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Version 9.5
User Guide
May, 2017
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Full documentation set: www.veeam.com/backup-replication-resources.html
Community forum at forums.veeam.com
Note: Restore of Group Policy objects, AD-integrated DNS records and objects from the Configuration
partition is supported in the Enterprise and Enterprise Plus editions only.
1. Active Directory database (.DIT file) is extracted from the image-level VM backup or
VeeamZIP file, using Veeam Backup & Replication restore capabilities: the file system of the
backed up VM is mounted to the local mount server - that is, the machine where Veeam
Explorer runs.
2. The database is added to the Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory scope, its
hierarchy and content displayed in the Veeam Explorer window.
3. Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory is used to find the necessary object/container,
export it as .LDF file, or restore it to the original or different server.
Important! Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory requires full access to Active Directory database files
for item recovery. Refer to Permissions section for details.
So, before viewing and restoring Active Directory objects with Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active
Directory, the following steps should be taken automatically or manually:
1. Active Directory database (.DIT file) is obtained automatically from the mounted image-
level VM backup, or manually from VeeamZIP file. For details, see Obtaining Database File
from VM Backup.
2. Add the recovered database file to Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory scope
(automatically or manually). For details, see Adding Database to Veeam Explorer Scope.
System Requirements
Veeam Explorer for Active Directory does not require a separate license. It is installed with Veeam
Backup & Replication server or standalone management console; all editions including Veeam Backup
Free Edition are supported (for details, see the Licensing and Editions section).
To install and use Veeam Explorer for Active Directory as a component of Veeam Backup & Replication,
make sure that all necessary system requirements for Veeam Backup & Replication are met. System
requirements specific for Veeam Explorer are listed below.
Specification Requirement
Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory supports database files (.DIT) created
with Microsoft Active Directory Domain Services servers (domain controllers):
Microsoft Windows Server 2016
Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2
Microsoft Windows Server 2012
Microsoft Active Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2
Directory Domain Microsoft Windows Server 2008
Services Microsoft Windows Server 2003 SP2
Minimum supported domain and forest functional level is Windows 2003.
Important! Database files created by a domain controller can be open for object
recovery with Veeam Explorer for Active Directory only if Veeam Explorer is installed on a
Windows machine with OS version same or above the version of that domain controller's
OS.
Permissions
The account used for connection with target domain controller where objects/containers will be
restored needs the following:
Administrative rights for target Active Directory
Membership in the Exchange Organization Management group is required to provide for
automatic mailbox re-connect for recovered user or group account
The account can be assigned an appropriate role on the Exchange server in target domain by running
the following Exchange Management PowerShell cmdlet:
Add-RoleGroupMember Organization Management Member <user_name>
Used Ports
The following table describes network ports that must be opened to ensure proper communication of
the Veeam backup server with the Microsoft Active Directory VM during application-item restore.
TCP 1025 to 5000 (for Dynamic RPC port range used by the
Microsoft Windows 2003) runtime coordination process deployed
inside the VM guest OS for application-
aware image processing (when
49152-65535 (for
working over the network, not over VIX
Microsoft Windows 2008
API).
and newer)
For more information, see
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/92985
1/en-us.
Important! To be able to restore from tombstone objects, make sure that AD Recycle Bin feature is disabled
(default setting) in the target domain.
If no tombstone object exists in the target Active Directory, Veeam will create a new object
during the recovery process and set all attributes to the same values as in corresponding
object in the backup. However, these attributes (including security) will be new, which may
result in losing access rights.
Tip: To determine this interval, you can use ADSIEdit or Dsquery as described in
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc784932(v=ws.10).aspx.
3. Remember that when you move an object from one domain to another within a forest (for
example, using the Movetree.exe utility or any 3rd party tool), no tombstone for this object
will remain in the source Active Directory. Thus, such an object cannot be fully recovered to
the original domain.
4. Consider that when Group Policy objects are restored from the backup, both Active Directory
data (storing Group Policy Containers) and %Sysvol% data (storing Group Policy Templates)
is involved. Therefore, for successful restore data should be consistent in these two locations.
Restore logic is implemented as follows: existing Group Policy objects are deleted from
target, and new ones from the backup are written there.
5. Link attributes without the corresponding back link to deleted objects are not restored, if
both deleted objects and links are restored in a single restore operation. To work around, you
will need to perform the restore once again.
In case you want to restore Active Directory Domain Services server as a whole, the recommendations
provided in the series of Veeam blog posts at https://www.veeam.com/blog/how-to-recover-a-
domain-controller-best-practices-for-ad-protection.html can be helpful.
First Steps
Veeam Explorers are installed together with Veeam backup server or standalone console, and there
are several ways of starting a Veeam Explorer tool. If you want to open Veeam Explorer,
simultaneously adding the required database to its scope in the automated way, follow the
procedures described later in this guide. You may also want to open Veeam Explorer as an individual
application - for that, go to the list of applications (or Start menu), and double-click Veeam Explorer
icon. By default, it connects to the backup server installed locally. If you are starting Veeam Explorer
from the standalone console, you will be prompted for the settings of Veeam backup server to
connect to:
You can enter Veeam backup server name or IP address, or select it from the list of recent
connections.
Port number to communicate to - default is 9232
Credentials under which Veeam Explorer will connect to server; if you plan to use the account
currently logged on, select Use Windows session authentication.
If you plan to use these settings for future connections, you can click Save shortcut - the shortcut will
be saved to your Desktop. When ready, click Connect.
Main Window
On the left of the window there is the navigation pane. It displays content database as a hierarchical
structure, including content databases, sites, subsites, libraries and lists. It facilitates browsing for
application items you want to restore. When you select a node in the navigation pane, you can browse
and search for its sub-nodes in the preview pane on the right.
Operation commands in Veeam Explorer are organized into logical groups and collected under the
tabs on the ribbon. The ribbon is displayed at the top of the main application window.
The Home ribbon tab provides quick access to some common operations.
Other tabs contain commands specific for certain entities appear when the corresponding
nodes are selected in the navigation pane.
For example, if you select a container in the navigation tree, the Container tab displaying
buttons for operations with libraries will appear on the ribbon.
Tip: Commands for selected entity are also available in the entity's shortcut menu.
VeeamZIP File
To obtain the database from the VeeamZIP file, you can use full VM recovery or guest OS file-level
recovery (preferred option) for the virtualized domain controller (Active Directory Domain Services
server), then in the Veeam Backup browser, locate the Active Directory database file you need.
If you want to add the database file to Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory directly from the
mounted VM file system, do the following:
1. In the navigation tree of the Backup Browser, choose the folder where content database files
reside, then on the Backup Browser toolbar, click Open in Explorer. The target directory will
be opened in the Windows Explorer.
2. Copy the full path to the target directory to clipboard. You can now launch Veeam Explorer
for Microsoft Active Directory and add the database file from backup that was mounted to
the Veeam Backup server. For details, see Adding Database to Veeam Explorer's Scope.
Note: If you choose to restore Active Directory objects directly from the mounted VM file system, do not
close the Backup Browser until you finish restore operations. Closing the Backup Browser
automatically unmounts the file system of the backed up VM.
Backup or Replica
To obtain Active Directory database from the backup or replica file, you can use any data recovery
feature available in Veeam Backup & Replication: Instant VM recovery, full VM restore, replica failover
and so on. These features are described in detail in Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide.
The guidelines in this section explain how you can use Microsoft Active Directory Object Restore
Wizard to automatically obtain database file and add it to Veeam Explorer scope, or use Guest OS
Restore Wizard and Backup Browser for that purpose.
If you do not want Veeam Backup & Replication to display the Reason step next time, select the Do
not show me this page again check box at the bottom of the wizard.
Note: The domain controller VM requires a backup with VSS enabled. For more information, see the
"Enable Application-Aware Image Processing and Indexing" section of the Veeam Backup &
Replication User Guide.
4. Select the restore point for the domain controller VM. The details on this VM (including
name, size and original host) will be also displayed. Click Next to proceed.
5. Click Finish to start restoring files. Once restore is completed, Veeam Backup & Replication
will open a Backup Browser displaying the file system tree of the restored VM.
6. Browse through the contents of the backup and locate the Active Directory database file
(NTDS.DIT). If you prefer opening file tree in Explorer, consider that VM disks are mounted
under the C:\veeamflr\<vmname>\<volume n> folder; the NTDS.DIT file is located in the
%SystemRoot%\NTDS folder (see the "Datastore Physical Structure" section in this Microsoft
Technet article for more information).
7. Double-click the file to automatically launch Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory
and add the database to Veeam Explorer's scope, or open the Home tab of the ribbon menu,
and select Application Items > Active Directory Items.
If you obtain database backup in the alternative way (for example, from VeeamZIP), then you should
add the database manually, as described in Adding Database to Veeam Explorer's Scope.
Note: If you know in which database the necessary objects or containers are located, you only need to add
one .DIT file. If you are not sure in which database the necessary objects are located, you can add
multiple .DIT files to Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory scope.
To manually add a database file to the Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory scope and make
it visible in the main Veeam Explorer window, do the following:
1. Open Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory and click Add Database on the toolbar.
2. In the dialog displayed, enter the location of the Active Directory database file and, if
required, the folder where corresponding transaction log files (Edb.log and Edb.chk) are
stored. The Active Directory database file (NTDS.DIT) default location is the
%SystemRoot%\NTDS folder.
Note: Make sure the System registry hive is located in the same folder as NTDS.DIT.
Other databases (if added) will remain untouched. The database removed from the Veeam Explorer
for Microsoft Active Directory scope will be no longer shown in the console.
Note: The content of Domain Controllers node is unavailable for browsing; restore of domain controller
objects is not supported. This limitation is due to organizational and security purposes.
To browse Active Directory Configuration Partition container and Integrated DNS container, go to
the Home tab and click Advanced Features on the toolbar:
For computer objects, Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory will also show their shared
volumes and/or print queues (if any) after you expand the computer node:
All attributes, including name and value will be shown in the Attributes window:
Select a multi-valued attribute and double-click it to see all values.
Select a linked attribute and double-click it to see the value of attribute linked to selection.
Viewing Changes
Viewing All Object Changes
To detect the objects which were changed, moved, or deleted since the Active Directory backup, you
can use the Compare All Objects menu command from the Home tab. This allows you to compare
Active Directory objects in the backup and in the production database.
Note: For object comparison, Veeam Explorer will try to access production Active Directory Domain
Services server using current account; if it does not have permissions to access Active Directory
domain, you will be prompted for domain user name and password to connect to Active Directory
Domain Services server.
For object attribute statuses to be displayed correctly, make sure the account you supply has enough
rights to view object attributes.
Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory detects common attribute changes, displaying the
object status: Changed, Moved, Tombstone (if a corresponding Active Directory tombstone object
exists and can be used for restore), Deleted (if no tombstone object exists). For details on Tombstone
and Deleted objects recovery, please refer to the Considerations and Recommendations section.
If an object is displayed with the Unknown status, this indicates that a user started browsing the
database with Compare mode turned on, then tried to proceed with browsing underlying objects
(domain services servers or containers) without sufficient access rights and did not supply credentials
when prompted (that is, clicked Cancel in the dialog). To display proper status, make sure the user
account has sufficient rights to access the database and underlying objects.
Note: If some object attributes were changed, and the object was moved, the object status will appear as
Moved, Changed (that is, combined).
You can also use the Show Changed Objects Only ribbon menu command to display only objects
with non-empty Status field.
Note: Show Changed Objects Only menu command can be used only when you have the Compare
command selected (highlighted in the ribbon menu).
Exporting Objects
To export Active Directory object(s), do the following:
1. Select the required object(s) in the preview pane on the right; multiple objects selection
using Shift and Ctrl keys is also supported.
