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Power outage in the middle of mailbox move

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Power outage in the middle of mailbox move - 3.Aug.2008 1:47:41 PM

goody3335

Posts: 49
Joined: 25.Jun.2008
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While I was in the middle of moving 3 of my user's mailboxes to a different storage group we had a minor power failure and unfortunately both exchange servers were shut down. So now all three users have some items in the third storage group and most of their items in the second storage group (where they were originally). Any suggestions on what I can do?

Post #: 1

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RE: Power outage in the middle of mailbox move - 3.Aug.2008 6:05:32 PM

jveldh

Posts: 638
Joined: 12.Apr.2008
From: The Netherlands
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Hi,

When the user log's in which box is the active one ?
Maybe you can do something with exmerge to export all maildata for the user and then try to move the box back ?

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Johan Veldhuis

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(in reply to goody3335)

Post #: 2

RE: Power outage in the middle of mailbox move - 3.Aug.2008 6:39:15 PM

goody3335

Posts: 49
Joined: 25.Jun.2008
Status: offline

Thanks for your idea. I haven't been able to confirm that yet. I'll be able to figure that out tomorrow, though. The only thing I know for sure is that they are able to receive and send email.

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Post #: 3

RE: Power outage in the middle of mailbox move - 4.Aug.2008 5:35:46 AM

jveldh

Posts: 638
Joined: 12.Apr.2008
From: The Netherlands
Status: offline

And when you ask for the properties of the user can you see there where their mailbox is hosted ?

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Johan Veldhuis

Visit my website

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Post #: 4

RE: Power outage in the middle of mailbox move - 4.Aug.2008 11:58:03 AM

goody3335

Posts: 49
Joined: 25.Jun.2008
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I guess I don't see where you find which storage group is hosting the active mailbox via Outlook or AD. Is there a way to find this out?

Also, when you use exmerge, does the user need to not be in Outlook? What are the repercussions of that?

(in reply to jveldh)

Post #: 5

RE: Power outage in the middle of mailbox move - 4.Aug.2008 1:01:26 PM

jveldh

Posts: 638
Joined: 12.Apr.2008
From: The Netherlands
Status: offline

Goody,

You can check this on the Exchange general tab in the active directory users and computers.

It's the best to run exmerge in a period where not much mail arrives at the mailboxes because else you could lose some mail.

But first check which is the primary box before we go further with troubleshooting.

_____________________________

Best regards,

Johan Veldhuis

Visit my website

(in reply to goody3335)

Post #: 6

RE: Power outage in the middle of mailbox move - 4.Aug.2008 1:06:15 PM

goody3335

Posts: 49
Joined: 25.Jun.2008
Status: offline

Okay, thanks! The three users are still in their original storage group (the second storage group).

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Post #: 7

RE: Power outage in the middle of mailbox move - 4.Aug.2008 4:57:32 PM

jveldh

Posts: 638
Joined: 12.Apr.2008
From: The Netherlands
Status: offline

And you are sure that there is some data in the other storage group which isn't in this one ? Because it looks like the mailbox move failed totally. Are they missing any mails now ? If not then try to move them again.

_____________________________

Best regards,

Johan Veldhuis

Visit my website

(in reply to goody3335)

Post #: 8

RE: Power outage in the middle of mailbox move - 4.Aug.2008 4:59:50 PM

goody3335

Posts: 49
Joined: 25.Jun.2008
Status: offline

Well, I can actually see them in the other storage group (the third one) and there are items in there. The problem is there are only a few thousand items in that one compared to the 50,000 or 60,000 items (I know...too big!) in the other storage group. I'll ask them if they are missing anything, though. Maybe I can just delete the mailboxes that were starting to be created in the new storage group.

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Post #: 9

RE: Power outage in the middle of mailbox move - 5.Aug.2008 5:48:04 AM

jveldh

Posts: 638
Joined: 12.Apr.2008
From: The Netherlands
Status: offline

Goody,

Yes you can do this and just to be sure make a brick-level backup of the new storage group containing only those 3 e-mail boxes. If the user starts to complain you can restore those messages back to the mailbox when moved to the new storage group.

_____________________________

Best regards,

Johan Veldhuis

Visit my website

(in reply to goody3335)

Post #: 10

RE: Power outage in the middle of mailbox move - 7.Aug.2008 9:40:12 AM

goody3335

Posts: 49
Joined: 25.Jun.2008
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Okay, I'm planning on going ahead with this on Saturday. Technically when I do the ExMerge it shouldn't affect the user at all, because it is not their primary mailbox according to Exchange, correct? Would I even have to wait until a slow time, since it's not the primary mailbox, or is it possible that they are getting their items from both storage groups? Any other suggestions before I go ahead with it?

(in reply to jveldh)

Post #: 11

RE: Power outage in the middle of mailbox move - 7.Aug.2008 10:50:35 AM

jveldh

Posts: 638
Joined: 12.Apr.2008
From: The Netherlands
Status: offline

Hi,

No it shouldn't have effect for the other users but exchange will have to do more then normally. The best is to do the exmerge ou of office hours if possible but it's not a must.

_____________________________

Best regards,

Johan Veldhuis

Visit my website

(in reply to goody3335)

Post #: 12

RE: Power outage in the middle of mailbox move - 8.Aug.2008 12:14:25 PM

goody3335

Posts: 49
Joined: 25.Jun.2008
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Change of plans...
It's so weird, but all of a sudden 2 of the 3 users no long have a mailbox in the new storage group. I'm not sure how that would have happened. The third one is still in there, though, but now has a red x on it. Can I still use ExMerge to export that data? Will it be affected somehow differently?

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Post #: 13

RE: Power outage in the middle of mailbox move - 8.Aug.2008 1:57:29 PM

goody3335

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Upon further investigation, ExMerge does not even show that mailbox because it is marked for deletion. So, what happens if I reconnect that mailbox? Will it change his primary mailbox?

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Post #: 14

RE: Power outage in the middle of mailbox move - 8.Aug.2008 3:25:31 PM

jveldh

Posts: 638
Joined: 12.Apr.2008
From: The Netherlands
Status: offline

Hmmm this makes it a little bit difficult because you don't want to disconnect the current box from the old one ?
What you can do is create a new account a reconnect the box on the new server to the new user account. Then run exmerge for that box to export all mails to pst.
Then move the mailbox again this will autotmaticly update the original user and he/she can open their mailbox. Then you can use exmerge to import the pst and add the content to the mailbox of the original user. It sounds a bit complicated but I think this should work.

_____________________________

Best regards,

Johan Veldhuis

Visit my website

(in reply to goody3335)

Post #: 15

RE: Power outage in the middle of mailbox move - 8.Aug.2008 3:35:51 PM

goody3335

Posts: 49
Joined: 25.Jun.2008
Status: offline

I decided to call Microsoft in on this one, because it is an executive's mailbox. I just got off the phone with them and they were able to re-create the situation. What we found out is that when mailboxes are being moved from one storage group to the other, on the same machine (I'm not sure what would happen if it were on a different machine), it actually just makes a copy but keeps the original one until the move is complete. Then it purges the original (or sometimes leaves a stub file...). So, we just purged the mailbox in the new storage group without any worries. Now, to try it all over again this weekend with another mailbox move!

Thanks for all your help!

(in reply to jveldh)

Post #: 16

RE: Power outage in the middle of mailbox move - 8.Aug.2008 3:40:55 PM