Unable to write a shadowed header for the file

 

Topic Last Modified: 2007-11-16

The Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Management Pack for Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) monitors the Windows Application log on computers that are running Exchange Server 2007 and generates this alert when the event or events specified in the following Details table are logged.

To learn more about this event, do one or more of the following:

  • Review the description of the event that includes the variables specific to your environment. From the MOM Operator Console, select this alert, and then click the Properties tab.

  • Review all events that have been logged that meet the criteria of this MOM alert. From the MOM Operator Console, click the Events tab, and then double-click the event in the list for which you want to review the event description.

Details

Product Name

Exchange

Product Version

8.0 (Exchange Server 2007)

Event ID

439

Event Source

ESE

Alert Type

Warning

MOM Rule Path

Microsoft Exchange Server/Exchange 2007/Common Components/Extensible Storage Engine

MOM Rule Name

Unable to write a shadowed header for the file. Exchange server database service is denied write access to its own database files or checkpoint file.

Explanation

This Warning event occurs if the database engine is denied write access to its own database files (*.edb) or to the checkpoint file (*.chk). Errors similar to the following may occur: MSExchangeIS event ID: Unable to write a shadowed header for file path\filename.

Common causes of this issue include:

  • Another process is using the file. Antivirus software may mistakenly quarantine a file, or a backup process may temporarily deny access. In this case, you may see error -1032 in the Description section of event 439. Error -1032 is equivalent to Jet_errFileAccessDenied, in which the file is locked or in use.

  • A disk or controller failure has occurred, and access to the entire drive has been lost, sometimes temporarily. Check the System Log for I/O or drive errors near the time of the 439 event. In this case, you may see error -1022 in the description of event 439. Error -1022 is a Jet_errDiskIO, or disk I/O error. The -1022 error is a generic error that appears whenever a disk I/O problem prevents Exchange from gaining access to a requested page in the database or to a transaction log.

  • Permissions have been removed from the folder where the file resides.

  • The file has been marked read-only. This is most likely to happen to a checkpoint file.

  • The folder containing the file has been renamed or deleted. This is also mostly likely to happen to a checkpoint file.

User Action

To resolve this warning, determine what has suddenly blocked the database service from accessing its files by doing one or more of the following:

  • Review the Application log and System log for events that relate to a disk that has reached or has exceeded capacity. Resolve any disk capacity issues.

  • Restart the affected computers running Exchange.

  • Confirm that there is sufficient access to the disks.

  • If the database is still running, you may have to use the Move Mailbox tool to move the mailboxes to another server.

  • If the database will not mount, you may need to restore from online backup. If there is no valid backup, as a last resort, you may need to repair the database with eseutil /P, run isinteg -fix until all fixes are removed, and then mount the database and use ExMerge to merge to a new, blank database.

For More Information

To search the Microsoft Knowledge Base articles based on criteria that generated this alert, visit the Search the Support Knowledge Base (KB) Web site.

To review Exchange 2007 event message articles that may not be represented by Exchange 2007 MOM alerts, see the Events and Errors Message Center.

If you are not already doing so, consider running the tools that Microsoft Exchange offers to help administrators analyze and troubleshoot their Exchange environment. These tools can help you make sure that your configuration is in line with Microsoft best practices. They can also help you identify and resolve performance issues, improve mail flow, and better manage disaster recovery scenarios. Go to the Toolbox node of the Exchange Management Console to run these tools now. For more information about these tools, see Toolbox in the Exchange Server 2007 Help.