How to fix error ‘Exchange database fails to mount’ after a successful restore

Ruchika Srichand

Updated On - March 11, 2024

Exchange administrators face many types of errors while using Exchange. For example, they fail to mount the Exchange database after a successful restore. This error disconnects Exchange and restricts users from accessing, sending or receiving emails, and the database displays an ‘Unable to mount database (hr=0x80004005, ec=-528) pop-up. In such cases, immediate mounting of the database is required. However, it is essential to recover the database to make a clean shutdown and mountable state from a dirty shutdown. Before going further, let’s keep an eye on the causes of the mounting issue.

Why does the Exchange database fail to mount?

Exchange administrators face this error due to various reasons:

• Log files are missing or inconsistent.
• Space issue in the server’s drives.
• Dirty shutdown
• Time is not matching in the directory and database.
• The database failed to mount as AD is not accessible.
• Antivirus programs
• The server is not updated with the latest updates.

In this section, there are some manual methods which may help you to mount the data after a successful restore:

If the database is in healthy state and database mounting failure occurs on Exchange 2016/2013/2010, then the administrator has to fix it manually by following these steps:

1. Login to Exchange Database.
2. Go to Server and select the desired database.
3. Click on three dots and select the Mount option.

To fix the database mounting issues, follow the following steps in Command Prompt or Exchange Management Shell (EMS) as administrator:

1. Check the status of the database:
   Execute the below command and check the status of your database to determine whether it is consistent or inconsistent.

Eseutil/mh “drive: \program files\exchsrvr\mdbdata\priv1.edb”

2. Remove all the transaction log files except the current file if your database is in a consistent state.
3. Perform soft recovery
   If the database is in an inconsistent state, then you have to restore your last online backup. If your backup is not valid, then execute the below command:

Eseutil/d



4. Execute Hard Recovery
   If this soft recovery fails, then you have to execute hard recovery to repair it by following the command.

Eseutil/p

The above methods may require special functions, authorizations, lengthy and bulky processes. Moreover, it’s not confirmed that these methods work to restore the database completely. There’s always a risk of data loss and the database will not be accessible to users during the recovery process. These risks involve analyzing and deciding whether to go manually or with the advanced tool.

Use Recoveryfix for Exchange Server software to mount the database

To overcome the risks of manual methods, use Recoveryfix for Exchange Server, a specially designed tool to recover your Exchange database files. This tool does not require log files and you can restore your entire database with EDB files only. You can also export or repair the public folders and archive mailboxes using this tool. This tool is efficient in fixing all kinds of exchange-related issues and errors, such as dirty shutdown error.

Additional features of the tool

• Migrates data from MS Outlook profiles configured with IMAP, POP3, GroupWise, or Domino account.
• Performs electronic discovery if you are searching for any specific email item.
• Extracts Exchange EDB, STM or log files from backup files.
• Fixes all corruption related to EDB.
• Recover deleted items & attachments.
• Supports all versions of Microsoft Exchange.

Conclusion

In the above sections, we have discussed different methods to fix data mounting issues in Exchange. Still, if you’re unable to fix this error using manual methods, it would be preferable to go with Recoveryfix for Exchange Server software. The software exports data files to PST files, Live Exchange, or Office 365 after restoring the database.