Veeam Backup 9 5 Explorers User Guide

Veeam Explorers Series
Version 9.5
User Guide
May, 2017
2017 Veeam Software.
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CONTENTS
CONTENTS............................................................................................................................................ 3
CONTACTING VEEAM SOFTWARE....................................................................................................... 5
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................... 6
WORKING WITH VEEAM EXPLORER FOR MICROSOFT ACTIVE DIRECTORY ..................................... 7
BEFORE YOU START.............................................................................................................................................................. 7
What's New in v9.5........................................................................................................................................... 7
How It Works ...................................................................................................................................................... 8
Prerequisites....................................................................................................................................................... 9
ADMINISTRATION ...............................................................................................................................................................14
First Steps ......................................................................................................................................................... 14
Obtaining Database Files from Backup ................................................................................................ 17
Adding Databases to Veeam Explorer Scope..................................................................................... 22
Viewing and Restoring AD Objects ........................................................................................................ 24
Obtaining Veeam Explorer Logs ............................................................................................................. 42
WORKING WITH VEEAM EXPLORER FOR MICROSOFT SQL SERVER ................................................ 43
BEFORE YOU START............................................................................................................................................................43
What's New in v9.5........................................................................................................................................ 43
Planning for Database Restore ................................................................................................................ 44
How It Works ................................................................................................................................................... 45
Prerequisites.................................................................................................................................................... 48
ADMINISTRATION ...............................................................................................................................................................57
First Steps ......................................................................................................................................................... 57
Obtaining Database File from VM Backup .......................................................................................... 61
Adding Database To Veeam Explorer Scope ...................................................................................... 67
Viewing Database Information ................................................................................................................ 68
Restoring Databases .................................................................................................................................... 69
Exporting Databases .................................................................................................................................... 84
Obtaining Veeam Explorer Logs ............................................................................................................. 97
WORKING WITH VEEAM EXPLORER FOR MICROSOFT EXCHANGE ................................................. 98
BEFORE YOU START............................................................................................................................................................98
What's New in v9.5........................................................................................................................................ 98
How It Works ................................................................................................................................................... 98
Prerequisites.................................................................................................................................................. 100
ADMINISTRATION ............................................................................................................................................................ 106
First Steps ....................................................................................................................................................... 106
Obtaining Database File from VM Backup ........................................................................................ 111
Adding Databases to Veeam Explorer Scope................................................................................... 117
Browsing, Searching and Viewing Items ............................................................................................ 119
Restore Scenarios ........................................................................................................................................ 123
Obtaining Log Files .................................................................................................................................... 133
WORKING WITH VEEAM EXPLORER FOR MICROSOFT SHAREPOINT ............................................ 134
BEFORE YOU START......................................................................................................................................................... 134

What's New in v9.5...................................................................................................................................... 134
How It Works ................................................................................................................................................. 135
Prerequisites.................................................................................................................................................. 136
ADMINISTRATION ............................................................................................................................................................ 145
First Steps ....................................................................................................................................................... 145
Obtaining Content Database Files from Backup ............................................................................ 150
Adding Databases to Veeam Explorer Scope................................................................................... 162
Browsing, Searching and Viewing Items ............................................................................................ 164
Restoring Data .............................................................................................................................................. 167
Obtaining Veeam Explorer Logs ........................................................................................................... 180
WORKING WITH VEEAM EXPLORER FOR ORACLE.......................................................................... 181
BEFORE YOU START......................................................................................................................................................... 181
What's New in v9.5...................................................................................................................................... 182
How It Works ................................................................................................................................................. 182
Prerequisites.................................................................................................................................................. 184
ADMINISTRATION ............................................................................................................................................................ 197
First Steps ....................................................................................................................................................... 197
Obtaining Database File from VM Backup ........................................................................................ 200
Viewing Database Information .............................................................................................................. 204
Restoring Database .................................................................................................................................... 205
Obtaining Veeam Explorer Logs ........................................................................................................... 214
APPENDIX. SQL DATABASE OPERATION SELECTION .................................................................... 215
REVISION HISTORY .......................................................................................................................... 217

CONTACTING VEEAM SOFTWARE
At Veeam Software we value the feedback from our customers. It is important not only to help you
quickly with your technical issues, but it is our mission to listen to your input, and build products that
incorporate your suggestions.
Customer Support
Should you have a technical concern, suggestion or question, please visit our Customer Center Portal
at www.veeam.com/support.html to open a case, search our knowledge base, reference
documentation, manage your license or obtain the latest product release.
Company Contacts
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www.veeam.com/contacts.html.
Online Support
If you have any questions about Veeam Explorers Series, you can use the following resources:
Full documentation set: www.veeam.com/backup-replication-resources.html
Community forum at forums.veeam.com

INTRODUCTION
Veeam Explorers are tools that extends the functionality of Veeam Backup & Replication, allowing you
to view and recover application items from within application VM backup or replica. The popular
applications supported by Veeam Explorer series include Microsoft Exchange, Active Directory,
SharePoint, SQL Server and Oracle. For that, you do not need to fully restore and start the virtual
machine hosting the application server. Instead, Veeam mounts the file system of the backed up
application VM to the corresponding server, creating a mount point on it. (Depending on the restore
scenario, it can be a target or a staging server.) Application databases are then detected (either
automatically, or manually pointed by used), and the corresponding Veeam Explorer displays their
content in the navigation tree.
This document is designed for backup administrators and other IT professionals who use Veeam
Backup & Replication to protect data in managed virtual environments. It assumes that you are
familiar with basic operations that can be performed in the Veeam Backup & Replication management
console.
This guide describes how to configure and use the series of Veeam Explorers, including:
Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory
Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL
Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange
Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SharePoint
Veeam Explorer for Oracle

WORKING WITH VEEAM EXPLORER FOR
MICROSOFT ACTIVE DIRECTORY
This chapter describes Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory and explains how to restore
Active Directory objects from the backups created with Veeam Backup & Replication.
Before You Start

Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory is a tool that extends the functionality of
Veeam Backup & Replication, allowing you to browse Active Directory database and recover the
necessary items (objects and containers) and their attributes from domain controller backup into
production. For that, you do not need to fully restore and start the virtual machine hosting the domain
controller. Instead, you can use Veeam Backup & Replication data recovery options to obtain the
necessary Active Directory database file (.DIT), mounting the virtualized DC backup to the local
machine. Then you can utilize the following Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory capabilities:
Use granular browsing and searching capabilities to find any object/container stored in
Active Directory database
Export objects/containers to a local folder or network drive
Restore them to the original or different location
With Veeam Explorer, you can restore changed or deleted Active Directory objects and containers:
users, groups, computers, account passwords for user, group or computer account, mail-enabled and
mailbox-enabled users and groups reconnecting their mailboxes, hard-deleted items and Online
Archive mailboxes, Organizational Units (OUs), Group Policy Objects (GPO), Configuration partition
objects, and AD-integrated DNS records. For Active Directory Domain Services 2016, restore of DNS
lookup zones and expiration time for linked attributes is also supported.
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.
What's New in v9.5

The following new features and enhancements were implemented in Veeam Explorer for Active
Directory 9.5:
Support for Active Directory Domain Services 2016, including restore of passwords, DNS
lookup zones, and expiration time for linked attributes.
UI enhancements, including ribbon menu, command-specific tabs, and support of display
themes as in Veeam Backup & Replication console.

How It Works
The basic procedure of searching and restoring Active Directory object with Veeam includes the
following steps:
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.

Prerequisites
To provide for Active Directory objects restore with Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory, 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. Ports should be configured, as listed in the Required Ports section.
4. Recovery logic and peculiarities of Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory operation
should be considered, as described in the Recommendations section.
5. Application-aware image-level backup should be successfully created for your Active
Directory Domain Services server, as described in the Veeam Backup & Replication User
Guide.
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 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.
Any edition of Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5.

Microsoft PowerShell 2.0 and later.
Veeam Explorer can restore the relationships between Active Directory
objects and corresponding mailboxes - if an object (user or group) was
deleted from production Active Directory, Veeam Explorer can restore this
object from Active Directory backup, reconnect Exchange mailbox and restore
mailbox security role for that object.
Software Veeam Explorer for Active Directory supports restore of both mailbox-enabled
objects (including hard-deleted items and Online Archives) and mail-enabled
objects for the following Microsoft Exchange versions:
o Microsoft Exchange Server 2016
o Microsoft Exchange Server 2013
o Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 SP1 and later
For other Microsoft Exchange versions, restore of mailbox-enabled objects is not
supported (only mail-enabled objects can be restored).

To open database files, Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory uses a
service dynamic link library (esent.dll) which is installed together with
Microsoft Active Directory Domain Services and can be found in the system
directory at %SystemRoot%.
Important! Esent.dll on the machine where Veeam Explorer runs should

be of the same version as Microsoft Active Directory Domain Services used to
create database files.
To restore account password, Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory

uses the registry database, so if you plan to restore password(s), make sure
that System registry hive is available (default location is
%systemroot%\System32\Config). If you restore Active Directory
database from Active Directory backup using Veeam file-level restore, then
registry hive will be located automatically. Otherwise, for example, if you
restore from an imported backup or from VeeamZIP file, make sure the
System registry hive is located in the same folder as .DIT file.
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.
From To Protocol Port Notes
Veeam Microsoft TCP 135 Port required for communication

backup Active between the domain controller and
server/stand Directory VM Veeam backup server.
alone guest OS
console TCP, UDP 389 LDAP connections.
TCP 636, 3268, 3269 LDAP connections.
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.

Required Backup Job Settings
To be able to explore and recover the necessary database using a desired restore scenario, you should
have a transactionally-consistent backup of your Active Directory Domain Services server created
successfully. For that, you should enable application-aware image processing and specify application-
specific settings, as described in the Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide for the corresponding
platform.
You may also find useful information in the following articles:

Backing Up a Domain Controller - the series of post in the Veeam corporate blog
Active Directory Backup & Recovery with Veeam - a technical white paper (currently available
for v8)
Licensing and Editions

Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory requires no special license to purchase; it is shipped
with all editions of Veeam Backup & Replication, including Veeam Backup Free Edition. However, the
full range of restore capabilities will be available with Veeam Backup & Replication Enterprise and
Enterprise Plus Edition only.
Compare editions:
Feature Free Standard Enterprise Enterprise Plus
Browse Available Available Available Available
Search Available Available Available Available

Save Available Available Available Available
Send Available Available Available Available
Export Available Available Available Available
Restore Single Available Available Available Available

to Active object
Directory restore
Domain
Services Container Not available Not available Available Available
server restore
Password Not available Available Available Available

restore
Group Not available Not available Available Available

Policy
Object
restore
AD- Not available Not available Available Available

integrated
DNS
records
restore
Configurat Not available Not available Available Available

ion
Partition
Object
restore
Considerations and Recommendations

To be able to explore and recover the necessary item within the Active Directory database files, make
sure that you have a transactionally consistent backup of your Active Directory Domain Services server
(domain controller) created successfully. (For details, see the "Transaction Consistency" and "Enable
Application-Aware Image Processing and Indexing" sections of Veeam Backup & Replication User
Guide.) When planning for Active Directory objects restore, please be aware of the considerations and
limitation described below.
The following logic is implemented in the Active Directory objects recovery process (except for Group
Policy objects described later in this topic):
If a tombstone object exists in the target Active Directory, Veeam will use this object for
recovery. This allows you to restore security attribute values including objectSID and
objectGUID for recovered objects, which is especially important for security principals
(including User, Computer, inetOrgPerson and Group objects).
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.

Note: In case you need to restore a business-critical object for which a tombstone is missing, you can
perform authoritative restore of entire domain from old DC backups which contain deleted object,
and then refresh them using Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory and newer backups.
To read more about tombstone objects, refer to Microsoft TechNet at

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd379542%28v=ws.10%29.aspx.
Also, consider the following when planning for your AD objects restore:
1. To properly restore deleted objects and their attributes including SID and GUID, it is
recommended that you carry out the restore procedure using Veeam Explorer for Microsoft
Active Directory, as explained in this guide, and make sure that recovery was a success.
2. Always use the backups which are newer than tombstone lifetime interval for Active
Directory forest.
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.

Administration
The basic procedure of Active Directory object recovery with Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active
Directory involves the following main steps:
Step 1: Obtain Database File from VM Backup
Step 2: Add Database to Veeam Explorer's Scope
Step 3: View and Restore AD Objects
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.

Getting to Know the User Interface
Main Menu
The main menu of Veeam Explorer can be opened by clicking its icon in the top left corner of the main
window, next to the Home tab. The menu contains commands related to general application settings.
In particular, you can perform the following operations:
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
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.

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.

Obtaining Database Files from Backup
Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory works with database files that you obtain from the
VeeamZIP file or from database backup or replica of an Active Directory Domain Services Server VM,
without a need to restore that VM itself. The file system of the backed up VM is mounted to the local
mount server - that is, the machine where Veeam Explorer runs. Being added to Veeam Explorer
scope, the database becomes available for browsing, search and restore of Active Directory objects.
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.
Using Microsoft Active Directory Object Restore Wizard

To start the Microsoft Active Directory Object Restore wizard, do one of the following:
In Veeam Backup & Replication, open the Backup & Replication view. Go to the Home tab of
the ribbon menu and click Restore on the toolbar. In the Restore wizard, select Application
items, then select Microsoft Active Directory and click Next.

You will be taken to Step 1 of the Microsoft Active Directory Item Restore wizard.
In Veeam Backup & Replication, open the Backup & Replication view. Select the Backups
node, expand the backup job with the Microsoft Active Directory server in the working area.
Select the Microsoft Active Directory Domain Services server VM and click Application items
> Microsoft Active Directory from the ribbon. In this case, you will pass to the Step 2 of the
wizard.
node, expand the backup job with the Microsoft Active Directory server in the working area.
Right-click the Microsoft Active Directory Domain Services server and select Restore
application items > Microsoft Active Directory objects.... In this case, you will pass to the
Step 2 of the wizard. Note that you can use this method only for Microsoft Active Directory
backups that were created with VSS-aware image processing enabled.
Step 1. Select a Backup with Microsoft Active Directory

In the list of available jobs, select a Microsoft Active Directory VM. If you want to view all VMs included
in the job, select the Show all VMs check box. To quickly find VMs in jobs, use the search field at the
bottom of the window.
Step 2. Select a Restore Point

Select a necessary restore point for the Microsoft Active Directory VM.

Step 3. Enter a Restore Reason
If necessary, enter the reason for performing VM guest file restore and click Next. The information you
provide will be saved in the session history so that you can reference it later.
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.
Step 4. Restore the Microsoft Active Directory Database

At the last step of the wizard, review the summary and click Finish to start the restore process.

After you click Finish, Veeam Backup & Replication will automatically perform the following actions:
1. Mount the selected backup file to Veeam backup server.
2. Locate the Microsoft Active Directory database in the backup file.
3. Launch Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory.
4. Add the Microsoft Active Directory database to the Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active
Directory scope, displaying database hierarchy and objects in the Veeam Explorer window.
Using Guest OS Restore Wizard

The Guest OS Restore wizard allows you to mount the backup of the Active Directory domain
controller and extract the Active Directory database files. When you perform file-level restore of guest
OS files, the VM image will not be extracted from the backup but the content of a backup file is
mounted directly to the corresponding mount server and displayed in the inbuilt Veeam Backup
Browser. After that, you can locate the necessary database file and add it to Veeam Explorer for
Microsoft Active Directory.
1. In the Veeam Backup & Replication console, open the Backup & Replication view, go to the
Home tab on the ribbon menu and click Restore.
2. In the Restore Wizard, select Guest Files > Guest Files (Windows).
3. In the list of available jobs, select the backup or replica of the domain controller from which
the Active Directory database should be restored.
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.

Note: Please note that the names of the restored machine drives may differ from the original ones.
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.

Adding Databases to Veeam Explorer Scope
For users to be able to browse and restore the AD objects, Active Directory database should be added
to the Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory scope.
If you were using Microsoft Active Directory Object Restore Wizard, this operation will be
performed automatically.
If you were using file-level restore to mount the contents of the backup file with the database
file in it, then you can browse to NTDS.DIT file using Backup Browser and double-click it to
automatically open Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory and add the database to its
scope.
Alternatively, you will need to manually add a database to Veeam Explorer 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.
3. Click Open and wait for the operation to complete.

To add multiple databases to Veeam Explorer scope when one database is already open, you can run
the same command from the menu bar on the Home tab of the ribbon menu, or right-click the root
item in the navigation tree and select Add database from its shortcut menu.

To remove a database from Veeam Explorer scope:
1. Select the database in the navigation pane.
2. Click Remove Database on Home tab of the toolbar.
You can also right-click the domain item in the navigation pane and click Remove database in the
item's shortcut menu.
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.

Viewing and Restoring AD Objects
After adding the Active Directory databases to the Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory
scope, you can browse through the database objects and containers, view their attributes, search and
restore the objects or containers you need.
Browsing for AD Objects

In the Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory navigation pane, you can see Active Directory
objects and containers. When you select a container node, you can browse its contents in the working
area on the right.
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:
Searching for AD Objects

At the top of the preview pane on the right, there is a search field that allows you to find items that
match a specified search term. You can select any item in the hierarchy on the left to define your
search scope: Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory will search through attribute values of all
items within selected container (for example, organizational unit) or within the whole database.
You can use logical operators such as AND, OR and NOT (must be typed in uppercase letters).
When you search a phrase, the search will by default locate items that contain any search terms in the
phrase, not the phrase itself. For example, as shown in the figure below, searching for group policy will
return the objects with names and/or attribute values containing the words group and policy (not the
group policy as the exact phrase).

To find the exact phrase, use double quotes (for our example, group policy).
Search results are shown in the preview pane; you can right-click the required item and use the ribbon
or shortcut menu command to export, restore, view the attributes of the object found, or compare its
attributes with the original values.
Using LDAP Queries

You can also use LDAP queries to efficiently search for the objects/containers meeting specified
criteria. For that, do the following:
1. Select the container you need in the navigation tree.
2. On the Home tab, click Use LDAP Filter on the toolbar to switch to the corresponding search
mode.
3. In the search field, enter the LDAP query and click the search icon.
4. Wait for the process to complete, then view the results in the preview pane.