2. Click Export Objects>Export objects... from the ribbon menu on the Objects tab, or use the
Export to... shortcut menu command.
Note: If you select several objects and then use Export Objects menu command, the container that
includes selected objects will be exported as a whole.
Exported object(s) will be saved in LDIF (.ldf) file in the specified destination folder and can be then
imported to the Active Directory database of your choice using ldifde utility.
Note: You can also use this menu command to export computer's shared volumes and/or print queues, as
well as objects shown in search results.
Exporting Containers
To export selected container including its content into .LDF file, do the following:
1. Select the required container in the navigation tree on the left.
2. Click Export Container>Export container... from the ribbon menu on the Container tab, or
select this command from the container's shortcut menu.
Note: If using LDAP filter, verify the filtering query syntax before you proceed.
1-Click Export
You can use the Export Object to <target_folder> or Export Container to <target_folder>
command from the ribbon or shortcut menu to quickly export selected object(s) or container(s) to the
default location.
Restoring Objects
You can restore Active Directory object(s) to the location you specify, or use 1-Click Restore to quickly
restore to the original location.
To restore objects to the location you specify, do the following:
1. Select the required object(s) in the navigation pane on the right.
2. Select Restore Objects > Restore to... from the ribbon menu on the Objects tab, or use the
object's shortcut menu command.
Important! Make sure the account you select at this step has sufficient rights to restore objects in the target
domain. See Permissions section for details.
If you select to Use SSL, consider that the machine where Veeam Explorer for Active Directory is
running should belong to the target domain or have the trust certificate installed (you can install it
when prompted).
Next, specify whether the object(s) should be restored to the original container, or to a different one.
Next, select whether to restore account password for user(s) or computer account(s) you are
recovering.
Note: To restore account password, Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory uses the registry
database, so if you need to restore password(s), make sure that System registry hive is available
(default location is %systemroot%\System32\Config). If you are restoring Active Directory
database from Active Directory backup using Veeam file-level restore, then registry hive will be
located automatically. Otherwise (for example, if you are restoring from an imported backup or from
VeeamZIP file), make sure the System registry hive is located in the same folder as .DIT file.
Also, Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory will report an error in the restore
summary (warning or failure) displayed after you finish the wizard.
If you select Restore password or Set password to option, you may also request user to
change password at next logon. However, this setting will not take effect if the user is not
allowed to change password due to security policy.
If you are restoring multiple accounts, this new password will be set for all of them, so it is
recommended to enable User must change password at next logon.
Next, choose whether account state should be restored as it is in the backup (then it will overwrite
account state in production database), or it should be set to Enabled or Disabled.
1. Specify what objects should be restored you can select to restore Changed objects and/or
Deleted objects.
If you are working with Active Directory 2016, this dialog will also include the Restore
expiration time option for Linked attributes:
Note: Users cannot change restore settings for the attributes colored gray these attributes will be
restored or skipped as prescribed by default configuration. For example, the groupType attribute
will be always restored from backup, while homeMDB and homeMTA will be skipped (that is, will
keep their existing values).
3. By default, multi-valued attributes will be restored using Replace logic, that is, values from the
backup will replace values in production. To proceed with that logic, you can click Restore.
To change restore logic for multi-valued attributes, in the Specify restore options dialog,
select Merge. (You can get back to that dialog by clicking the Back button after attribute
selection.)
With Merge option selected, the following logic will be applied when restoring attributes:
o Security descriptors existing on target will be merged with those of the source
(backup) object.
o Attribute values for single-value attributes on target will be replaced by source
ones if source values are not empty, otherwise target values will be preserved.
o Attribute values for multi-value attributes existing on target will be merged with
those of the source (backup) object.
4. Finally, click Restore and wait for the process to complete.
Veeam Explorer will display the restore summary, notifying you of the number of object(s) that were
restored successfully, skipped, restored with warnings or failed to restore. You can view the Veeam
Explorer current session log to examine the details. For that, from the main menu, select Current log.
To examine any session log you need, select Open logs path.
Restoring Containers
To restore an Active Directory container to the original location, you can use the 1-Click Restore.
3. The Active Directory Restore Wizard will be launched; follow its steps to complete the
process.
1-Click Restore
This feature allows you to quickly restore Active Directory objects and containers to the original
domain.
Restore process will be performed with the following settings:
Both changed and deleted objects will be restored.
All attributes will be restored.
"Replace" logic will be applied when restoring attribute values and security descriptors:
attribute values existing in source (backup) database will replace the target (production)
values; if no value exists for a source (backup) attribute, and target attribute value is not
empty, then target value will be deleted.
Important! User credentials for carrying out the restore procedure will be picked as follows:
Firstly, Veeam Explorer for Active Directory will try to use the account which is currently
logged in.
If this account does have sufficient rights to perform the restore procedure, then Veeam
Explorer for Active Directory will try the account specified in the backup job settings for
application-aware image processing of Active Directory Domain Service server VM (see
the Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide for details).
If this account does not suit either, user will be prompted to supply the necessary
credentials. (They will be cached for future restore operations.)
Note: Availability of these options depends on Microsoft SQL Server VM backup settings (see the
corresponding section of this guide).
Before you start using Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server to restore your databases, you need to
know the following:
How Veeam Explorer works?
What are system requirements and permissions for its operation?
How to configure your Microsoft SQL Server backup for your preferred database restore
scenario?
Note: For backup job settings required to implement these scenarios, refer to the corresponding section of
this guide.
4. Finally, the database is re-created on the target Microsoft SQL server and becomes ready for
use. If the export scenario was used, the exported database can be then attached to the SQL
server you need.
Generic scenario steps are illustrated in the figure below:
This service runs during the restore session; it checks the rights assignment required for database
restore, gets information about databases that should be restored, performs the necessary file
operations (including database and transaction log copy) and so on. When restore session ends, the
service is stopped and removed from guest. Then a new session starts, and the service is installed
again.
The Veeam SQL Restore Service operates under the Local System account.
All service activities are logged to the Veeam.SQL.Service_<timestamp>.log file stored in
the Temp folder of the system directory, next to the
Veeam.SQL.Service_<timestamp>.exe file (runtime component installed per session). If
you have enabled extended logging as described in this Knowledge Base article, this log data
will be stored in the Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL log.
Communication between Veeam Explorer and the service is performed using RPC; default
TCP port range that should be open on the guest for inbound traffic includes ports 1025 -
1034. If you need to change this port range, then do the following:
1. Open Veeam Explorer configuration file named Config.xml located at
C:\ProgramData\Veeam\Backup\SQLExplorer\on the machine hosting Veeam
Explorer (create the file if it is not present).
2. Locate the <SQLExplorer> tag (create the tag if it is not present):
<Veeam>
<SQLExplorer>
<Agent MinimumPort="1025" MaximumPort="1034"/>
</SQLExplorer>
</Veeam>
Note: See System Requirements for more information on the staging SQL Server.
Prerequisites
To provide for database restore with Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server, the following
prerequisites are necessary:
1. A proper scenario and restore options should be selected, as described in the Planning for
Database Restore section.
2. System requirements should be met, as listed in the System Requirements section.
3. Required permissions should be assigned to the accounts involved, as listed in the Required
Permissions section.
4. If the restore scenarios you plan to implement involve a staging SQL Server, check
requirements listed in the Staging SQL Server.
5. The corresponding backup job should be properly configured, as described in the Required
Microsoft SQL Server Backup Job Settings section.
Also, examine Considerations and Limitations for the solution, as well as edition comparison table
provided in the Licensing and Editions section.
System Requirements
System requirements specific for Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server are described below.
Specification Requirement
The following versions of Microsoft SQL Server are supported as source/target systems
for database restore:
Microsoft SQL Server 2016
Microsoft SQL Server 2014
Microsoft SQL Microsoft SQL Server 2012
Server Microsoft SQL Server 2008R2
Microsoft SQL Server 2008
Microsoft SQL Server 2005
All editions of Microsoft SQL Server are supported.
AlwaysOn Availability Groups are supported for Microsoft SQL Server 2012 and later.
For export to selected point in time and for export/restore to the state before selected
transaction, Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server uses a staging Microsoft SQL Server.
By default, local Microsoft SQL Server deployed with Veeam backup server will be used as
a staging system.
Other If you plan to use another server as a staging Microsoft SQL Server, then it should have
the same or later version as the original Microsoft SQL Server. Besides, if the source
database uses any edition-specific features, then staging system should be of the same
or higher edition than the original SQL Server. See the Staging SQL Server section for
details.
Required Permissions
The following rights and permissions are required:
The user account that you specify for guest processing of the Microsoft SQL Server VM in the
backup job should have the sysadmin fixed role assigned on that SQL Server (see the
"Creating Backup Jobs>Specify Guest Processing Settings" section of the Veeam Backup &
Replication User Guide for details on job configuration). This is the recommended setting;
however, if you need to provide minimal permissions to the account performing backup
operation, you can assign the following:
o SQL Server instance-level roles: dbcreator and public
o Database-level roles: db_backupoperator, db_denydatareader, public; for
system databases (master, model, msdb) - db_backupoperator, db_datareader,
public
o Securables: view any definition, view server state
Note: If you want transaction logs to be truncated, note that in case log truncation with the specified
account is not a success, Veeam will try to perform it using NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM account, so for
SQL Server 2016, 2014 or 2012 make sure it has sufficient rights (see this Veeam Knowledge Base
article for more information).
As for SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2, default settings in these versions allow for database log
truncation by local SYSTEM account (however, if they were modified, make sure this account is
permitted to truncate logs).
The account you will use to access the target Microsoft SQL server where database will be
restored needs sysadmin fixed role on that server. (This account you will specify when
working with the Restore Wizard, as described later in this guide.)
The account you plan to use for connection to the Windows machine (where database log
backup files will be copied for further log replay) will need sufficient permissions to access the
administrative share on that machine: Read and Write are minimal required. For restore
scenarios, that machine is your target SQL Server. (To read more about scenarios that require
log replay, refer to Planning for Database Restore section.)
The account used to run Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server should have sufficient
permissions for the folder where you plan to export the database files: Read and Write are
minimal recommended.
Veeam TCP 49152- Dynamic RPC port range used by the runtime
backup 65535 (for coordination process deployed inside the VM
Microsoft SQL
server or Microsoft guest OS for application-aware processing (when
Server VM guest
Guest working over the network).*
OS Windows
interaction
2008 and For more information, see
proxy (in
newer) http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929851/en-us.
Enterprise
and
Enterprise
Plus editions)
Log shipping TCP 2500 - [For Microsoft SQL Server transaction logs
server 5000 shipping.] Default range of ports used by Veeam
data mover service for data transmission over the
network.
* - If you use default Microsoft Windows firewall settings, you do not need to configure dynamic RPC
ports: during setup, Veeam Backup & Replication automatically creates a firewall rule for the runtime
process. If you use firewall settings other than default ones or application-aware processing fails with
the RPC function call failed error, you need to configure dynamic RPC ports.
Restore
The following table describes network ports open during application item restore.
Machine Microsoft TCP 1433,1434 Port used for communication with the Microsoft
running Veeam SQL Server and other SQL Server installed inside the VM during
Explorer (this VM guest OS application-item restore.
can be Veeam
Exact port numbers depend on configuration of
backup server
your Microsoft SQL server. To learn more, see
or standalone
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-
console)
us/library/cc646023.aspx#BKMK_ssde.
TCP 1025 - 1034 Default RPC port range for the runtime component
installed on target or staging server guest OS to
support restore operations in most scenarios. Port
is open only during application item restore
(Veeam Explorer session).
To learn how to modify default port range, see How
It Works.
