When a mailbox database copy has failed in an Exchange Server 2010 Database Availability Group (DAG) it may be necessary to reseed the mailbox server with the failed database copy.
Exchange 2010 DAG with a Failed Database Copy
To reseed the database copy launch the Exchange Management Shell on the server that is in a failed state.
First we need to suspend replication for the mailbox database copy on this server. Use the following command, specifying the mailbox database in the format “<mailbox database name>\<server name>”.
[PS] C:\>Suspend-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Identity "Mailbox Database 01\EX2" Confirm Are you sure you want to perform this action? Suspending mailbox database copy "Mailbox Database 01" on server "EX2". [Y] Yes [A] Yes to All [N] No [L] No to All [?] Help (default is "Y"): y
The mailbox database copy status will now change from “Failed” to “Failed and Suspended”.
Exchange 2010 Mailbox Database in Failed and Suspended State
Next we reseed the database with a new copy by issuing the following command.
[PS] C:\>Update-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Identity "Mailbox Database 01\EX2" -DeleteExistingFiles
The duration of the seeding process will depend on the size of the database and the speed of the network. When the update has completed it will automatically resume replication for the database copy. If you want to prevent automatic resume of replication use this command instead.
[PS] C:\>Update-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Identity "Mailbox Database 01\EX2" -DeleteExistingFiles -ManualResume
About Paul Cunningham
Saved my day!
hi,
can u tell me how to bring back PAM role of my 4-node cluster – after some problem with network i have operational cluster but cmdlet Get-DatabaseAvailabilityGroup showing empty PAM and OS
–MC
Hi ZEFel,
To see the PAM and Operational Servers fields populated you need to include the -status parameter with Get-DatabaseAvailabilityGroup
ie
Get-DatabaseAvailabilityGroup -Status | fl
Any way to limit bandwidth consumption during the reseed? Last time I did this I took down the VPN for several days. I really don’t care how long it takes to reseed if it can do so in the background.
Is there a way to pause the reseed process, so that we can continue it later during off hours.
Based on progress measurements, it appears the reseed will take another 32 hours to complete. We are performing it on the weekend with minimal staff, but we are consuming 100% of the VPN bandwidth.
No, I don’t know of a way to pause it. Bandwidth consumption issues could be solved by either dedicated replication networks, or perhaps QoS.
I’m planning to performing an Offline Reseed later today.
http://blogs.technet.com/b/timmcmic/archive/2011/07/12/exchange-2010-using-vss-to-perform-an-online-offline-database-seed.aspx
Just wanted to pop in and say THANK YOU! We recently moved to a DAG environment and after a copy action two databases failed. Was able to get them going again with this how-to.
Thanks again!
Thanks for your help. This is a great site that gives real solutions to problems that I am having.
This a little weird. Why does the update database copy work when I do it from the EMS but from the EMC, it always goes back into failed state? Do you do everything from the EMS?
I do most things from the shell. But the console gives you pretty much all the options you need for running a reseed, so I’m not sure why its failing for you. The event log should tell you more.
David is correct. I just did another reseed this weekend. When tried from the EMC it failed (after 6+ hours) due to a single missing log file. I ran the update copy again from the EMS and it went perfectly. Perhaps some parameter which is not being sent from the EMC.
We have to move all our Mbx Db on VMware from RDMs to VMDKs – 4 servers with 4 DB each = 16 DB. One DB active per server. Is there a variation of this process we could use? Something like – Add a new VMDK disk for each DB, incorporate into DAG, replicate, remove old (RDM) replicate DB and disks? Would need some specifics on that or a similar process.
You sir are a lifesaver, panic/crisis averted!
Hi Paul, just investigating some weirdness which has happened in our exchange env, would the loss of FSW cause a failed & suspended status on our DBs?
Basically, ETS had disappeared from the local admins group where the FSW was hosted, which caused the cluster to not be able to contact it… this coincided with our DBs going into a failed state…
If quorum was lost then your databases will go offline. The loss of the FSW alone normally wouldn’t cause that, but I don’t know the full detail of your DAG.
I do hear from people who have an undetected FSW issue, and find that their databases go offline when they’re doing patching/rebooting of the mailbox servers in the DAG.
Awesome… this saved my day! Thanks Paul
James
Paul..
This proces did not work for me….
even after the Reseeding I still get the “failed suspended”
is there any harm in going into EMC and remove the “failed suspended” passive copy from the server..
will this impact the Active copy of the DB
thanks
Dave
Paul, just a dumb question, it is the same to run it from the active or passive node? Or should be on a specific one? If you could tell me why i will be appreciated! thanks!
I tend to run the reseed command from the passive node that I’m trying to reseed.
Hello,
Thanks you for your post. I Still have one question. Is it ok to execute the command if I only have 30 Gb of free space for a 200Gb database?
Do you know if the
Update-MailboxDatabaseCopy -DeleteExistingFiles
first delete the problematic database and after reconstruct them.
Thanks you very much
Alain
The existing files are deleted first before the reseed process begins.
I tried this process and I get the following error:
A source-side operation failed. Error There isn’t enough free disk space to perform this operation.. [Database: DB9, Server: server1.acmecorp.com]
it seems like it is not deleting the existing files first? would there be an issue with removing some files manually then re-trying the command or should I blow away the whole copy and create a new copy from scratch (750GB database)
Reseed includes the database file, content index files, and transaction logs. How much free space do you have on your DB and log drives for the source and destination servers?
Your Article is SuperB, got me out of a jam. Same issue, Failed Status.
Fyi for anyone interested, while running the command to Re-Seed I rec. this error:
Error: A database backup is already in progress, Please verify that no other seeding or incremental reseeding operations are started for this database, and then try the operation again by rerunning the Update-MailboxDabaseCopy cmdlet…
There was a backup by commvault running at the time of this reseeding, re-ran this command during the day and Voila this Article worked wonders.