Note: If you enter LDAP query without switching to the corresponding search mode, your search will return
no results. If your LDAP query syntax is incorrect, you will get an error message. For detailed
information about LDAP query syntax, refer to http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/aa746475(v=vs.85).aspx.
Viewing Object Attributes

Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory allows you to view the attributes of selected object. For
that, right-click the item you need and select View Attributes from the shortcut menu.
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.

To copy the necessary attributes to the clipboard, select the attribute in the list and press [CRTL]+C on
the keyboard. Multiple selection is also supported.
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.

Then you can examine status of the Active Directory objects in the right pane.
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).
Viewing Selected Object Changes

To review attribute modifications for a single object, right-click it and from the shortcut or ribbon
menu on the Objects tab select Compare Selected Object. (If selected object status has been
changed to Tombstone, a corresponding message will be displayed.)

Then the Compare Attributes window will be displayed where attribute changes will be presented,
showing Name, Backup Value and Production Value for object attributes that were modified. Here
the following options can be used:
To display both changed and preserved attributes, select the Show unchanged attributes
check box; changed attributes will be displayed with bold font.
To display system attributes (hidden by default), select the Show system attributes check
box.
To review changes of linked or multi-valued attributes, double-click on the attribute.
To select one or more attributes from the list, use CTRL and Shift keys.
To restore selected attribute values from backup to production Active Directory, click the
Restore button. The 1-Click Restore process will be started, as described in the 1-Click Restore
section.

Note: During this restore process, the "Replace" logic will be applied; when restoring mail attributes, no
automatic mailbox re-connect will be performed.
Exporting Objects and Containers

With Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory, you can export object(s) or container(s) to a folder
in the specified location. Exported objects/containers will be saved using Lightweight Data
Interchange Format (LDIF) into .LDF files. You can make a .LDF file available to Active Directory
Domain Services server you need by importing it with ldifde utility (see
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc816781(v=WS.10).aspx for details).
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.

3. Specify destination location.
4. Click Save and wait for the export to complete.
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.

3. Specify destination location in the Export to: field.
4. If you want to save only objects that are included in the selected container and meet specific
filtering criteria, click Show settings to set the filter. With the applied filter, exported
container will include only selected objects.
5. Select the Save only objects that suit the following filter check box and enter filtering
criteria (see the Searching section for more details). If necessary, select the Use LDAP filter
check box to switch to the corresponding filtering mode.
Note: If using LDAP filter, verify the filtering query syntax before you proceed.
6. Click Export and wait for the process to complete.

Note: Nested containers are exported with the preserved hierarchy.
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.
Initially, default location is current user's Desktop folder (C:\Users\%username%\Desktop). It may

change if for the latest export operation a user has specified another target location (that is,
performed the restore using Export Objects or Export Container command). If so, that location will
be used as a new default target, appearing in the UI menu command.
Restoring Objects and Containers

With Veeam Explorer, you can restore Active Directory objects and containers to the original or
different location in your production environment. For that, Active Directory Restore Wizard is used,
where you can choose target server and restore options. Also, you can use 1-Click Restore feature to
quickly recover selected objects or containers to their original 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.

3. The restore wizard is launched; follow its steps to specify restore options for the AD object(s).
Step 1. Specify Target Server
Specify target settings to be used for restoring Active Directory objects:

Select target Active Directory Domain Services server from the list, or type in server name. To
specify Global Catalog server, click the button on the right.
If necessary, select to Use SSL when connecting to the server.
Specify the account to be used for connection with LDAP server. You can use the current
account under which you are running Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory, or
specify another account in the domain\username format, and enter its password.
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).

Then click Next, and Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory will verify the connection, using
the settings you have specified. If validation fails, an error message will be issued. Check the
connection settings and try again.
Step 2. Specify Restore Location
Next, specify whether the object(s) should be restored to the original container, or to a different one.
Step 3. Specify Password Restore Options
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.

Consider the following when making your choice:
If you are setting a new password for the account being restored, check that it complies with
password policy in your production environment. Otherwise, production Active Directory will
report the following error which will be written to Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active
Directory log:
Extended LDAP error: 0x1325 Unable to update the password. The
value provided for the new password does not meet the length,
complexity, or history requirements of the domain.
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.
Step 4. Select Account State to Apply
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.

Step 5. Specify Restore Options
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:

o With this option selected (default setting), Veeam will restore expiration time for
linked attributes, defining it as time remaining to expiration (as set up in the
original AD).
o With this option cleared, restore expiration time will not be set for restored linked
attributes.
o If a linked attribute expires by the moment of restore, it will not be restored to
target Active Directory.
2. Select whether you need to restore Entire objects or Selected attributes only. Consider the
following:
o With the Entire objects option selected and sufficient rights of the account used to
connect to target server, Exchange mailboxes will be reconnected, and mailbox
security roles will be restored. For details on account rights, see Permissions.
o With the Selected attributes only option selected, you will be offered to select the
attributes to be restored:

If necessary, use the Select All or Clear All buttons, as well as the Select mail attributes link
to speed up your choice (this link will be shown only if mail attributes are present in Active
Directory Domain Service server backup).
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.

To restore to the location of your choice, take the following steps:
2. From the toolbar menu commands, select Restore Container > Restore container... from
the ribbon menu on the Container tab, or use the container's shortcut menu command.
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.)
1-Click Container Restore

To quickly restore a container to the original server, do the following:

2. Select Restore Container > Restore container to <server_name> from the ribbon menu on
the Container tab, or use the same command from the shortcut menu.
3. Wait while selected container is being restored to the original location.
1-Click Object Restore

1. Select the required object in the preview pane on the right. (Multiple selection is also
supported.)
2. Select Restore Objects > Restore to <server_name> from the ribbon menu on the
Container tab, or use the same command from the shortcut menu.
3. Wait for the process to complete.

Obtaining Veeam Explorer Logs
To view current restore session log, go to the main menu and select Current log.
To open folder where Veeam Explorer log files are stored, select Open logs path. Default location is
C:\ProgramData\Veeam\Backup\ActiveDirectoryExplorer\Logs.

MICROSOFT SQL SERVER
This chapter describes Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server and explains how to restore SQL
server databases from the backups created with Veeam Backup & Replication.
Before You Start

Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server is a tool that extends the functionality of
Veeam Backup & Replication, allowing you to view and recover databases from within Microsoft SQL
Server VM backup. For that, you do not need to fully restore and start the virtual machine hosting the
SQL Server. Instead, you can use Veeam Backup & Replication data recovery options to mount the
selected restore point (image-level backup or replica) of Microsoft SQL Server VM to Veeam backup
server and then specify how you want your database to be restored. Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL
Server offers the following capabilities:
Browsing Microsoft SQL Server instances and databases
Exporting databases, schema objects and data to a local folder or network drive, including
quick and easy 1-Click Export
Restoring databases, schema and data to the original server or different server
Veeam supports database and schema restore to the current state (that is, to the moment when
currently selected Microsoft SQL Server backup was created), restore to the selected point in time
(here transaction log replay will bring the database to the desired point), and restore to the state
before selected transaction.
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?
What's New in v9.5

The following new features and enhancements were implemented in this version Veeam Explorer for
Microsoft SQL Server:
Support for SQL Server 2016, including AlwaysOnGroups and system-versioned tables.
Support for memory-optimized tables in SQL Server 2014 and FileTable tables in SQL Server
2012.

Planning for Database Restore
Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server supports several database recovery scenarios and offers
flexible options for them.
First, you should analyze how your backup infrastructure is organized and identify the locations of
Veeam backup server, backup repository and production VMs. This will help you to decide on
preferable machine for mount operation. For mount operations, Veeam Explorer utilizes the
corresponding service (Veeam Mount Service) that can run on Veeam backup server or on Veeam
standalone console - both of them include Veeam Explorer in their setup. So, Veeam backup console
can work as a mount server in the remote site, eliminating the need to deploy additional Veeam
backup server in that site and minimizing traffic at restore.
Consider the following recommendations:
If repository and production (target) SQL Server VM are located in the same site with Veeam
backup server, Veeam Explorer will utilize Mount Service running on Veeam backup server for
mount operation.
If repository and production (target) SQL Server VM are located in a remote site (separately
from Veeam backup server), it can be reasonable to deploy Veeam Backup & Replication
console in that remote site, and launch Veeam Explorer from that console, initiating mount
operation locally in the site where console is running.
Next, to choose a restore scenario, you should consider your organizations policies and requirements
and decide on the following:
1. Do you need to recover your database to the moment when the certain Microsoft SQL Server
VM restore point (backup or replica) was created, or to any point in time, maybe within the
interval between two restore points?
In the latter case, database will be restored to the closest VM restore point before the
moment you specify, and then transaction log replay will bring the database to the necessary
state. So, you will need to make sure Microsoft SQL Server transaction logging is enabled, and
logs are backed up according to VM backup job settings
2. Should you recover to the point in time, or is it necessary to support more granular recovery
and be able to roll back to a state before undesired transaction?
For the most granular restore, you will need to enable backup of your Microsoft SQL Server
transaction logs and ensure the staging SQL Server availability and proper configuration (see
the Staging SQL Server section).
3. Do you plan to restore your database to the original Microsoft SQL Server, or to a different
server?
Make sure the account you plan to use for restore has sufficient permissions on the target
server, and check for proper version (later version database cannot be restored to earlier
version server).
To implement the selected scenario, you should, in particular, do the following:
Decide on the required level of restore granularity and configure the necessary SQL Server
VM backup job settings
Examine relevant considerations and limitations
Provide the user account under which Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server will be
launched with sufficient rights on your source and target SQL Servers
Use the appropriate option when choosing VMs restore point

How It Works
The basic procedure of restoring Microsoft SQL Server database with Veeam Explorer for Microsoft
SQL Server includes the following steps (illustration shows the most common scenario 'Restore to
current restore point' that requires no dedicated staging server):
1,2 An IT administrator users Veeam Backup & Replication restore options to obtain database
files from the SQL Server's backup and mount it to SQL server. This can be target or staging
server, depending on the required restore scenario.
3. Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server obtains SQL server hierarchy information (instances
and databases) and presents it to user, facilitating browsing of the hierarchy. A user selects
the necessary restore scenario. Veeam Explorer supports several scenarios:
o Restore or export to current restore point (the one currently mounted to the
corresponding server)
o Restore or export to selected point in time
o Restore or export to the state before selected transaction
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:
Veeam SQL Restore Service

In most scenarios, Veeam installs a runtime component named Veeam SQL Restore Service to the VM
guest OS (target or staging server, depending on selected restore or export scenario) - to support
restore activities on the SQL server VM guest.

Note: If you are restoring the database to the local SQL server instance, this runtime component is not
installed on the SQL 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 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>
3. Supply the necessary values for Agent MinimumPort and

MaximumPort.
Restore and Export Scenarios

Restore scenarios are implemented as follows:
Target SQL Server is used to perform the restore operations. Depending on the scenario, the
corresponding backup data is utilized (the restore points closest to the specified time or
transaction, and transaction log backups). In the Restore to selected point in time and Restore to
the state before selected transaction scenario, transaction log files are copied from backup
repository to the Windows machine hosting the target server, so the account used to run
Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server will require appropriate permissions (see
Permissions for details). Then target server performs log replay with the closest earlier restore
point to bring the database to the desired state.
Staging SQL Server is used in Restore to the state before selected transaction scenario - it
presents transaction records to user who selects the undesired transaction and instructs
Veeam to restore database to the state prior to that operation. Staging SQL Server is specified
on the SQL Server Settings tab of the Options dialog (open from the main menu). By
default, local Microsoft SQL Server deployed together with the Veeam backup server is used
as a staging system.
Export scenarios are implemented as follows:

In the Export to current restore point (the one currently mounted to Veeam backup server)
scenario, database will be exported as .MDF to the specified target SQL Server, schema
objects will be exported with .SQL script file; no staging server is needed.
For the Export to selected point in time scenario, you will need a staging SQL Server it will be
used for log replay with the closest earlier restore point to bring the database to the desired
state. Database file (.mdf) or script file for schema objects (.sql) will be copied to the
specified location.
The Export to the state before selected transaction scenario also requires a staging SQL Server
to present the list of transactions to user and to replay the logs in order to bring the database
to the desired state.
The scenarios involving staging SQL Server are illustrated in the figure below:
1,2 Database files from the SQL Server's backup are mounted to SQL server (staging or target,
depending on the required restore scenario). In particular, staging server is used in Restore to
the state before selected transaction scenario - it presents transaction records to user who
selects the undesired transaction and instructs Veeam to restore database to the state prior to
that operation.
3,4 Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server obtains SQL server hierarchy information (instances
and databases) and presents it to user. A user chooses the database to restore and specifies
target location (original or another server), settings required to access that server, as well as
the required point in time or undesired transaction.
5. Database files (including log files, if necessary) are then copied from the repository to the
Windows machine hosting the target server, the database is attached to target SQL server,
put in the desired state (using log replay, if necessary) and becomes ready for use.
Note: See System Requirements for more information on the staging SQL Server.

Mount Operations
For restore from backups of Microsoft SQL Server VMs, Veeam Mount Service a component that is
responsible for mount operations creates an additional mount point on the original VM, and, if
necessary, on a staging Microsoft SQL Server. As said, mount to the staging server is used when you
perform restore to a specific transaction, or if Veeam Backup & Replication does not have information
about databases (for example, if you initiate restore from storage snapshots).
To create a mount point on Microsoft Windows machines, Veeam 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.
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.
3. Required permissions should be assigned to the accounts involved, as listed in the Required
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.
The following versions of Microsoft SQL Server are supported as source/target systems
for database restore:
Microsoft SQL Server 2016
Microsoft SQL Microsoft SQL Server 2012
Server Microsoft SQL Server 2008R2
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.

Also, consider the following:
1. By default, the AUTO_CLOSE option for SQL Server databases is set to False. However, check
that this setting is False for the database you plan to restore (if AUTO_CLOSE is turned on, this
may lead to database being skipped from processing).
2. If you plan to restore database items from an SQL Server VM running Microsoft Windows
ReFS, consider that Veeam backup server or management console (that is, the machine
where Veeam Explorer and the mount service are running) must be installed on the Microsoft
Windows Server 2012 or later.
3. To restore from a server running Microsoft Windows ReFS 3.x, Veeam backup server or
management console (that is, the machine where Veeam Explorer and the mount service are
running) must be installed on the Microsoft Windows Server 2016.
See also "Restoring Guest OS Files - Before You Begin" section of the Veeam Backup & Replication User
Guide and How It Works section of this document.
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.

Used Ports
Backup
The following table describes network ports that must be opened to ensure proper communication
with the runtime coordination process deployed inside the Microsoft SQL Server guest OS for
application-aware processing and transaction logs shipping.
TCP, 135, 137- Ports required to deploy the runtime coordination

UDP 139, 445 process on the VM guest OS.
Microsoft
SQL Server
Veeam backup TCP 49152- Dynamic RPC port range used by the runtime
VM guest OS
server or Guest 65535 (for coordination process deployed inside the VM
interaction Microsoft guest OS for application-aware processing (when
proxy (in working over the network).*
Windows
Enterprise and
Enterprise Plus
2008 and For more information, see
newer) http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929851/en-us.
editions)
TCP 6167 [For Microsoft SQL Server transaction logs
shipping.] Port used by the runtime process on the
VM guest OS from which transaction logs are
collected.
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.
UDP 1434 Port used by Microsoft SQL Server Browser Service.

To learn more, see

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/ms181087(v=sql.130).aspx.
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

Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server does not require a separate license; it is installed together
with Veeam Backup & Replication server or stand-alone management console during the setup.
All editions including Veeam Backup Free Edition are supported. However, the full range of restore
capabilities will be available with Veeam Backup & Replication Enterprise and Enterprise Plus Edition
only, as listed in the table below.
Feature\Edition Free Standard Enterprise Enterprise Plus
View database information Available Available Available Available
Export database Available Available Available Available
Export database schema and/or Available Available Available Available

data
Restore database to original or Not available Not available Available Available

different server
Restore database schema and/or Not available Not available Available Available
data to the original or different
server
Considerations and Limitations

1. If you are using SQL Server Express edition (for example, SQL Server 2012 Express included in
Veeam setup) as a staging system, consider that 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). If you plan to recover large databases following a
scenario that requires a staging server, then it is necessary to configure a fully functional
commercial version of Microsoft SQL Server as a staging system.

2. By default, system databases (master, model, msdb) are skipped from transaction log
processing and are not a part of Veeam Explorer restore workflow. These databases can be
restored using file-level restore, as described in the Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide. If
you want to exclude other database(s) from transaction log processing workflow, please refer
to this Veeam Knowledge Base article. Consider that exclusion configured this way will be
treated as a global setting.
3. Transaction log backup requires that at least one image-level backup of SQL Server VM is
performed. This particularly means that transaction log backup will not function after full SQL
Server VM restore is performed, or for newly appearing databases, until first image-level VM
backup is performed.
4. Currently, point-in-time restore and restore to the state before selected transaction is not
supported for replica VMs and for restore points created by backup copy job.
5. Transaction log backups is not supported for Windows Server 2008 or earlier guests on
Hyper-V 2012 R2.
6. If you want to restore a database from AlwaysOn availability group node to the state as of
prior to selected transaction, all nodes of the group should be located in the same time zone.
7. Table-level recovery is supported only for database tables with no external dependencies.
8. If you plan to restore an encrypted database using Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server,
consider information provided in this Veeam Knowledge Base article.
9. If you plan to restore database schema objects, consider that 'Replace' logic is not supported -
that is, if an object with the same name exists in the production database and in the backup,
then a backup object will not replace the existing one, but an object with a different name
will be created instead, as described in the Restoring Database Schema and Data. Also,
consider that when objects are renamed, relationships between them are not renamed.
10. If both Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle Server are installed on one VM, and this VM is
processed by a job with log backup enabled for both applications, Veeam Backup &
Replication will back up only Oracle transaction logs. Microsoft SQL Server transaction logs
will not be processed.
Support for AlwaysOn Availability Groups

AlwaysOn Availability Groups are supported for Microsoft SQL Server 2012 and later.
If you want to restore a database from AlwaysOn availability group node to the state as of
prior to selected transaction, all nodes of the group should be located in the same time zone.
If you are using Basic Availability Groups on Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Standard Edition,
consider that secondary replica node cannot be backed up because the secondary node is
not readable. See the following article for more information:
https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/alwaysonpro/2016/05/02/sql-server-2016-alwayson-
availability-group-enhancements-basic-availability-group-on-standard-edition/.
See also the corresponding section of the "How To Backup and Restore SQL Server Database with
Veeam" document at https://helpcenter.veeam.com/backup/howtosql/how2_sql_always_on.html.
Staging SQL Server

To restore or export application item (database, schema or data) to the state as of the current restore
point (that is, as of in the VM backup which is currently mounted to Veeam backup server), no extra
configuration is needed. However, as described in the How It Works section, to support other
scenarios, Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server needs a staging Microsoft SQL Server. In particular,
it is required for the following operations:
Restore to the state before selected transaction

Export to selected point in time
Export to the state before selected transaction
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).
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).
Check that the staging system meets the following prerequisites:

1. Make sure that staging SQL Server has the same or later version as the original SQL Server
(the VM processed by Veeam job).
2. If the database you plan to restore utilizes any SQL Server feature that is supported in the
certain edition of SQL Server, then the staging SQL Server must be not only of the same (or
higher) version as the original SQL Server but also of the same (or higher) edition. For
example, if the database was created with Backup Compression built-in feature of SQL Server,
then you can use SQL Server 2008 R2 Standard Edition and higher as a staging system, but
you cannot use SQL Server 2008 R2 Express Edition, as it does not support that feature.
So, when planning for the staging SQL Server, check for edition-specific features of your
source databases and make sure the staging system meets the above requirement.
3. Specific ports on staging server will be used during restore session, as described in the Used
Ports section.
4. If you plan to add database(s) to Veeam Explorer scope manually, consider domain trusts.
Required Microsoft SQL Server Backup Job Settings

To be able to explore and recover the necessary database, you should have a transactionally-
consistent backup of your Microsoft SQL Server created successfully. For details, see the Veeam
Backup & Replication User Guide for VMware or for Hyper-V platform.
Also, you need to decide whether you need to recover your SQL database items to the latest available
restore point only, to any point in time, or to the state before a particular transaction. Then you should
configure the corresponding log processing options with Veeam Backup & Replication, using the VM
processing settings in backup job properties.
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.

