Lync 2013 standard edition backup and restore insights

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I would like to share the backup and restore procedure for a Lync 2013 standard edition server. Current lab setup have two standard edition servers called SE1.fabrikam.com and SE2 fabrikam.com. CMS is located in SE2 , unfortunately SE2 went down due to some reason. I would like to recover the server from scratch.

I had backed up Lync 2013 topology configuration , user data and response group configuration in advance. You need to store this data in a safe location for recovery. Following screenshot may help you for reference.

I have installed a new server with same FQDN called SE2.fabrikam.com. Ensure that IP address and windows configuration are the same. Once OS and network configuration is completed , you need to install Lync 2013 prerequisites like .Net frameworks, PowerShell and other required windows components.

Once Lync 2013 prerequisites are installed successfully , you need to run prepare first standard edition option for the creation local SQL express database. Following screenshot may help you for reference.

Later , I had opened Lync management shell and ran following command to install CMS database instance in SE2.  Install-csdatabase -CentralManagementDatabase _SqlserverFqdn "server FQDN" -Clean -SqlInstanceName rtc , here is the screenshots for reference.

CMS database installation has been completed successfully. I have verified the CMS store location by running get-csconfigurationstorelocation , it was still pointed to SE2. 

I have copied the backup topology configuration file locally and imported the topology from powershell and invoked the replication between the servers. I had to run , Import-csconfiguration -filename "location" command to import the file to local database.

Now topology has been updated and all configurations are available in the CMS and it has been replicated to all local databases. Now , it's the time to run deployment wizard and bootstrap the DLL files on new server. Run local configuration store installation and setup lync server components and associate a certificate to SE2 .

I have successfully completed installation of SE2 and successfully started all services on SE2 as expected.

Once installation is completed , I have restored users data and response group configuration on SE2 pool. Following command may help you for reference. Import-csuserdata -poolfqdn se2.fabrikam.com -filename "location of the backup file"

Import-csrgsconfiguration -filename "location" -destination applicationserver:se2.fabrikamc.om

Conclusion

Please note, you need to backup voice configuration like dialplan/normalization rules and policies part of the backup/restore strategy. Also need t take the back of file share and meeting contents which is not included in SQL/configuration file.Above information may be helpful for backup/restore scenarios.