Restore Exchange 2010, 2013 and 2016 databases

In Exchange Server 2010, 2013 and 2016, you can only restore databases to the active copy in a Database Availability Group. If you restore to the replica copy, you will not be able to mount the database or make it active. You will need to copy the restored files to the active copy node in order to successfully mount (and take precedence over the other copies). You will also need to update each copy through the Exchange Management Console. For more information, see documentation from Microsoft.

If you are restoring to a new location and you want to mount the database, you must first create a recovery database through the Exchange Management Shell. For more information, see documentation from Microsoft.

To restore an Exchange 2010, 2013 or 2016 database to an alternate location on a non-Exchange server, you must clear the Start Hard Recovery option.

If a database's transaction log files are missing or damaged, an incremental backup after the recovery will not succeed. Perform a full backup before you attempt another incremental backup.