Exchange 2003 VSS Backup Solution
For IBM Storage DS8000/DS6000
And Symantec Backup Exec 11d
Page 48 David West, David Hartman
©Copyright IBM Corp. 2007
Before installing backup applications, it is highly recommended that core VSS
functionality be tested. VSS functionality can be validated with the VSHADOW tool,
which is a lightweight VSS requestor available from Microsoft. The following are the
VSHADOW tests recommended before any backup software is installed.
1. Test Non-persistent shadow copy creation and deletion.
At a command prompt, type:
VSHADOW k: l:
Note: k: and l: represent the Exchange Database and log volumes.
Repeat this 4 times. Verify the Windows Event Log contains no errors.
2. Test Persistent shadow copy creation and deletion.
At a command prompt, type:
VSHADOW -p k: l:
You may need to run the following if there are space limitations:
VSHADOW –da (Deletes all local shadow copies)
Repeat this 4 times. Verify the Windows Event Log contains no errors.
3. Test Non-persistent transportable shadow copy creation and deletion
At a command prompt type:
VSHADOW -t=export.xml k: l:
With VSHADOW, you must manually copy the .xml file to the offload server.
On the machine you have set aside for offload, type:
VSHADOW -i=export.xml
Verify the Windows Event Log contains no errors.
After all of these tests complete without errors, you are ready for the Backup Exec
component installation.