Keeping the possibility of Exchange database corruption in mind, Microsoft has incorporated some database repairing mechanisms with every version of exchange. In Exchange 2010 and 2013, this mechanism operates through Exchange Management Shell cmdlets. Two cmdlets— New-MailboxRepairRequest and New-PublicFolderDatabaseRepairRequest—helps you detect and fix issues with Exchange mailboxes and public folders with remarkable ease.

What all issues with Exchange mailboxes can be fixed?

  • Search folder corruptions (CorruptionType parameter value – SearchFolder)
  • Aggregate counts on folders that aren’t reflecting correct values (CorruptionType parameter value –  AggregateCounts )
  • Views on folders that aren’t returning the correct content (CorruptionType parameter value – FolderView )
  • Provisioned folders that are incorrectly pointing into parent folders that aren’t provisioned (CorruptionType parameter value – ProvisionedFolder)

Mailbox permissions required

Exchange administrators can perform these actions with mailbox permissions for Organization Management, Server Management, and Recipient Management.

Exchange Management Shell cmdlets to repair mailboxes

Syntax

New-MailboxRepairRequest -Mailbox <MailboxIdParameter> -CorruptionType <MailboxStoreCorruptionType[]> [-Archive <SwitchParameter>] [-Confirm [<SwitchParameter>]] [-DetectOnly <SwitchParameter>] [-DomainController <Fqdn>] [-WhatIf [<SwitchParameter>]]

New-MailboxRepairRequest -Database <DatabaseIdParameter> -CorruptionType <MailboxStoreCorruptionType[]> [-Confirm [<SwitchParameter>]] [-DetectOnly <SwitchParameter>] [-DomainController <Fqdn>] [-WhatIf [<SwitchParameter>]]

Explanation of important parameters

Database/Mailbox – Provide value for mailbox database or for mailbox.

CorruptionType – You need to provide at least one value from SearchFolder, AggregateCounts, ProvisionedFolder, and FolderView. You can enter multiple values separating them with a comma.

Advantages of Exchange Management Shell cmdlets

Mailbox repair cmdlets of Exchange Management Shell works on mounted databases allowing Exchange administrators to fix the issues without unminting the database. You can deal with the corruption at mailbox level and can fix corrupt search folders, Provisional Fid, and Aggregate Counts. Also, it can be run against a single mailbox or against the entire EDB database.

Limitations of Exchange Management Shell cmdlets

Exchange limits the number of repair requests per server to maintain consistent performance. Only one request for database level repair is permitted at a time; in the case of mailbox-level repair, up to 100 requests for is permitted at a time. There is no option to perform repairing on all the databases of the server at a time.

Fixing the issues with public folders

Exchange Management Shell cmdlets can be used to fix issues with public folders as well. The syntax is:

New-PublicFolderDatabaseRepairRequest -Database <DatabaseIdParameter> -CorruptionType <PublicFolderDatabaseCorruptionType[]> [-Confirm [<SwitchParameter>]] [-DetectOnly <SwitchParameter>] [-DomainController <Fqdn>] [-WhatIf [<SwitchParameter>]]

How to stop the repairing process?

Once the repairing process has begun, it can be stopped only by dismounting the database.

Dealing with the corruption in earlier versions of Exchange

If you are using an earlier version of Exchange, you will have to use Information Store Integrity Checker (ISInteg) tool to fix the corruption issues. However, we are not going through the details here.

EDB to PST Conversion – another way for easy EDB file recovery

When the EDB files of Exchange Database become corrupt and inaccessible, they can be converted to PST files so that they are accessible with MS Outlook. EDB to PST conversion is helpful in some other occasions like Exchange downtime, relocation of employees, for keeping a backup of EDB file after account deletion, audits etc. Exchange repairing solutions easily convert Exchange EDB files to PST format.

Professional solutions for EDB recovery and EDB to PST conversion

Most of the Exchange administrators would like to use professional Exchange recovery solutions at the time of Exchange corruptions and disasters. Apart from performing EDB recovery, they help in many related activities like EDB to PST conversion, backup extraction, OST restoration, minor Exchange migrations, etc. Exchange Recovery Manager is a solution generally recommended for all these actions.

Summary

It’s not a surprise if you face corruption and inaccessibility issues with Exchange database. Now you can resolve these issues with the help of some simple cmdlets of Exchange Management Shell. But if the corruption is a serious one and you need a quick solution, it is recommended that you use professional Exchange recovery solutions .