Termination of Support for mail level backups using MAPI Protocol on MS Exchange 2013 Cumulative Update 23 or above

[2020-02-07] Due to limitations and functional issues with (Messaging Application Programming Interface) MAPI backup mode, which is a Microsoft technology used by Ahsay to enable MS Exchange Server 2013 mail level backup and restores, starting from Microsoft Exchange 2013 Cumulative Update 23 or above MAPI backup mode may stop working. To avoid issues with Microsoft Exchange 2013 mail level backup and restores, it is strongly recommend to transition from MAPI backup mode to (Exchange Web Services) EWS backup mode as soon as possible.

If you continue to use MAPI backup mode and MS Exchange Server 2013 is updated to Cumulative Update 23 or above. This will result in the following outcome:

• MS Exchange 2013 mail level MAPI backup jobs will stop working.
• All mailbox items already backed using MAPI will no longer be recoverable to a MS Exchange 2013 database.

Furthermore, MAPI backup mode is not fully functional after MS Exchange Server 2013 Cumulative Update 20 or above is applied, as MAPI is unable access Public Folder items from the MS Exchange 2013 database. This will result in the following outcome:

• Inability to backup items in the MS Exchange 2013 Public Folder databases.
• Inability to restore items to the MS Exchange 2013 Public Folder databases.

Please note after installation of the cumulative update 23 package, you cannot simply uninstall the package to revert to an earlier version of Exchange Server 2013. If you try to uninstall this cumulative update package, the entire Exchange Server 2013 installation will be removed from the server. https://support.microsoft.com/en-hk/help/4489622/cumulative-update-23-for-exchange-server-2013

This issue only affects clients currently running MS Exchange mail level backups on MS Exchange 2013 Cumulative Update 20 to Cumulative Update 23 or above using MAPI backup mode. To check the MS Exchange 2013 version and build number, use the Get-ExchangeServer cmdlet found in the Exchange Management Shell

Example:

Get-ExchangeServer | Format-List Name, Edition,AdminDisplayVersion

Please refer to the following Microsoft article for details of MS Exchange build numbers and releases https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/new-features/build-numbers-and-release-dates?view=exchserver-2019

• AhsayOBM v6.13 to v6.29
• AhsayOBM v7.3.x to v7.17.2.x
• AhsayOBM v8.1.0.24 to 8.1.1.174
• AhsayOBM v8.3.0.30 or above

• If your clients are currently on pre MS Exchange 2013 Cumulative Update 20 and do not plan to apply any more updates then you do not need to take any further action.
• If your clients plan to continue to backup MS Exchange 2013 and apply the latest updates, then it is recommended to perform a transition from MAPI to EWS backup mode which is based in the Exchange Web Services protocol.

• Improved backup performance & reliability over MAPI.
• Flexible deployment - AhsayOBM can either be installed directly on the MS Exchange server or on a remote Windows machine for MS Exchange 2013 mail level backups and restores.

For details, please refer to Chapter 1.3 and 1.4 of our AhsayOBM Microsoft Exchange 2013/2016/2019 (EWS) Mail Level Backup & Restore Guide https://www.ahsay.com/download/download_document_v8_obm-user-guide-exchange-2016.jsp

As backup sets using MAPI backup mode cannot be directly converted to EWS backup mode. A new backup set using EWS backup mode must be created.

The transition will result in the following outcome:

• All mailbox items will be re-uploaded again from scratch.
• All historical snapshots and retention mailbox items from your previous MAPI backup set will no longer be available restored from the EWS backup set.

The transition from MAPI to EWS backup mode will involve:

Latest v8.3 version can be downloaded from our website https://www.ahsay.com/jsp/en/downloads/ahsay-downloads_latest-software_ahsaycbs.jsp

Latest v7.17 hotfix can be downloaded from the partner portal https://www.ahsay.com/partners/en/home/index.jsp?pageContentKey=ahsay_assets_hotfix-v7

Note: A valid partner portal login account is required

For details, please refer to Chapter 5 or Chapter 6 of our AhsayOBM Microsoft Exchange 2013/2016/2019 (EWS) Mail Level Backup & Restore Guide https://www.ahsay.com/download/download_document_v8_obm-user-guide-exchange-2016.jsp

Note:

• It is recommended to either disable the backup schedule of the existing MAPI backup set or disable the “Run Retention Policy after backup” setting of the existing MAPI backup set
• May require increasing the storage quota for the affected user accounts. As both the MAPI and EWS backup sets will temporarily co-exist until the transition is complete.

As AhsayOBS v6 already de-supported in December 2018 there are no further enhancements for this version, we recommend you upgrade to AhsayCBS v8.3 or above.

Please contact a member of our Sales team sales-kb@ahsay.com to check your maintenance status and licensing requirements before upgrading.

Our professional service team is ready to provide immediate assistance to partners with AhsayCBS v7 and AhsayCBS v8 upgrades.

Please contact a member of our Sales team sales-kb@ahsay.com to obtain a quotation for the AhsayCBS upgrade service.