How to Configure Clustered Mailbox Server Ownership in a CCR Environment

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 will reach end of support on April 11, 2017. To stay supported, you will need to upgrade. For more information, see Resources to help you upgrade your Office 2007 servers and clients.

Applies to: Exchange Server 2007 SP1, Exchange Server 2007 SP2, Exchange Server 2007 SP3

This topic explains how to use the Exchange Management Shell to change the ownership of nodes for a clustered Mailbox server in a cluster continuous replication (CCR) environment. You complete this task by modifying the list of redundant computers for the clustered Mailbox server.

Setup for CCR automatically assigns ownership of the clustered Mailbox servers to both the active and the passive node. However, there are circumstances in which you may need to change the ownership of nodes in a CCR environment.

When a passive node is not performing continuous replication (log shipping and replay), log truncation does not occur on the active node. For example, if the passive node has failed, the active node will not perform log truncation until the passive node is brought back online, or until the node is removed from the list of redundant machines.

You can use this procedure to remove a node from the list of redundant computers. You can also use this procedure to add a node to the list of redundant computers. For example, if the passive node has been repaired and brought back online, you can use this procedure to add it to the list again.

Before You Begin

To successfully perform the following procedure, the node on which the command is run must be a member of the same Microsoft Windows Server 2003 cluster of the active node.

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

• Exchange Server Administrator role and local Administrators group for the target server

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

Also, before you perform this procedure, be aware that after log truncation occurs on the active node, a gap will be created in the transaction logs that have replicated to the passive node. As a result, after the passive node has been brought back online, it will need to be reseeded.

Procedure

To use the Exchange Management Shell to change clustered Mailbox server node ownership

1. Check the current owners for the clustered Mailbox server by running the following command:

   Get-MailboxServer -Identity:<CMSName> | format-list
   

   Note

   Look for the value RedundantMachines in the output list.

2. To change ownership of the clustered Mailbox server, run the following command:

   Set-MailboxServer -Identity:<CMSName> -RedundantMachines:{<ActiveNodeName>,<PassiveNodeName>}
   

   Note

   In a situation where you want to remove a failed node from the list, you would only include the name of the surviving node in the above command.

3. Verify the new ownership settings for the clustered Mailbox server by running the following command:

   Get-MailboxServer -Identity:<CMSName> | format-list
   

   Note

   Look for the value of RedundantMachines in the output list.