How to re-create Enterprise Vault shortcuts that have been deleted in a mailbox, or were not created because of PST Migration or Mailbox Archiving Policy settings.

Problem

It is possible to re-create Enterprise Vault shortcuts that have been deleted in a mailbox, or were not created because of PST Migration or Mailbox Archiving Policy settings.

Cause

1. A user may delete Enterprise Vault shortcuts by accident.
2. A shortcut deletion policy is configured to delete old shortcuts.
3. The Shortcut Creation settings in PST Migration policies and Archiving Actions settings in Mailbox Archiving policies can be configured not to create shortcuts, but shortcuts may be required later.
4. Shortcuts failed to be re-created during a PST import through the wizard

Solution

There are four options to restore or create shortcuts:

Option 1:

1. Restore the mailbox from a brick level mailbox backup, if a brick level backup exists. The administrator could restore the shortcuts. This method of restoring the shortcuts would be the quickest method.

Option 2:

1. Use the Vault Admin Console's Archives level Export option to "Export Archives to PST files" to export the user's archive contents to a PST file.,
2. Use the Archives level Import option to import the PST file back into the user's archive with the option selected to create shortcuts in the mailbox.

Note: It is recommended to choose the export option "Remove exported items from archive" to remove the items from the archive and its index to prevent duplicates of all items that are currently in the archive's index.

Note: The restoration of the original item(s) in options 3 and 4 may use the free space in the mailbox if a quota is set within Microsoft Exchange on the mailbox. Step (b) below may have to be completed in several steps to avoid the quota limit. Once the items are restored then the items can be manually archived and the shortcuts will be created.

Option 3:

1. Use the Export option by right-clicking on the Archives level in the Vault Admin Console to export the user's archive contents back to their original mailbox, then allow the normal archiving process to archive the items and turn them into shortcuts again.

2. (Applies to version 9.0.1 and prior) It is recommended to choose the export option "Remove exported items from archive" to remove the items from the archive and its index to prevent duplicates of all items that are currently in the archive's index.

    

Note: This will re-archive the exported items resulting in a new archived date.

3. (Applies to version 9.0.2 and higher) The ‘Remove exported items from archive’ option does not need to be selected.   If all items are exported from an archive to the users mailbox and then re-archived back to the user’s archive, no duplicate items will be created in the users archive. There may be duplicate shortcuts created if all of the shortcuts were not deleted from Exchange.

4. To allow Enterprise Vault to archive the restored items during the next archiving run create the REG_DWORD IgnoreEVDates under

For 32 bit operating system

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\KVS\Enterprise Vault\Agents.

For 64 bit operating system

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\KVS\Enterprise Vault\Agents

Set the value of IgnoreEVDates to 3 (decimal), then restart the archiving task.

Note: For Enterprise Vault 12 you must also set the IgnoreEVDatesEnd registry value to specify the latest date to be ignored. Items archived on or before that date will be treated as though they had never been archived or restored.

IgnoreEVDatesEnd (Exchange)

For 32 bit operating system

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\KVS\Enterprise Vault\Agents.

For 64 bit operating system

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\KVS\Enterprise Vault\Agents

Content: String value containing a UTC date and time in the following ISO 8601 format: yyyyMMddThh:mm:ssZ

Description: Sets the date that the IgnoreEVDates registry value uses as the latest Archived or Restored date.

Warning: Incorrect use of the Windows registry editor may prevent the operating system from functioning properly. Great care should be taken when making changes to a Windows registry. Registry modifications should only be carried-out by persons experienced in the use of the registry editor application. It is recommended that a complete backup of the registry and workstation be made prior to making any registry changes.  

Option 4:

1. Use Enterprise Vault Archive Explorer to restore the items.
2. This method will restore the original email item(s) to their original location or a 'Restored items' folder. The shortcut will be created (email will be archived) once the email modified date matched the age requirements configured in the policy.  This option should not result in duplicate items in the user's archive index as the archived items still exist in the archive's index with a setting indicating they are already archived and would not be added again after the items are re-archived.

a. To access Archive Explorer, direct the browser to:

https://ev_server_name/EnterpriseVault/ArchiveExplorerUI.asp

b. Click on the "Archive Explorer" button in Outlook if the button is enabled.  Multiple items can be selected in Archive Explorer by holding down the "Ctrl" or the "Shift" key. The "Ctrl" key will allow the selection of email items that are not in sequence. Right click in the selected area and choose "Copy to mailbox."  The original email message will be restored.
c. Manually archive the items that have been restored to create the shortcuts.

Options 1 and 4 are useful for recreating from 1 to all shortcuts in a mailbox.
Options 2 and 3 are useful for recreating all shortcuts in a mailbox or in specific folders within a mailbox.