Target remote Machine TCP 3260 - 3270 Range of ports opened by Veeam Backup &
machine to running Replication for iSCSI traffic during restore to the
which Veeam original VM. See Mount Operations for details.
application
Explorer Ports are open only during application item restore
items are
(Veeam Explorer session).
restored,
or
staging
Microsoft SQL
Server
Restore database schema and/or Not available Not available Available Available
data to the original or different
server
Note: Databases that exceed 10 GB cannot be attached to this SQL Server due to Express edition
limitations (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc645993(v=SQL.110).aspx).
Important! Remember that application-specific log handling options required for your restore scenario are
available on the SQL tab of the VM's guest OS processing settings. The SQL tab becomes active only
if Veeam Backup & Replication is instructed to process transaction logs for SQL server (not 3rd party
application). So you should open the General tab and make sure that the Process transaction logs
with this job (recommended) option is selected in the Transaction logs section.
Note: If you want to use this option, note that in case log truncation with the specified guest processing
account is not a success, Veeam will try to perform it using NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM account, so for
SQL Server 2016, 2014 and 2012 make sure it has sufficient rights (see this Veeam Knowledge Base
article for more information).
As for SQL Server 2005, 2008 and 2008 R2, default settings in these versions allow for database log
truncation by local SYSTEM account (however, if they were modified, make sure this account is
permitted to truncate logs).
Tip: An alternative method can be also recommended if you want to prevent storage space from being
occupied with growing log files: set the database logging model to simple and use the Dont
truncate logs option (as described below). This method does not involve log truncation, so it does
not require specific permission assignment.
Do not truncate logs this option instructs Veeam to preserve logs (if any) on the original
SQL server (nor they will be truncated, neither will be backed up by Veeam Backup &
Replication). With this option selected, your database administrator will have to take care of
database logs. Applicable restore scenario database restore to the state as of currently
selected VM restore point.
Important! To prevent log files from growing rapidly, it is strongly recommended NOT to use this option if full or
bulk-logged recovery model is set up for your SQL server database; simple recovery model is the
recommended setting.
To be able to restore to any point in time or to the state before particular transaction, make sure that
recovery model for the database is set to full or bulk-logged. Contact your database administrator, if
necessary.
The following table lists possible database logging models and Veeam backup options, describing all
combinations.
Veeam option: Truncate logs Do not truncate logs Backup logs periodically
SQL DB
logging model:
Simple Databases in this mode are Applicable option for Databases in this mode are
skipped from this type of this mode. skipped from this type of
processing. processing.
Though it is a default Log files do not grow (and do
option, there is no sense in not need to be backed up), so
applying it in this case. this option does not make
sense in this case.
Full Applicable option. Veeam Applicable but not Applicable option. Log
performs backup to NUL recommended to use backup files (.BAK) are copied
for log files on guest. without native or 3rd from the temporary folder on
party means of log SQL Server to Veeam
truncation or backup repository. As soon as data is
otherwise, logs will copied to target, .BAK files are
increase in size. deleted from source.
Bulk-logged Applicable option. Veeam Applicable but not Applicable option. Log
performs backup to NUL recommended to use backup files (.BAK) are copied
for log files on guest. without native or 3rd from the temporary folder on
party means of log SQL Server to Veeam
truncation or backup repository. As soon as data is
otherwise, logs will copied to target, .BAK files are
increase in size. deleted from source.
First Steps
This section described the initial steps that will help you to start efficiently using Veeam Explorer for
Microsoft SQL Server.
There are several scenarios of launching Veeam Explorer from Veeam Backup & Replication console
using different recovery options they will be described later in this guide. You can also run Veeam
Explorer from the Start menu. The application will connect to Veeam Backup & Replication database
to obtain the necessary configuration settings - in particular, display theme that will be used by
Veeam Explorer.
The most common scenario involves Veeam Explorer that is co-installed with Veeam backup server,
and Veeam Backup Service is accessed via default port, under current account using Windows session
authentication. No special settings need to be configured in this case.
Alternatively, if you want to work with Veeam Explorer that is co-installed with the standalone
console, you will need to enter several settings to connect to Veeam backup server running on
another machine. At launch, specify the following:
Server name or IP address
Port number used to communicate with Veeam Backup Service (default is 9392)
User name and password for connection - you can select to Use Windows session
authentication if current account has sufficient access rights
In This Section
Getting to Know User Interface
Configuring Staging SQL Server Settings
In particular, you can perform the following operations using the main menu:
Configure Veeam Explorer options, as explained later in this guide
Open log file or folder
Access online Help
View information about the program
Exit the program
Tip: Commands for operations with selected entity are also available in the shortcut menu.
Display Theme
When you open Veeam Explorer application, its display theme settings are imported from the Veeam
Backup & Replication configuration. So, if you want to change the display theme, you should do it in
Veeam Backup & Replication general options, as described in its User Guide, and then re-open Veeam
Explorer.
Important! 1. Make sure the staging system meets the requirements listed in this guide.
2. Make sure the accounts you specify have sufficient permissions to connect to Windows
machine and to access SQL server.
3. Consider that specific ports on staging server will be used during restore session, as
described in this guide.
To configure a staging system, do the following:
1. Launch Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server, open the main menu and click Options.
Note: This backup must be created by a job with application-aware image processing enabled. For more
information, see Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide.
1. Select the restore point for the SQL server VM. The details on this VM (including name, size
and original host) will be also displayed.
2. Enter restore reason.
Note: Please note that the names of the restored machine drives may differ from the original ones.
4. Browse through the contents of the backup and locate the database file. Consider that VM
disks are mounted under the C:\veeamflr\<vmname>\<volume n> folder; the default SQL
server instance paths are listed in File Locations for Default and Named Instances of SQL
Server article.
5. Use the Application Items>SQL Server Databases menu command on the Home tab to
launch Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server and add the database to Veeam Explorer's
scope.
In Veeam Backup & Replication, open the Backup & Replication view. Select the Backups
node, then in the right pane expand the backup job with the SQL server you need. Select the
SQL server VM, then on Backup tab of the toolbar click Application items > Microsoft SQL
Server.
In this case, you will pass to the Restore Point step of the wizard.
Note: Consider that you can use this method only for VM backups that were created with VSS-aware image
processing enabled.
Then follow the steps of the wizard, as described in the next section.
4. On the Summary page, review the details of your VM to be recovered, and click Finish.
Note: If you plan to add the database manually, make sure the staging Microsoft SQL server is configured,
as described in the System Requirements section above.
Do the following:
1. Open Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server and click Add Database on the toolbar.
2. In the displayed window, enter the location of the primary database file, the secondary
database and corresponding log files. If necessary, specify BLOB store location.
Manually added databases will be displayed in the navigation tree under the Other SQL Servers
Databases node.
To add multiple databases to scope when one database is already open, you can run the same
command from the menu bar, or right-click any item in the navigation tree and select Add database
from its shortcut menu.
After the database has been added to the Veeam Explorer scope, you can browse through the server
instances and databases, view their properties, export and restore the databases, as well as their
schema objects.
You can remove a database that you have manually added to Veeam Explorer scope. For that, select it
in the navigation tree and click Remove Database on the toolbar, or use the shortcut menu
command. When prompted, confirm the operation.
Note: If the database was added automatically (by using Microsoft SQL Item Restore wizard), this command
will be unavailable for it.
1-Click Restore
With 1-Click Restore, Veeam Explorer allows you to quickly restore one or several databases to the
original location (that is, the original SQL server instance hosting the database(s)). You can restore
selected database(s) to the current state, or to the certain point in time - for that, make sure the SQL
Server backup job was set up properly (see Required Microsoft SQL Server Backup Job Settings ) and
completed successfully.
Restore process will be performed with the following settings:
Database(s) will be restored to the original VM (files will be copied to the original location and
then attached to the original SQL Server instance). AlwaysOn availability groups will be
restored in accordance with the source (backup) settings.
Important! If a database with the same name exists on target, it will be deleted and replaced by the database
from backup. You will need to confirm this operation before it starts.
User credentials for carrying out the restore procedure (using Windows authentication) will
be picked as follows: firstly, Veeam Explorer will try to use the account which is currently
logged in. If this account does not have sufficient rights to perform the restore procedure (for
example, in case of imported backup), then it will use the account configured for guest access
in the corresponding backup job; if this does not work either, user will be prompted to supply
the necessary credentials. Remember that the account should have administrative rights on
the target server. For detailed information on required permissions, see Permissions.
Use the slider to specify the point in time to which you want the database to be restored.
Database will be recovered to the closest VM restore point before the moment you specify on
the timeline, and then transaction log replay will bring the database to the necessary state.
The timeline includes the following timestamps (relatively to current SQL server restore
point):
o Beginning refers to the previous restore point of SQL server VM which contains
selected database backup
o End refers to the next restore point which contains selected database backup
Finally, you can select the Perform restore to the specific transaction check box - this
enables you to review major database transactions around the selected time, and restore the
database to the moment in time right before the unwanted change.
With this check box selected, you will proceed to Step 2, with the check box cleared, you will
proceed to Step 3.
Select the undesired operation (for example, you can select the row deletion or insertion). The
database will be restored to the most recent state preceding the selected operation.
Note: For the full list of operations for which this process is supported, please refer to the Appendix.
Note: Target SQL server must be of the same or later version as the original server. For example, SQL server
2008 database can be restored to SQL server 2008 or 2012, but cannot be restored to SQL server
2005.
b) Specify account to be used for connection with the target SQL server. You can use
the current account (under which you are running Veeam Explorer), or specify
another account and enter its password.
c) You can select to Use SQL Server authentication; if this check box is not selected,
Windows authentication will be used. Remember that the account used to access
target SQL server must be assigned the sysadmin role on that server.
Important! To be able to copy transaction logs to the target server for further replay, the account you specify for
server connection (that is, credentials to connect to Windows server) should be granted sufficient
permissions to access the administrative share on that machine (e.g., \\myserver\C$) - Read and
Write are minimal required, Full Control recommended. See the Permissions section for
information.
Important! If a database with the specified name exists on the target SQL server instance, the restore process by
design will delete it and replace with the database from backup. Thus, when you click Next, a
message will be displayed, asking you to confirm the deletion.
Default path depends on the SQL server. For example, for SQL server 2008 R2 it will be:
%Program Files%\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10_50.<instance_name>.
You can click Browse to specify a path you need. After you select the target folder where to copy files,
return to the wizard.
Finally, click Restore and wait for the process to complete. Veeam Explorer will notify you of the
operation results.
The Restore wizard will be launched. On the Specify restore point step, select the Restore to
the current restore point option.
Then follow the steps of the wizard to configure restore target and perform the restore.
Note: Remember that these options will be available only if Microsoft SQL Server database recovery model
had been set to Full or Bulk-logged and transaction log handling in the SQL Server VM backup job
settings had been configured to keep log backups (see the Required SQL Server Backup Job Settings
section).
To display only specific objects, click Filters and select the object type:
4. Specify object names for the objects after restore. When proceeding to this step, Veeam
Explorer checks for object name in backup to exist in the target database:
o If no duplicates exist, new name will be the same as the original name.
o If any duplicates are found, you will get a message asking to provide different new name.
You can click Auto to create new names automatically - then Veeam Explorer will use the
original names followed by suffix (for example, <name>_new suffix). You can edit the
name if necessary and click Auto to check for duplicates again. If the check is a success,
you can proceed to the next step.
