CodeTwo backup tools update – support for OAuth 2.0 and archive mailboxes

Version 2.3.x of CodeTwo Backup (CodeTwo Backup for Office 365 and CodeTwo Backup for Exchange) is now available. Together with the usual improvements in performance and stability (you can expect less throttling), the new release also includes some great new features:

• support for Modern Authentication (OAuth 2.0),
• backup and restore of archive mailboxes,
• shared mailboxes no longer require licenses.

Support for Modern Authentication

CodeTwo Backup no longer allows you to establish new server connections with Exchange Online that use the Basic Authentication protocol. Instead, the program follows the most secure OAuth 2.0 authorization framework. That way, you don’t need to worry about your backup jobs being stopped when Microsoft disables Basic Authentication in Exchange Online. Since October 2020, Basic Auth is no longer available for new users and existing tenants that have no recorded usage of this legacy authentication protocol. We’ve made sure that CodeTwo Backup switches to Modern Authentication long before the Microsoft’s deadline.

Don’t worry – your existing Office 365 (Exchange Online) connections will still work and your backup jobs will not be interrupted. You just need to remember to reconfigure them before Microsoft disables Basic Authentication. To help you, these connections are marked as obsolete in the program and you will be reminded to reconfigure them.

To connect and authenticate with your Microsoft 365 (Office 365) tenant, you now need to register CodeTwo Backup in the Azure Active Directory of each tenant that is used in your backup and restore jobs. The program registers itself automatically during server connection configuration, but you can also register it manually by following these steps.

Both Exchange and SharePoint server connection wizards underwent a complete makeover. When configuring a connection to Exchange Online, you no longer provide your admin credentials directly in the program; you are asked to log in via Microsoft’s sign-in page instead (see the figure below). In addition, the OAuth 2.0 authorization flow is now also partially used in SharePoint Online server connections to ensure better security.

Back up and restore archive mailboxes

You can now include archive mailboxes (also known as in-place archives) in your backup jobs. To do so, open a new or existing backup job, go to the Mailboxes step, and select Include archive mailboxes in the backup. If a user mailbox or a shared mailbox has an archive mailbox enabled, it will be backed up in the next backup cycle (or as soon as you start your backup job). Archive mailboxes don’t consume any additional licenses.

CodeTwo Backup also allows you to select archive mailboxes (as well as individual archive mailbox folders) as a target location in Exchange restore jobs. You can restore the contents of archive mailboxes to non-archive mailboxes as well.

Shared mailboxes no longer require licenses

Previously, to back up a shared mailbox you had to assign licenses to all users that had the Full Access (read and manage) permission to that mailbox. The new version of CodeTwo Backup makes the licensing of shared mailboxes much simpler – you don’t need any licenses at all. The same applies to archive mailboxes, as mentioned above, resource mailboxes (room and equipment) and SharePoint site mailboxes.

To see what else has been changed in the new version of the program, check out CodeTwo Backup’s version history.

How to update

The update is free of charge for all licensed users. To update CodeTwo Backup to version 2.3.x, simply download the setup file for your version:

• CodeTwo Backup for Office 365
• CodeTwo Backup for Exchange

and install the program on top of your existing installation. Note that your licenses will be displayed as unassigned after the update. However, as soon as your backup jobs start (automatically or manually), the licenses will be re-assigned.

All program’s settings and jobs will remain unchanged after the update. However, you will notice that your server connections to Microsoft 365 (Exchange Online and SharePoint Online) are marked as obsolete. Make sure to reconfigure them as soon as possible so that they use Modern Authentication. Learn more

 Enjoy the new version and stay tuned for more updates!