Exchange not working without AD, Trying to restore stored emails... 2

[CinciTech1]

Okay, I've got myself into a bit of a bind... I've posted a couple threads asking about how to decommission an existing server acting as PDC with Exchange Server, and replace it with a new server, (new hardware, fresh install of Win2k3R2). I eventually became unable to use DCPROMO to do anything with active directory on either computer, and I was unable to do any reinstalling of Exchange on either computer. Nothing was working, and I finally gave up and formatted and reinstalled the new server, and set the domain up new on it, because it wouldn't join (or leave) my existing domain.

I now have a working server with Win2k3R2 and Exchange2k3. The email is working (IMAP4 protocol) and we're using it for current mail server. All of our stored emails, (just under 3gb!) are still on the old server, but Exchange is not functioning. The old server also doesn't seem to recignize itself as being a DC anymore, but I can't run dcpromo. I also have an ntbackup file of the stored email, taken just before I wrecked everything. If I could just get Exchange on this server working, I could log onto everyone's account and copy the emails to the new server... But I can't figure out any way to get into the saved emails on the old server.

Any suggestions on how to clean this up before I get in big trouble for losing 3gb of email?

 

[CinciTech1]

Ultimately I'm trying to take the stored email from the old server, (which no longer functions), and make them accessable from the new server without losing the email we've accumulated since I got the new server running.

Marcdmac gave me this bit of insight: "Didi you try copying the EDB and STM files to the new server and running ISINTEG against them and mounting them on the new system?"

I have now copied these files to the new server, and I can't seem to find anything about how ISINTEG is supposed to make me able to mount them... If this is the right way to access the email trapped in my EDB and STM files, I seem to need a little more direction in getting it to work...

 

[markdmac]

Assuming that you first used ExMerge to save the new mail to PST files, you would then put the old EDB and STM files in the same location as the others. Then run:

Isinteg -s servername -fix -test alltests

Replace servername with your servers name.

I hope you find this post helpful.

Regards,

Mark

Check out my scripting solutions at

http://www.thespidersparlor.com/vbscript

 

[netometer]

Please, correct me if I am wrong but CinCiTech1 created a new domain and installed a new Exchange in that domain. Then he created anew the user accounts and mail enabled them.
You can not simply copy the Exchange Database files from a different Domain (the old domain) run isinteg and expect the new Exchange to start using the old data.

If the old domain controller is still running and CinCiTech1 hasn’t demoted it the first question should be what is the status of AD on it? If there are problems they could be resolved.
Once AD is fixed he can proceed with Exchange.
What is the situation with the backup? What was included in the back up jobs – AD, Exchange? What was the status of the job – successful, some errors or unsuccessful?

Dean

http://www.netometer.net/support/

 

[xmsre]

save yourself the pain and go buy a copy of powercontrols

http://www.ontrack.com/powercontrols

 

[CinciTech1]

Hey Mark, as noted on my 27 Nov post, that's pretty much exactly what I did. Guess this means I'm not doing it wrong, and that the problem is that this method won't work for me. Darn.

The old server is still running, but Active Directory is broken. I can't get it to work as a DC, which also means Exchange is not working on it. Exchange services will no longer start successfully. I had tried demoting it to switch over to the new server, and that screwed everything up. I tried making it a BDC and setting the new server as PDC before I learned that this was a bad idea due to the phasing out of the PDC/BDC concept in Server 2k3.

I used NTBackup to back up the email store on the old server(successfully) before the attempted demoting, and that backup file still exists on the old server. The EDB and STM files are also sitting on the old server.

Thanks everyone for the help. After posting this, I'll take a look at 'powercontrols'.

 

[CinciTech1]

Okay, small update: I looked into PowerControls, and I downloaded and tried out their trial. Amazing, it looks like it'll completely fix my problem. I looked at the price tag, and, ouch... $950. I suppose it's a small price to pay to fix the trouble I've created, but it's a bite for me to get approved. If there is another way, I'd like to try that first, but at least it looks like I've got a last ditch option if nothing else can fix what I've done.

Anything more I can try before tossing a grand at my troubles?

 

[netometer]

The other way is to fix AD. Can you run:
"netdiag /l" and "dcdiag /f:dcdiag.log".
This will generate the "Netdiag.log" and "DCDiag.log" files.
Post them here so we can see what's wrong with AD. Most probably fixing AD if you have the database (dit) file will not be that difficult.

