Acronis SharePoint Explorer User Guide

Acronis SharePoint Explorer

USER GUIDE

Table of contents

1 Introducing Acronis SharePoint Explorer ...........................................................................3

1.1 Supported Microsoft SharePoint versions ................................................................................. 3

1.2 Supported backup locations ...................................................................................................... 3

1.3 Licensing .................................................................................................................................... 3

2 Installation ......................................................................................................................5

2.1 Components and system requirements .................................................................................... 5

2.2 Installation examples ................................................................................................................. 5

2.2.1 SharePoint Services 3.0 and SharePoint Server 2007................................................................................... 5

2.2.2 SharePoint Server 2010 and later .................................................................................................................. 6

2.3 Installation procedure ............................................................................................................... 8

2.4 Configuring the network port .................................................................................................... 9

2.5 Uninstallation ............................................................................................................................. 9

3 Extracting SharePoint data ............................................................................................. 10

3.1 Connecting to the agent ..........................................................................................................10

3.2 Choosing an extraction method ..............................................................................................11

3.2.1 Alternative workflow .................................................................................................................................... 12

3.3 Selecting the source .................................................................................................................12

3.3.1 Single-pass backup ........................................................................................................................................ 12

3.3.2 SQL database ................................................................................................................................................. 13

3.4 Data to extract .........................................................................................................................14

3.5 Data format ..............................................................................................................................14

3.6 Destination ...............................................................................................................................15

3.7 Summary ..................................................................................................................................15

4 Actions after extraction.................................................................................................. 16

4.1 What to do if the extracted site is not accessible ....................................................................16

4.2 What to do with the Content Migration Package file ..............................................................16

1 Introducing Acronis SharePoint Explorer

Acronis SharePoint Explorer is a tool intended for extraction of Microsoft SharePoint data from single-pass backups or from Microsoft SQL databases.

A single-pass backup is an application-aware disk backup which enables browsing and recovery of the backed-up application data without recovering the entire disk or volume.

If you use Acronis Backup Agent for SQL to protect SharePoint database servers, Acronis SharePoint Explorer will help you extract documents and other SharePoint items from single-pass backups created by this agent. Acronis SharePoint Explorer interacts with the agent to temporarily mount a backed-up database to a running Microsoft SQL Server instance. Once the database is mounted, you can import the data to a functioning SharePoint farm, or save it to a folder on a file system.

If you back up SharePoint database servers at a disk level (by using Acronis Backup Agent for Windows), or use third-party software for backing up the databases, you can recover a database as a set of files and then apply Acronis SharePoint Explorer to extract the necessary data. You just need a consistent set of .mdf, .ldf and (optionally) .ndf files and a functioning Microsoft SharePoint farm.

1.1 Supported Microsoft SharePoint versions

Acronis SharePoint Explorer supports the following Microsoft SharePoint versions:

 Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 SP2*  Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 SP2*  Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010 SP1  Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 SP1  Microsoft SharePoint 2013

*For these versions of Microsoft SharePoint, only extraction from databases is supported. In order to use Acronis SharePoint Explorer with these versions, you need a SharePoint recovery farm to attach the databases to.

The single-pass backups or databases from which you extract data must originate from the same SharePoint version as the one where Acronis SharePoint Explorer is installed.

1.2 Supported backup locations

The following locations support extraction of SharePoint data directly from single-pass backups:

 Local folders of the machine running Acronis SharePoint Explorer console (except optical disks).  Network shared folders, including personal vaults and centralized unmanaged vaults. The vaults

are accessed as ordinary network shares.

To extract SharePoint data from single-pass backups located in managed vaults, Acronis Secure Zone, and other locations, additional steps are required. Possible solutions are described in "Choosing an extraction method" (p. 11).

1.3 Licensing

To install Acronis SharePoint Explorer, you need one of the following license keys:

 Acronis Backup Advanced for SharePoint  Acronis Backup for Windows Server Essentials  Acronis Backup Advanced for VMware / Hyper-V / RHEV / Citrix XenServer / Oracle VM  Acronis Backup Advanced Universal License

2 Installation

2.1 Components and system requirements

To use Acronis SharePoint Explorer, you need a functioning Microsoft SharePoint farm.

Acronis SharePoint Explorer consists of an agent and a console. The system requirements for these components are described below. For additional information, please refer to "Installation examples" (p. 5).

Acronis SharePoint Explorer Agent

The agent must be installed on a machine running 64-bit Windows and Microsoft SharePoint Front-end Server. The agent runs as a service and enables the console to access the Microsoft SharePoint farm.

If you use Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 or Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, install the agent on a SharePoint recovery farm. For information on how to create a recovery farm, refer to the following Microsoft knowledge base article: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd180789.aspx.

Acronis SharePoint Explorer Console

The console can be installed on either a 32-bit or a 64-bit machine running Windows XP or later.

The console utilizes Microsoft .NET Framework, which can be installed automatically during the console installation (if Internet connection is available). Alternatively, you can install .NET Framework manually before or after the console installation.

To make the best use of Acronis SharePoint Explorer, install the console on a machine running Microsoft SQL Server. The console utilizes Microsoft SQL Server to attach databases to instances.

To extract data from single-pass backups, you also need Acronis Backup Agent for SQL and Acronis Backup Command-Line Tool on the same machine with the console.

2.2 Installation examples

Installation configurations depend on the version of Microsoft SharePoint you use.

2.2.1 SharePoint Services 3.0 and SharePoint Server 2007

In order to use Acronis SharePoint Explorer with these versions of SharePoint, you need a SharePoint recovery farm that contains at least one empty web application. The agent must be installed on the recovery farm.

In the following examples, Acronis SharePoint Explorer components are shown in italic.

Both configurations enable you to extract SharePoint data from a Microsoft SQL database attached to any SQL Server instance that is available on the network. If a database is in a single-pass backup, you need to first mount the database to a SQL Server instance by using Acronis Backup Agent for SQL.

The only difference is in handling unattached databases.

Example 1: Typical configuration

Microsoft SharePoint farm (64-bit) (any configuration)

 Acronis Backup Agent for SQL

Microsoft SharePoint recovery farm (64-bit)

 Acronis SharePoint Explorer Agent  Acronis SharePoint Explorer Console  Microsoft .NET Framework

Microsoft SharePoint farm (64-bit) (any configuration)

 Acronis Backup Agent for SQL

Microsoft SharePoint recovery farm (64-bit)

 Acronis SharePoint Explorer

Agent

 Acronis SharePoint Explorer

Console

 Microsoft .NET Framework

If the database is not attached, Acronis SharePoint Explorer will attach it to the SQL Server instance running on the recovery farm.

Example 2: Remote console

If the database is not attached, you need to first attach it manually to any SQL Server instance that is available on the network.

For information on how to create a recovery farm, refer to the following Microsoft knowledge base article: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd180789.aspx.

For information on how to create an empty web application, refer to the following Microsoft knowledge base article: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc261875.aspx.

2.2.2 SharePoint Server 2010 and later