1. Support
  2. Knowledge base
  3. 100040016

Convert OST to PST Data Files Natively

Article: 100040016
Last Published: 2018-03-07
Ratings: 0 2
Product(s): eDiscovery Platform

Problem

With the integration of a third-party OST to PST conversion tool into the eDiscovery Platform, Veritas can seamlessly automate the task of converting OST files to PST files. 

Starting with 8.3 CHF2 and later, OST data files are converted to PST data files during the discovery phase. Upon successful completion of this operation, normal PST processing is applied to the files for easy access, review, and analysis.

Read the prerequisites, steps and tips before performing any OST to PST file conversions.

Before You Begin

System Requirements

Microsoft .NET Framework Version

You will need a OST to PST conversion compatible version of Microsoft .NET Framework for the server operating system. While multiple versions of the .NET Framework can be run on a machine, the OST to PST conversion requires Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5.2 or higher.

Note: OST to PST file conversion requires Microsoft .NET 4.5.2 or higher. Since multiple versions of Microsoft .NET software can exist on the machine, please install and perform the upgrade first and then manually install .NET 4.5.2 or higher for the OST to PST conversion.

 

New Conversion Libraries Replacing Old Ones

If OST conversion was previously enabled, the upgrade process automatically removes older conversion libraries (such as Datanumen) and replaces them with new OST conversion libraries. This means that if OST conversion was in use prior to the upgrade, the conversion service will continue to function but will use the newly installed library.

Disk Space

  1. To avoid overwhelming system resources, make sure you have enough disk space for the OST file conversion and any subsequent submissions of partially converted PST files. Key resources, such as available hard disk space can impact overall system functions and will cause partial conversion copies to fail. 

Outlook Version Compatibility

The OST to PST tool supports OST files from MS Outlook 2010 and 2013. 

For MS Outlook 2016, only OST files created from in-place upgrades from Outlook 2010/2013 to MS Outlook 2016 are supported.

Change the Default Location for Partially Converted OST Files (Optional)

By default, any partially converted OST files will be copied to the system converted files directory:
<system converted files directory>\OST_Partial_ConvertedFiles
 
Note: Unless the location was changed by an administrator in system settings, the default for the system converted files directory is: 
D:\ convertedFiles\OST_Partial_ConvertedFiles
You can change this default setting and save files to another location or on another drive by following the instructions below.

T o change the location for Partially Converted OST files
  1. Go to System > Support Features, and select Property Browser.
  2. Enter the property: esa.ost2.partialconversion.directory
  3. Set the value to the new location. For example:  \\\\nassvr.test-t1.local\\data\\case01\\OST_Partial_conversions
  4. Click Submit to save the location setting.

Tips for Successful OST File and Partial OST File Conversion

Subdivide Large OST Files

OST files can be quite large. The size depends on many factors including the type of mailbox data (such as email, contact, calendar event, attachments, journal folders).  For OST data files that are larger than 2GB, you may want to consider splitting them into smaller parts for faster processing.

OST to PST File Conversion

Make sure you have read and complied with the system and data preparation steps mentioned in the precious section prior to initiating the OST to PST file conversion.
 
To Convert an OST to PST:
  1. Make sure that the Convert supported mailbox files to PST case setting is enabled to take advantage of the OST to PST conversion feature. By default, the new case setting is enabled.
  2. During the discovery phase, OST data files are automatically converted into PST data files. No end user input is required.
  3. View the job status to view the success/failure/partial success information for the OST job.
  4. Identify any errors.

Troubleshooting

An OST to PST file job might encounter errors. For example, a conversion job can time out before the successful completion. For this type of error and others, check the job log files and follow the steps appropriate for the error that are outlined below. 

Resolving Incorrect .NET Framework Version

IMPORTANT: The following instructions are applicable to 8.3 CHF2 installations.

As part of the discovery process, the application checks for a version of the Microsoft .NET Framework that is compatible with the OST conversion tool. If a missing or incompatible version of .Net Framework is detected, an error message is logged to the discovery job log. The same error appears in the Discovery Errors report.

Error Message Example:
ContainerException: ERROR: Discovery of OST file has been marked as failed because .NET version 4.5.2 or later is REQUIRED to be installed to successfully convert OST to PST. Please install the required version of .NET framework

The solution involves two steps:
  1. Install a compatible version of .NET Framework for your server operating system.
  2. All the OST files that failed to be discovered must be copied to a new folder and rediscovered.

Partially Converted Files

A summary of partially converted files will be listed in the job log file. Check the OST2 log under case logs first to find out what type of errors were issued.
Here you will also find a summary of OST files that were partially converted.
To assist with analysis and possible resubmission, the partially converted files are copied to the default system directory or to the directory that you specified in the property browser setting.

Default system directory:
<system converted files directory>\OST_Partial_ConvertedFiles

IMPORTANT:  Be sure to examine the Discovery remote job log or Discovery Error report for the exact location and full pathname of all the partially converted OST files. Since the OST_Partial_ConvertedFiles directory contains a fair amount of “noise” that does not apply to partially converted files (such as folder structures with potentially many subdirectories for case ID’s and many other elements), it is more efficient to consult the Discovery remote job log and error report for pathname information. 

Timeout errors

The conversion tool’s default settings are calibrated to allow for most OST file conversions to complete. Typically, you do not have to modify any parameter settings. However, there may be instances where these settings may not be sufficient for the conversion profile and data characteristics of extremely large OST files. If this is the situation, you may see conversions of large OST files that terminate with timeout errors. 

One possible way to resolve the time outs of large OST file conversions is by adjusting limits that are set on the wait time and conversion timeout rate. These settings work together to ensure that the OST to PST conversion workload has sufficient time to process without overwhelming the system resources. 

It is important to understand that these settings do not alter or affect the actual OST to PST file conversion rate. This means, for example, that you cannot use these settings to speed up OST conversation rates. 

These two settings are accessed from the property browser. 

To increase the timeout setting
  1. Go to System > Support Features, and select Property Browser.
  2. Enter the property: esa.OST2.max.timeout.minutes 
  3. Set the value to the new timeout value:
    By default, the value is set to 24 hours and the maximum value is 128 hours.
    For example, to enter 100 hours: 6000
  4. Click Submit to save the timeout setting.

To lower the conversion timeout rate setting
  1. Go to System > Support Features, and select Property Browser.
  2. Enter the property: esa.OST2.mbconvrate.perminute
  3. Set the conversion timeout rate to: 2
  4. Click Submit to save the timeout setting.

Fixing partially converted files

eDiscovery administrators can choose to process the partially converted PST files into the same case by adding a new case folder that contains the partially converted PSTs and proceeding to process the files as a new source.

Note: Partially converted PST files can take up a considerable amount of disk space. Make sure you have deleted any non-essential partially converted PST files to free up disk space.

Was this content helpful?

Article Languages