How to Completely Remove Exchange 2007 from a Server

How to Completely Remove Exchange 2...

Applies to: Exchange Server 2007 SP1, Exchange Server 2007 Topic Last Modified: 2007-12-17

This topic describes how to use the Exchange Server 2007 Setup wizard or the Setup.com command to completely remove Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 from a server that is running Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008.

Completely removing Exchange 2007 from a server includes removing all server roles, all installation files, and the Exchange server object and all its child objects from the Active Directory directory service.

For instructions about how to remove only server roles from a server, see How to Remove Exchange 2007 Server Roles. For instructions about how to remove an Exchange 2007 organization, see How to Remove an Exchange 2007 Organization.

Before You Begin

To perform the following procedures, the account you use must be delegated the following:

Exchange Organization Administrator role

For more information about permissions, delegating roles, and the rights that are required to administer Exchange Server 2007, see Permission Considerations.

Also, if the server from which you are removing Exchange has the Mailbox server role installed, make sure you have either deleted, disabled, or moved all mailboxes, public folders, and public folder replicas to another Mailbox server. If you remove the public folder database, make sure that you complete all the steps to move the data and remove the database. Depending on the size of the database, this could take a significant amount of time. For instructions about how to remove a public folder database, see How to Remove a Public Folder Database.

If you have installed any Update Rollups for Exchange 2007, you must use either Add or Remove Programs to remove Exchange or Exchange server roles, or you must run Setup.com from the original installation media or source files. You cannot use Setup.com from the bin folder to modify or remove an Exchange installation. If you do not remove the Update Rollups and you use Setup.com from the bin folder, the following error message will be displayed: The is a version mismatch between the running application and the installed application.

Procedure

Exchange 2007 RTM and Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1) running on Windows Server 2003

This section contains the graphical user interface (GUI) and command-line procedures that are specific to Windows Server 2003.

To use the Exchange Server 2007 Setup wizard to remove Exchange 2007

Log on to the server from which you want to remove Exchange 2007.
Open Control Panel, and then click Add or Remove Programs.
On the Change or Remove Programs page, select Microsoft Exchange Server, and then click Remove.

Note:
If you click Change instead of Remove, you can add server roles, but you cannot remove server roles.
In the Exchange Server 2007 Setup wizard, on the Exchange Maintenance Mode page, click Next.

Note:
If you click Change instead of Remove, you can add server roles, but you cannot remove server roles.

On the Server Role Selection page, clear all the server role check boxes, clear the Management Tools check box, and then click Next.

Note:
By default, all server roles are selected. This indicates that no server roles will be removed. To remove a server role, you must clear the appropriate check box.

On the Readiness Checks page, after the check completes, click Uninstall.
On the Completion page, click Finish.
(Optional) If you are removing Exchange from a Mailbox server, remove the Exchange database files (*.edb) and storage group log files (*.log).

Note:
If you reinstall the Mailbox server role on this server, you must first remove the database and log files from the server.
(Optional) Remove the setup log files that arelocated at %systemdrive%\ExchangeSetupLogs.
(Optional) Remove the following virtual servers that are created for Exchange 2007 under the Default Web Site in Internet Information Services (IIS):
- Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync
- OAB
- Owa
When you remove Exchange 2007, neither IIS nor these virtual servers are removed.

Note:
If you reinstall the Mailbox server role on this server, you must first remove the database and log files from the server.

To use the Setup.com command to remove Exchange 2007

Log on to the server from which you want to remove Exchange 2007.
Open a Command Prompt window and navigate to the directory where you installed the Exchange Server 2007 files. By default, this directory is %programfiles%\Microsoft\Exchange Server.
Navigate to the \bin directory.

Note:
%programfiles%\Microsoft\Exchange Server\bin is in your path, so you can run this command from anywhere without navigating to this directory.
Use the following syntax for Setup.com:

Setup.com /mode:uninstall
(Optional) If you are removing the Mailbox server role from a computer, remove the Exchange database files and storage group log files from the server

Note:
If you reinstall the Mailbox server role on this server, you must first remove the database and log files from the server.
(Optional) Remove the setup log files that are located at %systemdrive%\ExchangeSetupLogs.
(Optional) Remove the following virtual servers that are created for Exchange 2007 under the Default Web Site in IIS:
- Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync
- OAB
- Owa
When you remove Exchange 2007, neither IIS nor these virtual servers are removed.

Note:
%programfiles%\Microsoft\Exchange Server\bin is in your path, so you can run this command from anywhere without navigating to this directory.

Note:
If you reinstall the Mailbox server role on this server, you must first remove the database and log files from the server.

Exchange 2007 SP1 running on Windows Server 2008

This section contains the graphical user interface (GUI) and command-line procedures that are specific to Windows Server 2008.

Note:
Windows Server 2008 includes several features that have been enhanced or renamed. For information about the feature changes between Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008, see Terminology Changes.

To use the Exchange Server SP1 2007 Setup wizard to remove Exchange 2007

Log on to the server from which you want to remove Exchange 2007.
Open Control Panel, and then double-click Programs and Features.
In Programs and Features, select Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, and then click Uninstall.

Note:
If you click Change instead of Uninstall, you can add server roles, but you cannot remove server roles.
In the Exchange Server 2007 SP1 Setup wizard, on the Exchange Maintenance Mode page, click Next.

Note:
If you click Change instead of Uninstall, you can add server roles, but you cannot remove server roles.

On the Server Role Selection page, clear all the server role check boxes, clear the Management Tools check box, and then click Next.

Note:
By default, all server roles are selected. This indicates that no server roles will be removed. To remove a server role, you must clear the appropriate check box.

On the Readiness Checks page, after the check completes, click Uninstall.
On the Completion page, click Finish.
(Optional) If you are removing Exchange from a Mailbox server, remove the Exchange database files (*.edb) and storage group log files (*.log).

Note:
If you reinstall the Mailbox server role on this server, you must first remove the database and log files from the server.
(Optional) Remove the setup log files that are located at %systemdrive%\ExchangeSetupLogs.
(Optional) Remove the following virtual servers that are created for Exchange 2007 under the Default Web Site in IIS:
- Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync
- OAB
- Owa
When you remove Exchange 2007, neither IIS nor these virtual servers are removed.

Note:
If you reinstall the Mailbox server role on this server, you must first remove the database and log files from the server.

To use the Setup.com command to remove Exchange 2007

Log on to the server from which you want to remove Exchange 2007.
Open a Command Prompt window and navigate to the directory where you installed the Exchange Server 2007 files. By default, this directory is %programfiles%\Microsoft\Exchange Server.
Navigate to the \bin directory.

Note:
%programfiles%\Microsoft\Exchange Server\bin is in your path, so you can run this command from anywhere without navigating to this directory.
Use the following syntax for Setup.com:

Setup.com /mode:uninstall
(Optional) If you are removing the Mailbox server role from a computer, remove the Exchange database files and storage group log files from the server

Note:
If you reinstall the Mailbox server role on this server, you must first remove the database and log files from the server.
(Optional) Remove the setup log files that are located at %systemdrive%\ExchangeSetupLogs.
(Optional) Remove the following virtual servers that are created for Exchange 2007 under the Default Web Site in IIS:
- Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync
- OAB
- Owa
When you remove Exchange 2007, neither IIS nor these virtual servers are removed.

Note:
%programfiles%\Microsoft\Exchange Server\bin is in your path, so you can run this command from anywhere without navigating to this directory.

Note:
If you reinstall the Mailbox server role on this server, you must first remove the database and log files from the server.

For More Information

For more information about removing Exchange 2007, see Removing and Modifying Exchange 2007.