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ieuuk -> exmerge (18.Nov.2007 7:34:35 AM)

Hi,

I am trying to do an exmerge of both of our exchange servers (we're in the process of migrating from one exchange server to another) out topst files. I'm running exmerge from the command line... but when i run exmerge im getting a lot of errors out of the deleted and sent item folders.
[14:23:24] Error copying message with subject '<subject title>' in folder '\Deleted Items'. (MAPI_W_PARTIAL_COMPLETION)
 
Is there something specific about the deleted and sent item folders that cause problems?
 
Thanks,
ieuuk



a.grogan -> RE: exmerge (18.Nov.2007 8:31:26 AM)

Hiya chap, it sounds like you are encountering corrupt messages.
I have one question - are the two Exchange Servers in the same Organistion? - if they are why not use the "move mailbox wizard" and if they are seperate Exchange organisations - why not use the Mailbox migration wizard?

Cheers

A



ieuuk -> RE: exmerge (18.Nov.2007 11:17:42 AM)

Thanks for your response a.grogan

They are bothing in the same organisation and we have been using the move mailbox wizard. We moved a few mailboxes and one of our users found that they had lost about 7,000 emails in the move mailbox progress... the logs showed up nothing - said the mailbox had been moved sucessfully... but after 15hours of work we managed to get the users mailbox back.
In this process we found that we had a problem with out backup system - we only have the functionality to backup the whole exchange store and not be able to restore a single users mailbox. (our full restores were taking 4 hours to restore the exchange store to a recovery storage group) 
So i then came up with the idea of exmerge out to pst's to provide a bit of a quick saftey net but this is prooving a nightmare too...

any advice would be well appreciated.

Thanks,
ieuuk



a.grogan -> RE: exmerge (18.Nov.2007 11:42:22 AM)

Hiya chap, under these circumstances I would be looking at the content within your database. It seems odd that the move mailbox task would fail in such a way, and indeed the data that you seem to be getting from the EXMERGE wizard seems to suggest a wider problem as well.

You backup situation also intrigues me, are you performing online backups of the Exchange store? or are you using offline (e.g. closing down the store) in either respect you should have been able to use a RSG to get the mailbox data back.

The overall reason why I am asking these questions is that I am worried that there is a possible corruption in your information store.

Cheers

A



ieuuk -> RE: exmerge (18.Nov.2007 12:21:45 PM)

That is excactly what i am worried about as well. It might be worth mentioning at this point that we use Symantec Enterprise Vault as well to migrate off mail to another server when (i think) it's 60 days old. The idea of this move is to a bigger exchange server so that we can review the rules.

The backup system did its job and recovered the store to the RSG after a bit of user error (tehe!) but we couldnt restore just a specific mailbox so had to wait for the whole restore process to complete. We're using online backups through IBM's TDP for exchange which backs up to TSM.

I was getting the feeling the other day too that there could be corruption to the database too... has run out of disk space quite a few times and has been neglected sinse i joined a few months ago.

Any suggestions as to where i can go from here?

Thanks for all your help,
ieuuk



a.grogan -> RE: exmerge (18.Nov.2007 12:29:05 PM)

Hiya chap, I am familiar with the TDP agent for TSM and KVS - the first thing that I would suggest is - do you have enough space somewhere to complete a ONLINE to disk backup using NTBACKUP - if there is a problem in the store the backup will (or should) fail.

From recollection the TDP agent for TSM does not have the same level of error checking that NTBACKUP (or some others) has.

Also what service pack of 2003 are you using?

If the backup fails we can look at methods of potentially fixing the database - I am reluctant to suggest using the fix tools at this stage until we have confirmed that issues are actually there.

Cheers

A



ieuuk -> RE: exmerge (18.Nov.2007 1:18:55 PM)

I'll run an ntbackup dump of the database to a network share... not pretty but its all i can do at the moment. Will let you know the result

Both servers are running exchange server 2003 standard sp2 with windows server 2003 standard both on sp2.

Thanks,
ieuuk



ieuuk -> RE: exmerge (18.Nov.2007 1:42:11 PM)

sorry - just checked - server i am migrating from (possiable corruption) is server 2003 sp1 with exchange 2003 sp2



a.grogan -> RE: exmerge (18.Nov.2007 1:42:18 PM)

Ok - let us know, cheers

A



ieuuk -> RE: exmerge (18.Nov.2007 6:00:22 PM)

hey,

looks like its all run through fine:

Backup Status
Operation: Backup
Active backup destination: File
Media name: "18-11-07.bkf created 18/11/2007 at 18:45"
Volume shadow copy creation: Attempt 1.
Backup of "TECEXCH01\Microsoft Information Store\First Storage Group"
Backup set #1 on media #1
Backup description: "Set created 18/11/2007 at 18:45"
Media name: "18-11-07.bkf created 18/11/2007 at 18:45"
Backup Type: Normal
Backup started on 18/11/2007 at 18:45.
Backup completed on 18/11/2007 at 22:58.
Directories: 4
Files: 18
Bytes: 48,638,437,416
Time:  4 hours,  12 minutes, and  59 seconds
----------------------


thanks,
ieuuk



a.grogan -> RE: exmerge (19.Nov.2007 4:05:33 AM)

Well that is good, it means that it is unlikely that there is physical corruption in the store. Have you considered running ISINTEG in test mode to see if there are any issues.

Cheers

A



ieuuk -> RE: exmerge (19.Nov.2007 4:08:22 AM)

i cant say that i have ever heard of it.

I will get some info for it and give it a go.

Thanks again for all your help,
ieuuk



ieuuk -> RE: exmerge (19.Nov.2007 4:38:06 AM)

is there any way of getting around it without having to take the database offline?

thanks,
ieuuk



rishishah -> RE: exmerge (19.Nov.2007 10:20:32 AM)

As far as i know you need to dismount the store for the ISINTEG utility.

Best to run it out of hours if its a production system that cannot be taken down any more during the day.

But as a.grogan suggest do run the utility in test mode first. It should give you an insight into the condition of the database.



ieuuk -> RE: exmerge (19.Nov.2007 10:22:05 AM)

thanks man,

any ideas how long it should take to check the database?

thanks,
ieuuk



nickpark -> RE: exmerge (19.Nov.2007 10:29:31 AM)

It's not fast!

Obviously, the speed of completion is dependent on your hardware but expect speeds of about 10gb/hour.



rishishah -> RE: exmerge (19.Nov.2007 10:30:15 AM)

Difficult to say but depending on your hardware in test mode it should be abour 6GB to about 10GB per hour.

Also remember that once it tells you that you may have errors and you need to run ISINTEG in the repair mode than you need to run it not the st once but maybe twice or three times, basically till it gives you no errors at the end.



ieuuk -> RE: exmerge (19.Nov.2007 10:33:58 AM)

something better undertaken at the weekend then rather than a night and could then do the defrag of the database too?



rishishah -> RE: exmerge (19.Nov.2007 10:37:49 AM)

Yes...but remember to schedule your nightly backup on Friday and than take a copy of the database and log files when you dismount the stores (just in case).



ieuuk -> RE: exmerge (19.Nov.2007 10:46:01 AM)

just a plain copy and paste of the log files once the store has been unmounted?

Thanks,
ieuuk



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