Then go to the SQL tab and select the option you need:
Truncate logs if selected, this option will allow only for the database restore to the state as
of currently selected VM restore point (no logs to replay). Any recovery model can be set for
SQL server database; logs written by SQL server will be truncated by Veeam Backup &
Replication.
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.

Backup logs if selected, this option will support any database restore scenario (to the state
as of in currently selected VM restore point, to any point in time or to the state before
particular transaction). Veeam Backup & Replication will periodically ship transaction logs to
the backup repository and store them with the SQL server VM backup, truncating transaction
logs on the original VM. Make sure that recovery model for the required SQL server
database(s) is set to full or bulk-logged. Contact your database administrator, if necessary.
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.

Veeam option: Truncate logs Do not truncate logs Backup logs periodically
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.

Administration
Having your Microsoft SQL Server VM application-aware backup created successfully, with the
necessary log processing options applied, you can use Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server to
restore the required database, using the preferred scenario. Generic procedure goes as follows:
1. Recover database file(s) (as well as secondary and log files, if available) from SQL server VM
backup, replica or VeeamZip file manually or automatically. See Recovering Database File
from VM Backup.
2. In case of manual recovery, add database to Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server scope.
See Adding Database To Veeam Explorer's Scope.
3. View database information to make sure database backup settings allow you to follow the
restore scenario you need. See Viewing Database Information.
4. To restore or export database(s) to the original location, use 1-Click Restore and 1-Click
Export.
5. To restore or export database(s) to another location, follow the required scenario, as
described in the corresponding section later in this document. See Restoring Databases and
Exporting Databases.
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

Click Save shortcut if you want to store these connection settings for future use as a shortcut on your
Desktop.
In This Section
Getting to Know User Interface
Configuring Staging SQL Server Settings

The main menu of Veeam Explorer can be opened by clicking its icon in the top left corner of the
Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server 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
Access online Help
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. 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 database, the Database tab displaying buttons for
operations with databases will appear on the ribbon. If you then select a server node, the Server tab
with the corresponding operations will be displayed.
Tip: Commands for operations with selected entity are also available in the shortcut menu.
Display Theme
Explorer.
Configuring Staging SQL Server

You can use the Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Express that is shipped with the Veeam Backup &
Replication setup as a staging system (this will be the default staging server). You can also use another
SQL Server instance, either local or remote, as a staging system.
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.

2. Select the necessary SQL Server instance (local or remote) from the list.
3. Specify user account that will be used to access this SQL server - this can be current account
(the one under which Veeam Explorer is running) or another account.
4. Specify account that will be used to access Windows machine where that SQL server runs.
You can also use current account or another account.
Staging Server and Domain Trusts

If you plan to add database(s) to Veeam Explorer scope manually, as described later in this guide,
consider the following when setting up the staging SQL Server:
If this SQL Server belongs to an untrusted domain, connection will not be possible.
If this SQL Server belongs to a trusted domain, then only SQL Server authentication is
possible.
If this 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.
c) After that, restart the staging SQL Server.
d) Select the domain user account that you want to use for connection to the staging
SQL Server, and in its properties on the Account tab make sure the Account is
sensitive and cannot be delegated check box is cleared.

Note: Contact your Active Directory administrator, if necessary.
Obtaining Database File from VM Backup

Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server supports database files obtained from the VeeamZIP file or
from SQL server VM backup or replica. So, the following operations should be performed:
1. Obtain database file from the latest or specified restore point (backup, replica or VeeamZIP
file) by means of Veeam Backup & Replication.
2. Add this database to the Veeam Explorer scope.
You can carry out these two steps in a fully automated way by using the Microsoft SQL Server
Database Restore wizard (described later in this guide). In this case, Veeam Backup & Replication will
automatically obtain the database from the backup and open it in Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL
Server.
Alternatively, you can perform these steps manually: first, obtain the database files from the backup
using any other Veeam recovery option (for example, Windows guest OS recovery), then locate the
necessary database and add it to Veeam Explorer scope. This course of action is described in the next
sections.
Manual Steps for VeeamZIP File

To obtain the database file from the VeeamZIP file, you can use full VM recovery or guest OS file-level
recovery (preferred option) for the virtualized SQL server. Then in Veeam Backup Browser you can
locate the database you want to restore.
To add the database file to Veeam Explorer scope directly from the mounted VM file system, do the
following:
1. In the navigation tree of Veeam Backup Browser, choose the folder where the primary
database file (.mdf) is located (for information about default file paths, please refer to the
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143547.aspx).
2. On the Home tab of Veeam Backup Browser toolbar, select Application Items>SQL Server
Databases. The database will be added to Veeam Explorer scope and displayed in its main
window.

Note: If you choose to restore database 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.
Manual Steps for Backup or Replica

To extract the 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. Data
recovery options are described in detail in Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide. We will use Guest
OS Restore wizard as a sample method.
Guest OS Restore Wizard allows you to mount the backup of the Microsoft SQL server to the Veeam
backup server and extract the database files. When you perform file-level restore of guest OS files, the
file system of a backed up VM will be mounted to the Veeam mount server and automatically
displayed in the in-built Backup Browser. After that, you can locate the necessary database file and
add it to Veeam Explorer's scope.
Do the following:
1. In the Veeam Backup & Replication console, open the Home tab and click Restore.
2. In the Restore Wizard window, select Guest Files > Guest Files (Windows).
3. In the list of available jobs, select the backup or replica of the SQL server from which the
database should be restored.
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.

3. Click Finish to start restoring. Once the restore is completed, Veeam Backup & Replication will
open Backup Browser displaying the file system tree of the restored VM.
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.
Automated Steps for Backup or Replica

This wizard automatically performs SQL Server VM file-level recovery, detects SQL hierarchy, including
instances and databases, and adds selected database to Veeam Explorer scope, attaching it to the
staging server for further export and restore.
To start the Microsoft SQL Server Database Restore wizard, do any of the following:
In Veeam Backup & Replication, open the Backup & Replication view and go to the Home
tab. Click Restore and select the necessary VM platform. In the Restore Options window,
select Application items, on the next step select Microsoft SQL Server. You will proceed to
the Virtual Machine step of the wizard.
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.

node, expand the backup job with the SQL server VM in the right pane. Right-click the SQL
server VM and from its shortcut menu select Restore application items > Microsoft SQL
databases.
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.
Microsoft SQL Server Database Restore Wizard

1. In the Virtual Machine step, expand the job you need from the list of backup jobs, and select
the SQL server VM hosting the required database. To quickly find VMs in jobs, use the search
field at the bottom of the window.

2. Select the restore point to be used. Veeam supports the following restore options:
Restore from the latest available backup this is the default option.
Restore from this restore point with this option selected, you can then choose
the necessary restore point from the list.
3. Next, enter the reason for SQL server VM restore.
4. On the Summary page, review the details of your VM to be recovered, and click Finish.

After that, Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server will be launched, with the SQL server hierarchy (for
the chosen restore point) automatically added to its scope and shown in the navigation tree. Then you
can use Veeam Explorer functionality to view, export and restore databases.

Adding Database To Veeam Explorer Scope
To allow users to browse and restore the necessary data, SQL server database must be added to
Veeam Explorer's scope.
The following ways are possible:
If you are using Microsoft SQL Database Restore Wizard to mount the contents of the backup
file, then Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server will be launched automatically, with the
database added to its scope, and Microsoft SQL server hierarchy will be displayed in the main
window.
If you are using other Veeam file-level restore option, then you can navigate to the necessary
database file in Veeam Backup Browser and use the Application Items>SQL Server
Databases menu command on the Home tab to launch Veeam Explorer; Veeam will
automatically discover SQL server databases in the mounted backup and add them to scope.
Otherwise, if you have manually recovered the database from backup or if you are using
imported backup, then you should explicitly add database file to the Veeam Explorer scope,
making it visible in the console.
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.

Important! Keep in mind that the restore point you have selected when restoring SQL server VM becomes a
reference point for the database recovery scenarios (it will be referred to as current restore point).
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.
Viewing Database Information

In the Veeam Explorer navigation pane, you can see the hierarchy of SQL server, including all instances
and databases added to scope. When you select an entity in the navigation tree, you can view its
properties in the working area on the right.
For SQL server - server name and VM name.
For server instance - name and full version
For each database - name, backup creation date, recovery model, whether in read-only mode,
database files location for databases and log files, availability of the restore scenario (if restore
to point in time is possible due to backup settings)
If current VM restore point was created with AlwaysOn availability group configured for
selected database, you can also view availability group name and server role (as for the
original server)

Restoring Databases
With Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server, you can restore SQL server database(s) to the original
or different server instance in your production environment. For that, the Restore Wizard is used,
where you can choose target server and restore options. Also, you can use 1-Click Restore feature to
quickly recover your database(s) to the original location.
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.
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.
Restore to the current state

You can quickly restore one or several databases as of the current (that is, currently mounted to
Veeam backup server) state on the original server. As you remember, when mounting a VM backup to
Veeam backup server, you can select the latest or any other state from the list of available restore
points.
To restore to the current state on the original server:
1. Select the required database in the navigation tree on the left. To restore all databases
residing on a server or instance, select the corresponding node.
2. To restore a single database, on the Database tab select Restore Database > Restore
<state> to <server_name>\<instance_name> on the toolbar or use the same command
from the shortcut menu.

To restore multiple databases, select the required server or instance in the navigation tree on
the left, then:
o If restoring multiple databases of the selected SQL Server, select Restore
<state> to <server_name> - in this case, all databases will be restored to
corresponding instances on that (original) server.
o If restoring multiple databases of the selected instance, select Restore <state>
to <server_name>\<instance_name> - in this case, all databases will be
restored to the specified instance on the original server.
3. Veeam Explorer will display a confirmation dialog. To start the restore process, click Proceed.
Wait for the process to complete.
Restore to point in time

To quickly restore one or several database(s) to the certain point-in-time state to the original server,
do the following:
1. Select the required database in the navigation tree on the left. To restore all databases
residing on a server or instance, select the corresponding node.
2. To restore a single database, select Restore Database > Restore point-in-time state to
<server_name>\<instance_name> on the toolbar or use the same command from the
shortcut menu:

To restore multiple databases, select the required server or instance in the navigation tree on
the left, then:
o If restoring multiple databases of the selected SQL Server, select Restore point-in-
time state to <server_name> - in this case, all databases will be restored to
corresponding instances on that server.
o If restoring multiple databases of the selected instance, select Restore point-in-
time state to <server_name>\<instance_name> - in this case, all databases will
be restored to the specified instance.
3. At the wizard step displayed, select the Restore to a point in time option.
If restoring a single database, use the slider to select the necessary point. For details on using
the time scale, see Restoring to Specific Point in Time.

If restoring multiple databases, consider that depending on the database recovery model, the
following cases are possible:
o Some database(s) will be restored to the state as not of the specified moment
but as of the different time (the closest prior to selection) - this will be shown in
the list next to database name
o Some database(s) cannot be restored as there are no transaction logs for the
specified period - this will be mentioned in the list
o Some database(s) will be restored to the specified moment - they will not
appear in the list
4. Click Restore. Veeam Explorer will display a confirmation dialog. To start the restore process,
click Proceed. Wait for the process to complete.
Using Restore Wizard

Step 1. Specify restore point
Select the state to which the database should be restored:
Restore to the current restore point option instructs Veeam Explorer to recover the database
to the moment when current restore point of SQL server VM was created. With this option
selected, you will proceed to step 3.
Restore to a point in time option instructs Veeam Explorer to recover the database to the
state as of the specified moment.
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

Note: Consider the following:
If the previous restore point (server backup) was not found, or database backup does not
exist in it, then Beginning will refer to current restore point.
If the next restore point (server backup) and corresponding transaction log backup were
not found, or if database backup does not exist in server backup, then End will refer to
current restore point.
If the next restore point (server backup) was not found, but transaction log backup exists
for the preceding period, then End will refer to the latest log backup time.
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.
Step 2. Fine-tune the Restore Point

On this step, you get a list of database operations logged during the time period you have specified.
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.
Step 3. Specify target SQL Server connection parameters

On this step, specify settings for the target server where the database should be restored:

a) Supply SQL server virtual machine name and SQL server instance where to restore;
use the server_vm_name\instance format. You can select server\instance from the
drop-down list, or use the Browse button. Enter database name (by default, the
original name will be used). Consider that database in mirror mode cannot be used
as a target.
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.
Step 4. Specify AlwaysON Restore Options

If the specified target SQL server supports AlwaysOn Availability Groups, then you will be offered to
click Next and specify AlwaysOn restore options; otherwise, proceed to Step 5.

If you plan to use AlwaysOn capability for the database, select the Add the database to the
following group check box, then select the necessary availability group from the list.
Database will be restored to the primary server (shown in the list of nodes) and replicated to
the secondary node(s).
If you do not plan to use AlwaysOn capability when restoring the database, clear the the Add
the database to the following group check box.
Step 5. Specify Files Location

Finally, specify the location to which database and log files will be restored:
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>.
Note: Default path on target Windows server may be different.
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.
Restoring a Database to Current Restore Point

This scenario allows you to recover selected SQL database to the moment when the current (that is,
currently mounted to Veeam backup server) restore point backup or replica was created for the
SQL server VM. To implement this scenario, you do not need to configure log backup or recovery
settings; check only the following:
1. You have a successful SQL server VM backup with application-aware image processing
enabled.
2. When recovering database file from VM backup or replica, you have selected the necessary
restore point of SQL server VM (see the Obtaining Database File from VM Backup section
above).
Also, decide where you will restore the database:

To restore to the original server, use 1-Click Restore.
To restore to another server, select the required database in the navigation tree on the left,
then click Restore Database > Restore to another server... on the toolbar, or use the
corresponding database's shortcut menu command.
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.
Restoring a Database to Specific Point in Time

This scenario allows you to recover your database to specific point in time (which may differ from
current SQL Server restore point). Database will be recovered to the closest VM restore point before
the moment you specify, and then transaction log replay will be performed on the target server to
bring the database to the necessary state. So, to implement this scenario, ensure the following:

1. SQL Server transaction logging is enabled - database recovery model must be set to Full or
Bulk-logged.
2. Transaction log handling in the SQL Server VM backup job settings had been configured to
keep log backups: the Backup logs option should be selected.
3. You have SQL Server application-aware backup created successfully.
Restore to Original Server

To restore a database to the certain point in time to the original server, do the following:
1. In Veeam Explorer main window, select the required database in the navigation tree on the
left.
2. Select Restore Database > Restore point-in-time state to
<server_name>\<instance_name>... on the toolbar, or use the same database's shortcut
menu command and perform 1-Click Restore.
Restore to Another Server

To restore database to specified point in time to another SQL Server, do the following:
1. In Veeam Explorer main window, select the required database in the navigation tree on the
left.
2. Select Restore Database>Restore to another server... on the toolbar, or use the same
database's shortcut menu command.

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.
4. Proceed to the Specify SQL Server step of the Restore Wizard. Go through the remaining steps
of the wizard and wait for restore operation to complete.
Restoring a Database to Specific Transaction

This scenario offers the greatest granularity of the database recovery: you can select the undesired
operation from the list of database operations (available for the time period you have specified) for
example, user deletion. The database will be restored to the state prior to the transaction containing
the specified operation, using log replay on target server.
To implement this scenario, ensure the following:
1. SQL Server transaction logging is enabled - database recovery model must be set to Full or
Bulk-logged.
2. Transaction log handling in the SQL Server VM backup job settings had been configured to
keep log backups - the Back up logs option should be selected.
3. You have SQL server application-aware backup created successfully.
In Veeam Explorer main window, select the required database in the navigation tree on the left, then
launch the Restore Wizard:
To restore a database to the original server, click Restore Database > Restore point-in-time
to <server_name>\<instance_name> on the toolbar, or use the database's shortcut menu
command.
To restore a database to another server, click Restore Database > Restore to another server
on the toolbar, or use the database's shortcut menu command.
Then follow the steps of the Restore wizard:
1. On the Specify restore point step, select Restore to a point in time and use the slider to
specify the point you need.
2. Select the Perform restore to the specific transaction checkbox.
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).

3. Next, on the Fine-tune the restore point step, you get a list of database operations logged
during the time period you have specified. 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.
4. Complete the steps of the wizard, as described in Using Restore Wizard.

Veeam Explorer will notify you of the restore operation results, displaying a pop-up message.
Restoring Database Schema and Data

Veeam Explorer allows you to restore certain database schema objects and data. For that:
1. Click Restore Schema > Restore database schema and data on the toolbar, or use the

2. Then go through the steps of the restore wizard, specifying the necessary options for the
scenario you need.
3. At the Select database objects step, review the list of database objects. Use the Object and
Data check boxes to specify whether a database object and\or data should be restored.
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.

