE -> Microsoft -> Windows -> CurrentVersion -> Uninstall
    6. If you cannot delete three dlls (exchmem.dll, exsp.dll, pttrace.dll) in the Exchsrvr\bin folder, use procexp.exe to see which processes are using these dlls and kill them.
    7. Delete the Exchsrvr folder.

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