7. Finally, click Restore and wait for the restore process to complete.
o Restore to the current restore point option instructs Veeam Explorer to recover
all databases to the moment when current restore point of SQL server VM was
created.
o Restore to a point in time option instructs Veeam Explorer to recover the
databases to the state as of the specified moment. Depending on the database
recovery model, the following cases are possible:
a) If you are restoring all databases of a server, having selected SQL Server node in the
navigation tree, consider that databases will be restored to a single instance on that
server. The original database names will be used for restored databases.
b) Specify the account to be used for connection with the target SQL Server. You can
use the current account (under which you are running Veeam Explorer), or specify
another account and enter its password.
c) You can select to Use SQL Server authentication; if this check box is not selected,
Windows authentication will be used. Remember that the account used to access
target SQL Server must be assigned the sysadmin role on that server.
4. If connection to the Windows machine hosting the target SQL server uses the same
credentials that you specified on Step 3, you can proceed with Step 5. Otherwise, supply
server connection credentials.
Important! To be able to copy transaction logs to the target server for further replay, the account you specify for
server connection (that is, credentials to connect to Windows server) should be granted sufficient
permissions to access the administrative share on that machine (e.g., \\myserver\C$): Read and
Write are minimal required, Full Control recommended. See the Permissions section for
information.
Note: By default, database files will be restored to the original paths, for example, for SQL Server 2008 R2 it
will be:
%Program Files%\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10_50.<instance_name>.
5. Click Restore. Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server will display a confirmation dialog. To
start the restore process, click Proceed. Wait for the process to complete. Veeam Explorer will
notify you of the restore operation results.
Exporting Databases
With Export Wizard, you can export selected database to a folder in the specified location. Exported
database can be then attached to the SQL Server you need.
The Restore to a point in time scenario allows you to obtain selected database files as for
the selected moment (point) in the time interval around the current restore point, generally,
from the previous to the next restore point (for details on the timescale, refer to the Restoring
to Specific Point in Time section above). Use the slider control to choose the point you need.
You can select Perform restore to specific transaction checkbox to review major database
transactions around the selected time. Then you can pick the necessary operation and obtain
database files as for the moment right before the unwanted change.
With this option selected, you will then be taken to step 2.
Note: For the last two options, Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server will need a staging SQL Server to
replay the logs and to present the list of transactions, so make sure your staging server is configured
properly. By default, local server will be used as a staging system. See Prerequisites for details.
Note: Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server database operations as listed in the Appendix.
To export multiple databases, select the server or instance node in the navigation tree, then use the
Export Databases > Export state of <date_time> to Desktop\<server_name> (for all databases of
selected server) or the Export Databases > Export state of <date_time> to
Desktop\<instance_name> (for all databases of selected server).
If exporting multiple databases, consider that depending on the database recovery model,
the following cases are possible:
o Some database(s) will be exported as not of the specified moment but to the
different time (the closest prior to selection)
o Some database(s) cannot be exported as of point in time since there are no
transaction logs for the specified period
o Some database(s) will be exported as of the specified moment
o System databases will not be processed and will not appear in the list
4. Click Export and wait for the process to complete.
3. The Export Wizard will be launched. Here you can use one of the three scenarios similar to
those described in the Restoring Databases section above:
o Export database to the state as of the current restore point
o Export database to the state as of selected point in time
o Export database to the state prior to selected transaction
4. Having selected the option you need, follow the steps of the wizard.
3. The Export Wizard will be launched. Here you can select the following options (similar to
restore):
o The Restore to the current restore point scenario allows you to obtain database
files as for the moment when the VMs current restore point was created by backup
or replication job.
With this option selected, you will then be taken to step 5 of the wizard (see below).
o The Restore to a point in time scenario allows you to obtain database files as for
the selected moment (point) in the time interval around the current restore point,
generally, from the previous to the next restore point (for details on the timescale,
Depending on the database recovery model, the following cases are possible:
o Some database(s) will be exported as not of the specified moment but to the
different time (the closest prior to selection)
o Some database(s) cannot be exported as of point in time since there are no
transaction logs for the specified period
o Some database(s) will be exported as of the specified moment
o System databases will not be processed and will not appear in the list
Note: For the Restore to a point in time option, Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server will need a
staging SQL Server to replay the logs, so make sure your staging server is configured properly. By
default, local server will be used as a staging system. See Prerequisites for details.
4. Next, specify path to the destination folder where database files will be stored.
o The Restore to a point in time scenario allows you to obtain selected database
schema and objects as for the selected moment (point) in the time interval around
the current restore point, generally, from the previous to the next restore point. Use
the slider control to choose the point you need. Remember that using this scenario
is possible under the certain conditions listed in the Restoring to Specific Point in
4. Next, specify name to be assigned to the object after export. By default, the original names
are used for exported objects, so if you want a new object to have the same name as the
original, select the object and click Default. Alternatively, you can assign a new name by
clicking Auto to automatically add _new suffix to the original name, or even manually edit
the selected name as you need.
6. Click Export to start the process. Veeam Explorer will notify you of the operation completion.
When exporting schema objects, Veeam Explorer creates a single .SQL script for all selected objects.
To import exported objects, you can run this script on target database.
When exporting data (as tables), Veeam Explorer creates a pair of files (.TXT and .FMT) for each
exported table. To import data tables, use the standard SQL Server bcp.exe utility (see
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa337544(v=sql.120).aspx for details).
If you want to enable extended logging, refer to this Veeam Knowledge Base article:
https://www.veeam.com/kb1247.
To view the log created by runtime component on the target or staging server guest OS during
restore session, open the C:\windows\temp folder on that server and locate the
Veeam.SQL.Service_<timestamp>.log file.
How It Works
The basic procedure of searching and restoring mailbox items with Veeam Explorer for Microsoft
Exchange includes the following steps:
Note: Account under which Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange is running requires full access to
Microsoft Exchange database files for item recovery.
System Requirements
Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange does not require a separate license. It is installed with Veeam
Backup & Replication server or standalone management console; all editions including Veeam Backup
Free Edition are supported (for details, see the Licensing and Editions section).
To install and use Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange as a component of Veeam Backup &
Replication, make sure that all necessary system requirements for Veeam Backup & Replication are
met. Requirements specific for Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange are listed below.
Specification Requirement
Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange supports mailbox database (.EDB) files created by
64-bit versions of the following Microsoft Exchange systems:
Microsoft Exchange 2016
Microsoft Exchange 2013 SP1
Microsoft Exchange 2013
Microsoft Exchange 2010 SP1, SP2, or SP3
Microsoft Note: Veeam Backup & Replication quiesces the application and creates a snapshot for
Exchange the Exchange Server VM, and for restore purposes it communicates with Exchange
through the Client Access Server. Thus, restore of mailbox items will be supported
regardless of membership of an Exchange Server in the DAG and IP address assigned to
the DAG (in particular, in case of IP-less DAG in Exchange 2013 SP1 and later).
To open mailbox databases, Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange requires a service
dynamic link library (ESE.DLL) which is installed together with Microsoft Exchange.
If you plan to export folders and items as Personal Folder Files (.PST), it is necessary to
Software have a 64-bit version of Microsoft Outlook 2016, Microsoft Outlook 2013 or Microsoft
Outlook 2010 installed on the machine where Veeam Explorer runs.
Required Permissions
This section describes permissions and access right required for correct operation of Veeam Explorer
for Microsoft Exchange.
1. The account under which you run Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange requires Read and
Write permissions to all files in the folder with the Exchange mailbox database.
2. To restore folder(s)/item(s) to Microsoft Exchange server, the account used for connection to
that server will need sufficient access rights, as described below. They can be granted using
the following methods: through impersonation, or by providing that user with Full Access to
mailbox.
Restore to a Mailbox
To restore to a mailbox, account used to connect to target should have corresponding access rights:
If you plan to use the account that owns a mailbox on target Microsoft Exchange server, make
sure it has Full Access for that mailbox.
Full Access can be granted, for example, through impersonation or through rights
assignment with the following cmdlet:
Add-MailboxPermission Identity <target_mailbox> -User
<user_account> -AccessRights FullAccess InheritanceType All
If you plan to use the account that does not own a mailbox on target Microsoft Exchange
server (for example, a service account), then access rights for target mailbox should be
granted through Exchange impersonation.
For example, you can run the following cmdlet:
New-ManagementRoleAssignment -Name "<role_name>" -Role
ApplicationImpersonation -User "<user_account>" [-CustomRecipientScope
"<scope>"]
To recall the assignment after the items are restored to target mailbox, you can run the
following cmdlet:
Remove-ManagementRoleAssignment -Name "<role_name>"
Example
Veeam backup TCP, 135, 137- Ports required to deploy the runtime coordination
server UDP 139, 445 process on the VM guest OS.
Exchange
or
Server VM TCP 6005-65535 Dynamic RPC port range used by the runtime
Guest
guest OS coordination process deployed inside the VM
interaction
proxy guest OS for application-aware processing (when
(in Enterprise working over the network).*
and Note that Exchange 2010 and higher (in particular,
Enterprise Plus Client Access) expands standard Windows
editions) dynamic RPD port range - this allows for better
scalability. For more information, see
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/ee332317(v=exchg.141).aspx.
Veeam TCP 6005-65535 Dynamic RPC port range used by the runtime
backup coordination process deployed inside the VM
Exchange
server or guest OS for application-aware processing (when
Server VM Guest working over the network).*
guest OS interaction
Note that Exchange 2010 and higher (in particular,
proxy (in
Client Access) expands standard Windows
Enterprise
dynamic RPC port range - this allows for better
and
scalability. For more information, see
Enterprise
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-
Plus editions)
us/library/ee332317(v=exchg.141).aspx.
* - During setup, Veeam Backup & Replication automatically creates a firewall rule for the runtime
process. However, if you use firewall settings other than default ones, or if application-aware
processing fails with the RPC function call failed error, you need to configure dynamic RPC ports
manually.
Restore
The following table describes network ports that must be opened to ensure proper communication
with Microsoft Exchange Server during application-item restore.
First Steps
Veeam Explorers are installed together with Veeam backup server or standalone console, and there
are several ways of starting a Veeam Explorer tool. If you want to open Veeam Explorer,
simultaneously adding the required database to its scope in the automated way, follow the
procedures described later in this guide. You may also want to open Veeam Explorer as an individual
application - for that, go to the list of applications (or Start menu), and double-click Veeam Explorer
icon. By default, it connects to the backup server installed locally. If you are starting Veeam Explorer
from the standalone console, you will be prompted for the settings of Veeam backup server to
connect to:
You can enter Veeam backup server name or IP address, or select it from the list of recent
connections.
Port number to communicate to - default is 9232
Credentials under which Veeam Explorer will connect to server; if you plan to use the account
currently logged on, select Use Windows session authentication.
If you plan to use these settings for future connections, you can click Save shortcut - the shortcut will
be saved to your Desktop. When ready, click Connect.
In This Section
Getting to Know User Interface
Initial Configuration Settings
Main Menu
The main menu of Veeam Explorer can be opened by clicking its icon in the top left corner of the
Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange main window. The menu contains commands related to
general application settings.
In particular, you can perform the following operations using the main menu:
Configure Veeam Explorer options, as explained later in this guide
Open log file or folder
Access online Help
View information about the program
Exit the program
Main Window
The navigation pane, located on the left of the window, enables you to easily access application items
you want to restore. Operation commands in Veeam Explorer are organized into logical groups and
collected under tabs on the ribbon. The ribbon is displayed at the top of the main application window.
The Home ribbon tab provides quick access to some common operations for example, adding a
mailbox store to Veeam Explorer scope, or removing it.
Tip: Commands for operations with selected entity are also available in the shortcut menu.
Display Theme
When you open Veeam Explorer application, its display theme settings are imported from the Veeam
Backup & Replication configuration. So, if you want to change the display theme, you should do it in
Veeam Backup & Replication general options, as described in its User Guide, and then re-open Veeam
Explorer.