5. If you are restoring file tables, at the next step you should specify directory names for these
tables. You have the following options:
o Preserve directory names if applicable (use autogenerated otherwise) - Veeam
Explorer will use the original names, or, if such a name already exists, a new name
will be generated automatically as current name followed by suffix (for example,
<name>_new suffix)
o Use the following directory names - here you can enter a different name for
directory.
6. At the next step, specify additional restore options.

Select how the filegroups should be restored for selected schema object(s):
o Preserve filegroup - with this option selected, original filegroup will be restored. If
this scenario is not applicable (for example, no such filegroup exists on target), then
default filegroup configured on target will be used.

o Use the following filegroup - select the necessary filegroup on target.
Select how partitioned tables should be restored:
o Preserve partition schema - with this options selected, the table will be restored
to the original partition schema (if applicable; if not - default partition schema on
target will be used)
o Use the following partition schema - select the necessary partition schema on
target.
o Use the following filegroup - alternatively, select the filegroup on target to be
used at restore.
7. Finally, click Restore and wait for the restore process to complete.
Restoring Multiple Databases

You can use Veeam Explorer to restore multiple databases at once: these can be all databases hosted
by the certain SQL Server, or all databases of the certain SQL Server instance. You can restore the
databases to the current restore point or to the state as of the selected point in time. Restore to the
state prior to selected transaction is not available for that scenario.
To restore multiple databases, first check the following:
1. You have a successful SQL Server VM backup with application-aware image processing
enabled.
2. You have selected an appropriate restore point of SQL Server VM (see the Recovering
Database File from VM Backup section above).
Also, decide where you will restore the databases. To restore to the original server or instance, use 1-
Click Restore.
To restore to another server or instance:
1. Select the required server or instance in the navigation tree on the left, then click Restore
Databases > Restore to another server....from the ribbon menu or from the shortcut menu.

2. On the Specify restore point step of the wizard, select the state to which the databases
should be restored:
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.

Important! Consider the following:
If 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, you will
need to confirm the deletion.
If the specified target supports AlwaysOn availability groups, and you are restoring the
databases belonging to the AlwaysOn group to their original instances, these databases
will be restored to the same group on target (this setting cannot be changed). By default,
databases will be restored to the primary server and replicated to the secondary node(s).
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>.
Default path on target Windows server may be different.
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.

Veeam Explorer needs a staging Microsoft SQL Server for several export scenarios: export to selected
point in time and export to the state before selected transaction. The staging SQL Server should meet
several requirements listed in this document. Refer to the How It Works and the Staging SQL Server
sections for details.
You can configure a path to the temporary location on the staging SQL Server where the log files will
be stored during these export scenarios.
For that, do the following:
1. Go to the %programdata%\Veeam\Backup and Replication\SQLExplorer
folder on the machine where Veeam Explorer runs, and create a new configuration file named
Config.xml in that folder.
2. Add the TempFolderPath configuration parameter to the file content and specify the
location you need (default is C:\tmp):
<Veeam>
<SQLExplorer>
<Export TempFolderPath="C:\tmp"/>
</SQLExplorer>
</Veeam>
3. Save and close the configuration file.
The wizard can be launched by the Export command from the selected database shortcut menu or
from the ribbon menu.
Step 1. Specify Restore Point

Select the state to which the database should be exported:
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).
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.

Remember that restore to specific point in time is available under the certain conditions listed
in the Restoring to Specific Point in Time.
With this option selected, you will then be taken to step 3 of the wizard.
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.

At this step, the list of database operations is displayed. Here you can select the undesired operation,
and the database files will be obtained as for the state prior to transaction involving the specified
operation.
Note: Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server database operations as listed in the Appendix.

Step 3. Specify Database Files Location
Next, specify path to the destination folder. Note that the current account (used to run Veeam
Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server) should have sufficient permissions for the selected folder (Read and
Write as minimal recommended).
Finally, click Export and wait for the operation to complete.
1-Click Database Export

This capability of Veeam Explorer allows you to quickly export a database to the original location (that
is, the original SQL Server instance hosting the database). You can export selected database state as of
the current restore point, or the certain point in time, or to the state prior to specified transaction.

Export as of Current State
To quickly export selected database state as of the current restore point to default location
(C:\Users\%username%\Desktop), use the Export Database > Export state of <date_time> to
Desktop\<db_name> command from the ribbon menu or database shortcut menu.
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).
Export as of Point-in-time State

To quickly export selected database state as of the certain point in time to default location:
1. To export single database, select it in the navigation tree, then use the Export point-in-time
state to Desktop\<db_name> command from the ribbon or database's shortcut menu.
To export multiple databases, select the server or instance node in the navigation tree, then
use the Export Databases > Export point-in-time state to Desktop\<server_name> (for all
databases of selected server) or the Export Databases > Export point-in-time state to
Desktop\<instance_name> (for all databases of selected server).
2. On the Specify restore point step of the Export Wizard, select Restore to a point in time
option and use the slider to specify the necessary point.

Export as of State Before Selected Transaction

This feature is available only when exporting a single database. To quickly export selected database
state as of prior to the specified transaction to default location:
1. Use the Export point-in-time state to Desktop\<db_name> command from the ribbon or
database's shortcut menu.
2. On the Specify restore point step of the Export Wizard, select Restore to a point in time
option and use the slider to specify the necessary point. Select the Perform restore to the
specific transaction check box.
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
Exporting Databases to Custom Location

Exporting a Single Database
To export a single database to a location you need, do the following:
1. Select the required database in the navigation tree on the left.

2. From its shortcut menu, select Export to another folder..., or use the ribbon menu
command on the Database tab.
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.
Exporting Multiple Databases

To export all database of the selected SQL Server or instance to a location you need, do the following:
1. Select the required node (server or instance) in the navigation tree on the left.
2. From its shortcut menu, select Export to another folder..., or use the Export Databases >
Export to another folder... ribbon menu command.
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,

refer to the Restoring to Specific Point in Time section above). Use the slider control
to choose the point you need.
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.

Default location is the Desktop folder of the current user. If you need to export to another
folder, note that current account (used to run Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server)
should have sufficient permissions for the selected folder (Read and Write as minimal
recommended).
o If you are exporting multiple databases of an instance, then consider that by
default database files will be stored to a folder named as that instance under
Desktop.
o If you are exporting multiple databases of a server, then consider that by default
database files will be stored to the folders with the same names under
Desktop\<server_name> folder.
5. Click Export and wait for the operation to complete.
Databases will be available after export in the target folder; if you selected to export point-in-time
state, log files will be also exported there to be used for replay. Exported database can be then
attached to the SQL Server you need.
1-Click Export of Schema State

Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server allows you to quickly export database schema state as of the
current restore point to default folder (C:\Users\%username%\Desktop\<db_name>). For that, use
the Export Schema > Export database schema state of <date_time> to Desktop\<db_name>
command from the ribbon or databases shortcut menu.

Veeam Explorer will create a folder named <db_name> and save database schema objects in the
<db_name>.SQL script file in that folder. Then you can run this script for the database where you
want to import schema objects.
Exporting Database Schema and Data to Custom Location

To export database schema and data to a location you need, select the required database in the
navigation tree on the left, and from its shortcut menu select Export Schema > Export database
schema and data ..., or use the ribbon menu command.
1. The Export Wizard will be launched. First, you should specify what restore point you want to
use for export. You can select one of the following scenarios:
o The Restore to the current restore point scenario allows you to obtain data as for
the moment when the VMs current restore point was created. With this option
selected, you will then be taken to step 3 of the wizard.
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

Time.
With this option selected, you will then be taken to step 3 of the wizard.
o 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.
2. At the Fine-tune the Restore Point step, you get a list of database operations logged during
the time period you have specified. 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.
3. At the Select database objects step, review the list of database objects. Use the check boxes
next to column names to select whether a database object and\or data should be restored.
To display only specific objects, click Filter and select the object type you want to be shown
in the list.
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.

5. Then specify destination folder where to export selected schema objects. Default location is
C:\Users\%username%\Desktop. Veeam Explorer will save database schema objects in
the <selected_db_name>.SQL file in that folder.
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 need to view current restore session log, go to the main menu and select Current log. To open
folder where Veeam Explorer log files are stored, select Open logs folder. Default location is
C:\ProgramData\Veeam\Backup\SQLExplorer\Logs.
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.

MICROSOFT EXCHANGE
This chapter describes Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange and explains how to restore Exchange
items from the backups created with Veeam Backup & Replication.
Before You Start

Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange allows you to browse Microsoft Exchange database files and
restore necessary items, such as mailboxes, folders, messages, tasks, contacts and so on. Instead of
fully restoring and starting the virtual machine with the Microsoft Exchange Server, you can use
Veeam Backup & Replication capabilities to extract the necessary Microsoft Exchange database from
the backup file and then use Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange to browse and restore items.
If you are using Veeam Backup for Microsoft Office 365, Veeam Explorer will help you to restore
mailbox items backed up from the Exchange Online to the original or different Exchange server, either
online or on-premises.
What's New in v9.5

The following new features and enhancements were implemented in this version Veeam Explorer for
Microsoft Exchange:
Support for browsing, search and restore of mailboxes on Litigation Hold or on In-Place Hold.
Integration with Veeam Backup for Microsoft Office 356 and support of Exchange Online
database backups (browsing, search and restore of mailbox items).
How It Works
The basic procedure of searching and restoring mailbox items with Veeam Explorer for Microsoft
Exchange includes the following steps:

1. Microsoft Exchange mailbox database (.MDB file) is obtained from the image-level VM
backup, 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).
2,3 The mailbox database is added to the Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange scope and
becomes available for browsing and item-level restore with the help of Extensible Storage
Engine.
4. Then you can use browsing, searching and restore capabilities to find and restore mailbox
items in Microsoft Exchange database. Restore options include:
Exporting mailbox folders and items as Personal Folder Files (.pst)
Saving mailbox items as Microsoft Exchange Mail Documents (.msg)
Sending mailbox items as attachments via email
Restoring mailbox folders and items to Exchange server mailbox (available only
with Veeam Backup & Replication Enterprise and Enterprise Plus Editions)
Note: Account under which Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange is running requires full access to
Microsoft Exchange database files for item recovery.

Prerequisites
To provide for Microsoft Exchange items restore with Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange, the
3. Ports should be open, as listed in the Used Ports section.
4. Application-aware image-level backup should be successfully created for your Exchange
server, as described in the Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide.
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.
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.
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.

Important! Consider the following:
If the account you plan to use for restore owns a mailbox on target Microsoft Exchange
server, then you can use any method (impersonation or mailbox access provisioning).
If the account you plan to use for restore does not own a mailbox on target Microsoft
Exchange server, then access rights must be granted through Exchange impersonation.
Restore to a Public Folder

1. The account that is used for restore to a public folder should own a mailbox on target
Microsoft Exchange server.
2. This account should have an Organization Management role on target Microsoft Exchange
server. It can be assigned, for example, by running the following Exchange Management
PowerShell cmdlet:
Add-RoleGroupMember Organization Management Member <user_account>
To restore In-Place Hold Items public folder to the original location:

If the In-Place Hold Items folder already exists, the user account that will be used for restore
should have permissions to create, modify and delete items in it. To grant the required
permissions, do the following in the Exchange admin center:
1. In the feature pane on the left, select public folders, then select the In-Place
Hold Items folder in the list and click Manage on the right.
2. In the dialog displayed, make sure the required account is assigned Publishing
Editor set of permissions for that folder.
If that folder does not exist, then the user account should have permissions to create folders
under the All Public Folders (root node). For that, do the following:
1. In the Exchange admin center select public folders, then click the button to
set the root node permissions for the required user account.
2. Make sure that Permission level is set to Custom, and select Create
subfolders, Folder visible permissions.
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

The following cmdlet shows how you can narrow the group of users who will be assigned the
appropriate role to access the target mailbox at restore. For that, it uses the CustomRecipientScope
parameter, with sample Organizational Unit specified as the scope:
New-ManagementRoleAssignment -Name "Exchange Test" -Role
ApplicationImpersonation -User "Test User" -CustomRecipientScope
"spain.local/TargetUsers"
Note: For more details on impersonation, please refer to MSDN (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-

us/library/bb204095.aspx).

Used Ports
Backup
with the runtime coordination process deployed inside the Microsoft Exchange Server guest OS for
application-aware processing during the backup.
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
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
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
with Microsoft Exchange Server during application-item restore.
Veeam Microsoft Exchange TCP 80, 443 WebDAV connections

backup 2003/2007 CAS Server
server/stan
dalone Microsoft Exchange TCP 443 Microsoft Exchange Web Services
console 2010/2013/2016 CAS Connections
Server

Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange requires no special license to purchase; it is shipped with all
editions of Veeam Backup & Replication, including Veeam Backup Free Edition. However, the full
range of restore capabilities will be available with Veeam Backup & Replication Enterprise and
Enterprise Plus Edition only.

Features listed below are supported for public and personal folders, and for mailbox items (including
hard deleted items, Online Archive mailbox items, In-Place Hold items and Litigation Hold items).
Export is also supported for single and multiple mailbox stores.
Feature\Edition Free Standard Enterprise Enterprise Plus
Restore to original or Not available Not available Available Available

different Exchange
server

Sending restored objects to users may fail for items larger than 3MB. To work around, download and
install the following fix from Microsoft:
https://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/Downloads/DownloadDetails.aspx?DownloadID=30226.
Required Backup Job Settings

If you plan to explore and recover the necessary database from the backup of your Exchange server
VM, you should enable application-aware image processing for that VM and specify application-
specific job settings, as described in the Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide for the
corresponding platform.

Remember that by default Exchange transaction logs will be truncated upon successful backup. If you
want to keep them for further processing by a third-party application, then select the Exchange server
VM from the list, click Edit and then on the General tab select Perform copy only (lets another
application use logs).
For more information and recommendations on Exchange backup, you can also refer to the following:
White Paper by Michael Van Horenbeeck on how to virtualize and protect Exchange 2016
Veeam Knowledge Base article

Administration
To start Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange, you can:
Select All Programs > Veeam > Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange from the
Windows Start menu; no database will be added to Veeam Explorer scope in this case, so you
will need to add it manually
Go through the steps of Microsoft Exchange Item Level Restore wizard, then Veeam Explorer
will be launched automatically, with database added to its scope
Obtain the .EDB file manually and open it using Veeam Backup Browser, then launch Veeam
Explorer from the Backup Browser window; database will be automatically added to its scope
Generally, usage scenario for Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange involves the following steps:
1. Performing initial configuration
2. Obtaining the database file from backup or replica
3. Adding database file(s) to Veeam Explorer scope
4. Finding the necessary Exchange item(s)
5. Restoring Exchange item(s)
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.
In This Section
Getting to Know User Interface
Initial Configuration Settings

The user interface of Veeam Explorer is designed to let you quickly find commands that you need and
perform necessary data protection and disaster recovery tasks.
Main Menu
Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange main window. The menu contains commands related to
general application settings.
Access online Help
Exit the program
Main 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.

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 folder, the Folder tab displaying buttons
for operations with folders will appear on the ribbon.
If you then select an item, the Items tab containing buttons for operations with the items will appear
on the ribbon.
Display Theme
Explorer.

When you launch Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange for the first time, you need to perform initial
configuration. For that, open the main menu and select Options. Here you can:
Specify location of the ese.dll file used by Microsoft Exchange to create the database file
Configure email settings
On the Extensible Storage Engine tab you can also use the Show size estimation option. With this
option enabled (default setting), if you select one or more items when browsing and searching, you
can see the estimated size of the Outlook data file as if selected items were to be exported. For more
details, see this section. You can clear this option in order to speed up message loading and search.

Extensible Storage Engine
To work with database files, Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange requires a special dynamic link
library ese.dll, supplied with Microsoft Exchange. The ese.dll file should be of the same version
as Microsoft Exchange that was used to create database files. Currently, Veeam Explorer for Exchange
supports Microsoft Exchange 2016, Microsoft Exchange 2013 and Microsoft Exchange 2010 SP1, SP2
and SP3.
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.
To specify the path to the ese.dll file manually, to the following:

1. Open the Extensible Storage Engine tab in the Options window.
2. Click on the link next to Microsoft Exchange version and specify the path to the ese.dll file.
The file can be found on the Microsoft Exchange Server distribution CD at
X:\Setup\ServerRoles\Common\ese.dll, or in the installation directory of Microsoft
Exchange Server.
For example:
o for Exchange 2010 default path is %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft\Exchange
Server\V14\Bin
o for Exchange 2013 or Exchange 2016 default path is

%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V15\Bin
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:

1. Open the SMTP Settings tab in the Options window.
2. Select the Configure SMTP settings check box.
3. In the SMTP Server field, specify the DNS name or IP address of the mail server to be used for
sending emails. If necessary, you can change the port number. By default, port number 25 is
used.
4. In the From field, specify email address from which emails with attached items will be sent
(usually, the sender is the administrator responsible for Microsoft Exchange item recovery).
This address will be used as default; you can specify a different email address every time you
use emailing as the restore method (see Sending Items)
5. If necessary, select the Use authentication check box and provide credentials for the
account that will be used to send emails with attached items.
6. If security is an issue, select the Enable SSL security check box to use SSL encryption for
transferred data.
7. In the E-mail field, supply mail recipient's address, then click Send to send a test message.

Before starting Microsoft Exchange item-level recovery, you need to perform the following
preparatory steps:
1. Provide a path to the Extensible Storage Engine location.
2. Obtain the Exchange mailbox database (.EDB) file from the backup.
Provide a Path to Extensible Storage Engine

Make sure Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange is aware of the Extensible Storage Engine location.
Extensible Storage Engine is required to access the Exchange mailbox database (.EDB). It runs as a
special dynamic link library ese.dll supplied by Microsoft.
Specify path to the ese.dll in Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange configuration settings:
1. In the Options window, open the Extensible Storage Engine tab.
2. Click Browse and specify the path to the ese.dll file. The file can be found on the Microsoft
Exchange Server distribution CD at X:\Setup\ServerRoles\Common\ese.dll, or in the
installation directory of Microsoft Exchange Server. For example:
o for Microsoft Exchange 2010 default path is
o for Microsoft Exchange 2013 and Microsoft Exchange 2016 default path is
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.

