How to Remove an Exchange Virtual Server from an Exchange Cluster

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Although it does not occur frequently, you might have to remove an Exchange Virtual Server from an Exchange cluster. In particular, you may have to do this if:

  • You are reconfiguring the cluster from an active/active configuration to an active/passive configuration. That is, you are keeping the same number of nodes in the configuration, but you want one of those nodes to be passive instead of active.

  • You plan to remove Exchange 2003 from a cluster.

This procedure outlines to remove an Exchange Virtual Server Exchange Virtual Server from an Exchange cluster.

Before You Begin

Regardless of your reasons for removing an Exchange Virtual Server, you must consider the requirements discussed in Removing an Exchange Virtual Server.

Before you start managing your Exchange cluster, you may want to review what constitutes an Exchange Virtual Server and its associated Exchange resources. You may also want to become more familiar with Cluster Administrator—the primary tool used to configure and manage clusters.

Note

Before performing the cluster administration tasks outlined in this chapter, you must be familiar with the clustering concepts described in "Checklist: Preparation for installing a cluster" in the Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003 Enterprise Edition Online Help and in the Windows Server 2003 Technical Reference.

Also, make sure that you are familiar with "Using Server Clustering" in Planning an Exchange Server 2003 Messaging System and with "Deploying Exchange 2003 in a Cluster" in the Exchange Server 2003 Deployment Guide.

Procedure

To remove a single Exchange Virtual Server from a cluster

  1. Back up critical data and secure resources hosted by the Exchange Virtual Server.

    Note

    For information about how to back up Exchange data, see Disaster Recovery for Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server.

  2. Move all mailboxes and public folder content to another Exchange Virtual Server. For detailed steps, see How to Move Mailboxes from One Exchange Virtual Server to Another Server and How to Move Public Folder Content from One Exchange Virtual Server to Another Server.

  3. Take the Exchange System Attendant resource offline. For detailed information, see How to Take the Exchange System Attendant Resource Offline.

  4. Remove the Exchange Virtual Server. For detailed information, see How to Remove an Exchange Virtual Server Using Cluster Administrator.

  5. Delete remaining cluster resources. For detailed information, see How to Delete the Remaining Resources After Removing an Exchange Virtual Server.

    Important

    Deleting components of an Exchange Virtual Server without removing the whole server can cause interruptions in mail flow. Therefore, it is recommended that you follow all the steps in the procedure when you remove an Exchange Virtual Server from a cluster.

For More Information

For more information about this procedure, see Managing Mailbox Stores and Public Folder Stores.