XADM: Troubleshooting Information Store Startup Problems

• Microsoft Exchange Server, versions 4.0, 5.0, 5.5

SUMMARY

In Microsoft Exchange Server it is possible that the Information Store could become corrupt and fail to start. The corruption could be caused by such things as sudden loss of power to a running Microsoft Exchange Server or faulty hardware that has written information to disk incorrectly. This article outlines the steps to recover from an Information Store that will not start.

The steps outlined in this article will be most successful if Circular logging is turned OFF and the customer has some type of regular backup procedures in place. If Circular logging is turned ON (setup default) then steps 1, 2, and 6-9 are valid (circular logging automatically writes over transaction logs files after the data they contain has been committed to the database). If a backup is NOT available then steps 1, 2, 8, and 9 are valid. For Information and strategies on Backup & Restore procedures please see Chapter 15 of the Microsoft Exchange Administrator's Guide.

MORE INFORMATION

The following steps should be followed in strict order to recover an Information Store that does not start. These steps followed in order will attempt to preserve, in descending order, as much data as possible.

1. Check the Windows NT Event Viewer Application Log for EDB, MSExchangeIS, MSExchangePriv, MSExchangePub messages. These error messages may give a clear reason for the problems with the Information Store. Two of the most common error messages reported to the Application log will be out of disk space or an error stating that Isinteg -patch needs to be run.
   
   For additional information, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:




Q128325 XSRV IS: Reclaiming Disk Space for the Information Store
Q149238 XSRV IS: Information Store Fails to Start with -1011 Error

2. Shut down all Microsoft Exchange Services, and reboot the Microsoft Exchange server. When the Information Store restarts it will automatically try to recover and return the database to a consistent state.



3. Make a full off-line backup (stop all Microsoft Exchange Services) of the Information Store. This should include all EDB and LOG files (Important: the EDB and LOG files can be stored on different physical drives. To determine where they are located, look in the registry under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE subtree under the following subkey:

   \SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\ParametersSystem

   and look at the DB Log Path parameter. This is done as a precautionary measure to capture the existing state of the Microsoft Exchange Server before proceeding with the following steps. This step is necessary if/when you reach steps 8 or 9 of this procedure.



4. Restore the last FULL on-line backup, be sure NOT to check the Start Services after Restore checkbox. Next restore any incremental (from the time of the last FULL on-line up to the day before the crash) on-line backups of the Information Store. Check the box Start Service after Restore only when the LAST incremental backup is being restored.
   
   Do NOT check the box to erase all existing data.
   
   When the Information Store starts it will roll forward through all the existing database logs and place the data into the restored Information Store. This will bring the Information Store back to the point of the crash. If successful there will be no loss of data at all.
   
   NOTE: FROM STEP 5 ON THERE WILL BE LOSS OF DATA!



5. If step 4 still will not start the Information Store, then go into the Event Viewer Application Log and review the logged messages for the source EDB; there will be one message per log file it replayed during the restore in step 4. If one of these EDB messages reports a problem replaying a particular log file then go into the Mdbdata directory and remove the corrupted log file and all log files greater in number. Once these log files are moved, try restarting the Information Store. For Example, if the Application Log says that Edb00012.log could not be processed or was corrupt and in the Mdbdata directory the log files range in number from Edb000001.log to Edb000025.log, you should remove Edb000012.log to Edb0000025.log and try restarting the Information Store. If successful this will result in the loss only of the data stored in the removed log files.



6. If step 5 fails, restore the last full on-line backup of the Information Store. Check the box to Start Service After Restore. Do check the box to Erase all existing data. This will restore the Information Store to the point in time that the on-line backup was taken. Then go into the Microsoft Exchange Administrator and run the DS/IS consistency tool on the Advanced tab of the Server object properties page.



7. If step 6 fails, repeat step 6 with the next most recent version of either a full off-line or full on-line backup.



8. If step 7 fails, delete all .EDB and .LOG files from the Mdbdata directory and restore a copy of the Priv.edb and Pub.edb from the backup of the Database when the problem started (Step 3). Next go into the Exchsrvr\bin directory and run Edbutil /d /r /ispriv followed by Edbutil /d /r /ispub. This utility will defragment the private and public information stores and try to fix any database errors it encounters. Once Edbutil.exe has finished successfully, try restarting the Information Store. If the Information Store starts, Microsoft highly recommends that Isinteg -fix be run against both the private and public information stores to clean up any inconsistencies that may have arisen as a result of Edbutil.
   
   For additional information about the Edbutil and Isinteg utilities, please refer to the Troubleshooting section in Volume 2 of the Microsoft Exchange Administrator's Guide or see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:




Q143233 XSRV Adm: Command Line Parameters for Edbutil.exe

9. If all of the above steps fail, then as a last resort the Information Store can be wiped. To determine if the problem exists in either the PUBLIC or PRIVATE Information Store, you must wipe them one at a time starting with the Public Store. This process irrevocably deletes all user mail messages, all user folders (wiping the Private Store, Priv.edb) and all Public Folders (wiping the Public Store, Pub.edb).

1. Ensure that you have completed step 3 (full backup) or copy the Exchsrvr\Mdbdata directory to another location on the hard drive.



2. In the Exchsrvr\Mdbdata directory delete all Edb*.log files, all Res*.log files, Edb.chk, and Pub.edb.



3. Now restart the Information Store service, if it starts, then you have lost all Public Folder Information (a new Pub.edb, Res*.log and Edb.chk will be created automatically) and all information in the log files, however, you will retain all the user mail messages and folders that were stored in the Private Information Store (Priv.edb)

1. Remove all information that exists in the Mdbdata directory.



2. Bring back a copy of the Pub.edb from tape or alternate location.



3. Try restarting the Information Store, if the service starts then Public Folder information will be intact, however, all user mail messages, folders and information in the logs will be lost. The users mailboxes will be recreated the next time they log in.

Additional query words: exfaq sbsfaqtop

Keywords          : kbusage XADM exc4 exc5 exc55 
Version           : winnt:4.0,5.0,5.5
Platform          : winnt 
Issue type        : kbhowto 

Last Reviewed: August 5, 1999