Using Microsoft Exchange Item Level Restore Wizard
To start Microsoft Exchange Item Level Restore wizard, do one of the following:
In Veeam Backup & Replication, open the Backup & Replication view. Go to the Home tab
on the ribbon menu and click Restore. In the Restore Options window, select Application
items and click Next. Select Microsoft Exchange and click Next. You will be taken to the
Step 1 of the wizard.
node, expand the backup job with the Exchange server in the working area. Select the
Exchange VM and click Application items > Microsoft Exchange on the toolbar. In this case,
you will pass to the Step 2 step of the wizard.

node, expand the backup job with the Exchange server in the working area. Right-click the
Microsoft Exchange VM and select Restore application items > Microsoft Exchange. In this
case, you will pass to the Step 2 step of the wizard. Note that you can use this method only for
Exchange backups that were created with VSS-aware image processing enabled.
Step 1. Select Microsoft Exchange Server VM

In the list of available jobs, select the necessary virtual machine. To quickly find VMs in jobs, use the
search field at the bottom of the window.

Step 2. Select Restore Point
Select the necessary restore point for the virtual machine.

Step 3. Specify Restore Reason
If necessary, enter the reason for performing VM guest file restore and click Next. The information you
provide will be saved in the session history so that you can reference it later.
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.
Step 4. Finish the Wizard

On the last step, read the summary and click Finish. The processes that follow will depend on whether
the backup job had application-aware image processing enabled or not:
If the Exchange Server VM was backed up using application-aware image processing, Veeam
will do the following:
a) Automatically obtain the database file from the Exchange Server via File-Level
Restore (FLR), mounting Exchange file system to the local machine.
b) Launch Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange.
c) Add the database to Veeam Explorer scope. You will then be able have to find and
restore the necessary Exchange items.
If the Exchange Server VM was backed up without application-aware image processing,
Veeam will do the following:
a) Run FLR, mounting the file system of the VM to the local machine.
b) Open Veeam Backup Browser window, from which you will be able to launch
Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange.
c) You may need to manually configure Veeam Explorer (that is, specify the path to
the ese.dll file), then locate and add the database file to its scope. After that you
will be able to find and restore the necessary Exchange items.

Obtaining Database Files Manually
To obtain the database from the VM backup, you can use any data recovery feature available in Veeam
Backup & Replication, such as Instant VM Recovery, full VM restore, restore of guest OS files from a
replica and so on. However, the most convenient method is to use the guest OS file-level recovery
option.
To obtain a Microsoft Exchange database manually:
1. Perform guest OS files restore for the virtualized Microsoft Exchange server.
2. In the Veeam Backup browser, double-click the .edb file, or on the Home tab of the ribbon
menu, select Application Items > Exchange Items.
3. The selected database will be open in Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange, so that you can
browse the database and restore the items you need. To learn more, see Browsing, Searching
and Viewing Items.

If you went through Microsoft Exchange Item Level Restore Wizard to obtain the necessary database
file from the backup, this database will be automatically added to Veeam Explorer scope, and you can
start browsing and restoring the necessary items straight away.
If you obtained the database file(s) from backup manually, then you should manually add the
database to Veeam Explorer scope.
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.

Note: If you are using file-level restore to mount the contents of the backup file with the database file to
the Veeam Backup server, VM disks are mounted under the C:\veeamflr\<vmname>\<volume n>
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>

If the Exchange server VM was hosting more than one database, and you backed up that
Exchange server with application-aware processing disabled and then started application
item-level restore for it, these databases will all appear in the hierarchy tree in the main
Explorer window, having a clock icon near them. This indicator shows that information about
these databases was retrieved from VM file system during the mount process (ese.dll is not
involved at this stage), and the necessary database will be fully loaded later on, after you
select it in the tree.
Browsing, Searching and Viewing Items

After you add one or several mailbox stores to the Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange scope, you
can browse and search through their content to find necessary items.
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).

Public folder items that were hard deleted (and, therefore, became invisible to users in the
mailbox store) will be displayed as items under the corresponding folder in the navigation
tree. You can use the search options to find the items you need, and then restore them to the
original folder, as described later in this guide.
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).
Using Advanced Find Capabilities

Click Advanced Find on the toolbar to make up a list of necessary search criteria using predefined
drop-down menus.

When configuring search filters, consider that logical operators (AND, OR) will be applied to multiple
criteria as described below.
If you specify alike fields as the search criteria (that is, you want to search through Bcc
addresses only, or through Subject fields in all mail items, and so on), resulting search query
will be built using OR operator, that is, this filter will search for any of the specified values. For
example, to search for either user1 OR user2 as a sender, you should build a filter like this:
a) From the Category list, select Address fields.
b) From the Field list, select From.
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) Repeat these steps for user2.
Resulting query will search for user1 OR user2 as email sender. Click Start and wait for the query results
to be displayed.
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.

Therefore, if you try to search for several fields from the same category (both user1, user2 as From
address) AND one or several fields from another category (email_subject1, email_subject2 as Subject),
then resulting query will search for (user1 OR user2 as a sender) AND (email_subject1 OR email_subject2
as a subject line).
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).

Restore Scenarios
Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange provides the following restore options:
Exporting folders and items as Personal Folder Files (.pst)
Saving items as Microsoft Exchange Mail Documents (.msg)
Sending items as email attachments
Restoring folders and items (available only with Veeam Backup & Replication Enterprise and
Enterprise Plus Editions)
Exporting Items, Folders and Mailbox Stores

If you have a 64-bit version of Microsoft Outlook 2016, Microsoft Outlook 2013 or Microsoft Outlook 2010
installed on the computer running Veeam Explorer, you can export folders (or mailboxes) and items as
Personal Folder Files (.pst). Otherwise, you can use other restore options (see Saving Items and
Sending Items). If you want export results to be delivered as specially generated reports, you need to
configure appropriate settings, as described in Receiving Export Reports.
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.

3. You can also click Show settings to show more controls that will allow you to export only
items containing the keywords. Select the corresponding check box and enter the necessary
keywords. Note that Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange will look for the specified
keywords in all message fields (From, To, Subject, Body). Items containing the keywords will
be exported to the specified location; if you have configured Veeam Explorer settings to
deliver reports on export results, this export operation will be reported with Export type:
Search results (see "Receiving Export Reports" section for more information).
4. Click Export and wait for the operation to complete. Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange
will notify you of the operation results.
Exporting a Mailbox Item

To export one or several items as one .pst file:
1. Select the items in the main working area (use SHIFT and CTRL to select multiple items), click
Export Items on the toolbar and select Export to .PST file. You can also right-click the items
in the working area 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.
3. Click Export and wait for the operation to complete. Veeam Explorer will notify you of the
operation results.
To export a mailbox store as a .pst file, select the mailbox store in the navigation pane, then on the
Home tab of the ribbon menu select Export Store > Export to .pst file... You can also right-click the
store and the shortcut menu command. Then take the steps similar to described above.
Exporting Mailbox Stores

To export all mailbox stores currently added to Veeam Explorer scope, do the following:
1. Select the All Stores (root node) in the navigation tree.
2. On the Home tab, select Export All Stores > Export to .pst file..., or use the node's shortcut
menu command.
3. Then specify the name and location for.pst file and click the Export button.

To export one store, select the necessary node in the navigation tree and on the Home tab select
Export Store > Export to .pst file, or use the node's shortcut menu command. Then follow the steps
similar to described above.
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.

Similarly, you can export selected mailbox store or all stores currently added to Veeam Explorer scope.
To export an item, select it in the preview pane on the right (multiple selection is supported) and then
click Export Items > Export to <folder name>\<file name>.pst on the Items tab, or use the
corresponding shortcut menu command. Selected item(s) will be exported to the specified
destination.
Receiving Export Reports

Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange can deliver detailed reports (like shown in the figure below)
on export results if you configure appropriate settings:
To deliver reports to a user who is currently logged on and working with Veeam Explorer,
make sure that this user has a valid email address and that SMTP settings are configured
appropriately in Veeam Explorer options (as described here).
If you have configured email settings in Veeam Backup & Replication options for a different
user account, that user will also receive reports by email. Note that if you enable these global
settings during current Veeam Explorer session, they will take effect only at the next session,
so you may need to close current restore session and then begin a new one.
In addition, if you want export report to be included in the .pst archive, you should make
sure that a user currently working with Veeam Explorer has a valid email address.
To view this report, open the exported .pst archive in Microsoft Outlook and expand Inbox
in that archive - it will contain an email message like shown in the figure below; From and To
addresses will contain current user email.
Such a report can be generated upon 1-Click export or standard export operation; it provides detailed
information on the operation performed.

Report fields include the following information:
Performed by - software component that performed export operation, that is, Veeam
Explorer for Microsoft Exchange.
Version - Veeam Explorer build number. To discover it, in Veeam Explorer main menu click
About and in the splash screen check the second number (after slash).
Percent complete - number of items included in the exported .pst file, calculated as
percentage of the root object (all stores, mailbox store, mailbox, or folder). For example, if a
folder contained 10 items, and 6 of them were exported due to search criteria, this value will
be 60%. If the whole folder was exported, it will be 100%.
Started by - export initiator, that is, account under which Veeam Explorer runs.
Start time, End time - report generation start and end time.
Root - relative path to the object (entity in the mail database) from which data was exported.
In the example shown in the figure above, this is MBase01.edb\MB01\Drafts, that is, the
Drafts folder in the mailbox MB01 of the MBase01.edb mail database.
Path - full path to exported .pst file.

Export type - there are 3 types of export operations, depending on the export scope:
o All items the whole container selected for 1-click or regular export.
o Selected items one or several items were selected for 1-click or regular export.
o Search results only for regular export. This type of export takes place if you
invoke the Export to .pst command for selected container and then in the Export
dialog click Show settings, select the Save only items containing keywords
check box and enter the keywords you want to search for (see Exporting Folders
and Items and Browsing, Searching and Viewing Items for details on using the
keywords). After you click Export in this dialog, Veeam Explorer will look for the
items containing the keywords and export them to the specified location.
Stores - datastore(s) containing exported items; in the example this is MBase01.edb.
Mailboxes to search - mailbox(es) containing exported items; in the example this is MB01. If,
for instance, you select the whole datastore as a root object for export, all mailboxes in that
datastore will be reported in this field.

Mailboxes searched successfully, Mailboxes not searched successfully - results for
Mailboxes to search.
Size - total size of exported items
Items - X (of N) - number of exported items (of overall items number in the corresponding
container).
Errors - number of errors that occurred during export.
If you exported the search results (see above for this export type explanation), then consider the
following:
The report will be entitled "Email export completed partially" (as generally only a part of
the container is exported).
The Percent complete field will contain the corresponding value (depending on how many
items from the search scope matched the search keywords).
The last field in the report will be Keyword hits. It will include the table showing:
o Keyword - search criteria
o Hits - number of items that matched the search keywords and thus were
exported
o Mailboxes - number of mailboxes comprising the search scope
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.

1-Click Save
Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange allows you to quickly save .msg files directly to the previously
used location (initially this is current user's Desktop).
For that, you can select an item and then click Save Items > Save to <folder name> on the Items tab,
or use the shortcut menu command. By default, the name of the file will be the same as the subject
field of the item.
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

different mailboxes, Veeam Explorer will put the same address in both From and To fields.
You can also select Send to and then specify the email address manually.
3. In the Send To dialog you can also edit the subject and text of the email message - to edit the
body text, click More details.
4. Finally, click Send.
Restoring Folders and Items

Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Exchange allows you to restore mailbox folders and items into their
original location (that is, directly to the production Exchange server). This is a convenient way of
restoring lost data without any additional actions. Veeam Backup & Replication supports recovery of
hard deleted items, including those from public folders and mailboxes, and recovery of items from/to
Online Archive mailbox.
Important! Direct restore of folders and items to the Exchange server is available only in Veeam Backup &
Replication Enterprise and Enterprise Plus editions.
To restore a folder or mailbox to the Exchange server, do the following:

1. Select the necessary mailbox, folder or item (or use SHIFT and CTRL keys to select multiple
folders or items) in the main working area. Note that mailbox hard deleted items are
displayed under the Permanently Deleted Items folder, and public folder hard deleted
items are displayed under the corresponding items folder.
Click Restore Mailbox, Restore Folder or Restore Items on the corresponding tab and
select Restore to. You can also right-click the item(s) in the working area and select Restore
to.

2. Specify the target mailbox and domain account to be used. You can either use the current
account or specify a different one. Make sure the account has sufficient rights to access that
Exchange server.
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

the Calendar folder. You can also specify a different location - if it does not exist on
target, it will be created.
o To restore Online Archive mailbox items, make sure that corresponding Online
Archive mailbox is configured on the target server. Online Archive mailbox items
can be restored to the original folder (for example, Online Archive - User1 >
Drafts), or to a different folder - if it does not exist on target, it will be created.
4. Specify additional restore options and click Restore to begin the restore process.

Obtaining Log Files
To view current restore session log, go to the main menu and select Current log.
To open folder where Veeam Explorer log files are stored, select Open logs folder. Default location is
C:\ProgramData\Veeam\Backup\ExchangeExplorer\Logs.

MICROSOFT SHAREPOINT
This chapter describes Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SharePoint and explains how to restore items,
sites and lists from the backups created with Veeam Backup & Replication.
Before You Start

Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SharePoint is a tool that extends the functionality of
Veeam Backup & Replication, automating documents restore from virtualized Microsoft SharePoint
Servers backed up by Veeam. It allows you to browse Microsoft SharePoint content database and
recover the necessary items (such as libraries, documents, images, webpages and so on) without a
need to fully restore and start the virtual machine hosting SharePoint content database. Instead, you
can use Veeam Backup & Replication data recovery options to quickly extract the necessary Microsoft
SharePoint content database file (.MDF) from the virtualized server image-level backup, and then use
Veeam Explorer to find and restore the documents you need.
Available with all editions of Veeam Backup & Replication, Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SharePoint
provides granular browsing and searching capabilities to find any item or a bunch of items stored in
any number of Microsoft SharePoint content databases. You can save them to a local folder or
network drive, or send as e-mail attachments. With Veeam Backup & Replication Enterprise and
Enterprise Plus edition, you can also use Veeam Explorer to restore them to the original or different
SharePoint server; authorized users (for example, Microsoft SharePoint administrators) can also import
content database files (exported by Veeam Explorer) to SharePoint database using PowerShell
cmdlets.
What's New in v9.5

The following new features and enhancements were implemented in Veeam Explorer for Microsoft
SharePoint:
Support for Microsoft SharePoint 2016.
UI enhancements, including ribbon menu, command-specific tabs and support of display
Report on site (and site collection) restore session results.

How It Works
Veeam Backup & Replication allows backup administrators to have the backups of Microsoft
SharePoint always at hand, and Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SharePoint makes it possible to find and
restore a particular SharePoint document, library or site that was deleted or modified.
Basic procedure of restoring Microsoft SharePoint items includes the following steps:
1. An administrator uses Microsoft SharePoint Item Restore Wizard to perform auto-discovery

for the SharePoint farms that were backed up with application-aware image processing
enabled, and to initiate mount operation. During auto-discovery, Veeam Backup &
Replication retrieves information about SharePoint sites, corresponding database server VMs
and their restore points.
2. To support browsing and search, guest file system of the discovered SQL server VM is
mounted directly from the backup to a staging Microsoft SQL Server. This operation is
performed by the mount service running on the local machine (mount service is deployed
together with Veeam Explorer during Veeam backup server or standalone console setup). To
create a mount point, Veeam Backup & Replication uses the iSCSI protocol:
o The remote machine (staging server or target VM, as explained below) acts as an
iSCSI initiator.
o 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.
3. Content database (.mdf) from the mounted restore point is attached to staging Microsoft
SQL server, and SharePoint content (libraries, webpages, etc.) becomes available for
browsing, search and other operations with Veeam Explorer.
4. Users can find and restore SharePoint documents, lists or sites they need: save them to
selected folder, e-mail to the specified recipients, export to XML and restore to production
system. For restore, Veeam creates an additional mount point on the target (original or
different) VM. When the restore session is over, the mount point is removed.

After a user finishes working with SharePoint content and closes Veeam Explorer, content database
will be detached from the staging Microsoft SQL Server, and the mounted guest files are unmounted.
Similar process takes place when Veeam Explorer is launched from the standalone Veeam console.
Prerequisites
To provide for SharePoint items and lists restore with Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SharePoint, the
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.
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.
Staging Microsoft SQL Server

To perform Microsoft SharePoint item recovery, Veeam Explorer requires a Microsoft SQL Server that
will be used as a staging system. On this staging system, Veeam Explorer creates temporary Microsoft
SharePoint content databases by attaching restored content database files. Below are the
requirements for staging server:
1. The staging Microsoft SQL Server can run on the machine where Veeam Explorer for
Microsoft SharePoint is installed, or on another machine.
2. The staging system must have the same or a later version of Microsoft SQL Server as the
server that hosts restored Microsoft SharePoint content databases. For example, if the

Microsoft SharePoint server uses Microsoft SQL Server 2008, then the staging system can run
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 or later.
You can use Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SharePoint options to configure staging Microsoft SQL
Server settings.
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).
Remote BLOB Stores Support

To be able to work with remote BLOB stores (RBS) of the SharePoint content database, make sure that
you have your remote BLOB store virtualized on the corresponding platform (VMware or Hyper-V).
Also, make sure that it is either included in the SharePoint backup created by Veeam Backup &
Replication (for automated discovery), or stored on the local machine running Veeam Explorer and
staging SQL server (for manual discovery).
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

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
3. When configuring a staging SQL server, remember that current user account (under which
Veeam Explorer runs) can be used to access Windows machine where staging SQL server runs
only if you have local staging server. If you plan to use a remote staging server, you will need
to specify credentials for connection explicitly, providing user name and password - that is,
even if you want to use the account currently logged on, you should select Use the
following account option and supply credentials. See Configuring Staging SQL Server
Settings for more details.
4. The account used for working with Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SharePoint requires
membership in the sysadmin fixed server role on the staging Microsoft SQL Server.
5. When planning for the account under which Veeam Explorer will connect to target
SharePoint server, consider the following:
o If you are using ADFS as authentication provider, consider that in case of Windows
Authentication you can either use current account or specified account.
o In case of Forms Authentication, only the specified account can be used (not
current account), and you should enter the corresponding user name and
password.
6. The account used for connection with target SharePoint server where document item(s)/list
will be restored needs the following:
o If permissions of the item being restored are inherited from the parent item (list),
Full Control for that list is required.
o If permissions are not inherited, and restored item will replace an existing item,
Contribute for the item and Full Control for its parent list are required.
7. The account used for connection with target SharePoint server where a site will be restored
needs Full Control for that site. If this user account does not have site administrator or
system account rights, and this user selects Restore permissions option, consider that this
user's permissions will be skipped (not restored).

