Sync & Recover - Creating Snapshots

• Only Administrators with Protected Content permissions can perform mailbox recoveries.

• Please thoroughly verify that all details of any intended recipient(s) of restored mailbox or mail items are correct.

• Mimecast bears no responsibility should the Administrator fail to send the recovered mailbox or mail items to the correct recipient.

This guide describes how to create a snapshot of a mailbox at a specific point in time, by configuring a Sync & Recover Overview task.  This allows Administrators to recover a user's full mailbox, select folders, or individual items at a precise time. This includes the user's emails, calendar, and contacts. This applies to Administrators responsible for managing mailbox recovery functionality.

Once the snapshot is complete, you have the option to:

• Export specific mailbox content as a downloadable file.
• Restore specific content to a selected mailbox.
• Download individual mailbox items.

Walkthrough

To complete the snapshot process, you'll need to:

1. Locate the user's mailbox from an existing Sync & Recover task. See the Sync & Recover: Managing Synchronization Tasks page for further information.
2. Create a snapshot of the mailbox by selecting a specific date and time, and wait for the data to download to the Snapshot Queue.
3. Export or restore selected folders or the entire mailbox from the snapshot. Alternatively, you can choose individual mailbox items to download, including messages, contacts, or calendars.

Creating a Snapshot

To create a snapshot:

1. Log in to the Mimecast Administration Console.
2. Navigate to the Archive | Exchange Sync & Recover menu item.
3. Click on the View Details button of the task containing the mailbox you want to view and restore. Alternatively, click on the three-line icon in the top left-hand corner, and select Synced Mailboxes from the pop-out panel.

Details are displayed in a consolidated list of all archived mailboxes. This includes mailboxes that are currently part of an archive synchronization task and those of inactive users. Synchronized mailboxes are visible as long as they have been synchronized once.

4. Select the User's Mailbox you want to create the snapshot from. The user's mailbox folders, including calendar and contacts, are displayed under Live View by default.

Switching between Live View and Archive View won't affect the snapshot, as content is retrieved from the synchronization closest to the time you specify. See the "Viewing a Mailbox" section on the Sync & Recover: Managing Your Synchronized Mailboxes page for more information.

5. If you want to take a snapshot of an entire mailbox, select the Mails and Contact Calendar checkboxes at the top of the folder lists to highlight all corresponding items underneath. If you want to take a snapshot of certain folders only, select the relevant checkboxes from the lists. Click on the + links to expand the folder hierarchy and preview the content.
6. Click on the Create Snapshot button. A pop-up dialog box is displayed.

7. From the Date and Time fields, select the closest date and time you want to retrieve the user's mailbox data from. This is a mandatory step.

The earliest date you can set is the first synchronization of the user's mailbox.

8. Optionally enter an email address in the Email Notification field to be notified when the snapshot is ready. By default, the administrator logged on to the console displays.
9. Optionally click on the:

• • Add Another Email button to notify additional users.
  • Trash Can icon to delete an email address.

10. Click on the Create Snapshot button to begin the recovery. The time to complete the snapshot depends on the size of the content.
11. Click on the Archive| Exchange Sync & Recover | Snapshot Queue menu item to view the completed snapshot. If you entered an email address at step 9, you'll be notified when it's ready.

Snapshots are displayed in the Snapshot Queue for 14 days, with the last available date displayed under the Expiration Date column.

 

12. Click on the relevant snapshot in the queue to display the full details. From this page, you can export or restore the data, or download individual mailbox items. See the relevant sections below to continue.

Exporting a Snapshot

To export a completed snapshot:

1. Select the Archive | Exchange Sync & Recover | Snapshot Queue menu item.
2. Click on the relevant snapshot from the queue. The snapshot details display.
3. Select the folders you want to export from the checkboxes listed. Enter keywords in the Search folders field to locate specific content if required.
4. Click on the Open Export button. A pop-up dialog displays.

