Recover Exchange Server 2019

[Reggie Lamborn]

Youcan recover a lost Exchange server by using the /Mode:RecoverServer switch in unattended mode (from the command line) of Exchange Setup. Since most Exchange server settings are stored in Active Directory, the Setup.exe /Mode:RecoverServer command uses that information during the installation of Exchange on a new server with the same name.

This topic shows you how to recover a lost Exchange server that isn't a member of a database availability group (DAG). For detailed steps about how to recover a server that was a member of a DAG, see Recover a database availability group member server.

If Exchange is installed in a location other than the default location of %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V15, you must include the /TargetDir: switch in the Setup.exe /Mode:RecoverServer command to specify the location of the Exchange program (binary) files. If you don't use the /TargetDir switch, the Exchange files will be installed in the default location when you recover the Exchange server.

If you do not have the installation media for the Cumulative Update (CU) version that was installed on the server to be recovered, you can recover a server using the latest available Cumulative Update. Only the last two CUs are available for download. For more information, see Updates for Exchange Server.Once the upgrade is successful, AdminDisplayVersion in EMS or msExchVersion attribute on recovered server will show old build number and this is a cosmetic in nature. We can either run setup /m:upgrade /IAcceptEchangeServerLicenseTerms or wait for next Cumulative Update release and perform the upgrade which will correct this.

The target server must use the same version of Windows Server as the lost server. For example, you can't recover a lost Exchange 2016 server that was running Windows 2012 R2 on a new server that's running Windows 2016, or vice-versa.

The /Mode:RecoverServer switch assigns a self-signed certificate to all Exchange Services that require SSL/TLS. If the server previously used an SSL/TLS certificate that was issued by a different certification authority, you'll need to re-import the certificate and configure the services to use the certificate. Otherwise, users will get a certificate prompt when they try to connect (for example, in Outlook).

Install the proper operating system and name the new server with the same name as the lost server. Recovery won't succeed if the target Windows server doesn't have the same name as the lost Exchange server.

The previous /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms switch will not work starting with the Exchange Server 2016 and Exchange Server 2019 September 2021 Cumulative Updates (CUs). You now must use either /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms_DiagnosticDataON or /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms_DiagnosticDataOFF for unattended and scripted installs.

The successful completion of Setup will be the primary indicator that the recovery was successful. To further verify that you've successfully recovered a lost server, open the Windows Services tool (services.msc) and verify that the Microsoft Exchange services have been installed and are running.

Go to the following page to get a list of the Exchange Server versions. The page will show you the Exchange Server build numbers and release dates. Scroll down to the Exchange Server that you need. Download and save the ISO image. Microsoft does remove older Exchange CUs when newer versions are released. You can use an unofficial website to download an older Exchange Server ISO file.

Suppose you do not have the installation media for the Cumulative Update (CU) version that was installed on the server to be recovered, you can recover a server using the latest available Cumulative Update. Once the upgrade is successful, AdminDisplayVersion in Exchange Management Shell or msExchVersion attribute on the recovered server will show the old build number and this is cosmetic in nature. We can either run setup /m:upgrade /IAcceptEchangeServerLicenseTerms or wait for the next Cumulative Update release and perform the upgrade which will correct this.

Find the msExchInstallPath attribute. This attribute stores the current installation path. In our example, the default Exchange install location was used. So, we will not use the /TargetDir: switch.

You learned how to recover Exchange Server. Run the recover switch to recover a failed Exchange Server and go through all the post checks. Ensure that everything is set like it was. If you want to recover or rebuild Exchange Server, the same steps apply.

Thanks alot Ali, your articles have helped me alot.

After creating the new exchange server, assuming the database and the logs were stored in the default location in C drive of the previous server, how do I move them to the new exchange server. Do I use the windows server recovery process or do I just copy the database and log files to the new server? Will they mount correctly?