Used Ports
The following table describes network ports that must be opened to ensure proper communication of
the machine where Veeam Explorer runs with the Microsoft SharePoint VM guest OS.
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.
SharePoint As As For recommended port numbers and protocols for

web recomm recommen SharePoint web application, refer to Microsoft
application ended ded by documentation on the corresponding SharePoint
by Microsoft version for example, for SharePoint 2010 see
Microsof https://technet.microsoft.com/en-
t us/library/cc262849(v=office.14).aspx
To discover ports currently used by your SharePoint
web application, follow the steps described in this
article: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/hh167832(v=nav.70).aspx
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.

Required Microsoft SharePoint Backup Job Settings
To be able to explore and recover the necessary database, you should have a transactionally-
consistent backup of your Microsoft SharePoint created successfully. For that, select the Enable
application-aware image processing option on the Guest Processing step of the backup job wizard
when configuring your SharePoint backup.
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).

Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SharePoint requires no special license to purchase; it is shipped with all
editions of Veeam Backup & Replication, including Veeam Backup Free Edition. However, the full
range of restore capabilities (including recovery to Microsoft SharePoint server in production
environment) will be available with Veeam Backup & Replication Enterprise and Enterprise Plus Edition
only.

Compare editions:
Feature Free Standard Enterprise Enterprise Plus
Restore Not available Not available Available, including Available, including

to original location restore of sites and restore of sites and
site collections site collections

When planning for the recovery of Microsoft SharePoint application items, pay attention to the
following considerations and limitations:
Status Recovery Limitations
Restoring Documents, Libraries and Lists
Restoring List Items
Restoring List Items with Link Attachments
Restoring Surveys
Restoring Sites
Export and Import
Data Type Limitations
Workflow-related Considerations
Status Recovery Limitations

Consider the following when planning for the recovery of the documents/list items:
If a document/item was in Check Out state when the backup was created, item's last version
will not be restored to the target SharePoint but will be available for viewing only; previous
versions (if any) will be restored.
If Declare this item as a record action was originally applied to list item, the corresponding
status will not be preserved; instead, restored item status will be set in accordance with the
target list/library content approval workflow.
Original status On Hold will not be restored
Restoring Documents, Libraries and Lists

Restore of custom document libraries and lists is not supported.
Versioning settings of SharePoint lists are not preserved on restore.
Restoring Generic List and Pages Library may fail with the No content type 'XXX' found in web
YYY error.
Modified By field of restored documents is updated with the account performing restore.
Some Rating Settings of Discussion lists values are not restored.

Restoring List Items
Consider that when restoring a list item, Veeam Explorer works in the following way:
1. Deletes an existing item
2. Creates item's latest version anew using data from the backup.
3. Checks whether it is declared as a record.
4. If the check is a success, the process finishes.
5. If not, the created version is deleted, and item versions are restored sequentially.
This logic leads to several peculiarities of list item restore, as described below.
If a list or list item(s) column is used as a lookup column in the dependent list, consider that restoring
an item from the source list causes corresponding item(s) deletion in the dependent list.
If a lookup column in the dependent list has the enforced relationship behavior set to Cascade
Delete, then restoring an item from the source list may cause item deletion in the dependent list - due
to Microsoft implementation described at https://support.office.com/en-au/article/Create-list-
relationships-by-using-unique-and-lookup-columns-80a3e0a6-8016-41fb-ad09-8bf16d490632
To prevent this issue, it is recommended to turn off enforced relationship behavior. As a work-around,
you can roll-back the SharePoint database using Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server (as
described in the corresponding section of this guide), or roll-back the whole SharePoint server VM to
the desired state using any Veeam Backup & Replication recovery option.
Also, the following limitations should be considered:
If a lookup column in the dependent list has the enforced relationship behavior set to
Restrict Delete, then item restore with Veeam Explorer will fail.
If an .ASPX page references an item using ItemID, this reference may fail to restore (as the
item will be created anew with a different ItemID).
If a list item cannot be deleted (for example, site's "Welcome" page), consider that restore
process will recover all versions of the item sequentially without deletions, adding them to
Version History.
Restored Issue list items are assigned new Issue ID.
Restore of Time Card list is not supported.
Restoring List Items with Links (Attachments)

Consider the following when planning for the recovery of list items with links (attachments):
If the retention policy for target list/document library was configured to Declare record
automatically, only the last version of the item will be restored to target list/library. Target
retention policy settings will be applied to restored item (Declare record). However, links
(attachments) will not be restored.
Alternatively (with different retention policy settings), all versions of the original item will be
restored to target list/library; item links (attachments) will be restored only if such item does
not exist on target SharePoint.
If Declare this item as a record action was originally applied to list item, such item will not be
restored.
Restoring Surveys
Consider the following limitations when planning for the recovery of surveys, survey questions and
responses:

Survey item(s) can be restored to a new survey, created automatically by Veeam Explorer for
Microsoft SharePoint in the specified destination instead of the previously deleted survey.
However, if a new survey is created by user from scratch (not replacing a deleted one) items
cannot be recovered to such a survey.
A survey can be restored to an existing target survey only if that target survey includes at
least one item (question) same as survey questions stored in the content database.
If a survey question was not answered completely in the source survey, after restore the
response status in the target survey will be set to Completed, anyway.
When restoring a single response to a survey, target response item with the same number
will be deleted, and restored item will be placed in the target survey after the last numbered
response.
For example, if the target survey has responses #1-15, and you try to restore a response that
used to be #6 on source then target response #6 will be deleted, and restored response will
be assigned #16.
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.

In case you attempt to restore such items, the following error message will be logged:
Item <item> is skipped: restoration of items based on SharePoint default template is not
supported.
In case you attempt to save such items, the following error message will be logged:
Unable to save document <item>. Document content is not available.
2. Web features restore is not supported for SharePoint 2010 sites.

3. Restore of site navigation is not supported in the current version.
Export and Import

Importing exported Picture Library may result in IDs changed for some items.
Importing exported Project Tasks list does not preserve column order.
Importing exported SharePoint list does not preserve Validation Settings.
Data Type Limitations

Consider the column (field) data type when planning for the recovery of your SharePoint libraries/lists:
If source column (field) data type was set to Lookup, but the referenced list/library was
deleted, such columns (fields) will not be restored even if you recover that referenced list. The
reason is that if referenced list is deleted, the reference (link) to that list is no longer valid.
If source column (field) data type was set to Managed Metadata, such columns (fields) will not
be restored.

Workflow-related Considerations
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 in the following way:
a. If a target list is configured to include major versions only then all versions of restored item
will become major (despite the original versioning); item status will be set to Pending.
b. If a target list is configured to include both major and minor versions then all versions of
restored item will become minor (despite the original versioning); item status will be set as
follows:
o If the last version (original) was major status will be set to Pending
o If the last version was minor status will be set to Draft
Also, consider the following when planning for the recovery of list items (with or without content
approval originally required):
a. If the retention policy for target list/document library is configured to Declare record
automatically, only the last version of the item will be restored to target list/library. Target
retention policy settings will be applied to restored item (Declare record).
Besides, if Require content approval for submitted items was enabled for the original list,
then after recovery item status will be set to Pending.
b. Alternatively (with different retention policy settings), all versions of the original item will be
restored to target list/library.
Besides, if Require content approval for submitted items was enabled for the original list,
then after recovery item status in the content approval workflow will be also restored, except
for the states listed (see "Status Recovery Limitations" above).

Administration
Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SharePoint allows you to restore sites, lists and separate list objects from
Microsoft SharePoint content database files. To be able to browse and search for the necessary item
within the content database files, you should perform the following steps:
1. Configure the staging SQL Server settings. For details, see Configuring Staging SQL Server
Settings
2. Configure SMTP settings. For details, see Configuring SMTP Settings.
3. Recover Microsoft SharePoint content database (.MDF) from the image-level VM backup or
VeeamZIP file. For details, see Recovering Content Database Files from Backup.
4. Add the recovered Microsoft SharePoint content database files to Veeam Explorer for
Microsoft SharePoint scope. For details, see Adding Database to Veeam Explorer's Scope.
Then you can search and restore SharePoint items.
First Steps
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


Main Menu
Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SharePoint main window, next to the Home tab. The menu contains
commands related to general application settings.
Access online Help
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.

Tip: Commands for selected entity are also available in the entity's shortcut menu.
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.

To perform initial configuration, take the following steps after launching Veeam Explorer for Microsoft
SharePoint:
1. Open the main menu and select Options.
2. On the SQL Server Settings tab, configure the staging server.
3. If you plan to restore documents and send them by e-mail, then use the SMTP Settings tab
to configure the mail settings.
Configuring SMTP Settings

To send items recovered from a SharePoint content database as email attachments, you need to
configure SMTP server settings. Do the following:
1. Click the main menu icon in the top left corner of the Veeam Explorer main window, select
Options, then go to the SMTP Settings tab.
2. Select the Configure SMTP settings check box.
3. In the Server field, specify the DNS name or IP address of the mail server that will be used for
sending e-mails.
4. In the Port field, enter the SMTP communication port (by default, port number 25 is used).

5. In the From field, specify the email address of the sender (for example, email address of the
administrator responsible for Microsoft SharePoint item recovery). When you choose to send
restored items as e-mail attachments, this email address will be used by default in the From
field of the message.
6. If your SMTP server requires SMTP authentication for outgoing mail, select the Use
authentication check box and provide credentials for the account that will be used to send
emails with attached items.
7. For SMTP server with SSL support, select the Enable SSL security check box to enable SSL
data encryption.
8. To test if email settings have been configured correctly, enter an e-mail address in the Send
test e-mail section and click the Send button. Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SharePoint will
send a test email message to the specified address.
9. Click Apply and close the dialog.
Configuring Staging SQL Server Settings

To perform Microsoft SharePoint item recovery, Veeam Explorer requires a Microsoft SQL Server that
will be used as a staging system. You can use Veeam Explorer options to specify Microsoft SQL Server
instance (local or remote) for that purpose. Do the following:
1. In the Options dialog, open the SQL Server Settings tab.
2. In the Use the following SQL server field, specify the SQL server instance that will be used as
a staging system. You can click the Browse button to locate the necessary server instance
among local or network servers.
Important! Remember that selected server must meet all requirements specified in the System Requirements
section.

3. Specify user account that will be used to connect to Windows machine where the staging
SQL server runs - this can be current account (the one under which Veeam Explorer is
running) or another account:
o If you are configuring a local staging server, then both options will be available for
you - select the one you need.
o If you are configuring a remote staging server, then only the second option will be
available (Use the following account), so you should enter user name and
password. Even if you want to use the account currently logged on, you will need
to specify credentials for connection explicitly, providing user name and password.
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.

c) After that, restart the staging SQL Server.
d) Select the domain user account that you want to use for connection to the staging
SQL Server, and in its properties on the Account tab make sure the Account is
sensitive and cannot be delegated check box is cleared.
Note: Contact your Active Directory administrator, if necessary.
Obtaining Content Database Files from Backup

Before you start restoring SharePoint items and libraries, you need to obtain a content database file
(.mdf) from the VeeamZIP file or backup file.
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

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 Microsoft SharePoint content database files:
1. In the Backup Browser, open the File view.
2. In the navigation tree, locate the folder where content database files reside.
3. Select Microsoft SharePoint content database files (.mdf) and associated log files (.ldf).
4. On the Backup Browser toolbar, click Copy To.
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.
Recovery from Backup or Replica

Before adding content database files to Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SharePoint, it is necessary to
extract them from the backup or replica file. To do this, you can use any data recovery feature
available in Veeam Backup & Replication: Instant VM recovery, full VM restore, replica failover and so
on. Data recovery options are described in detail in Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide. When

you perform file-level restore, the VM image is not extracted from the backup. The content of a
backup file is mounted directly to the Veeam backup server and displayed in the inbuilt Veeam
Backup Browser. After the backup file is mounted to the Veeam backup server, you can either add the
necessary SharePoint content database files to Veeam Explorer directly, or copy the files and then add
them to Veeam Explorer scope.
In particular, Microsoft SharePoint Item Restore Wizard can be launched if you select Application
Recovery option in the File-Level Restore Wizard. Another option is to use Guest OS Restore Wizard.
Using Microsoft SharePoint Item Restore Wizard

During its work, the wizard will do the following:
1. Build SharePoint topology for the available backups created with application-aware image
processing enabled (to read more about this option, refer to Veeam Backup & Replication
documentation).
2. Perform auto-discovery of the SharePoint web sites and corresponding SQL server VMs
hosting content databases.
3. Display the list of available restore points for the SQL server VM.
Note: If you plan to use this automated workflow, make sure your SharePoint backup jobs have
application-aware image processing enabled.
Step 1. Launch the Wizard

To automatically detect Microsoft SharePoint content database files and add them to Veeam Explorer
scope, you can do any of the following:
In the Veeam Backup & Replication console, go to the Home tab, and click Restore. In the
Restore Wizard window, select Application Items. You will proceed to the Select
Application step of the wizard.

node, and in the working area on the right expand the backup or replication job with the
SharePoint server you need. Select the SharePoint server VM and click Application items >
Microsoft SharePoint on the toolbar. Note that this course of actions can be used for regular
and imported backups.
You will be taken to the Content Database step of the wizard.

node, expand the backup or replication job with the SharePoint server in the working area.
Right-click the SharePoint server VM and select Restore application items > Microsoft
SharePoint content....
You will be taken to the Site step of the wizard.
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).
Step 2. Select Application

In the Select Application step, select Microsoft SharePoint.

Wait while Veeam builds SharePoint topology for available SharePoint farm backups. Click Next to
proceed to the Step 3. Select SharePoint Site.
Step 3. Select SharePoint Site

In this step, you can select the necessary Microsoft SharePoint site from the automatically populated
list of available sites; use the search field to look for the site you need.
Note: Veeam Backup & Replication performs auto-discovery for the SharePoint farms that were backed up
with application-aware image processing enabled.

During auto-discovery, Veeam Backup & Replication retrieves information about SharePoint sites,
corresponding database server VMs and their restore points. If, for some reason, database VM cannot
be discovered, Veeam Backup & Replication will display a warning, notifying you that database should
be recovered manually using file-level restore capabilities. Then you can manually locate the content
database and open it with Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SharePoint.
Step 4. Select Restore Point

With auto-discovery, the VM hosting SQL Server instance with the SharePoint content database will be
picked automatically. From the list of available restore points, select the restore point containing the
database you want to restore.

If necessary, enter the reason for performing restore. The information you provide will be saved in the
session history so that you can reference it later.

Step 6. Finish Working with the Wizard
Finally, review the restore settings. Due to auto-discovery of SharePoint topology, detailed
information about SharePoint farm, including primary content database (.mdf), associated log file
(.ldf) and BLOB storage (if any) will be presented:
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.

Using Guest OS Restore Wizard
Another way to obtain a content database file from the VM backup is to perform guest OS file recovery
using Veeam Backup & Replication File-Level Restore (FLR) wizard. When you perform file-level restore,
the VM image is not extracted from the backup - the content of a backup file is mounted directly to
the corresponding mount server. Then it is displayed in the inbuilt Veeam Backup Browser, and you
can copy the files and then add them to Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SharePoint.
This section will guide you through the steps of the File-Level Restore (FLR) wizard necessary to mount
the backup file to the Veeam backup server and extract the content database files.
Step 1. Launch the Restore Wizard

To obtain Microsoft SharePoint content database files using guest OS restore wizard, open the Veeam
Backup & Replication console and do any of the following:
On the Home tab, click Restore. In the Restore Wizard window, select Guest Files > Guest
Files (Windows).
Open the Backup & Replication view and select the Backups node. In the working area,
expand the necessary backup job, select the VM whose guest OS files you want to obtain, and
click Application Items > Microsoft SharePoint on the toolbar. You will be taken to Restore
Point step of the wizard.
Open the Backup & Replication view and select the Backups node. In the working area,
expand the necessary backup job, right-click the VM whose guest OS files you want to obtain,
and select Restore guest files (Windows). You will be taken to Restore Point step of the
wizard.
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.

Step 3. Select a Restore Point
At this step of the wizard, select the restore point for the virtual machine. The details on this VM
(including name, size and original host) will be also displayed.
Click Next to proceed.

If necessary, enter the reason for performing restore. The information you provide will be saved in the
session history so that you can reference it later.

Click Next to proceed.
Step 5. Finish Working with the Wizard

Click Finish and wait for the process to complete. Veeam Backup & Replication will open Veeam
Backup Browser displaying the file system tree of the restored VM. Then you can click SharePoint
Items on Browser toolbar to launch Veeam Explorer and mount the discovered database files
automatically, or manually locate the required database(s) and then add them to Veeam Explorer
scope.

Locating Content Database File Manually
Once you have mounted the VM hosting content database using Guest OS Restore Wizard, you can
locate the database files with the content which you want to restore.
Content database files location depends on the SharePoint deployment scenario:
1. If a dedicated Microsoft SQL server was used, the location is as follows:
o For SQL Server 2016:
%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft SQL
Server\MSSQL13.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\DATA
%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft SQL
Server\MSSQL12.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\DATA
%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10.\MSSQL\DATA
o For SQL Server 2008 R2:
%ProgramFiles%\ Microsoft SQL
Server\MSSQL10_50.\MSSQL\DATA
%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL11.\MSSQL\DATA
2. In the SharePoint deployments that use built-in database, .MDF files reside by the default
path:
o For SQL Server 2008 Express (included in SharePoint 2010 setup):
%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office
Servers\14.0\Data\MSSQL10.SHAREPOINT\MSSQL\DATA
o For SQL Server 2008 R2 Express (included in SharePoint 2013 setup):
%Program Files%\Microsoft Office
Servers\15.0\Data\MSSQL10_50.SHAREPOINT\MSSQL\DATA
Next, to make the content database file available to Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SharePoint, you can
perform the following steps:
1. In the navigation tree of the Backup Browser, locate the folder where content database files
reside.
2. Select the .mdf file you need, open the Home tab of the ribbon menu and select
Application Items > SharePoint Items. Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SharePoint will be
launched, and selected content database will be automatically added to its scope.
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
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.