Dean

http://www.netometer.net/support/

 

[CinciTech1]

netdiag /l" gives me a popup error message:

"netdiag.exe - Entry Point Not Found

The procedure entry point DnsIsAdapterDomainNameRegistrationEnabled could not be located in the dynamic link library DNSAPI.DLL"

"dcdiag /f:dcdiag.log" hangs for a moment and... yay, logfile!

"DC Diagnosis

Performing initial setup:
Done gathering initial info.

Doing initial non skippeable tests

Testing server: Default-First-Site-Name\COBRASERV1
Starting test: Connectivity
COBRASERV1's server GUID DNS name could not be resolved to an
IP address. Check the DNS server, DHCP, server name, etc
Although the Guid DNS name

(4086322c-2847-43c4-a404-c5732a87c17d._msdcs.cobracontrols.com)

couldn't be resolved, the server name (cobraserv1.cobracontrols.com)

resolved to the IP address (192.168.1.110) and was pingable. Check

that the IP address is registered correctly with the DNS server.
......................... COBRASERV1 failed test Connectivity

Doing primary tests

Testing server: Default-First-Site-Name\COBRASERV1
Skipping all tests, because server COBRASERV1 is
not responding to directory service requests

Running enterprise tests on : cobracontrols.com
Starting test: Intersite
......................... cobracontrols.com passed test Intersite
Starting test: FsmoCheck
Warning: DcGetDcName(KDC_REQUIRED) call failed, error 1355
A KDC could not be located - All the KDCs are down.
......................... cobracontrols.com failed test FsmoCheck

 

[CinciTech1]

And I realize that I left everything intact... If posting my server and domain names is a problem, I apologise. (Seems like the standard is to censor them out.)

This server used to be named cobraserv, and now it is cobraserv1 so the new server could be named cobraserv. I have not created DNS entry for a DC named cobraserv1, which would explain why it's not resolving its name with DNS, and might help with what my problem is?

 

[netometer]

Did you run DCPROMO to demote the DC? How did you change its name?

Dean

http://www.netometer.net/support/

 

[CinciTech1]

DCPROMO did not work, (later learned that this is because Exchange is installed on the server, so it couldn't be demoted). I couldn't transfer FSMO roles by normal means, so I made the new server seize these roles. At that point the old server stopped functioning as a DC. Because Exchange and AD were installed on both servers, I wasn't able to demote either one, and now I was no longer able to transfer the FSMO roles back to the old server.

I finally wiped, reinstalled, and set up the new server as the DC, and got Exchange running on it so we could continue to receive new emails log onto the network here at the office (complete with roaming profiles; the server is pretty important to keep up and running during business hours).

 

[netometer]

I suggest the following plan:
1. Disconnect the old DC from the production network.
2. Change back its name.
3. Point it to itself as DNS and WINS server.
4. Seize back the FSMO roles.
5. Restore from backup the AD state and the Exchange.

Dean

http://www.netometer.net/support/

 

[rocketlauncher]

Hi Guys,

If you just want to transfer the emails from the old server to the new one, I believe power control tools will do the job, it's a great tool. It will save you time, effort and stress. Used before and was a life saver.

But if you can't use powercontrols and can't restore from backup.

How about installing a Test server and creating the same AD structure, with same domain name, Exchange site, users, etc. Make sure exchange runs on this test server, then stop exchange services and just copy the exchange server database from the old server into this new test server, if you can get this up and running, I think youll be able to do somehting. Just make sure the test server has the same partition configuration, etc. as the old one. And you may need to use exmerge and isinteg tools.

Once I tried this scenario and it worked for me. I was in your situation DC and Exchange on same server, the difference was that my FMSO Roles were up, but exchange wasn't. So I'm figuring if you can get AD, and Exchange up and running on the test server with the same config, it would be just like transfering Exchange from one computer to another into different hardware.

AGAIN, JUST A THOUGHT, ALL SCENARIOS ARE DIFFERENT. THIS MIGHT NOT BE YOUR SOLUTION, SO BE CAREFUL AND ALWAYS HAVE A BACKUP.

Hope thishelps,

Rocket