XADM: How to Recover a Deleted Server Using Authrest UtilityID: Q181920
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If a server has been accidentally deleted from a site, you may be able to rejoin the server to the site and restore the directory from a backup after using the Authoritative Restore utility. This utility should be used on a directory that was backed up prior to the accidental deletion. It is used after restoring the directory to an existing server, not the server that was deleted from the site. For clarification, see the example scenario under More Information.
A site has three servers installed and functioning properly. Server3
experiences a catastrophic hardware failure and must be rebuilt from
scratch. When you try to reinstall the Exchange Server software onto the
new computer, Server3 is mistakenly deleted from the site via the Exchange
Administrator program on Server2.
If you just try to rejoin the site and then restore the directory and
information service from a backup, the deletion transaction will result in
no users and no mailboxes after replication within the site, because the
other two servers have deletion transactions for Server3.
Instead, you must restore the directory on either Server1 or Server2.
Before starting the directory after the restore is complete, run
Authrest.exe on this older version of the directory, which will make this
restored directory appear to be the newest one. Then start the services on
that same server and let it replicate to the other server. Now Server3
exists in the site again and can be properly brought back into the site.
In order to restore Server3, use the following procedure:
Keywords : kbusage XADM
Version : WINDOWS:4.0,5.0,5.5
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbhowto
Last Reviewed: March 31, 1999