Start All Exchange Services Automatically

One Command to Rule Them All!

Little joke there....this command will start all Exchange services on a server in the event they do not start automatically as they should after a restart.

Get-Service -DisplayName "Microsoft Exchange*" | Where-Object {$_.Starttype -eq "Automatic" -and $_.Status -ne "Running"} | Start-Service

The process waits for each service to start before moving to the next one.  Really handy when you've got a lot going on and don't want to start them all by hand.

Good luck!

Setup Encountered a Problem While Validating the State of Active Directory - Exchange 2010

The error will be worded something like this:

Exchange Setup encountered a problem while validating the state of Active Directory: Could not find any Domain Controller in domain

I ran into this while installing Exchange 2010 SP2.

The simple fix.

Close the install, go to the folder you extracted the patch into and then right click on setup.exe and choose "Run as Administrator".  Makes all of the difference.

Good luck!

PrivateKeyMissing when running Enable-ExchangeCertificate

PrivateKeyMissing when running Enable-ExchangeCertificate

Enable-ExchangeCertificate : The certificate with thumbprint XXXXXXXXX was found but is not valid for use with Exchange Server
(reason: PrivateKeyMissing).
At line:1 char:27
+ Enable-ExchangeCertificate <<<< -Thumbprint XXXXXXXXX -Services "IIS"

The above error is a result of a glitch with Exchange 2007. This issue does not happen all the time as it is completely random, but when it does happen no certificate can be installed or removed through the Exchange Management Shell (EMS). For whatever reason it may be, the system forgets where it placed the Private Key or the certificate store is damaged.

Repair Damaged Certificate Store:

1) Open MMC (Microsoft Management Console) to the Certificate Manager (Certificates Snap-in) for the Local Computer account.
2) Double-Click on the recently imported certificate (It will be missing the golden key).
3) Go to the Details tab.
4) Click on the Serial Number field and copy down that number. (Leave window open)
5) Open up the command prompt (DOS Prompt -- CMD.exe)
6) Type: certutil -repairstore my "SerialNumber"( SerialNumber is that what was copied down in step 4.)
7) After running the command, go back to the MMC and right-click Certificates and select "Refresh".
8) One should now see the golden key associated with the certificate.
9) Double-check in the Exchange Power Shell with: Get-ExchangeCertificate

Alternatively if the above does not work try the following:
Note: Follow these steps if running Windows Server 2008 only

1) Open MMC (Microsoft Management Console) to the Certificate Manager for the Local Computer account. (Certificates Snap In)
2) Look in the Personal section of the Certificate Manager and there should be icon(s) without a little golden key. (Those with the key have the private key bonded to them.)
3) Delete the icons without the golden key.
4) Go back to the EMS.
5) Run the Import-ExchangeCertificate and Enable-ExchangeCertificate in one line like so: [ Import-ExchangeCertificate -Path c:\exchange.globessl.com.crt | Enable-ExchangeCertificate -Services "SMTP, IMAP, IIS, POP" ]
*** Please modify the command according to your needs. ***
6) Things should be golden from here and if they are not, please contact Microsoft.

Uninstalling Exchange 2003 during Exchange 2010 Migration

If you are getting the following error:

'The component "Microsoft Exchange Messaging and Collaboration Services" cannot be assigned the action "Remove" because: - One or more users currently use a mailbox store on this server.'

then the odds are good you have an item in AD that is still pointing to the old Exchange 2003 server.  Here's how you get rid of it.

Just open up ADUC, do a find, create a custom query and paste in the command you see below:

 












Then select VIEW, then choose Columns.

From there you can add in the extra values needed to find out which account is still showing old Exchange 2003 data.  Just add in both attributes with Exchange on them.  Redo the Find Now and you'll be able to sort them by server name to find out the offending accounts.

During my last SBS 2003 to SBS 2011 migration it turned out to be the SBSAdmin account that I had created during the migration steps.

Once these accounts are removed or corrected you can continue your uninstall of Exchange 2003.

Good luck!

Using Backup Exec 2010 R3 to Restore Exchange Data

I borrowed this write up from the Symantec Connect Community here.  This is very well written process to restore Exchange data with a minimum of fuss (if there is such a thing dealing with tape drives).

Restoring Data in Exchange

Before restoring data, a few things need to be checked and enabled:
● Check that there is sufficient disk space available. This is because Backup Exec will stage the entire Exchange Information Store before restoring any individual items.
● The default location for temporary files is: C:\Temp. This needs to be changed to the drive with the most space available.
This is done as follows: Tools, Options, Restore (Path on media server for staging temporary restore data…).
● The user concerned needs to be logged out of their email.
● Make sure the user informs the Service Desk/engineer of exactly what they want restored.


Restoring Data Using a Duplicate Copy

This method duplicates an Exchange Information Store to the local server hard drive. The reason for using this method would be due to a large Exchange IS database size, or wanting to stage the restore once.
Should a restore fail during normal restore process, the entire Exchange IS needs to be re-staged. This will take time depending on the database’s size.

Do the following:
● Check for a drive with sufficient disk space for the restore. The available space must be at least the size of the Exchange IS.
● On the target drive, create a folder called: Exchange Restore.
● Open Backup Exec, and go to Devices. Right-click Backup-to-Disk Folders, and choose: New Backup-to-Disk Folder. Give it the name: Exchange Restore, and point it to the target drive and folder. Click OK.
● Go to Job Setup, select the job that runs for the site, and under Backup Tasks, choose: New job to duplicate backup sets. Choose OK.
● Browse the server concerned, and under Microsoft Information Store, choose the Information Store you want to stage to disk. You need to select the date/media.
● Choose the new Backup-to-Disk folder created for this purpose, and click Run Now. Let the job complete.
● Make a note of the name of the image created by this job (Devices --> Backup-to-Disk Folders --> Exchange Restore).
● Click the Restore tab in Backup Exec. When the “Welcome to the Restore Wizard” screen shows, deselect the tab to “Always launch the Restore Wizard from the Restore Button”, and click Next.
● Under Selections, choose View by Media, and chose the image created in the duplication job.
● Find the user’s mailbox that needs to be restored, open the mailbox, and click Top of Information Store.
● From here, individual emails, contacts and folders can be restored.
● Select what needs to be restored.
● Click Resource Credentials, and then Test All to make sure that the security credentials are correct,
● Click Run Now.
● Go to Job Monitor, and the job should run successfully. This will restore data straight into the user’s mailbox.