How to Backup Microsoft Exchange Server Mailboxes?

Exchange Server mailboxes contain some of the most crucial and sensitive information and data. Scenarios like logical and physical errors, hard disk failure, corruption in database, virus/malware attacks, etc., can put the mailboxes data at risk. To protect the Exchange Server mailboxes data, it is integral to regularly take backups of mailboxes. Backups can help restore the mailboxes quickly and efficiently in a case of an issue, thus ensuring business continuity. In this article, we will discuss different methods to back up Exchange Server mailboxes.

Methods to Back Up Exchange Server Mailboxes

You can back up the entire Exchange Server data or individual mailboxes. Follow the methods given below to backup Exchange Server mailboxes depending on your requirements.

Method 1: Use Windows Server Backup

You can use Windows Sever Backup to back up the entire Exchange Server data. In Exchange Server, there is a plug-in for the Windows Server Backup. This utility allows you to take a Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS)-based backup of the entire Exchange Server or a selected volume. However, to utilize Windows Server Backup, you must be a member of Administrators group or Backup Operators group. It does not support backup or backup storage on Clustered Shared Volumes. Let’s see how to use the Windows Server Backup:

Then, review the backup settings on the Confirmation page and then click on Backup.

• Launch Windows Server Backup and select Local Backup.
• In the right pane, under Actions, click on the Backup Once option.
• In the Backup Options wizard, select Different options, and then click on Next.
• Select Custom on the Select Backup Configuration page and then click on Next.
• On the Select Items for Backup window, click Add Items to select the volume(s) you want to back up and then click on OK.
• Select Advanced Settings. If you want to exclude any files or file types from the backup, click Add Exclusion.
• Select VSS full Backup under the VSS Settings tab and click on OK. Then, click Next.
• Select a location where you want to save the backup and then click on Next.

The will start the backup of selected volume(s). You can check the progress of the backup operation on the Backup Progress page.

Method 2: Export Mailboxes to PST Files

If you want to backup individual or selected mailboxes, then you can export the mailboxes to PST files. For this, you can use the New-MailboxExportRequest PowerShell cmdlet in the Exchange Management Shell (EMS). However, to use this command, you need to fulfil the following prerequisites:

1. Assign Mailbox Import Export Role

You must be assigned with the Mailbox Import Export role. You can use the following command to assign the Mailbox Import Export role to your user account.

New-ManagementRoleAssignment -Role “Mailbox Import Export” -User DomainName/UserName or alias

2. Create Share Location and Folder

You need to create a share location to save the exported PST files. After creating a folder, share this folder with the user having the Import/Export role (assigned above). The Exchange Trusted Sub System needs to be added to the permissions. The user should have full permissions on the share and the folder.

After fulfilling the above prerequisites, run the New-MailboxExportRequest command as given below to export a single mailbox:

New-MailboxExportRequest -Mailbox “MailboxName” -FilePath \\Servername\SharedFolderPathName\FileName.pst

You can modify or limit the scope of exported contents by utilizing various parameters with the New-MailboxExportRequest command. Here are a few parameters you can use while exporting Exchange mailbox to PST format.

-ContentFilter Parameter

By using this parameter with the command, you can export mailbox items based on subject and date. For instance, the following command lets you export items received before 01-01-2020 with a subject beginning with ‘RE’.

New-MailboxExportRequest -Mailbox “MailBoxName” -ContentFilter {(Received -lt ’01/01/2020′) -and (Subject –like ‘Re*’)} -FilePath \\Servername\SharedFolderPathName\FileName.pst

Similarly, you can export the emails received after a particular date by using the –gt (greater than) option.

If you want to export the emails based on a date range, you can use the –lt and –gt parameters together. For instance:

New-MailboxExportRequest -Mailbox “MailBoxName” -ContentFilter {(Received -lt ’01/01/2020’ –gt ‘01/01/2019′) -and (Subject –like ‘Re*’)} -FilePath \\Servername\SharedFolderPathName\FileName.pst

-ExcludeFolders and -IncludeFolders Parameters

You can include or exclude certain folders from the mailbox while exporting to PST format.

For instance, the following command will export only Inbox and Sent Items folders to PST.

New-MailboxExportRequest -IncludeFolders “#Inbox#/*”,”#SentItems#” -Mailbox “MailBoxName” -FilePath \\Servername\SharedFolderPathName\FileName.pst

You can also use the –ExcludeFolders parameter to skip some folders during the export process.

-IsArchive Parameter

By using this parameter, you can export only the archive folders to PST. For example,

New-MailboxExportRequest -Mailbox “MailBoxName” -IsArchive -FilePath \\Servername\SharedFolderPathName\FileName.pst

You can also use the New-MailboxExportRequest command to export multiple or all the mailboxes from the database at once. For this,

1. Create a variable to store all the mailboxes in your organization by using the following syntax:

$ExchangeMailboxes = Get-Mailbox

The Get-Mailbox cmdlet displays all the mailboxes on the server.

2. Then, use the ForEach loop with the cmdlet (see below) to export these mailboxes to PST.

ForEach $ExchangeMailbox|%{$_|New-MailboxExportRequest -FilePath \\Servername\SharedFolderPathName\$($_.Alias).pst}

Alternatively, you can create a script with the name “ExchangeMailboxes” containing usernames of mailboxes that you want to export or backup to PST format. Here’s the syntax:

$ExchangeMailboxes = “username1”,”username2”,…….,”usernameN”

($User in ($ExchangeMailboxes)) { New-MailboxExportRequest -Mailbox $User -FilePath \\Servername\SharedFolderPathName\$($User).pst" }

Although PowerShell commands help you to export Exchange mailboxes to PST, there are a few limitations, such as:

• The process is lengthy and time-consuming.
• The Mailbox Import/Export permission must be assigned to the user account.
• A large amount of space on the server storage media is required.
• There is no option to see the status of mailboxes that are being exported.
• Exporting multiple mailboxes to PST may impact the server performance.
• This command is available in Exchange Server 2013 and later versions.

Method 3: Use an EDB to PST Converter Software

A simpler way to backup Exchange mailboxes is by using a third-party EDB to PST converter software, such as Stellar Converter for EDB. This software can extract mailboxes from EDB file and export them directly to PST. After scanning the EDB files, the software displays the extracted mailboxes and other EDB items. It also offers option to filter only specific emails or folders of the mailboxes. While the mailboxes are being exported, you can see the progress bar to indicate the status of the mailboxes that are being exported. In addition to PST format, this EDB to PST conversion tool can save the EDB file items to EML, MSG, HTML, RTF, and PDF formats. It can also export EDB file items directly to Microsoft 365 or a live Exchange Server. The software supports all the versions of Microsoft Exchange Server, including 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007, 2003, 2000, and 5.5.  

Conclusion

To back up the Exchange Server mailboxes, you can create a complete backup of the server data using the Windows Server Backup. You can also export single or multiple mailboxes to PST format using the New-MailboxExportRequest command. As an alternative, you can use Stellar Converter for EDB to extract mailboxes from offline or hosted EDB files of any size and save them to PST files. You can filter the mailbox contents to be exported to PST and can also directly export the mailboxes to Microsoft 365 or a different Exchange Server.

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About The Author

Anubhuti Sinha

Anubhuti's passion for technology shines through her knowledge of Microsoft Exchange Server. She excels at managing, and troubleshooting this powerful platform. She has a bachelor’s degree in technology in the field of Electronics and Communication.