Note: When you run the Exchange Items Restore wizard on a VM backed up using VSS, the ese.dll file is
located automatically. For more information, see Using the Restore Exchange Items Wizard.
SMTP Settings
To send items recovered from an Exchange database as email attachments, it is necessary to provide
mail server information.
To configure the email settings, do the following:
o for Microsoft Exchange 2013 and Microsoft Exchange 2016 default path is
%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V15\Bin
Important! The ese.dll file should be of the same version as Microsoft Exchange that created database files.
Currently, Veeam Explorer supports Microsoft Exchange 2016, Microsoft Exchange 2013 and
Microsoft Exchange 2010 SP1, SP2 and SP3.
Publish the EDB file from the Backup and Start Exploring
Having configured Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange, you can take the following steps:
1. Publish the mailbox database file (.edb) from the backup, replica or VeeamZIP file.
2. Add the database file to the Veeam Explorer scope.
You can carry out these two steps in a fully automated way by launching the Microsoft Exchange Item
Level Restore wizard for selected VM backup from Veeam management console. In this case, Veeam
Backup & Replication will automatically obtain the Exchange database from the backup and add it to
Veeam Explorer scope. As a result, it will be displayed in the Veeam Explorer main window, ready for
item search and restore.
Alternatively, you can perform these steps manually: first, obtain the database from the backup using
any Veeam recovery option (for example, Windows guest OS recovery), then locate the Exchange
database and add it to Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange scope.
To restore a Microsoft Exchange database manually:
1. Perform guest OS file-level restore from the Microsoft Exchange server VM backup. Details on
performing guest OS file restore are provided in the Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide
for VMware vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V platform.
2. In the Veeam Backup Browser, locate and double-click the .EDB file, or click Exchange Items
on the toolbar.
3. The selected database will be open in Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange. Now you can
browse the database and restore the items you need. To learn more, see Browsing, Searching
and Viewing Items.
Adding a Database
Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange supports databases from Microsoft Exchange Server 2016,
Microsoft Exchange Server 2013, Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 SP1, SP2 or SP3, and Microsoft
Exchange Online. To read about adding Exchange Online databases backed up by Veeam Backup for
Microsoft Office 365, refer to the next section.
Before you start the procedure, make sure that Veeam Explorer has access to Ese.dll supplied with
the corresponding version of Microsoft Exchange. For details, see Initial Configuration Settings.
To manually add a EDB file to the Veeam Explorer scope:
1. Click Add Store on the Home tab, then select Microsoft Exchange mailbox database, or
right-click All Stores in the navigation pane and use the shortcut menu command.
2. In the Add Store dialog, click Browse and specify a path to the Microsoft Exchange mailbox
store (EDB file).
3. Click Browse below and specify a path to the Exchange logs folder.
Alternatively, you can double-click the necessary Exchange database file to start Veeam Explorer for
Microsoft Exchange and add the database to the console automatically. If you mounted the file system
of the VM with the database file via FLR, then double-click the file within Veeam Backup Browser, or
use Windows Explorer to browse to the necessary database file and double-click it.
If the database is in "dirty state", Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange will display a warning. In this
case, you will have to recover the database before adding it.
To recover the database:
1. Check the Logs folder field and make sure you have specified the correct folder storing the
Exchange database logs.
2. Click Recover to recover the damaged database.
Important! To be able to apply transaction logs to the database for recovery purpose, you will need Write
permissions for that database.
Removing a Database
To remove a database from the Veeam Explorer scope, select the database in the navigation pane and
click Remove Store on the toolbar, or right-click the database name and select Remove Store.
Useful Tips
If you know in which database the necessary item or items are located, you will only need to
add one database. If you are not sure in which database the item or items are located, or they
are scattered across a number of databases, consider that Veeam Explorer for Microsoft
Exchange allows you to add and work with several databases at the same time.
By default, maximum 64 databases can be added to Veeam Explorer during its session, either
automatically or manually. If you need to change this value, then open Veeam Explorer
configuration file Config.xml at C:\ProgramData\Veeam\Backup\ExchangeExplorer\,
locate the MaxInstances configuration parameter and supply the necessary value (from 1 to
1024), for example:
<Veeam>
<Storage>
<Params MaxInstances="128" />
</Storage>
</Veeam>
Browsing
In the navigation pane, you can see all the containers (added mailbox stores with mailboxes and
folders). When you select a folder in the navigation tree, you can browse its contents in the preview
pane on the right. Number of items and estimated total size (as if it were to be exported) will be
displayed in the status bar in the bottom of the window if you selected the corresponding Veeam
Explorer option.
In order to preserve all mailbox content (including original versions of modified items, as well
as deleted items), the Litigation Hold option can be enabled for a personal mailbox. Veeam
Explorer supports the mailboxes with this option enabled: Litigation Hold Items containers
(whether empty or not) are displayed in the mailbox store hierarchy, and you can perform
restore operations for them.
Veeam also supports restore of items from mailboxes and public folders with In-Place Hold
enabled the corresponding containers will be displayed only if they are not empty.
Note: To learn more about Litigation Hold and In-Place Hold, please refer to the Microsoft TechNet
article.
Consider the following when you explore the backup of mailbox store with Veeam Explorer for
Microsoft Exchange:
Mailbox items that were hard deleted will be displayed under the Permanently Deleted
Items folder in the navigation tree. You can restore them to destination folder of your choice,
as described later in this guide (default location for restore is the mailbox).
Searching
At the top of the right pane, there is a search field that allows you to search the selected container for
items that match a specified search keyword. For example, you can select a user's mailbox and search
for veeam software to find all the items that contain the words starting with "veeam" and "software" in
the body text, address field, subject field or name of attachments. Search results for databases and
mailboxes will include all items (that is, email messages, tasks, contacts and other items).
Note: When you search for a phrase, the search algorithm will by default look for the items containing
words in the phrase, not the phrase itself. To find the exact phrase, use quotes (for example, veeam
software).
You can select the whole database (or several databases) to get more results, or select a folder (for
example, Inbox) inside a specific database and mailbox to narrow your search.
Also, to narrow your search results, you can specify various search criteria inside the entry field, using
the following format:
"criteria:value" (for example, from:John, hasattachments:yes, messagesize:<10 KB, received:yesterday and
so on).
You can use logical operators such as AND, OR and NOT (must be typed in uppercase letters). These
search criteria are similar to those used in Microsoft Outlook 2010. For more information, see this
Outlook help topic.
Search results will be displayed in the main pane; estimated total size of the items found will be
displayed in the status bar in the bottom of the window (if you have enabled the corresponding
option). This capability allows you to predict the size of a search query result if it were to be exported,
and refine search criteria (or search scope).
If you specify different fields as the search criteria (for example, you want to search both
through subject and date received), resulting search query will be built using AND operator.
For example, to search for user1 as a recipient AND for email_subject as a part of email subject
line, you should build a filter like this:
a) From the Category list, select Address fields.
b) From the Field list, select To.
c) From the Condition list, select is exactly.
d) In the Value field, enter the user name you want to look for (user1) and click Add to
List button.
e) From the Category list, select Frequently-used fields.
f) From the Field list, select Subject.
g) From the Condition list, select contains.
h) In the Value field, enter email_subject and click Add to List.
Resulting query will search for user1 as email recipient AND for email_subject contained in the subject
line. Click Start and wait for the query results to be displayed.
Viewing Items
Veeam Explorer allows you to quickly view any item by double-clicking it. The item will be open in a
separate window, showing all the necessary details (the Address fields, the Subject field, the body text
and so on).
Important! Windows Search can conflict with exporting of items and folders. If the .pst file to which you are
exporting is indexed at the same time, the exporting process may hang up. To avoid this, it is
necessary to exclude .pst files from the indexing scope. For this, use the search box in the Windows
Start menu to open the Indexing Options window, click Modify to open the Indexed Locations
window and clear the Microsoft Outlook check box.
Alternatively, you can disable Windows Search completely in the Windows Features dialog box.
Also note that if you are exporting .pst files to a shared folder, it is necessary to exclude Outlook
files or disable Windows Search on the computer where the shared folder is located.
Exporting a Folder
To export a folder as a single .pst file:
1. Select the folder in the navigation pane, then on the Folder tab select Export Folder >
Export to .pst file.... You can also right-click the folder in the navigation pane and select
Export to .pst file....
2. Specify the name and location for the target .pst file. If it does not exist, it will be created
anew.
4. Click Export and wait for the operation to complete. Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange
will notify you of the operation results.
1-Click Export
For your convenience, Veeam Explorer allows you to quickly export folders and items directly to the
.pst file to the previously used location (initially, this is the Desktop folder of the current user).
For example, to export a folder, select it from the navigation tree and then on the Folder tab select
Export Folder > Export to <folder name>\<file name>.pst, or use the corresponding shortcut
menu command. Selected folder including all its subfolders will be exported to the specified
destination.
Saving Items
Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange allows you to save any item as a Microsoft Exchange Mail
Document (.msg file) to a specific location or directly to the user's desktop.
To save an item:
1. Browse to the necessary folder or use the search field to see a list of items in the main
working area.
2. Select the required item (or use SHIFT and CTRL keys to select multiple items) in the main
working area, select Save Items > Save to .msg file on the Items tab. You can also right-click
the item(s) in the working area and select Save to .msg file.
3. Specify the location for the file or files and click OK.
Sending Items
The most common scenario involves finding an email message and delivering it to the owner. Veeam
Explorer for Microsoft Exchange allows you to send items as attachments to emails. To be able to send
items as attachments, it is necessary to specify email settings. For details, see Initial Configuration
Settings.
To send an item as an email attachment:
1. Select the item (or use SHIFT and CTRL keys to select multiple items) in the preview pane on
the right and click Send Items >Send to on the Items tab, or use the item's shortcut menu.
2. By default, From address will be filled in with that specified in the Veeam Explorer settings. If
you are sending one or several items from a user's mailbox, then Veeam Explorer will try to
obtain that user's email address using Active Directory information. If resolved successfully,
this address will appear in the To field; otherwise, as well as if you selected to send items from
Important! Direct restore of folders and items to the Exchange server is available only in Veeam Backup &
Replication Enterprise and Enterprise Plus editions.
3. Specify the target mailbox server and folder. You can restore to original folder or specify a
different one. Consider the following:
o If specified folder does not exist on the target server, it will be created anew. When
restoring a public folder to such a target folder, security permissions will be
restored to their original settings.
o Hard deleted items from public folders will be restored to the original location.
o Hard deleted items from mailbox (shown in the Permanently Deleted Items
folder) can be restored to the folder that corresponds to the original folder type -
for example, the incoming mail items will be restored to the Inbox folder, and
calendar items like appointments, meeting requests and others will be restored to
4. Specify additional restore options and click Restore to begin the restore process.
If you want to enable extended logging, refer to this Veeam Knowledge Base article:
https://www.veeam.com/kb1247.
Prerequisites
To provide for SharePoint items and lists restore with Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SharePoint, the
following prerequisites are necessary:
1. System requirements should be met, as listed in the System Requirements section.
2. Required permissions should be assigned to the accounts involved, as listed in the
Permissions section.
3. Recovery logic and peculiarities of operation should be considered, as described in the
Considerations and Limitations section.
4. Application-aware image-level backup should be successfully created for your SharePoint
server by the backup job set up as described in the Required Microsoft SharePoint Backup Job
Settings section.
System Requirements
Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SharePoint does not require a separate license. It is installed with Veeam
Backup & Replication server or standalone console; all editions including Veeam Backup Free Edition
are supported. So, to install and use Veeam Explorer, make sure that all necessary system
requirements for Veeam Backup & Replication are met.
System requirements specific for Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SharePoint are listed below.
