Mailbox - "No files need to be copied"

[ChuckBecker]

I have a question on inclusion/exclusion rules.

----

Here's the short version of my question:

 

What inclusion/exclusion rule(s) do I need to use to ensure that my Exchange is being fully backed up (brick-level and db-level)?

 

----

And here's the more detailed version:

 

Win 2003 Server, sp2

Exchange 2003, sp2

Retrospect 7.5.387

 

From examining my logs, it appears that my daily backups have not been getting users' mailboxes for about a month. In the logs, each mailbox is enumerated, but I get the message "No files need to be copied," and then "Execution completed successfully."

 

I don't remember exactly the date I installed sp2 for Win2003, but it was around that time. It was also about that time that I added the exclusion rule "Name Matches Pattern: System Volume Information" to my selectors (I had and still have other inclusion and exclusion rules). I added that rule just to cut down on the number of errors and warnings per backup job. I figured that having hundreds of unhelpful "Sharing Violation" errors makes it less likely to notice if a "real" error or warning occurs.

 

Through experimentation, I find that mailboxes appear to be backed up either if I remove all inclusion and exclusion rules, or if I add the inclusion rule "Sender matches Anything," but I want to be sure.

 

For "Sources" I have only the My Computer container. Exchange (single server) runs on the local computer, and "Exchange Server - First Storage Group" and "Exchange Mailboxes" show up as volumes in Configure->Volumes.

 

I run full backups (i.e., not incremental or differential).

 

Does adding that rule ("include Sender matches anything") mean that I should get all the Exchange info I need for a disaster restore, as well as a mailbox/message restore?

 

Did something change recently regarding the need to explicitly include a "Sender" rule? I may have made other changes to my inclusion/exclusion rules, but I know I never explicitly said "Include Sender matches Anything" before, and had been getting what appeared to be complete mailbox backups.

 

Thanks for any insight!

 

Chuck Becker