# Using Exchange Web Services in an On-Premises Environment

Applies to: Exchange 2010, Exchange 2013, Exchange 2016, Exchange 2019

If you want to use Exchange Web Services (EWS) to archive and restore Exchange messages, configure the service account and enable the use of EWS.

By default, for clients installed using Exchange 2019, the use of EWS is already enabled.

For newly installed clients, the use of EWS is recommended over MAPI.

The existing clients that upgrade to Service Pack 25 (SP25) continue to use MAPI unless the use of EWS is manually enabled.

Important

Effective July 1, 2026, Microsoft will block EWS access for the following license types:

- Frontline F1

- Frontline F3

- Exchange Online Kiosk

Mailboxes using these licenses will no longer be eligible for protection once this change takes effect.

## Exchange Data Backup Using EWS

If the Exchange servers are behind a load balancer, bypass the load balancer and point to the Exchange servers by adding Exchange server host entries on all access nodes. You must use host entries on each mailbox access node and point the load balancer to multiple Exchange servers so that load is distributed evenly.

Exchange SSL certificate must have the Exchange Server name.

### Bypass the Load Balancer

To bypass a load balancer for EWS connections from the Commvault access node, configure entries in the hosts file on the Exchange mailbox access nodes so that the load-balanced URL resolves to a specific Exchange server. This configuration forces direct communication with the selected Exchange server, which can improve archiving performance and resolve connection errors. However, this configuration also creates a single point of failure.

1. Select the Exchange server that the mailbox access node will connect to directly.

2. On the mailbox access node, edit the Windows hosts file:

   `C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts`

3. Add an entry that maps the load-balanced URL to the IP address of the selected Exchange server.

   Example: `172.24.1.1 mail.companyname.com`

## Exchange Data Cleanup Using EWS

Clean up for Exchange 2010 is not supported.

The Cleanup Oldest Emails First option in the Cleanup Policy Quota options is not supported.

Cleanup and content indexing jobs start automatically after the archiving job is completed successfully. If the schedule for cleanup and content indexing jobs is defined in the backup plan, the schedule takes precedence and they do not start automatically.

## Exchange Data Restore Using EWS

Restore for Exchange 2010 is not supported.

Microsoft Outlook is required only if you want to restore data to PST files and/or MSG files.Microsoft Outlook (64-bit) 2013, Microsoft Office 2013 Service Pack 1 (SP1) or a more recent release must be installed. For more information, see Description of Microsoft Office 2013 Service Pack 1 (SP1).

## Configure the Service Account Permissions

1. To assign backup rights to the user account that functions as the service account for backups, log on as Exchange Administrator, open Exchange PowerShell and assign the Application Impersonation and the View-Only Recipients roles to the Exchange On-premise service accounts.

       New-RoleGroup -Name $[Commvault_exchange_onPremise_backupgrp] -Roles $[ApplicationImpersonation , "View-Only Recipients"] -Members $[service_account1, service_account2]

   Where:

   exchange_onPremises_backupgrp is a unique name for the new role group.

   service_account1 and service_account2 are service accounts

   If the role group is already created with the application impersonation rights, then the user can be added to that group and can be used as the EWS service account.

       Add-RoleGroupMember "$[Commvault_exchange_onpremises_backupgrp]" -Member $[service_account1]

2. To create a throttling policy and assign all the service accounts to that throttling policy, run the following cmdlet in Exchange PowerShell:New-Throttlingpolicy "CVEWSThrottlingPolicy"

       New-Throttlingpolicy "$[CVEWSThrottlingPolicy]" -EwsMaxConcurrency $[unlimited] -EwsMaxSubscriptions $[unlimited] -EwsMaxBurst $[unlimited] -EwsCutoffBalance $[unlimited] -EwsRechargeRate $[unlimited]

       Set-ThrottlingPolicyAssociation -Identity $[service account] -ThrottlingPolicy $[CVEWSThrottlingPolicy]

   Where:

   service_account is the Exchange administrator service account.

   Assigning a throttling policy improves backup performance.

3. Add the service account to the Local Administrator group.

4. Add all the Exchange On-premise service accounts to the Local Administrator group on all the mailbox access nodes.

5. Grant all the Exchange On-premise service accounts full access to the job results share.

## Enable the Use of EWS

1. From the Command Center navigation pane, go to Protect > Exchange.

   The Exchange page appears.

2. Click the Exchange app.

   The app page appears.

3. On the Configuration tab, in the General section, move the Use EWS toggle key to the right.

   The Edit EWS Connection URL dialog box appears.

4. Enter a valid EWS URL that can be obtained by typing the following command in Microsoft Exchange Management Shell:

        Get-WebServicesVirtualDirectory |Select name, $[url] | fl

   Note

   You must use the internal Url that is in the format https://<EXCHANGE_SERVER_FQDN>/EWS/Exchange.asmx. This URL must be accessible from all the Exchange access nodes.

Click Save.

×

Loading...