Specification Requirement
The following versions and editions of Microsoft SharePoint Server (virtualized either on
VMware or Hyper-V platform) are suppported:
Microsoft Microsoft SharePoint 2016
SharePoint Microsoft SharePoint 2013
Microsoft SharePoint 2010
All editions are supported (Foundation, Standard, Enterprise).
Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SharePoint is installed on the machine running Veeam
Backup & Replication server or standalone console; all editions including Veeam Backup
Software Free Edition are supported.
For requirements to Veeam Backup & Replication software, see Veeam Backup &
Replication documentation at https://helpcenter.veeam.com.
Microsoft SQL For requirements for staging system and remote BLOB store support, see Staging
Server Microsoft SQL Server.
Note: As a staging system, you can use the Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Express that is shipped with the
Veeam Backup & Replication setup (this will be the default staging server). However, consider that
content databases that exceed 10 GB cannot be attached to this SQL Server due to Express edition
limitations (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc645993(v=SQL.110).aspx).
Important! The 3rd-party RBS providers are not supported in the current version.
Make sure the staging SQL Server configuration meets the following requirements:
1. FILESTREAM should be enabled on the database server, and filestream settings should be
enabled at database level, as described in Microsoft documentation:
o For SQL Server 2014: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc645923.aspx
o For SQL Server 2012: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/cc645923(v=sql.110).aspx
o For SQL Server 2008R2: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/cc645923%28v=sql.105%29.aspx
2. RBS Client Library should be installed on the database server. For Microsoft SQL Server 2014,
the Remote Blob Store setup is included in the installation media; for other versions you can
use corresponding Microsoft SQL Server Remote Blob Store setup package (RBS.msi)
available at Microsoft website:
o For SQL Server 2012: http://www.microsoft.com/en-
us/download/details.aspx?id=35580
o For SQL Server 2008R2: http://www.microsoft.com/en-
us/download/details.aspx?id=16978
Permissions
1. The user account that you specify for guest processing of the Microsoft SharePoint in the
backup job should be a Farm Administrator for the corresponding SharePoint farm (see the
corresponding section of the Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide for Hyper-V or for
VMware).
2. This account should also have the sysadmin fixed role assigned on the Microsoft SQL Server
Server where the content database is stored. This is the recommended setting; however, if
you need to provide minimal permissions, you can assign the following to this account:
o SQL Server instance-level roles: dbcreator and public
Veeam SQL Server TCP 1433,1434 Port used for communication with the Microsoft SQL
Explorer for and other Server hosting content database.
Microsoft
Exact port numbers depend on configuration of
SharePoint
Microsoft SQL server. To learn more, see
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/cc646023.aspx#BKMK_ssde.
If you plan to restore content database items or lists to Microsoft SharePoint running in a DMZ,
consider that ports used by SharePoint web application will be utilized.
The following table describes range of ports opened by Veeam Backup & Replication for iSCSI traffic
during content database item restore to the original location. See How It Works for details.
Target remote Machine TCP 3260 - Ports are open only during application item
machine to where 3270 restore (Veeam Explorer session):
which Veeam Target server operates as iSCSI initiator.
application
Explorer During restore, iSCSI initiator connects
items are
runs to the iSCSI target via one of the ports
restored
from this range.
or
staging SQL Also, in several situations (e.g., during
server restore from a SAN snapshot),
additional iSCSI mount may be
required. In that case, the staging SQL
server becomes an additional iSCSI
initiator, and during restore it also
connects to the iSCSI target via one of
the ports from this range.
Note: If you have different servers in your SharePoint deployment - that is, an SQL Server hosting the
content database, and web server hosting SharePoint application - make sure that backup for each
of these virtualized servers is created with application-aware processing enabled.
The user account that you specify for guest processing of the Microsoft SharePoint (in the Guest OS
credentials section at this step of the wizard) should meet the requirements stated in the Permissions
section of this document.
For details on backup job settings, see also the "Administration > Creating Backup Jobs > Step 9.
Specify Guest Processing Settings > Application-Aware Processing" section of the Veeam Backup &
Replication User Guide for the corresponding platform (for Hyper-V and for VMware).
Restoring Surveys
Consider the following limitations when planning for the recovery of surveys, survey questions and
responses:
Restoring Sites
1. If you plan to restore SharePoint site pages, consider that Veeam Explorer does not support
recovery of items which are not stored in the SharePoint content database (in particular,
pages, page references and items based on default templates). Such items cannot be restored
(neither by Restore nor by Save menu option), except for data from Wiki Content (text and
images) which is stored in the database. Thus, site pages containing only text and/or images
can be restored and displayed properly; other data (Web Parts, App Parts, etc.) cannot be
restored and will not appear in the site pages after recovery.
First Steps
This section described the initial steps that will help you to start efficiently using Veeam Explorer for
Microsoft SharePoint.
There are several scenarios of launching Veeam Explorer from Veeam Backup & Replication console
using different recovery options they will be described later in this guide. You can also run Veeam
Explorer from the Start menu or the list of applications. The application will connect to Veeam Backup
& Replication database to obtain the necessary configuration settings - in particular, display theme
that will be used by Veeam Explorer.
The most common scenario involves Veeam Explorer that is co-installed with Veeam backup server,
and Veeam Backup Service is accessed via default port, under current account using Windows session
authentication. No special settings need to be configured in this case.
Alternatively, if you want to work with Veeam Explorer that is co-installed with the standalone
console, you will need to enter several settings to connect to Veeam backup server running on
another machine. At launch, specify the following:
Server name or IP address
Port number used to communicate with Veeam Backup Service (default is 9392)
User name and password for connection - you can select to Use Windows session
authentication if current account has sufficient access rights
In particular, you can perform the following operations using the main menu:
Configure Veeam Explorer options, as explained later in this guide
Open log file or folder
Access online Help
View information about the program
Exit the program
Main Window
On the left of the window there is the navigation pane. It displays content database as a hierarchical
structure, including content databases, sites, subsites, libraries and lists. It facilitates browsing for
application items you want to restore. When you select a node in the navigation pane, you can browse
its contents in the preview pane - for example, having selected a document library on the left, you can
see all its documents on the right.
Operation commands in Veeam Explorer are organized into logical groups and collected under the
tabs on the ribbon. The ribbon is displayed at the top of the main application window.
The Home ribbon tab provides quick access to some common operations.
Other tabs contain commands specific for certain entities appear when the corresponding
nodes are selected in the navigation pane.
For example, if you select a document library in the navigation tree, the Library tab
displaying buttons for operations with libraries will appear on the ribbon. If you then select a
document in the preview pane, the Document tab with the corresponding menu commands
will be displayed.
Display Theme
When you open the Veeam Explorer, its display theme settings are imported from the Veeam Backup
& Replication configuration. So, if you want to change the display theme, you should do it in Veeam
Backup & Replication general options, as described in its User Guide, and then re-open Veeam
Explorer.
Important! Remember that selected server must meet all requirements specified in the System Requirements
section.
Note: Make sure the accounts you specify have sufficient permissions to connect to Windows machine and
to access SQL server.
If you plan to add content database(s) to Veeam Explorer scope manually, consider the following
when setting up the staging SQL Server:
If SQL Server belongs to an untrusted domain, connection will not be possible.
If SQL Server belongs to a trusted domain, then only SQL Server authentication is possible.
If SQL Server belongs to the same domain as the machine where Veeam Explorer runs, then
both Windows and SQL Server authentication methods are possible. In this case, if you plan
to use Windows authentication for connection, you will need to configure delegation settings
as follows:
a) In Active Directory Users and Computers, select the necessary staging SQL
Server.
b) Open its properties and select the Delegation tab. Select Trust this computer for
delegation to specified services only and Use any authentication protocol
options for the cifs service on the computer where Veeam Explorer runs.
VeeamZIP File
To obtain the content database from a VeeamZIP file, you can use full VM recovery or guest OS file-
level recovery. However, the most convenient method is the guest OS file-level recovery option.
So, you have to do the following:
1. Perform guest OS files restore for the virtualized Microsoft SharePoint server. See Veeam
Backup & Replication documentation for details on performing guest OS file restore.
2. On the Veeam Backup Browser toolbar, click Open in Explorer, then locate the Microsoft
SharePoint content database files from which you want to restore data (see Locating Content
Database File). Copy the path to clipboard and click SharePoint Items to start Veeam
Explorer.
3. Manually add selected database to Veeam Explorer scope, providing path to database file, as
described in the Adding Database to Veeam Explorer Scope section.
Note: If you choose to restore SharePoint items directly from the mounted VM file system, do not close
Veeam Backup Browser until you finish restore operations. Closing Veeam Backup Browser
automatically unmounts the file system of the backed up VM.
5. In the Choose folder window, specify the location to which files will be copied and click OK.
6. Open the folder to which files were copied and copy the full path to the target directory to
clipboard. You can now launch Veeam Explorer and add the database file from backup that
was copied.
For details, see Adding Database to Veeam Explorer Scope.
Note: If you plan to use this automated workflow, make sure your SharePoint backup jobs have
application-aware image processing enabled.
Note: This method can be used only for backup or replica that was created with VSS-aware image
processing enabled. Also, consider that it is intended for regular backups (for imported backups this
command is not available in the shortcut menu; instead, use the methods described above).
Note: Veeam Backup & Replication performs auto-discovery for the SharePoint farms that were backed up
with application-aware image processing enabled.
Click Finish to start the restore process. Veeam Backup & Replication will automatically perform all
required operations (mount the selected restore point, launch Veeam Explorer for Microsoft
SharePoint and add the necessary database to its scope). Alternatively, you can manually locate the
content database and open it with Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SharePoint.
After that, you can browse the database and restore the items you need.
Step 2. Select a VM
In the list of available jobs, select the backup of the VM from which the content database should be
restored.
To quickly find VMs in jobs, use the search field at the bottom of the window.
Note: If you choose to restore SharePoint items directly from the mounted VM file system, do not close
Veeam Backup Browser until you finish restore operations. Closing Veeam Backup Browser
automatically unmounts the file system of the backed up VM.
If you need to keep SharePoint content databases hosted on the staging Microsoft SQL Server for a
period of time that is longer than a File-Level Restore session, it is recommended that you copy the
database files to a different location rather than restore them directly from the mounted VM file
system. To copy files, do the following:
1. In the Backup Browser, open the File view.
2. In the navigation tree, locate the folder where content database files reside; select Microsoft
SharePoint content database files (.mdf) and associated log files (.ldf).
3. On the Backup Browser toolbar, click Copy To.
4. In the Choose Folder window, specify the location to which content database files will be
copied and click OK.
Actually, attach will be performed after you initiate this operation by selecting the certain database for
browsing (clicking on the arrow next to it) or search purposes (entering search parameters in the
search field). Veeam Explorer will report on attach operation progress in the pop-up window; clock
icon for the corresponding database will no longer appear.
Note: This approach was introduced in version 9.5 of Veeam solution to optimize the performance.
To add a database file to the Veeam Explorer scope manually and make it visible in the console:
1. Open Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SharePoint and click Add Database on the toolbar.
2. In the displayed window, specify the location of the Microsoft SharePoint primary content
database file (.mdf); corresponding secondary database and transaction log file (.ldf) will be
also added. If necessary, you can also add the remote BLOB (binary large objects) stores (RBS).
3. Click OK and wait for the operation to complete. Database hierarchy will be displayed in the
navigation tree of the Veeam Explorer window. Now you can view its content and carry out
the actions you need (search, export, restore and so on).
Tip: If you know in which database the necessary Microsoft SharePoint items are located, you
only need to add one .mdf file.
If you are not sure in which database the necessary Microsoft SharePoint items are
located, or these items are scattered across a number of databases, you can add multiple
.mdf files to Veeam Explorer's scope (no limitations are applied).
