XADM: Error 1120 and 5000 Occurs When Starting Information Store

ID: Q185577

The information in this article applies to:

SYMPTOMS

The Information Store service ins Microsoft Exchange Server will not start and the Server Specific Error 4294966746 occurs. Events 1120 and 5000 are recorded in the Event Log with MSExchangeIS as the source.


CAUSE

The problem occurs when the Information Store stops abnormally and the Eseutil.exe hard repair option (/P) is run against the Priv.edb file to return it to a state in which it can be started. In addition, the previous transaction log files were deleted, as recommended in the Eseutil dialog box, but hard repair was not run against the Pub.edb file.

At this point, the Priv.edb file is returned to a consistent state through the repair process, but the Pub.edb file is not. A consistent database does not require the presence of previous transaction log files to start, but an inconsistent one does.


WORKAROUND

Use either of the following solutions to resolve this problem.

Remove Pub.edb

Remove the Pub.edb file. This will remove all public folder data on the server.

IMPORTANT: If you choose to remove the Pub.edb file, rather than repair it, do not remove the Edb.log file that was just created during the previous startup attempt.

That failure marks the Priv.edb file as inconsistent and Priv.edb will require the presence of its log file so that it can start successfully.

If the Edb.log file is removed, the only way to return the Priv.edb file to a consistent state is to run the "eseutil /p" command again.

Run Eseutil /p

Run the "eseutil /p" command (without the quotation marks) against the Pub.edb file.


MORE INFORMATION

The symptoms described in this article will also occur if Pub.edb is repaired, but Priv.edb is not.

IMPORTANT: Note that using the Eseutil's hard repair functionality is a last resort option. Using that option may result in data loss if there is no current backup or if circular logging is enabled, thus preventing restoration of Exchange data to the time of failure. You should first try a soft recovery by using the "eseutil /r" command. If this does not work, try the "eseutil /p" command for a hard repair; this may be the best current alternative.

In the application event log, a series of events similar to the following accompany this problem: 


   Event ID: 100
   Source: ESE97
   Type: Information
   Category: General
   Description: MSExchangeIS ((<Process ID>) ) The database engine
   <version> started.

   Event ID: 108
   Source: ESE97
   Type: Information
   Category: Logging/Recovery
   Description: MSExchangeIS ((<Process ID>) ) The database engine is
   initiating recovery steps.

   Event ID: 109
   Source: ESE97
   Type: Information
   Category: Logging/Recovery
   Description: MSExchangeIS ((<Process ID>) ) The database engine is
   replaying log file <exchsrvr>\MDBDATA\edb.log.

   Event ID: 110
   Source: ESE97
   Type: Information
   Cateogory: Logging/Recovery
   Description: MSExchangeIS ((<Process ID>) ) The database engine has
   successfully completed recovery steps.

   Event ID: 1120
   Source: MSExchangeIS
   Type: Error
   Category: General
   Description: Error Database is in inconsistent state initializing the
   Microsoft Exchange Server Information Store database.

   Event ID: 5000
   Source: MSExchangeIS
   Type: Error
   Category: General
   Description: Unable to initialize the Microsoft Exchange Information
   Store service. Error Database is in inconsistent state.

A Microsoft Exchange Server database is considered consistent only after it has been shut down normally. At all other times, including during normal operation, there is a flag in the database marking it as inconsistent. Thus if the database service is terminated abnormally, Exchange Server knows on the next startup that something went wrong in the previous session. Exchange then initiates "soft recovery" steps to back out or commit necessary transactions to the database and restore its integrity.

You can check a database for consistency with the following command:
eseutil /mh <database path and name> | more
The State line in the screen output from this command will contain Consistent or Inconsistent. 


Keywords          : XADM 
Version           : WINDOWS:5.5
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbprb

Last Reviewed: April 10, 1999