How To Fix Exchange Database Corruption Using Eseutil Command

Exchange Database Corruption

When the Exchange Database EDB file gets corrupted then the Eseutil instrument, which is an inbuilt utility comes to the rescue of all Exchange administrators. This is because after the database .edb file has restored the mailboxes data items stored inside them can also be repaired.

Why Use Eseutil Utility?

The tool can surely be utilized in case of corruption difficulties, be it soft or hard database restoration. But a few strategies to repair Exchange database corruption using Eseutil command or instrument has to be employed for effective restoration. Therefore, this site goes into the process details of those tips that are essential for fixation of all mailboxes data in the damaged EDB file of any Exchange database. If there is any corruption in the physical structure of the database files, then the Eseutil tool can be used to fix different errors such as checksum error, invalid pointer, invalid page number, etc. The steps that should be followed are as follows:

1. A backup copy of the corrupted database should be made.
2. Eseutil/ d command should be run first on the database.

Important Points To Remember Before Using EseUtil For Exchange Database Repair

You must remember the following important points before using the EseUtil:

1. EseUtil is not a fool-proof utility. It may fail and cause more damage or data loss based on the recovery method you choose and the level of database corruption.
2. It’s not necessary that you will be able to mount the database after recovery.
3. Depending on the size of the database and the level of damage, your users will not be able to receive, send, or work with their mailboxes during the EseUtil database repair process. This could lead to several hours of downtime and may cause damage to the business.

Important Command Line Options For Eseutil

There are a number of switches that exist with ESEUTIL tool and should be utilized at several stages for the fixing of the physical structure of EDB files. All the switches are explained here in this section.

/?                           

It displays Eseutil options.

ESEUTIL /d       

This switch can be used to perform offline defrag Exchange mailbox database or compaction of the selected database.

ESEUTIL /r

It can be used to perform forced soft restoration and bring the specified database into a consistent state.

ESEUTIL /g

It is used to perform an integrity check of the selected database.

ESEUTIL /k

It performs a checksum test of all pages of the database.

ESEUTIL /p

It is used for repair of damaged database files. However, data loss may occur.

ESEUTIL /m

It performs a header dump of database files, log files and also checkpoint file.

ESEUTIL /y

It can be used to copy large files like databases, mailbox in an efficient manner with high performance.

ESEUTIL /c

It performs hard restoration of the database during an online backup.

Steps To Fix Exchange Database Corruption Using Eseutil Command

Use ESEUTIL to Defragment the Database. Before starting defragmentation of the database, you should save a backup of the database in case of an emergency.

First, dismount the database from Exchange.
Dismount-Database –Identity <name of the database>
dismount the database from Exchange

Run Eseutil /d command
eseutil /d <name of the database> /T <location of temporary path>
Run Eseutil command

After successfully running the Eseutil command, mount the database back to Exchange.
Mount-Database –Identity <name of the database>
mount the database back to Exchange

Repair the database with Eseutil /p command.
eseutil /p <location of the database>
Repair the database with Eseutil

Finally, run the new-mailbox repair request command to fix the errors in the database.
New-MailboxRepairRequest -Database <name of the database> -CorruptionType <type of corruption>

About Author

Aik Designs

See author's posts