Removing a Database
To remove a content database from the Veeam Explorer scope:
1. Select the database in the navigation tree.
2. Click Remove Database on the toolbar. The database will be removed from the Veeam
Explorer scope, no longer shown in the console, automatically detached from the staging SQL
server and unmounted from the mount point.
After you add one or several Microsoft SharePoint content databases to the Veeam Explorer scope,
you can browse through the contents of these database(s), find and restore necessary Microsoft
SharePoint items.
Browsing
In the Veeam Explorer navigation pane, you can see all the containers in the hierarchical structure,
including content databases, sites, subsites, libraries and lists. When you select a container node, you
can browse its contents in the preview pane.
Veeam Explorer also allows you to browse to associated Microsoft SharePoint items attached files
and document versions. For example, if you maintain version history for documents, you can right-
click the item you need and select View History to examine the list of all stored document versions. If
you want to open the list of attachments for an item, from its shortcut menu select View
Attachments.
Searching
At the top of the preview pane, there is a search field that allows you to find items matching a
specified search term. For example, you can select a document library and search for veeam software
to find all the documents that contain the words starting with 'veeam' or 'software' in the document
name or document text. Search results for content databases and sites will include all child items (that
is, subsites, lists and list objects).
Note: When you search for a phrase, the search will by default locate items that contain any search terms in
the phrase, not the phrase itself. To find the exact phrase, use double quotes, for example, veeam
software.
You can select the whole content database or several databases at once to get more results. You can
select a specific node (for example, a document library) inside a specific database and a site to narrow
the search.
You can further narrow your search results by specifying various search criteria inside the search box
in the criteria:value format. For example, to find in the list of decisions all items that require approval,
you can use the following search query: status:pending approval. You can also use logical operators
such as AND, OR and NOT (must be typed in uppercase letters) and wildcard characters such as * and ?.
These search criteria are similar to those used for searching in Microsoft SharePoint. For more
information, see, for example, this Microsoft SharePoint help topic.
To remove a filter, click on the cross mark next to it; to remove all configured filters, click Reset.
Saving a Library
1. Browse to the necessary document library, or use the search field to locate the one you need.
2. Highlight the library in the navigation tree and use the Save Library command from the
Library tab of the ribbon menu. You can also use the library shortcut menu command.
3. By default, all documents contained in the selected library will be saved to your Desktop. You
can specify a destination folder of your choice.
4. Veeam Explorer will notify you of the operation completion.
Saving a Document
To save a document to a location of your choice, do the following:
1. Browse to the necessary document, or use the search function.
2. In the preview pane on the right, select the required document and click Save Document on
the toolbar. You can also right-click the selected document in the working area and select the
shortcut menu command. If necessary, use SHIFT or CTRL keys for multiple selection.
3. Specify destination location for saving the document(s) and wait for the operation to
complete.
Sending a Library
Consider that when you are sending a document library, all documents it contains will be attached to
the e-mail.
To send a document library, do the following:
1. Browse to the necessary library in the navigation tree.
2. Select the library you need and click Send Library on the toolbar; you can also use the
shortcut menu command for the selection.
Sending a Document
To send a document as an e-mail attachment, do the following:
3. In the Send Items dialog, provide the necessary values: specify the e-mail addresses of the
recipient; if necessary, edit the subject of the e-mail message and the body text.
The document being sent will be displayed as the attached file.
4. When finished, click Send.
You can make this folder content available to SharePoint server you need, importing it by means of
PowerShell command.
Note: If you are using ADFS as authentication provider, consider that in case of Windows Authentication
you can either use current account or specified account; in case of Forms Authentication you can
only use the second option and specify user name and password.
Next, specify whether the library/list should be restored to the original one, or to a different library/list.
Then specify the restore options you want to be applied you can select to restore Changed items
and/or Deleted items, as well as Restore permissions.
If Restore permissions option is cleared, then permissions for the recovered document library/list will
be set as follows:
In case such library/list does not exist on target, Veeam will create it from the backed up
library/list, inheriting permissions from the parent object.
In case such library/list already exists on target, permissions will be preserved.
3. The restore wizard is launched; follow its steps to specify restore options for the
document/item.
Note: If you are using ADFS as authentication provider, consider that in case of Windows Authentication
you can either use current account or specified account; in case of Forms Authentication you can
only use the second option and specify user name and password.
Next, specify whether the document/item should be restored to the original location or to a different
location.
Then specify the restore options you want to be applied you can select to restore Changed items
and/or Deleted items, as well as Restore permissions.
If Restore permissions option is cleared, then permissions for the recovered document/list item will
be set as follows:
In case such document/list item does not exist on target, Veeam will create it from the backed
up document/item, inheriting permissions from the parent object.
In case such document/list item already exists on target, permissions will be preserved.
Note: There are some peculiarities of SharePoint item recovery with Veeam Explorer for Microsoft
SharePoint. For example, you may need to restore the item(s) originally belonging to a list (with no
content approval required) to another list. If you try to restore such item(s) to a list that requires
content approval, item version and status will be modified. For more details, refer to the
Considerations and Limitations section.
Restoring Sites
You can restore SharePoint sites to the location of your choice.
Note: Using Veeam Explorer, you can restore sites to the corresponding site collections existing on target.
However, new site collection creation will not be supported (sites cannot be restored to a collection
that is present in the backup but does not exist on target). Also, consider some other site restore
peculiarities described in the Considerations and Limitations section.
Note: If you are using ADFS as authentication provider, consider that in case of Windows Authentication
you can either use current account or specified account; in case of Forms Authentication you can
only use the second option and specify user name and password.
3. Next, specify the restore options. By default, all these options are enabled (including restore
of changed and deleted items, permissions and subsites).
o If Restore permissions option is cleared, then permissions for the recovered
site/collection will be inherited from the parent (root site) on target SharePoint
where it is recovered.
Note: Documents and list item objects do not appear in the list. If restore of such object completes with
error or warning, this result will be bubbled to the upper-level object whose status will be changed
accordingly (to error or warning).
You can use filter options to view success, warning or error results.
Note: Availability of these options depends on Oracle VM backup settings (see the corresponding section
of this guide).
Before you start using Veeam Explorer for Oracle to restore your databases, you need to know the
following:
How Veeam Explorer for Oracle works?
What are system requirements and permissions for its operation?
How to configure your Oracle server backup for your preferred database restore scenario?
How It Works
Veeam Explorer for Oracle is installed together with Veeam backup server and management console
or with the remote console. The basic procedures of restoring Oracle database with Veeam Explorer
for Oracle are very similar for restore to current restore point and for restore to point in time or
selected transaction.
Restore workflow is generally as follow:
1. A user starts Veeam Explorer for Oracle using Veeam Backup & Replication console. Veeam
Explorer obtains Oracle hierarchy information (see the next section for details) and presents it
to user who then utilizes Veeam Explorer to:
a) Select the database to restore
b) Specify target location (original or another server) and settings required to access
that server
c) Invoke the 'Restore' command (through 1-Click Restore or restore wizard)
2. The Restore command initiates mount of Oracle VM file system from the backup stored in
the repository to the Oracle server. Mount is performed using a machine where Veeam Mount
Service runs (here it is the local machine hosting Veeam Explorer for Oracle). Typically,
production Oracle server is used as a mount target. When a VM is mounted to the specified
server, a corresponding folder is created on it:
C:\VeeamFLR folder on Windows system
3. Veeam utilizes native Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN) to perform database restore
operations. For that, it communicates database file paths and other necessary information to
RMAN. After database files are restored (database is re-created) on the target Oracle server, it
becomes ready for use.
Note: If a user follows restore scenario that requires log replay, this operation is performed on target server.
Note: If you are restoring the database to the local Oracle server, this runtime component is not installed
on the server guest OS.
This service runs during the restore session; it checks the rights assignment required for database
restore, gets information about databases that should be restored, performs the necessary file
operations (including database and transaction log copy) and so on. When restore session ends, the
service is stopped and removed from guest. Then a new session starts, and the service is installed
again.
The Veeam Oracle Restore Service operates under the Local System account.
All service activities are logged to the Veeam.Oracle.Service_<timestamp>.log file
stored in the subfolder of the Temp folder of the system directory, next to the
Veeam.Oracle.Service_<timestamp>.exe file (runtime component installed per
session). If you have enabled extended logging as described in this Knowledge Base article,
this log data will be stored in the Veeam Oracle Explorer log.
Communication between Veeam Explorer and the service is performed using RPC; default
TCP port range that should be open on the guest for inbound traffic includes ports 1025 -
1034. If you need to change this port range, then do the following:
1. Open Veeam Explorer configuration file named Config.xml located at
C:\ProgramData\Veeam\Backup\OracleExplorer\on the machine hosting
Veeam Explorer (create the file if it is not present).
2. Locate the <OracleExplorer> tag (create the tag if it is not present):
<Veeam>
<OracleExplorer>
<Agent MinimumPort="1025" MaximumPort="1034"/>
</OracleExplorer>
</Veeam>
Mount Operations
To create a mount point on Microsoft Windows machines, Veeam Backup & Replication uses
the iSCSI protocol. The remote machine (original VM) or staging server acts as an iSCSI
initiator. The machine on which the Veeam Explorer runs acts as an iSCSI target. The iSCSI
mount point is non-persistent it is created only for duration of the restore process.
To create a mount point on Linux VMs (for Oracle running on Linux),
Veeam Backup & Replication uses fuse.
Prerequisites
To provide for database restore with Veeam Explorer for Oracle, the following prerequisites are
necessary:
1. A proper scenario and restore options should be selected, as described in the Planning for
Database Restore section.
2. System requirements should be met, as listed in the System Requirements section.
3. Required permissions should be assigned to the accounts involved, as listed in the
Permissions section.
4. The corresponding backup job should be properly configured, as described in the Required
Microsoft Oracle Server Backup Job Settings section.
Restore Scenarios
or
Make sure that truncation conditions are configured so that logs required for replay
will be available when necessary.
3. Use the Oracle Database Restore Wizard to specify the necessary VM restore point and
automatically add it to Veeam Explorer scope, as described in the Automated Recovery
section below.
4. Database will be recovered to the closest VM restore point before the moment you specify,
and then log replay will be performed on the target Oracle server to bring the database to the
necessary state.
Important! Current version does not support this scenario for replicas or backups archived to the secondary
location using backup copy jobs.
1, 2 To present the list of transactions to user, Oracle database is mounted to staging server, and redo
log backups are also copied there, so consider the recommendations listed in points 1 and 2 for
Scenario 2.
3 A user selects the undesired transaction, instructing Veeam to restore database to the state prior to
that operation.
4, 5 After a user invokes the Restore command, database backup is mounted to the target Oracle
server, and log files are copied there. Log replay is performed with the closest earlier restore point on
target Oracle server to bring the database to desired state. After the database is re-created the Oracle
server, it becomes ready for use.
Note: You can use the same Oracle server as a staging system and as a target server.
System Requirements
Veeam Explorer for Oracle is included in Veeam Backup & Replication Enterprise and Enterprise Plus
editions. Free and Standard editions do not support Veeam Explorer for Oracle.
System requirements are described below.
Specification Requirement
Oracle Databases on the following operating systems are supported (32-bit and 64-bit
architecture):
Staging Server
Staging server is used to fine-tune the restore point in case a user needs to restore database to the
state before specific transaction. At the first launch of Veeam Explorer it tries to obtain the staging
Oracle server settings using the built-in algorithm. You can specify another staging server, either local
(for Windows VMs only) or remote (for both Windows and Linux VMs), as described in the Configuring
Staging Server section.
