Best way to back up FortiMail emails to external storage (S3 / SMB / Local Server)?

[smithjens316]

Hi everyone,
I’m working on setting up a reliable email-backup workflow for our FortiMail system and wanted to get advice from others who’ve done this before.

Environment:

• FortiMail (on-prem)
• Around 800–1000 active mailboxes
• Daily volume ~40–50GB
• Retention requirement ~90 days
• Need an automated solution + quick restore option

What I’ve already tried / considered:

FortiMail’s built-in archive export works, but local storage fills up fast.

Periodic manual export for certain users (not practical long-term).

Thinking of pushing backups to an external SMB/NFS storage or an S3 bucket for safer retention.

Also tested a small third-party utility like Advik Email Backup Wizard just to check mailbox-level export formats (EML/PST/MBOX), but I’d still prefer a more integrated FortiMail-side method if possible.

[Harper_King]

For backing up FortiMail emails to external storage:

Use FortiMail’s built-in archive with remote storage – configure an SMB/NFS mount or S3-compatible storage as the archive location. This avoids filling local disk.

Automate exports via scheduled archive jobs to push new emails daily.

Consider mailbox-level exports (EML/PST) only for specific cases; for full retention, the archive approach is more scalable.

Test restore workflow regularly to ensure quick recovery.

This approach keeps backups offsite and manageable while staying integrated with FortiMail.

[AEK]

Hi Smith

The below docs should help a bit.

https://docs.fortinet.com/document/fortimail/7.6.0/cookbook/897647/configuring-mailbox-backup

https://community.fortinet.com/t5/FortiMail/Technical-Tip-Best-practice-for-backing-up-data-on-the-F...