5. Complete the Settings as required:

Field / Option	Description	Mandatory Field
Export Format	Specify the file type of the download, either ZIP or PST.	Yes
Date Range	Select the checkbox if you want to filter the data to export by date. Choose a start and end date from the date picker that displays.	No
Recovery Mode	Specify the format the messages are to be exported in. The options are: Safe View: Delivers the messages in the format they are in after being processed by Mimecast. This includes rewritten URLs, stationery, and transcribed/stripped/linked or blocked attachments. Original View: Delivers the messages in their original format (i.e. before Mimecast processed them).	Yes
Maximum File Size (GB)	Specify a value between 1 and 20 (in gigabytes) to be the maximum file size to be exported. If the amount of exported data exceeds this figure, it is split into separate files.	Yes
Email Notification	Enter an email address to be notified once the export is complete and ready to download.	No

6. Click on the Export button. If you requested an email notification, we'll send a confirmation message when the export is ready.
7. Completed exports are available for download via the Exchange Sync & Recover | Export & Restore Queue menu item.
8. Click on the Download button.
9. If the amount of exported data exceeds the maximum file size specified in the Export settings (step 5 above), it is split into separate files. Click on the individual Download buttons that display for each separate file to download the content to your local desktop.

View the Sync & Recover The Export and Restore Queue page for information on the statuses displayed, and how to view a report if required.

Restoring a Snapshot

To restore a completed snapshot:

1. Select the Services | Exchange Sync & Recover | Snapshot Queue menu item. A list of completed snapshots is displayed.
2. Click on the relevant snapshot from the queue. The snapshot details display.
3. Select the folders you want to restore from the checkboxes listed. Enter keywords in the Search folders field to locate specific content if required.
4. Click on the Open Restore button. A pop-up dialog displays.
5. Complete the Settings as required:

Field / Option	Description	Mandatory Field
Restore To	Use the look-up button to search for the user's mailbox if you want to restore the data. By default, the email address for the administrator who is logged on is displayed.	Yes
Server Connection	Select a server connection to use from the drop-down menu.	Yes
Recovery Mode	Specify the format that messages are to be restored in. The options are: Safe View: Delivers the messages in the format they are in after being processed by Mimecast. This includes rewritten URLs, stationery, and transcribed/stripped/linked or blocked attachments. Original View: Delivers the messages in their original format (i.e. before Mimecast processed them). Once selected, click on the Check Target Mailbox button to ensure the mailbox specified in the "Restore To" field is available. This validation is mandatory to start the restore process.	Yes
Date Range	Select the checkbox if you want to filter the data to restore by date. Choose a start and end date from the date picker that displays.	No
Email Notification	Enter an email address to be notified once the restore is complete.	No

6. Click the Restore button. If you requested an email notification, we'll send a confirmation message when the restore has finished.
7. Click on the Exchange Sync & Recover | Export & Restore Queue menu item to view the completed restore, displayed as "Restore" in the Type column.
8. Optionally click on the Report button to view and confirm the details:

View the Sync & Recover The Export and Restore Queue page for information on viewing reports and the statuses displayed.

Downloading an Individual Mailbox Item

You can download an individual message, contact, or calendar item from a snapshot, in the following file formats:

• Email: EML
• Contact: VCF
• Calendar: ICAL

To download an individual mailbox item:

1. Click on the Services | Exchange Sync & Recover | Snapshot Queue menu item.
2. Click on the relevant snapshot from the queue. The snapshot details display.
3. Select the individual mailbox item you want to download from the folders listed, clicking on the + links to expand the folders. Details of the item display.
4. Click on the Download button. The item will download to your local desktop.
5. Specify a file name and location.
6. Click on the Save button.

If a mailbox item's contents cannot be displayed for one of the reasons below, the Download button is unavailable:

Reason	Description
Missing Folder Information	The Exchange didn't include information about the folder where the message was stored.
Message Too Large	The message is too large to be added to a PST. We're unable to add messages over 1 GB.
Failed to Parse MIME Message	The archived message is corrupt, and can't be parsed into MIME format.
Failed to Parse ICAL	The .ICAL file in the archives couldn't be parsed and added to the .PST file.
Failed to Parse VCF	The .VCF file in the archives couldn't be parsed and added to the .PST file.
Message Not Found In Archive	The message was either: Never sent through Mimecast (e.g. a draft). Been expired/purged from the archive. Messages haven't been ingested.

See Also...

• Sync & Recover: Managing Your Synchronized Mailboxes
• Sync & Recover: The Export and Restore Queue
• Sync Recover: Switching Views
• Protected Content Administrators