Sync & Recover - Managing Mailboxes

• Only Administrators with Protected Content Permissions can perform mailbox recoveries.
• Please thoroughly verify that all details of any intended recipient(s) of the 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 display the details of the mailbox synchronizations that are performed as a result of a task, as well as export or restore data from the archive. You can also create a snapshot of a user's mailbox at a specific point in time, and restore, export, or download the content from an existing sync task.

Applies To

• Administrators responsible for managing mailbox recovery functionality.

Viewing a Task's Details

To view a task's details:

1. Log in to the Mimecast Administration Console.
2. Navigate to Archive | Exchange Sync & Recover. 
3. Click on the View Details button to the right of the task whose details you want to view.

The details of the synchronized task 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, provided they have been synchronized once.

You can use the icons in the top right-hand corner to start/stop, change, or delete a task.

Once displayed, the following details of all synchronized mailboxes are displayed:

• Initial Replication: The date and time of the mailbox's first synchronization.
• Last Sync: The date and time of the mailbox's last synchronization.
• State: The result of the mailbox's last synchronization. This can be:

State	Description
Pending	Initial sync is in progress
Duplicate	Another task is syncing this mailbox
Skipped	Mailbox not found Mailbox disabled or is missing license Connector unable to authenticate
Healthy	Syncing as expected
Attention	Contact support for assistance

Viewing a Mailbox

Tasks and Notes are currently not available in the Live and Archive views.

To view a mailbox:

1. List the Task's Details (see above).
2. Click on the relevant Mailbox. The synchronized mailbox's archive is displayed in one of the following two views:
3. Click on one of the following tabs:

•  
  • Live View: This displays the folder structure and messages as they existed at the time of the last synchronization. This is the default view.
  • Archive View: This displays all folders and messages, including those that have been moved or deleted. 

Expired messages in folders and archive searches aren't displayed.

4. Select the required Mailbox Folder. The folder's contents are displayed.

Folders are listed in an expandable/collapsible hierarchy. You can search for a folder by entering text in the Search field and pressing the Enter key. This finds a folder even if it is not displayed (i.e., because it is a subfolder of a collapsed folder).

Downloading an Individual Message

You can download individual messages in an .EML file. To do so:

1. View the Mailbox. See the View the Mailbox section above for details.
2. Click on a Message. A pop-up panel is displayed.
3. Click on the Download button.

4. Specify a file name and location.
5. Click on the Save button

Where a message's contents cannot be displayed for one of the reasons mentioned 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.

Exporting a Folder’s Contents

Tasks and Notes are currently not available with the export feature.

If your account has the export functionality enabled, you can export an archived folder's contents:

1. View the required Folder (see above).
2. Select the required Folders, Calendars, or Contacts.
3. You can search for an item by entering text in the Search field and pressing the Enter key. This searches across the following elements:

•  
  • Message: Searches in a message's body, subject, and attachments.
  • Calendar: Searches in a calendar's organizer, attendee, and subject
  • Contact: Searches in a contact's name, email address, and company.

4. Click on the Export button.
5. Complete the Export dialog as required:

Field / Option	Description
Export Format	Specify a file format for the exported file. The structure of the export file replicates the exported folder structure.
Date Range	If selected, the "From" and "To" fields can be used to specify a date range for the records to be exported. Click on the icon to display a date picker.
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 Mimecast has processed them. This includes rewritten URLs, transcribed attachments, stripped / linked / blocked attachments, and stationery Original View: Delivers the messages in their original format (i.e. before Mimecast processed them).
Maximum File Size (GB)	Specify a value between 1 and 20 to be the maximum file size to be exported. If the amount of exported data exceeded this figure, it is split into separate files. For example, if a value of 10GB is specified, but the total amount of exported data is 26GB, three files are created (2 x 10GB and 1 x 6GB). There is a limit on export task run time being applied to the task, this means that if limit has been reached, you would have the PST broken into multiple batches.
Email Notification	Specify an email address to be notified when the export is complete.

6. Click on the Export button. The export starts and can be viewed in the Data Retention - Sync & Recover - Export & Restore Queues where the file can be downloaded once complete.
7. Click on the OK button.

Restoring a Folder's Contents

Tasks and Notes are currently not available with the restore feature.

When you restore an archived mailbox folder, all the mailbox's data is restored in a folder at the mailbox's root folder called "_Mimecast Restore YYYYMMDDHHMMSS", where YYYYMMDDHHMMSS is a date and time stamp. For example, if your account has the restore functionality enabled, you can restore an archived folder's contents:

1. View the required Folder (see above).
2. Click on the Restore button.
3. Complete the Restore dialog as required:

Field / Option	Description
Restore To	Specify the mailbox to which the restore is sent. This defaults to the same mailbox as the archive, but can be changed by clicking the Look Up button.
Server Connection	Select a Connector from the drop down list.
Recovery Mode	Specify the format the messages are to be exported in. The options are: Safe View: Delivers the messages in their format they are in after Mimecast has processed them. This includes rewritten URLs, transcribed attachments, stripped / linked / blocked attachments, and stationery. 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 chosen mail- box specified in the "Restore To" field is available. If it is, the following notification below is displayed. This validation is mandatory to start the restore process.
Date Range	If selected, the From and To fields can be used to specify a date range for the re- cords to be restored. Click on the   icon to display a date picker.
Email Notification	Specify an email address to be notified when the restore is complete.

4. Click on the Restore button. The restore starts and can be viewed in the Sync & Recover - Export & Restore Queues.
5. Click on the OK button.

There is a limit on the restore run time that is applied to the task. If that limit has been reached, you will see the restore broken into multiple batches.

Create a Snapshot

If your account has the Snapshot functionality enabled, you can retrieve mailbox content as it appeared at a specific point in time. This allows Administrators to recover a user's full mailbox, select folders, or individual items from a precise time. This includes the user's emails, calendar, and contacts.

Once the snapshot has been completed, you have the option to:

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

See the Data Retention - Sync & Recover - Creating Snapshots page for more information.

See Also...

• Data Retention - Sync & Recover - Managing Synchronization Tasks
• Data Retention - Sync & Recover - Export & Restore Queues