Question

Exchange 2003 IS/Move Mailbox help

Asked by: truacc

Recently our Exchange 2003 server crashed due to failed hardware.  I was able to bring the server back up, run eseutil to bring the IS back to a clean state and remount the database.  I later realized that in my desperation of bringing the IS back up I didn't perform an offline defrag or isinteg to clean up any inconsistencies of the IS database.

So far the IS has been running ok, with the exception of a few errors in the event logs such as "hard-deleting messages in folder".  I would like to migrate all of of the mailboxes to a new and better server using the "Move Mailbox" feature in ESM.  Before moving all of the mailboxes off, is it recommended that I take the IS offline and run an offline defrag and isinteg or am I ok with just moving them.  

TIA!

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Asked On
2008-10-16 at 16:13:26ID23822461
Tags

Microsoft

,

Exchange

,

2003

Topics

Exchange Email Server

,

Windows 2003 Server

,

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)

Participating Experts
2
Points
250
Comments
8

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Answers

 

by: gbarrientosPosted on 2008-10-16 at 16:33:53ID: 22736761

Just run the offline defrag. The offline defrag also does a crc check and will tell you if the database is in consistent state. If the offline defrag completes, then the database is good and there is no need for isinteg. Using offline defrag is the best bet becuase it doesnt write anything to the database unless it completes 100%. Once the offline defrag completes then you should be able to migrate without a problem.

 

by: gbarrientosPosted on 2008-10-16 at 16:34:56ID: 22736767

Only resort to ISINTEG if offline defrag does not complete.

 

by: cmarandiPosted on 2008-10-16 at 16:45:20ID: 22736840

You can just move them to a different store... the move will compact the file and get rid of the fragmentations as it places it in the new store.

 

by: truaccPosted on 2008-10-17 at 12:54:08ID: 22744617

So by moving the mailboxes to a new store I don't have a need to run the eseutil and isinteg tools since the new store should be clean and not fragmented?  

 

by: cmarandiPosted on 2008-10-17 at 13:51:40ID: 22745158

exactly.
when it copies, during the writing, it puts in a continuous blocks, so it's not fragmented.

 

by: truaccPosted on 2008-10-17 at 14:39:22ID: 22745560

I actually moved about 30 mailboxes today and had an issue with one of the mailboxes, it came back with the attached error.

I'll move as many mailboxes as I can, then should I run an isinteg to clean up the corrupt items on the remaining mailboxes before they can be moved over to the new store?  

This mailbox exceeded the maximum number of corrupted items specified for this move mailbox operation. 

                                              
1:

Select allOpen in new window

 

by: cmarandiPosted on 2008-10-17 at 14:45:51ID: 22745602

No problem
When you start the move, the task wizard opens up... the last screen after where you pick the store it's being moved to, it says:

if corrupted messages are found:

The default is CREATE A FAILURE REPORT.
Right below that you have an option to "SKIP CORRUPTED ITEMS AND CREATE A FAILURE REPORT"
When you choose that the maximum number of corrupted items to skip, lights up... I think the default is 3... I have mine set at 10.  

You can increase that so it doesn't fail the move.

Other issues that may pop up may be a MAPI issue in the failure report.  If you get those, you'll have to set the exchange master SID for that user's account...  But don't worry about it too much... it usually pops up on disabled accounts.

 

by: truaccPosted on 2008-10-17 at 14:49:09ID: 31506994

Excellent, thanks for the quick response and your sound advice.  I'll post anything new if I come across any other issues, but you've answered all my questions to my satisfaction.  

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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