However anything that is machine-specific or stored locally on the server such as IIS settings, SSL certificates, modified config files, or registry keys, will not be restored by the recovery install. You should always document and automate the post-install configuration of your Exchange servers so that any such customizations can be reapplied in this type of scenario.

If the volumes that contain your mailbox databases and transaction logs were not lost in the server failure, and are configured with the same drive letters or mount points as before, then you will likely find that the databases are able to successfully mount and continue operation without data loss.

You said to use the same CU version when doing a recovery. However ours was a 2016 CU 10 server(when dead), however all the other DAG servers are 2016 CU14 now. And we are in a process of upgrading all the servers to CU15 already. Hence wants to recover this one with 2016 CU15 as a fresh server and then add it to DAG.

This all stems back to a corrupt database which happened 3 months ago and would not mount and failed to allow all the usual Get-Mailbox etc etc commands. We left it there for a while but Backups also kept failing. We had managed to transfer all the users mailboxes to new databases and the Exchange server has continues to run fine.

Can we recover an exchange server with different Operating System version?

For example the failed Exchange Server is: Exchange 2010 SP3 with OS Win Server 2008 R2.

Can I setup Setup/Mode:RecoverServer in Windows Server 2012?

Prerequisite Analysis FAILED

A Setup failure previously occurred while installing the PreFileCopy role. Either run Setup again for just this rol

e, or remove the role using Control Panel.

For more information, visit: (EXCHG.150)/ms.exch.setupreadiness.InstallWatermar

k.aspx

We had a mail system failure. It was taking awhile to recover the system so we recreated by disabling and then enabling again some of the key mailboxes we needed. What will happen when we bring the recovered exchange server back online?

thanks for reply. This happened after a power off situation and the server got off by itself. The UPS for the server turned off after it ran out of charge because the generator fail to start in the morning at 4:30am.

For an example , We have eight Exchange VMsin DAG and applying Exchange CU/patches on all at same time. We got a problem with all serves after applying the patches.

What is the best recovery methods?

Snapshot is not recommended so we did not take the snapshot.

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What can I do? There are no options for data recovery, not even sending to a lab at this point. Can a new Exchange server with a blank database be created and somehow rebuilt from the AD Schema?? Literally, the only goal is to be able to have the users edited in local AD and have them properly sync with Exchange Online. Mostly the parts that have issues are areas like the proxy address attributes and Target address attribute.

A lot of Exchange config info is stored in AD so you can rebuild a server by recovering from this, it wont bring back any mailboxes but you should get a working version of the old Exchange install that you can then work with (be it perform admin actions or uninstall it cleanly):

You have to deploy the same exact version of Exchange 2016, the CU does not matter but should be the same or higher than the previously installed.

Make sure to review and install all the requirements, especially around Visual C++, both 64 and 32 bits:

Preparing Setup COMPLETED

Stopping Services COMPLETED

Copying Exchange Files COMPLETED

Language Files COMPLETED

Restoring Services COMPLETED

Language Configuration COMPLETED

Mailbox role: Transport service FAILED

Within :\ExchangeSetupLogs is an ExchangeSetup.log file or something.

Rename the ExchangeSetupLogs folder and rerun the repair again.

Paste the last 20-30 lines from the install log.

Use formatting functions for visibility.

Rename ExchangeSetupLogs, and re-run the repair, if it fails again, paste 20-30 lines from ExchangeSetup.log file from that folder.

It should show why the installation fails.

Have you had an EDGE before with Exchange?

You can recover deleted On-prem User mailboxes using Exchange server recovery software . You can also check the preview of the deleted mailbox using the demo version of Stellar Repair for Exchange software.

Azure AD Connect is already in place and running, and has been there for sometime. In the AADC, Echange hybrid deployment is checked, and Exchange Mail Public Folders is not checked. Password hash synchronization and Password Writeback are both enabled. Is this correct? Do I just have to uncheck and recheck the box for Exchange Hybrid deployment, or do i have to use the hybrid configuration wizard, or do I need both?

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