5. 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 for Microsoft SharePoint and add the
database to its scope, as described in this section.

For users to be able to browse and restore the SharePoint items, Microsoft SharePoint content
database should be added to the Veeam Explorer scope. When this operation is performed
automatically, Veeam Explorer mounts the VM file system to the mount server and then attaches the
database to the staging Microsoft SQL server, creating a temporary Microsoft SharePoint content
database from which you can recover the necessary items. For example, if you have used Microsoft
SharePoint Item Restore Wizard to perform the restore, the content database will be added to Veeam
Explorer scope automatically and become available for browsing right away.
If the server VM was hosting several content databases, and you backed up that server with
application-aware processing disabled and then started application item-level restore for it, these
databases will all appear in the hierarchy tree in the main Veeam Explorer window, having a clock icon
near them. This indicator shows that information about these databases was retrieved from VM file
system during mounting process (no SQL engine-related operations like database attach were
involved at this stage), and database will be attached to the staging server later on.
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.
Adding Databases Manually

In case you have used Microsoft SharePoint Item Restore Wizard to perform the restore, the content
database will be added to Veeam Explorer scope automatically and become available for browsing.
Alternatively, you can add the required database to Veeam Explorer scope manually. In this case, you
will need to configure staging SQL Server settings as described in this section.

Note: To successfully attach the database to staging SQL server, you should ensure that SQL server service
account has sufficient rights to access the database files. Otherwise, you will get the following
message displayed: "SQL server cannot access sharepoint database file. SQL Server account:
<service_account>". If so, provide the access rights to the specified account.
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.

Note: The same operations (detach and unmount) will be performed if you finish the restore session by
closing Veeam Explorer.
Browsing, Searching and Viewing Items

Using Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SharePoint, you can:
Browse through the contents of the database
Open the document or view its properties
Use simple or advanced search capabilities to find the necessary documents or list items
This functionality is supported supported in all editions of Veeam Backup & Replication.
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.
Viewing Properties and Opening Files

To view properties of a document or an item, right-click it in the preview pane on the right and select
View Properties. Properties will be displayed in a separate window.

To open a document, right-click it in the preview pane and from the shortcut menu select Open. The
document will be opened in the associated application.
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.
Using Advanced Find Capabilities

You can also use the Advanced Find command, which is available from the ribbon menu. With this
option, you can apply flexible search criteria to selected document library/item list, like document
author, creation or modification date, file extension, and so on, easily building any search query you
need. For example, to find all files modified prior to the certain date, you can do the following:
1. Select the required node from the content tree on the left, then click Advanced Find.
In the Define search criteria section of the search window on the right, select the Category
for the new search filter. This will instruct search to look through the corresponding content
property fields. You can search through Document fields, Frequently Used fields, and so on.
2. From the Field list, select the field to filter by (for example, Last Author).
3. From the Condition list, select the one you need this can be less than (chosen for this
example), equal to, between, and so on.

4. Specify the Value for the date to look for, and click Add to List. Configured filter will be
shown in the above pane.
Click Start to search using the new filter. The results will be displayed in the main pane.
To remove a filter, click on the cross mark next to it; to remove all configured filters, click Reset.

Restoring Data
Veeam Explorer provides the following restore options for Microsoft SharePoint items:
Saving documents and libraries to the selected folder
Sending documents and libraries as e-mail attachments
Exporting libraries and lists for further import to Microsoft SharePoint
Restoring documents and lists to Microsoft SharePoint (if used with Enterprise or Enterprise
Plus Edition of Veeam Backup & Replication)
Restoring sites and site collections
Saving Documents and Libraries

Veeam Explorer allows you to save Microsoft SharePoint document library or separate document(s)
you select to a location of your choice, or to your desktop (default destination).
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.

Note: Access permissions for the saved document will be inherited from the destination folder (to which
the document is copied).
E-mailing Documents and Libraries

Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SharePoint allows you to send restored document libraries and
documents to their owners or other recipients as e-mail attachments. To use this feature, make sure
you have configured SMTP settings in the program options, as described in this section.
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.

3. In the Send Items dialog, provide the necessary values:
o By default, the sender address will be taken from the SMTP settings you have
configured in the program options.
o Specify the e-mail addresses of the recipient; if needed, edit the subject of the e-
mail message - default is SharePoint Documents Recovery.
o Library documents will be displayed as the attached files.
o You can also click More details to see the message body field and edit the text as
necessary.
4. When finished, click Send.
Sending a Document
To send a document as an e-mail attachment, do the following:

1. Browse to the necessary document library in the navigation tree on the left, or use the search
field on the right.
2. Select the required document in the preview pane on the right (you can use SHIFT and CTRL
keys for multiple selection) and click Send Document on the toolbar. You can also use the
shortcut menu command for the selection.
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.
Exporting Document Libraries and Lists

With Veeam Explorer, you can export the whole document library or list to a folder in the specified
location (export of items is not supported in this version). Exported content will be saved in XML files
and can be then imported to the SharePoint database of your choice using PowerShell cmdlets.
To export a library, do the following:
1. Select the required library in the navigation pane of Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SharePoint.
2. Click Export Library or Export List on the toolbar, or use the corresponding shortcut menu
command.

3. Specify destination location.
4. Wait for the export to complete. Veeam Explorer will notify you on the operation completion.
Exported content appears as .DAT and .XML files in the sub-folder of the specified destination folder:
You can make this folder content available to SharePoint server you need, importing it by means of
PowerShell command.

Importing Exported Content
To import document library/list you have exported from the SharePoint content database, run the
appropriate PowerShell cmdlet locally on the SharePoint server, as described below:
If using PowerShell snap-in, run the following:
Add-PsSnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell
Import-SPWeb -Identity
"http://<web_server_name>/sites/<destination_site>" -Path
"C:\<export_folder>" -NoFileCompression IncludeUserSecurity
If using SharePoint Management Shell, run the following:
Import-SPWeb -Identity
"http://<web_server_name>/sites/<destination_site>" -Path
"C:\<export_folder>" -NoFileCompression IncludeUserSecurity
where:
<web_server_name> destination web server;
<destination_site> destination web site;
<export_folder> source folder containing exported library/list content.
To get extended Help on the Import-SPWeb command, run the following PowerShell cmdlet:
Get-Help Import-SPWeb -full
Restoring Libraries, Lists and Documents to Microsoft SharePoint

You can use Veeam Explorer to restore a SharePoint document/item or the whole document
library/item list to the specified location on the SharePoint server in your production environment.
Note that this capability is supported for Veeam Backup & Replication Enterprise and Enterprise Plus
Editions only.
Restoring Document Libraries and Lists

To restore a document library/list, do the following:
1. Select the required library/list in the navigation pane of Veeam Explorer for Microsoft
SharePoint.
2. Click Restore Library or Restore List on the toolbar, or use the shortcut menu command.

3. The restore wizard is launched; follow its steps to specify restore options for the document
library/item list.
Step 1. Specify Target SharePoint
Specify target settings to be used for restoring SharePoint content:

Target SharePoint server's URL (as http://server_name) and site path.
Domain account to be used for connection. You can use the account under which you are
running Veeam Explorer, or specify another account in the domain\username format. Make
sure this account has sufficient rights to access the specified server (see Permissions).
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.

Step 2. Specify Target List
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.

Note: When configuring restore options, consider some peculiarities described in the Considerations and
Limitations section.
Click Restore and wait for the operation to complete.
Restoring Documents and List Items

To restore a document/item, take the following steps:
1. Browse to the necessary document/item list in the tree on the left, or use the search field on
the right.
2. Select the required document/item (you can use SHIFT and CTRL keys for multiple selection)
in the preview pane and click Restore Document or Restore Item on the toolbar. You can
also right-click the selection and use the shortcut menu command.
3. The restore wizard is launched; follow its steps to specify restore options for the
document/item.

Step 1. Specify Target SharePoint
Specify target settings to be used for restoring SharePoint content:

1. Target SharePoint server's URL (as http://server_name) and site path.
2. Domain account to be used for connection. You can use the account under which you are
running Veeam Explorer, or specify another account in the domain\username format. Make
sure this account has sufficient rights to access the specified server (see Permissions).
Step 2. Specify Target Location
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
Click Restore and wait for the operation to complete.
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.
Take the following steps:

1. Select the necessary site in the database hierarchy on the left, and use the Restore Site
command from its shortcut menu or ribbon menu.

2. Specify target SharePoint site URL and account to be used for connection. You can use the
account under which you are running Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SharePoint, or specify
another account in the domain\username format and enter password. Make sure the account
has sufficient rights to access specified target SharePoint site (Full Control required); see
Permissions section above.
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.

o If Restore subsites option is cleared, then restored site will contain only document
libraries and lists (subsites hierarchy and content will not be recovered).
4. Click Restore and wait for the restore process to complete.
Report on Site Restore Results

Veeam Explorer creates a detailed report on the site restore results. It displays the following detailed
information (which can be also found in the program log) in a user-friendly interface window:
Restore summary site restore results: number and types of objects restored with success
and failure
Restore details for restored object (subsites, libraries, lists) object name, restore result
indicator (success, warning or error), problem description (for warnings and errors) and object
URL
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.

To save the report as plain text, you can click the Copy To Clipboard button and then paste to the
text file. You can also use the Export button to save the report as a TXT file.

To view current restore session log, go to the main menu and select Current Log.
To open folder where Veeam Explorer log files are stored, select Open Logs Folder. Default location is
C:\ProgramData\Veeam\Backup\SharePointExplorer\Logs.

ORACLE
This chapter describes Veeam Explorer for Oracle and explains how to restore Oracle databases from
the backups created with Veeam Backup & Replication.
Before You Start

Veeam Explorer for Oracle is a new tool that extends the functionality of Veeam Backup & Replication,
allowing you to view and recover databases from within Oracle server VM backup. Veeam Explorer can
restore databases from backups created by backup jobs, from imported backups and from storage
snapshots. Both Windows-based and Linux-based VMs are supported.
For database-level recovery, you do not need to fully restore and start the virtual machine hosting
your Oracle server. Instead, you can use Veeam recovery capabilities to mount the selected restore
point of Oracle server VM to Veeam backup server and then specify how you want your database to be
restored.
Veeam Explorer for Oracle offers the following capabilities:
Browsing Oracle database hierarchy
Restoring databases to the original server or different server, including quick and easy 1-Click
Restore
Veeam supports several database restore options:
To the current point in time (that is, to the moment when currently selected Oracle VM
backup was created)
To the selected point in time (here log replay will bring the database to the desired point)
To the state before selected transaction
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?

What's New in v9.5
The following new features and enhancements were implemented in Veeam Explorer for Oracle 9.5:
Support for SLES 11 and SLES 12.
UI enhancements, including ribbon menu, command-specific tabs and support of display
Oracle databases restore using PowerShell.
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

/tmp/Veeam.Mount.XXX on Linux 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.
Veeam Oracle Restore Service

In most scenarios of restoring Oracle on Windows, Veeam installs a runtime component named Veeam
SQL Restore Service to the VM guest OS (target or staging server, depending on selected restore or
export scenario) - to support restore activities on the Oracle server VM guest.
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>
3. Supply the necessary values for Agent MinimumPort and MaximumPort.
Obtaining Database Information

To present Oracle database hierarchy to user, Veeam Explorer uses different ways of retrieving
application-specific information from image-level backup:
If application-aware image processing is enabled in the Guest Processing settings of a
backup job, then Veeam Explorer can obtain application-specific Oracle database information

from Oracle VM backup metadata. For that, Veeam Explorer communicates with Veeam
backup server that keeps this information in the configuration database.
If application-aware image processing is disabled in the Guest Processing settings of a
backup job, then Veeam Explorer will need a staging Oracle server to mount selected image-
level Oracle VM backup (with the databases and redo logs) to that staging server and collect
the necessary information through guest scan and Oracle infrastructure analysis.
Using application information retrieved from backup, Veeam Explorer displays Oracle database
hierarchy in its navigation pane where you can select the database to be restored and start 1-Click
Restore or use the Restore wizard.
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.
4. The corresponding backup job should be properly configured, as described in the Required
Microsoft Oracle Server Backup Job Settings section.
Planning for Database Restore

Veeam Explorer for Oracle supports several database recovery scenarios and offers flexible options for
them. To choose a scenario, consider your organizations policies and requirements and decide on the
following:
1. Do you need to recover your database to the moment when the certain Oracle server VM
restore point (backup or replica) was created, or to any point in time, maybe within the
interval between two restore points?
In the latter case, database will be restored to the closest VM restore point before the
moment you specify, and then log replay will bring the database to the necessary state. So
you will need to make sure that:
a) ARCHIVELOG mode is enabled for the Oracle database
b) Logs are not truncated due to VM backup job settings
2. Should you recover to the point in time, or is it necessary to support more granular recovery
and be able to roll back to a state before undesired transaction?
For the most granular restore, you will need to keep backups of the Oracle database redo logs
and ensure the staging Oracle server availability and proper configuration.
3. Do you plan to restore your database to the original Oracle server, or to a different server?
In both cases check for the following:

a) The accounts you plan to use for restore have sufficient permissions on the target
server (and, if necessary, on the staging server)
b) Source, target and staging Oracle server (if required) have the same Oracle
database version.
To implement the necessary scenario, you should, in particular, do the following:
1. Configure Oracle database settings and Oracle server VM backup job settings.
2. Make sure you have the necessary VM restore point created (or imported) successfully.
3. Provide sufficient access rights for the user accounts that will be involved in the restore
process.
Restore Scenarios
Scenario 1: Restore to Current Restore Point

This scenario allows you to restore a database to the state as of at the moment when selected restore
point was created. Consider the following:
You will not need to perform Oracle redo logs replay, so ARCHIVELOG can be turned on or
off for the Oracle database. If it is turned on, you can select any log handling option on the
Oracle tab of the VM guest processing settings in the backup job.
Use the Oracle Database Restore Wizard to specify the necessary VM restore point and
automatically add it to Veeam Explorer scope.
During database restore process, selected restore point will be mounted to the specified
Oracle server (this can be original or different server) and recovered with RMAN and Veeam
Backup & Replication restore capabilities, as described in this guide.
Scenario 2: Restore to Selected Point in Time

This scenario allows you to restore a database to the state as of at the selected point in time. Consider
the following:
1. Veeam Explorer will need to perform Oracle redo logs replay, so ARCHIVELOG must be
turned ON for the Oracle database.
2. You can select any log handling option on the Oracle tab of the VM guest processing settings
of the backup job. However, if you select any of Truncate logs options, remember that this
will turn on log truncation on VM guest file system (that is, within image-level backup). So, in
this case you can either:
Select to Backup logs to Veeam repository,
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.

Scenario 3: Restore to Selected Transaction
To restore a database to the state as of prior to selected transaction, you will also need a staging
Oracle server. The process will go as follows:
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.
Oracle Databases on the following operating systems are supported (32-bit and 64-bit
architecture):
Operating system Microsoft Windows Server 2016


Microsoft Windows Server 2003 SP2
CentOS 5 or later
RedHat 5 or later
Oracle Linux 5 or later
SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 (Oracle 12c only)
SLES 11 SP2, SLES 12 (Oracle 12c); SLES 11 (Oracle 11g)
The following versions of Oracle Database are supported as source/target systems for
database backup and restore:
Oracle Database 12c (for Windows or Linux OS)
Oracle Database 11g (for Windows or Linux OS)
Oracle Database Automatic Storage Management (ASM) is supported for Oracle 11g and later, requires
ASMlib present.
Currently, Oracle Database Express Edition is supported for Windows-based machines
only.
Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) are not supported.
Veeam Backup & 9.5 Enterprise or Enterprise Plus edition

Replication
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.
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
Connection to Source Server

For application-aware processing of an Oracle VM, user account will need sufficient permissions to
access VM guest OS and to connect to Oracle database on that guest. The following ways are possible:
A. Use the account specified in the Guest Processing step of the job wizard for guest OS
processing for both operations (accessing VM guest and connection to Oracle database).

B. Access VM guest using the account specified in the Guest Processing step of the job wizard,
and connect to Oracle database using the account specified in the Oracle tab of the Oracle
server processing settings.
Scenario A: Single Account

Specify the necessary account in the Guest OS credentials section on the Guest Processing step of
the job wizard:
Then on the Oracle tab of the VM processing settings select Use guest credentials from the drop-
down list:

Oracle on Windows VM
If the job will process Oracle on Windows-based VM, this account needs the following privileges:
a) 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).
b) Membership in the ora_dba local group on the source VM. Contact your database
administrator if needed.
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.
Note: You can use authentication by private key.
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.
Scenario B: Two Different Accounts

You can specify one account in the Guest OS credentials section of the wizard step, and select or
enter another account on the Oracle tab of the VM processing settings:

1. Account specified in the Guest OS credentials section on the Guest Processing step of the
job wizard should have 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).
2. Account specified on the Oracle tab of the application server settings should have SYSDBA
rights to connect to Oracle system on the source VM - they can be assigned, for example,
through membership in the ora_dba group on the source VM.
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.
Note: You can use authentication by private key.
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.

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.
Connection to Target Server

The account to be used for connection with the target Oracle server at restore the current account
under which you are running Veeam Explorer for Oracle, or another account you specify must have
rights to access target server guest OS.
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

Connection to Staging Server
You may need to configure a staging server using Veeam Explorer Options - in particular, to restore
database to the state before selected transaction. In this case, you will have to specify user account for
staging server access. You can either use current account (under which Veeam Explorer is running) or
specify another one.
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
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

during application item restore (Veeam Explorer
session).
To learn how to modify default port range, see
How It Works.
Oracle on TCP 22 Default SSH port used as a control channel.

