Exchange 2007 VM backup problem...

[coolamasta]

Hi guys,

I need to research this properly but was wondering if anyone knew the answer on here as well

Basically we have our new Exchange 2007 server as a VM and its working well but the Logs keep filling up the drive space causing exchange to fail, I have turned on circular logging to get around this but it means we have no way to restore mail on the fly, IE not good.

The VM is backed up every night using a piece of software called Veeam backup & Replication but I don't know if there is a way we can get Veeam or even VMware to tell the exchange server the backup is complete and to dump its logs just like backup software would?!

Does that make sense? I will get my Google on but if anyone can help it would be much appreciated

 

[Knubje]

Which logs specifically are filling up the drive? - EWS? CAS? AddressBook? IIS?

Generally I've had problems with IIS logs on CAS servers (we move the log directory to another area of storage and hence not store on server). You could also disable IIS logs, I've never had the need to trace a specific connection at my business - yours could be different.

If you are talking actual Exchange Logs for Databases I would consider getting some more storage presented to the server and move the location of the log files there.

There might be a plugin for Veeam and Exchange, I doubt it though. Messing with logs can be a bit dangerous, should you actually need that VM to be restored with all the information in situ.

The issue is about acquiring more space for your needs, not fudging the backup process to get rid of logs.


Edit:- just spoke to a knowledgeable Veeam colleague and there is a method of running pre/post scripts in veeam after a backup job. So if you have a script that can run non-interactivley to remove content from the disk . i.e - "DEL C:\IIS\Logs\" then it could work in theory. Def worth testing on non-important box though!

 

[Rangler]

Need to know what OS its sitting on.
If 2008 then theoretically you can backup to a seperate drive which will flush the logs then make sure you backup the vm in its entireity.

VEEAM (payed version) is exchange aware so it should flush the logs for you however as said we need more information.

 

[Rangler]

Sorry shouldve said if 2K8 then windows backup to seperate drive will flush the logs.

Sorry too many beers.

 

[HungryHippos]

You should be using an Exchange aware backup solution or you will probably keep on hitting this problem, and anything else is probably asking for trouble come time to actually do any disaster recovery. Circular logging is OK if you are happy with restoring to the last full backup only and don't mind potentially losing anything that occurred since then.

There are a number of solutions out there, but if you don't want to spend money you could probably just Windows Server backup.

You and I must have different definitions of "working well". I would not consider a server that keeps failing due to running out of room to be working well at all!

 

[#Chri5#]

Which logs specifically are filling up the drive? - EWS? CAS? AddressBook? IIS?

If Circular Logging "fixes" the problem, then it's the storage group / database logs filling up the drive.

Veeam should be telling Exchange to flush the logs once the backup has completed succesfully, so I'd be looking at your backup job selections and settings. Just backing up the .EDB (and other files) isn't enough - Veeam needs to backup Exchange via the VSS writer otherwise the logs never get flushed (IIRC).

If you've got Veeam 6.1, then you can have some extra goodness like Exchange Explorer for restoring individual items

 

[coolamasta]

Thanks for the replies fella's its the transaction logs I meant to say sorry, I've not managed to do any research myself at the moment as im away.

Its running on Server 2008 R2 x64 and we are using Veeam 6.2 full paid for version.

Oh and when I say its working well, I mean besides the backup issue haha, we have an 80gb drive for the transaction logs and it takes about 3-4 weeks to fill it up!

I need to work out how I can get Veeam to flush the transaction logs after a successful VM backup I think, would rather that than backup to a separate drive etc

Monday when back in work will check out the Veeam settings and see what I can find and will also look at "Exchange Explorer" as mentioned above (thanks)

Cheers for the help