Repair Exchange Server with ESEUTIL
Updated On - October 19, 2022
The security features of Exchange Server are quite robust, and they can tackle multiple threats with high efficiency. But due to the complexity of the Exchange environment administrators need to make sure that all the security features are working correctly, and routine maintenance is done with perfection. Here are some checkpoints which the Exchange administrators should keep in mind.
- Use digital certificates wisely
- Set Edge Transport Server
- Fix Exchange Corruption
Secure internet communication is possible due to digital certificates. But it may be confusing to select the right one. You can use a single certificate for a single hostname only. Since digital certificates are available through authorized commercial vendors only, they may be expensive. So, use them wisely.
Edge Transport Server handles the emails communication outside the organization’s network and filters the messages before coming to the mailbox servers. With its anti-spam capabilities, the Edge Transport server provides various layers of protection to the Exchange Server.
Even after taking every kind of precaution, the Exchange data can get corrupt due to hardware failures like abrupt shutdown, improper application exits, and unwanted deletion. Corruption affects the database and stops you from accessing the mailbox data. Here, the ESEUTIL tool comes to your assistance.
Use ESEUTIL tool to remove the corruption in Exchange database
ESEUTIL is an inbuilt error removal tool which can access the database and repair it using different switches. These switches are useful in checking the database integrity, defragmenting the database, repairing the database, etc. Before running the tool, you should take a backup of the database.
The list of the ESEUTIL switches is following;
ESEUTIL /g – This switch runs an integrity check for the database.
ESEUTIL /k – This switch runs a checksum test for the database.
ESEUTIL /R – This switch runs a recovery process for the database.
ESEUTIL /D – This switch runs an offline defragmentation for the database.
ESEUTIL /p – This switch repairs the database when it is corrupt severely.
ESEUTIL /c – This switch runs a hard repair process to recover the database.
ESEUTIL /y – This switch can copy the whole database.
ESEUTIL /m – This switch can dump the header information and log files of the database.
All these switches of ESEUTIL will assist the Exchange Administrator to run several processes smoothly. But they need the location of database and you can find it at the below location;
C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V15\Mailbox\Database.edb >
You will also find several files along with the database file.
Mailbox-Database.edb – The EDB file is the database that contains the mailboxes of multiple users. You can copy the database to another location, and take its backup.
E00.log – This log file contains all the transactions conducted in the Exchange Server. Each of your transaction are recorded in the chronological order and you can verify them easily.
E000000001F.log, E000000001E.log – These are the archive transaction log files t. These log files prove themselves quite useful at the time of recovery.
E00.chk – It is the checkpoint file that contains the information of association between Exchange database and log files.
Let’s see how we can use the ESEUTIL tool –
- Run the command to check the status of the Exchange database.
- Run the soft repair command.
- Run the hard repair command.
- Mount the database.
Eseutil /mh ‘database name’
The command will check the database health and present its status. If you find that the state is showing ‘Dirty Shutdown,’ then you should go for a soft repair.
ESEUTIL /r ‹Exx› /l ‹path to the log files› /d ‹path to the database›
Normally, this command brings the database back to the clean shutdown state. But if the command is not able to make the EDB data accessible, then you need to try hard repair.
ESEUTL /P ‹path to the database›
The hard repair is quite capable of removing corruption, but with data loss chances. After running the command, you can mount the database again.
Mount-Database -Identity ‘Database Name’
ESEUTIL tool works fine to fix small errors, but if the corruption is deep or if the data is deleted, then ESEUTIL will not work. To recover complete data, then you need to use a third-party tool, and RecoveryFix is the perfect solution for you.
Recoveryfix for Exchange Server Recovery
Recoveryfix for Exchange Server Recovery is a data recovery software which can scan Exchange databases and recover them in full health. Here is its complete recovery process briefly.
- Install and run the software. Then click the Add button to select the EDB file.
- Select the first option ‘Offline EDB File’.
- Browse the EDB file from its location or you can also Search the file from any drive or folder. Then click Next..
- There are two scan modes – Standard Scan and Deep Scan. Make your selection and click Next.
- Click the Finish button.
- After recovering the EDB file, you can see all the folders present in different mailboxes. Now you can click the Preview button and see the the selected item.
- Click the next Add button to add the destination.
- Select the first option ‘Create New PST File.’
- Provide a destination to the new PST file and also give a new name to the PST file. Then click Next.
- Click the Finish button.
- Select the messages which you want to copy, then right-click and select the option ‘Copy Messages.’
- Now go to the destination area, right-click and select the option ‘Paste Messages.’
- After the migration, the tool will provide a migration summary. Click Cancel.
- After the migration, you can see the mailbox items in the destination.
Conclusion
Recoveryfix for Exchange Server is a light-weight software which reduces the complexity level of migration and lets you access the corrupt Exchange data once again. It eliminates the need for using the ESEUTIL and retrieves the data as it was saved earlier.
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The database is not mounting back to Exchange Server after using the commands. Now what should I do?
Hello Bailey,
Your problem show that the database is corrupt beyond repair and the manual commands are not able to remove the corruption. You should use an effective recovery software to remove corruption from EDB files and recover the content completely.