Linux server
TCP 2500 - Default port range for data transmission.
5000
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.
Considerations and Limitation

1. 32-bit Oracle running on 64-bit operating systems is not supported.
2. Oracle XE on Linux is not supported.
3. Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) are not supported.
4. Database restore to current restore point is supported for restore points created by Veeam
backup job, replication job, for VeeamZIP, as well as for imported backup and storage
snapshot.
5. Restore to selected point in time and to selected transaction is not supported for replicas and
backups stored to DR site by backup copy job, as well as for backups stored to cloud
repository, as such repositories cannot be used as a destination for archived logs backup in
current version of Veeam Backup & Replication.
6. Veeam Explorer for Oracle operation in the standalone mode is not supported: it can be
installed and launched only with Veeam backup server or with Veeam backup standalone
console.
7. If a Windows 2003 server is used for mount operations (for example, as a staging system), it
requires Microsoft iSCSI Initiator service to be installed; if this service is not found, an error
message like the following will be displayed:
"ExplorerManagementService: Failed to wait for OIB mounted. MountID <ID>, Timeout <timeout>
(sessionID <ID>). Microsoft sSCSI Initiator service is not installed."
8. When using a Linux server for mount operations (for example, as a staging system), make sure
its kernel version is the same or later than kernel version of the source server. Otherwise, file
system compatibility issues may occur.
9. Database restore may fail if backed up Oracle server version and target server version have
different patch levels.
10. If OS authentication on Oracle server is disabled on target, then databases with enabled ASM
cannot be restored.
If OS authentication on Oracle server is disabled on staging system, user will be unable to
view the list of transaction and perform restore to selected transaction in case of database
with enabled ASM.

Required Oracle Backup Job Settings
To be able to explore and recover the necessary database using a desired restore scenario, you should
have a transactionally-consistent backup of your Oracle server created successfully. For that, you
should enable application-aware image processing and specify application-specific settings, as
described in the Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide.
To provide for future restore of the Oracle database with Veeam Explorer to the moment the backup
was created, the database should be in the OPEN state at the moment of backup. Otherwise, the
following warning message will appear in the backup job session: Oracle database instance state is not
valid for property collection. Please consider that having a database in the MOUNT or SHUTDOWN
state at backup (not in the OPEN state) may cause problems in auto-discovery that Veeam Explorer
will perform when you try to restore.
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.
Then go to the Oracle tab and configure the necessary settings:

1. Specify a user account with SYSDBA privileges that will connect to Oracle database and
perform Oracle logs backup and/or deletion. You can select Use guest credentials - then
Veeam will use the account specified for guest processing in the job configuration for both
guest OS access and for connection to Oracle database. Make sure the account you specify
here has sufficient - see the Permissions section for details.
2. In the Archived logs section, specify whether archived logs should be deleted on the Oracle
server VM, and whether Veeam should back them up them to repository. Veeam Backup &
Replication supports the following options:
o Do not delete archived logs this option instructs Veeam to preserve logs (if any)
on the original Oracle server. 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, to selected
point in time and to selected transaction.
o Delete logs older than <N> hours / over <N> GB with any of these options
selected, Veeam will wait for the image-level backup to complete, and then it will
trigger deletion of the archived logs, using the specified condition (log age or size).
If log deletion is not possible for some reason, then archived logs will remain
untouched on the VM guest until the next start of the Veeam runtime process.
o With any of these options, you can also use the Backup logs every <N> minutes
check box if selected, Veeam Backup & Replication will periodically ship archived
logs to the backup repository and store them next to the Oracle server VM backup.
Make sure that Oracle ARCHIVELOG mode is turned on (contact your database
administrator, if necessary). This option will support any database restore scenario:
to the state as of in currently selected VM restore point, to any point in time or to
the state before particular transaction.
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.

Consider that if it is possible to establish a direct connection between the VM guest
OS and backup repository, log files will be shipped directly from the VM guest OS to
the backup repository. This is the optimal method, as it does not involve additional
resources and puts less load on the VM guest OS. Otherwise, files will be shipped
via log shipping server(s). You can instruct Veeam Backup & Replication to choose a
log shipping server automatically from the list of available ones, or to use a specific
server.
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.

Administration
Having your Oracle VM application-aware backup created successfully, with the necessary log
processing options applied, you can use Veeam Explorer for Oracle to restore the required database,
using the preferred scenario. Generic procedure steps are as follows:
1. Recover database file(s) (as well as secondary and log files, if available) from Oracle server VM
backup, replica or VeeamZip file manually or automatically. See Recovering Database File
from VM Backup.
2. View database information to make sure database backup settings allow you to follow the
restore scenario you need. See Viewing Database Information.
3. To quickly restore database to the original location, use 1-Click Restore.
4. To restore database to another location, follow the required scenario, as described in the
corresponding section later in this document. See Restoring Databases.
If necessary, configure a custom staging server, as described here.
First Steps
Oracle.

Main Menu
Veeam Explorer main window. The menu contains commands related to general application settings.
Access online Help
Exit the program

Main 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 database, the Database tab displaying buttons for
operations with databases will appear on the ribbon. If you then select a server node, the Server tab
with the corresponding operations will be displayed.
Display Theme
Explorer.
Configuring Staging Server

Staging server is required to fine-tune the restore point in case a user needs to restore database to the
state before specific transaction. If necessary, the staging server will be also involved in presenting
database hierarchy to user (see below for details).
You can specify a local (for Windows VMs only) or remote (for both Windows and Linux VMs) staging
server, as described below.
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.

To configure a staging server, do the following:
1. Make sure the server you plan to use meets system requirements; also, check considerations
and limitations.
2. In Veeam Explorer for Oracle, open the main menu and click Options.
3. For Windows-based server, do the following:
a) Specify staging Server name.
b) Specify user account to connect to Oracle server. You can either use current
account (under which Veeam Explorer is running) or specify another one. Make
sure is has sufficient permissions, as described here.
c) 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. 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.
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.

c) To elevate specified account to root and to add it to sudoers, click Advanced.
Select the options you need; if necessary, enter root password and click OK to save
the settings and close the dialog.
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.

Veeam Explorer for Oracle supports database files from the VeeamZIP file or from Oracle server VM
backup or replica. So, the following operations will be performed in a fully automated way:
1. Database files will be obtained from the latest or specified restore point (backup, replica or
VeeamZIP file).
2. This database will be added to Veeam Explorer scope.

These two steps are performed in a fully automated way by Oracle Database Restore wizard - Veeam
Backup & Replication will automatically obtain the database from the backup and open it in Veeam
Explorer for Oracle.
To start the wizard, do one of the following:
In Veeam Backup & Replication, open the Backup & Replication view, then on the Home tab
select Restore. Select the necessary platform (VMware or Hyper-V), then from the restore
options select Oracle database. You will be taken to the Virtual Machine step of the wizard.
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.

Oracle Database Restore Wizard
Then follow the steps of the wizard, as described in the next section.
1. In the Virtual Machine step, expand the job you need from the list of backup jobs, and select
the Oracle server VM hosting the required database. To quickly find VMs in jobs, use the
search field at the bottom of the window.
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.

3. Next, enter the reason for Oracle server VM restore.
4. On the Summary step, review the details of your VM to be recovered, and click Finish.

After that, Veeam Explorer for Oracle will be launched, with the Oracle database hierarchy (for the
chosen restore point) automatically added to its scope and shown in the navigation tree. Then you
can use Veeam Explorer for Oracle functionality to restore databases.
Viewing Database Information

In the Veeam Explorer for Oracle navigation pane you can see the Oracle hierarchy, including server,
Oracle home and databases. When you select an entity in the navigation tree, you can view its
properties in the working area on the right:
For Oracle server - server name, OS version and VM name.
For Oracle home - name, version, path and home info.
For each database - name, Oracle SID, log mode, backup creation time, listener port, available
restore period, and database files location for control files, data files, log files and temp files.
If current restore point was created with ASM configured for selected database, file paths will be
displayed having + prefix.

Restoring Database
With Veeam Explorer for Oracle, you can restore Oracle server database to the original or different
servers in your production environment. For that, a special wizard is used, where you can choose
target server and restore options. Also, you can use 1-Click Restore feature to quickly recover your
database to the original location.
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.
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.

For Linux-based VMs, user credentials will be picked as follows:
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, 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.
Using Restore Wizard

Step 1. Specify Restore Point
Select the state to which the database should be restored:
Restore to the current restore point option instructs Veeam Explorer for Oracle to recover the
database to the moment when current restore point of Oracle server VM was created. With
this option selected, you will proceed to Step 3.
Restore to a point in time option instructs Veeam Explorer for Oracle to recover the database
to the state as of the specified moment.
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


If the next restore point (server backup) and corresponding log backup were not found, or
if database backup does not exist in server backup, then End will refer to current restore
point.
If the next restore point (server backup) was not found, but log backup exists for the
preceding period, then End will refer to the latest log backup time.
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.

On this step, you get a list of database operations logged during the time period you have specified.
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. For more
information, refer to Scenario 3: Restoring a Database to Specific Transaction
Step 3. Specify Target Server

Here you should specify connection settings for target server where the database should be restored.
If you are restoring a database from a Windows-based Oracle server, specify the following:

1. Enter the name of target Oracle server where the database should be restored.
2. Specify the account to be used for connection with the target Oracle server. You can use the
current account (under which you are running Veeam Explorer for Oracle), or specify another
account and enter its password. Windows authentication will be used. Remember that the
account used to access target Oracle server must have the sysdba rights on that server.
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:
1. Target server name and SSH port default is 22.

2. Account to connect to target Linux server this should be a root account or account added
to sudoers - then you need to elevate it to root (for that, click Advanced and select the
necessary options). You can use authentication by username and password or by private key.
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.
Step 4. Specify Oracle settings

You can select one of the following options:
Restore to the original location.
Restore to alternative location; in this case you should also specify Oracle Home, Global
Database Name and Oracle SID where to restore the database from backup. You can click
Browse to use Oracle Home Browser and select the necessary entity.
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.
Step 5. Specify Database Files Location

Finally, specify the location to which database and log files will be restored. You can select a listed
item and edit it appropriately.
Click Restore and wait for the process to complete. Veeam Explorer for Oracle will notify you of the
operation results.
Scenario 1: Restoring a Database to Current Restore Point

Use this scenario to restore the Oracle database to the state as of the currently selected restore point.
To restore database to the original server, use 1-Click Restore.
To restore to another server, select the required database in the navigation tree on the left,
then click Restore Database > Restore to another server... on the toolbar, or use the
corresponding database's shortcut menu command.
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.
Scenario 2: Restoring a Database to Specific Point in Time

This scenario allows you to recover your database to specific point in time (which may differ from
current restore point). 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 server to bring the database to the
necessary state. So, to implement this scenario, ensure the following:
1. ARCHIVELOG mode is turned on for the Oracle database.
2. Log handling in the Oracle Server VM backup job settings had been configured properly to
keep log backups at hand, as described in the Required Oracle Backup Job Settings section.
3. You have an Oracle Server image-level backup created successfully.
Restore to Original Server

To restore a database to the certain point in time to the original server, do the following:
1. In Veeam Explorer for Oracle main window, select the required database in the navigation
tree on the left.
2. Select Restore Database > Restore <point_in_time> or latest state to <server_name>...
on the toolbar, or use the same database's shortcut menu command.
3. On the Restore wizard step, select Restore to a point in time.
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

If the next restore point (server backup) and corresponding log backup were not found, or
if database backup does not exist in server backup, then End will refer to current restore
point.
If the next restore point (server backup) was not found, but log backup exists for the
preceding period, then End will refer to the latest log backup time.
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.
Restore to Another Server

To restore database to specified point in time to another Oracle Server, do the following:
1. In Veeam Explorer for Oracle main window, select the required database in the navigation
tree on the left.
2. Select Restore Database>Restore to another server... on the toolbar, or use the same
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.

4. You will be taken to the Specify Oracle Server step of the wizard. Go through the remaining
steps and wait for restore operation to complete.
Scenario 3: Restoring a Database to Specific Transaction

This scenario offers the greatest granularity of the database recovery: you can select the undesired
operation from the list of database operations (available for the time period you have specified) for
example, user deletion. The database will be restored to the state prior to the transaction containing
the specified operation, using log replay. To display the list of transactions, you will need a staging
server. So, to implement this scenario, ensure the following:
1. ARCHIVELOG mode is turned on for the Oracle database.
2. Log handling in the Oracle Server VM backup job settings had been configured properly to
keep log backups available at the moment.
3. You have an Oracle Server image-level backup created successfully.
4. You have properly configured staging Oracle server settings (this can be a target server, an
original server, or a dedicated server).
In Veeam Explorer for Oracle main window, select the required database in the navigation tree on the
left, then launch the Restore wizard:
To restore a database to the original server, click Restore Database > Restore point-in-time
to <server_name> on the toolbar, or use the database's shortcut menu command.
To restore a database to another server, click Restore Database > Restore to another server
on the toolbar, or use the database's shortcut menu command.
Then follow the steps of Restore wizard:
1. On the Specify restore point step, select Restore to a point in time and use the slider to
specify point in time closely to the undesired transaction. Then select the Perform restore to
the specific transaction check box.
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).

2. Next, on the Fine-tune the restore point step, you get a list of database operations from the
log backup, starting with those closer to the specified point in time. Select the undesired
operation (for example, row deletion or insertion). The database will be restored to the most
recent state preceding the selected operation.
3. Complete the steps of the wizard, as described in Using Restore Wizard.
Veeam Explorer for Oracle will notify you of the restore operation results.

If you need to view current restore session log, go to the main menu and select Current log. To open
folder where Veeam Explorer log files are stored, select Open logs folder. Default location is
C:\ProgramData\Veeam\Backup\OracleExplorer\Logs.
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.

APPENDIX. SQL DATABASE OPERATION
SELECTION
As described above, the database can be restored to the state prior to transaction that involves
selected operation. The table below lists the SQL Server database operations and their display names
that appear in the process of fine-tuning database restore.
Entity Operation Display Format Constraints
<date_time> Created[/Modified]
CREATE <table_name> Table <table ID>
<initiator>
<date_time> Deleted <table_name>

DROP
Table <table ID> <initiator>
<date_time> Column added

ALTER <table_name> Table <table ID>
<initiator>
<date_time> Inserted row Table name will not

<table_name>[/table_ID] Table be displayed for
INSERT INTO <initiator> deleted table, only
table ID will be
shown.
<date_time> Deleted row Table name will not

Table
<table_name>[/table_ID] Table be displayed for
DELETE FROM <initiator> deleted table, only
table ID will be
shown.
<date_time> Modified Table name will not

<table_name>>[/table_ID] Table be displayed for
UPDATE <initiator> deleted table, only
table ID will be
shown.
<date_time> Truncated Table Table name and ID

TRUNCATE <initiator> will not be displayed
for deleted table.
<date_time> Inserted row

BULK INSERT <table_name>[/table_ID] Table
<initiator>
<date_time> Created <view_name>

CREATE
View <initiator>
<date_time> Deleted <view_name>

View DROP
Table <initiator>
<date_time> Modified <view_name>

ALTER
View <initiator>
<date_time> Created <index_name>

CREATE
Index <initiator>
Index
<date_time> Deleted <index_name>
DROP
Index <initiator>

Entity Operation Display Format Constraints
<date_time> Modified <index_name>

ALTER
Index <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> Created <function_name>

CREATE
Function <initiator>
<date_time> Deleted <function_name>

Function DROP
Table <initiator>
<date_time> Modified
ALTER
<function_name> Function <initiator>
<date_time> Created <schema_name>

CREATE
Schema <initiator>
<date_time> Deleted <schema_name>

Schema DROP
Schema <initiator>
<date_time> Modified <schema_name> Schema cannot be

ALTER
Schema <initiator> detected.
<date_time> Created <user_name>

CREATE
User <initiator>
<date_time> Deleted <user_name>

User DROP
User <initiator>
<date_time> Modified <user_name>

ALTER
User <initiator>
<date_time> Created <trigger_name>

CREATE
Trigger <initiator>
<date_time> Deleted <trigger_name>

Trigger DROP
Trigger <initiator>
<date_time> Modified <trigger_name>

ALTER
Trigger <initiator>

REVISION HISTORY
Revision # Date Change Summary
10/12/2016 Initial version of the document for Veeam Backup &

Revision 1
Replication 9.5.
1/24/2017 Information about permissions required for restoring In-

Place Hold Items public folder to the original location
added to Permissions section for Veeam Explorer for
Microsoft Exchange.
Information about temporary location of .BAK files added
Revision 2 to Required SQL Server Backup Job Settings section.
Information about permissions needed for transaction log
truncation modified in Required Permissions section.
Limitation regarding Oracle Data Guard added to
5/12/2017 Information about temporary location for the log files on

Revision 3 the staging SQL Server used at export added to Exporting
Databases section.

Veeam Backup 9 5 Explorers User Guide

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Veeam Backup 9 5 Explorers User Guide

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Veeam Explorers Series

2 | Veeam Explorers Series | User Guide | REV 3

3 | Veeam Explorers Series | User Guide | REV 3

4 | Veeam Explorers Series | User Guide | REV 3

5 | Veeam Explorers Series | User Guide | REV 3

6 | Veeam Explorers Series | User Guide | REV 3

Before You Start

What's New in v9.5

7 | Veeam Explorers Series | User Guide | REV 3

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Any edition of Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5.

9 | Veeam Explorers Series | User Guide | REV 3

Important! Esent.dll on the machine where Veeam Explorer runs should

To restore account password, Veeam Explorer for Microsoft Active Directory

From To Protocol Port Notes

Veeam Microsoft TCP 135 Port required for communication

TCP 636, 3268, 3269 LDAP connections.

10 | Veeam Explorers Series | User Guide | REV 3

You may also find useful information in the following articles:

Licensing and Editions

Feature Free Standard Enterprise Enterprise Plus

Browse Available Available Available Available

Search Available Available Available Available

11 | Veeam Explorers Series | User Guide | REV 3

Send Available Available Available Available

Export Available Available Available Available

Restore Single Available Available Available Available

Password Not available Available Available Available

Group Not available Not available Available Available

AD- Not available Not available Available Available

Configurat Not available Not available Available Available

Considerations and Recommendations

12 | Veeam Explorers Series | User Guide | REV 3

To read more about tombstone objects, refer to Microsoft TechNet at

13 | Veeam Explorers Series | User Guide | REV 3

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Using Microsoft Active Directory Object Restore Wizard

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Step 1. Select a Backup with Microsoft Active Directory

Step 2. Select a Restore Point

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Step 4. Restore the Microsoft Active Directory Database

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Using Guest OS Restore Wizard

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3. Click Open and wait for the operation to complete.

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Browsing for AD Objects

Searching for AD Objects

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Using LDAP Queries

25 | Veeam Explorers Series | User Guide | REV 3

Viewing Object Attributes

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Viewing Selected Object Changes

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Exporting Objects and Containers

30 | Veeam Explorers Series | User Guide | REV 3