The following requirements apply to staging server:
1. A staging server must have the same Oracle database version as the source (original) and
target Oracle server.
2. If you plan to restore databases with Automatic Storage Management enabled, the staging
and target servers should have ASM enabled, too.
3. Oracle Database Express Edition cannot be used as a staging system.
Required Permissions
When preparing for Oracle database backup and restore, you should plan for the user accounts
required for the following operations:
Connection to Source Server
Connection to Target Server
Connection to Staging Server
Then on the Oracle tab of the VM processing settings select Use guest credentials from the drop-
down list:
Oracle on Linux VM
If the job will process Oracle on Linux-based VM, this account needs the following privileges:
1. This should be a root account or account elevated to root and added to sudoers.
When elevating account to root and adding it to sudoers, current settings will be used by default (in
particular, root password). Consider that if account privileges should be recalled after backup/restore
process, you will need to do it manually.
2. It requires membership in the oinstall and, if necessary, in asmadmin group for the source
Oracle server. Contact your database administrator if needed.
Important! Consider that you will need identical accounts (with the same user name, password and sufficient
access rights) for all Oracle databases on the source server. Contact your database administrator if
necessary.
Oracle on Linux VM
1. Account specified in the Guest OS credentials section on the Guest Processing step of the
job wizard should be the root account, or account elevated to root and included in sudoers
file; it should be included in the oinstall group on source VM to access Oracle database files
hierarchy, and, if necessary, to asmadmin group.
2. Account specified on the Oracle tab of the application server settings should have SYSDBA
rights to connect to Oracle system on source VM - they can be assigned, for example, through
membership in the dba group.
Oracle on Windows VM
User account requires sufficient rights to connect to VM guest OS and access file system (including
administrative share) on that machine. You can include this account in the local Administrators
group on source VM. Check that this account is granted appropriate permissions to access Oracle
database files hierarchy on source VM (Read and Write are minimal required, Full Control
recommended).
Oracle on Linux VM
Account used to connect to target Linux server should be a root account or account elevated to root
and added to sudoers (for that, click Advanced and select the corresponding options). You can use
authentication by username and password or by private key.
Note: When elevating account to root and adding it to sudoers, current settings will be used by default (in
particular, root password). Consider that if account privileges should be recalled after backup/restore
process, you will need to do it manually.
Oracle on Windows VM
User account should have local Administrator rights on the specified machine, as it will be used to
access administrative shares, and sysdba rights on target server. If you plan to use Oracle 12c as a
staging system, you may also need to enter a password to access Oracle Home on that machine.
Oracle on Linux VM
This should be a root account or account elevated to root and added to sudoers - for that, click
Advanced and select the corresponding options; if necessary, enter Root password and click OK to
save the settings and close the dialog. This account should also be a member of dba and, if necessary,
of asmadmin group for the Oracle server.
Note: When elevating account to root and adding it to sudoers, current settings will be used by default (in
particular, root password). Consider that if account privileges should be recalled after backup/restore
process, you will need to do it manually.
Used Ports
The following table describes network ports open during application item restore.
Machine running Oracle on TCP 49152- Recommended dynamic RPC port range for
Veeam Explorer (this Windows 65535 Microsoft Windows 2008 and later. For more
can be Veeam server information, refer to
backup server or https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/832017.
standalone console)
TCP 1025 - Default port range for the runtime component
1034 installed on VM guest to support restore
operations in most scenarios. Port is open only
The following ports are open on Windows machines in case of restore to the original VM (remote
machine) or restore scenario that requires staging server (see How It Works section).
Target remote VM Veeam TCP 3260 - Range of ports opened by Veeam Backup &
to which application Explorer for 3270 Replication for iSCSI traffic. Ports are open
items are restored, Oracle only during application item restore (Veeam
or Explorer session). For more information,
staging server refer to Mount Operations.
Note: If application-aware image processing is disabled in the Guest Processing settings of a backup job
(a crash-consistent backup is created), then you will be able to restore the database only to the state
as of in the currently selected VM restore point. Also, consider that in this case Veeam Explorer will
need a staging Oracle server to mount selected image-level Oracle VM backup (with the databases
and redo logs) to that server and collect the necessary information through guest scan and Oracle
infrastructure analysis.
Also, you need to decide on preferred restore scenario, that is, whether you need to recover your
Oracle database to the latest available restore point only, to any point in time, or to the state before a
particular transaction. You should configure the corresponding log processing options with Veeam
Backup & Replication, using the VM processing settings in backup job properties.
Application-specific log handling options are available on the Oracle tab of the VM's guest OS
processing settings. This tab becomes active only if Veeam Backup & Replication (not 3rd party
application) is instructed to process transaction logs for Oracle database. So you should open the
General tab and make sure that the Process transaction logs with this job (recommended) option
is selected in the Transaction logs section.
Important! If you plan to use this option together with archived logs deletion from Oracle VM guest, make sure
that these settings are consistent: logs should be deleted after they are backed up to repository, not
vice versa. Thus, you need to set up backup schedule and log removal conditions appropriately.
Default log backup interval is 15 minutes, maximum interval is 480 minutes.
Note: If direct connection is possible, files will be always transferred from VM guest to repository directly
(regardless of the configured log shipping server, as this server will not be involved). This approach
helps to optimize performance at file transfer.
3. If you selected to backup transaction logs, specify how long they should be kept, using the
Retain log backups options.
Important! It is recommended to keep logs Until the corresponding image-level backup is deleted;
otherwise, you should manually check and ensure that your database and log backup retention
policies are consistent, providing all the VM restore points and log backups required for database
restore.
To be able to restore to any point in time or to the state before particular transaction, make sure that
ARCHIVELOG mode is enabled for the database, and archived logs are available for the required
period of time.
First Steps
This section described the initial steps that will help you to start efficiently using Veeam Explorer for
Oracle.
In particular, you can perform the following operations using the main menu:
Configure Veeam Explorer options, as explained later in this guide
Open log file or folder
Access online Help
View information about the program
Exit the program
Tip: Commands for operations with selected entity are also available in the shortcut menu.
Display Theme
When you open Veeam Explorer application, its display theme settings are imported from the Veeam
Backup & Replication configuration. So, if you want to change the display theme, you should do it in
Veeam Backup & Replication general options, as described in its User Guide, and then re-open Veeam
Explorer.
Important! If you plan to use a server other than original or target Oracle server as a staging system, make sure it
has the same version as the source (original) and target Oracle server.
If you plan to restore databases with Automatic Storage Management enabled, the staging and
target servers should have ASM enabled, too.
4. For Linux-based VM, only a remote server (not the one where Veeam Explorer is running) can
be used as staging system. Do the following:
a) Specify staging Server name and SSH port default is 22.
b) Specify account to connect to staging server. You can use authentication by
username and password or by private key. Make sure the account has sufficient
permissions, as described here.
d) Specify path to Oracle Home folder to be used. You can click Browse, and Veeam
Oracle Home Browser will find the corresponding folder for you.
e) Return to Options and click OK to save configuration settings.
In Veeam Backup & Replication, open the Backup & Replication view and select the backup
you need under the Backups node. Then in the right pane expand the backup job with the
Oracle server you need. Select the Oracle server VM, and on the toolbar select Restore >
Application items > Oracle, or use the Restore application items > Oracle database
shortcut menu command. You will be taken to the Restore Point step of the wizard.
Note: Using Restore application item>Oracle database command is recommended for VM backups that
were created with VSS-aware image processing enabled.
2. Select the restore point to be used. Veeam supports the following restore options:
o Restore from the latest available backup this is the default option.
o Restore from this restore point with this option selected, you can then choose
the necessary restore point from the list.
4. On the Summary step, review the details of your VM to be recovered, and click Finish.
1-Click Restore
With 1-Click Restore, Veeam Explorer for Oracle allows you to quickly restore a database to the original
location (that is, the original Oracle server hosting the database). You can restore selected database to
the current state, or to the certain point in time - for that, make sure the Oracle backup job was set up
properly (see Required Oracle Server Backup Job Settings) and completed successfully.
To launch 1-Click Restore to original server, in the navigation tree select the database you need, then
from the shortcut menu select Restore state of <date_time> or latest state to <server>. You can
also use the similar command from the ribbon menu.
Restore process will be performed with the following settings:
Database as of selected state will be restored to the original VM (files will be copied to the
original location and then mounted to the original Oracle home). Database from backed up
ASM group will be restored to the original ASM group.
Important! If a database with the same name exists on target, it will be deleted and replaced by the database
from backup. You will need to confirm this operation before it starts.
For Windows-based VMs, user credentials for carrying out the restore procedure will be
picked as follows:
o Firstly, Veeam Explorer for Oracle will try to use the account which is currently
logged in.
o If this account does not have sufficient rights to perform the restore procedure (for
example, in case of imported backup), then it will use the account configured for
guest access in the corresponding backup job;
o If this does not work either, user will be prompted to supply the necessary
credentials.
Important! The account used to access target server should have administrative rights on that server. For
detailed information on required permissions, see Permissions.
For other restore scenarios, you will need to go through the steps of the Restore Wizard.
Use the slider to specify the point in time to which you want the database to be restored.
Database will be recovered to the closest VM restore point before the moment you specify on
the timeline, and then log replay will bring the database to the necessary state. The timeline
includes the following timestamps (relatively to current Oracle server restore point):
o Beginning refers to the previous restore point of Oracle server VM which contains
selected database backup
o End refers to the next restore point which contains selected database backup
Finally, you can select the Perform restore to the specific transaction check box - this
enables you to review major database transactions around the selected time, and restore the
database to the moment in time right before the unwanted change. With this check box
selected, you will proceed to Step 2, with the check box cleared, you will proceed to Step 3.
The database will be restored to the most recent state preceding the selected operation. For more
information, refer to Scenario 3: Restoring a Database to Specific Transaction
Note: To be able to copy archived logs from backup to the target server for further replay, the account you
specify for server connection (that is, credentials to connect to Windows server) should be granted
sufficient permissions to access the administrative share on that machine (e.g., \\myserver\C$):
Read and Write are minimal required, Full Control recommended. See the Permissions section for
information.
If you are restoring a database from a Linux-based Oracle server, specify the following:
After you click Next, Veeam Explorer will validate the specified account settings; you will be able to
proceed after successful validation; otherwise, enter another account.
See also the Permissions section of this document.
Note: If database with the specified name exists on the target Oracle home, the restore process by design
will delete it and replace with the database from backup. Thus, when you click Next, a message will
be displayed, asking you to confirm the operation.
Click Restore and wait for the process to complete. Veeam Explorer for Oracle will notify you of the
operation results.
4. Click Restore. Veeam Explorer for Oracle will display a confirmation dialog. To start the
restore process, click Proceed. Wait for the process to complete.
3. After the Restore wizard is launched, select Restore to a point in time option and use the
slider to specify the necessary point, as described above. Leave the Perform restore to
specific transaction check box cleared.
Note: Remember that these two options will be available only if you have archived log backups available at
the moment (see the Required Oracle Server Backup Job Settings section for details).
If you want to enable extended logging, refer to this Veeam Knowledge Base article:
https://www.veeam.com/kb1247.
To view the log created by runtime component on the target or staging server guest OS during
restore session, open the C:\windows\temp folder on that server and locate the
Veeam.Oracle.Service_<timestamp>.log file.
<date_time> Created[/Modified]
CREATE <table_name> Table <table ID>
<initiator>
<date_time> Created
CREATE <procedure_name> Procedure
<initiator>
<date_time> Deleted
Procedure DROP
<procedure_name> Table <initiator>
<date_time> Modified
ALTER <procedure_name> Procedure
<initiator>
<date_time> Modified
ALTER
<function_name> Function <initiator>