Exchange 2010 notes

When the command Test-ActivesyncConnectivity fails with scenario: reset credentials, run this command:
Test-ActiveSyncConnectivity -ResetTestaccountcredentials -mailboxserver ex2

This seems to happen sometimes when mailboxes are activated on a different mailbox database server.

• Notes about windows updates on exchange servers.

The best way to install updates and perform maintenance on the Exchange servers is to put the server into “maintenance mode” first, also, if you're like me and don't have a load balancer,  delete the DNS entry for the server that’s in maintenance mode.  Then run all the updates you need, reboot, then take it out of maintenance mode, and re-create the DNS entry (with short TTL) for the servers you want to be active client servers.

Maintenance Procedure:  Locally on the server, Open an Exchange powershell console, use the tab key to auto fill and complete the longer commands

cd\

CD program files\microsoft\exchange server\v14\scripts

StartDAGServerMaintenance.ps1  OR  StopDAGServerMaintenance.ps1

If you have an unplanned crisis or you want to test for disaster recovery, here are the steps.  Starting the cluster service is always the first thing, start it on all mailbox servers, or force it to start on one single server if the others are down.  Once the cluster service latches onto another cluster it switches over automatically to normal mode where they all go down if quorum is lost.

to force start a single cluster:

net stop clussvc
net start clussvc /forcequorum

If the cluster service is not running on all servers, and the databases aren’t ready to be mounted, you get this error
…Database 'WPXXXXX-MBX01' can't be mounted on server 'WPXXXXXXX2.XXXXXX.dom' due to a previous error: Failed to determine the mount status of the active database copy. Verify that the underlying cause of the error has been corrected before attempting to mount the database. The error can be ignored and the mount allowed if Mount-Database is reissued with the -Force switch.
So you run the command Mount-database –identity exdbsvr\”mailbox database1” -force

The problem is when the database was not active last on the server that’s running now, you need to move the active mailbox database to the running server instead of the last server to host that database which is now off.

Move-ActiveMailboxDatabase -SkipActiveCopyChecks -SkipLagChecks -MountDialOverride:besteffort -SkipClientExperienceChecks -ActivateOnServer EXdbsvr -identity ‘mailbox database1”

• If rollup or service pack updates are to be performed, turn off this option in internet explorer:      clear the Check for publisher’s certificate revocation check box in advanced settings, security heading.