Recover a database availability group member server
Article
Applies to: Exchange Server 2013
If a Mailbox server that's a member of a database availability group (DAG) is lost or otherwise fails and is unrecoverable and needs replacement, you can perform a server recovery operation. Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 Setup includes the switch /m:RecoverServer that can be used to perform the server recovery operation. Running Setup with the /m:RecoverServer switch causes Setup to read the server's configuration information from Active Directory for a server with the same name as the server from which you're running Setup. After the server's configuration information is gathered from Active Directory, the original Exchange files and services are then installed on the server, and the roles and settings that were stored in Active Directory are then applied to the server.
You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure or procedures. To see what permissions you need, see the "Mailbox database copies" entry in the High availability and site resilience permissions topic.
If Exchange is installed in a location other than the default location, you must use the /TargetDir Setup switch to specify the location of the Exchange program files. If you don't use the /TargetDir switch, the Exchange program files will be installed in the default location (%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V15).
To determine the install location, follow these steps:
Open ADSIEDIT.MSC or LDP.EXE.
Navigate to the following location: CN=ExServerName,CN=Servers,CN=First Administrative Group,CN=Administrative Groups,CN=ExOrg Name,CN=Microsoft Exchange,CN=Services,CN=Configuration,DC=DomainName,CN=Com
Right-click the Exchange server object, and then click Properties.
Locate the msExchInstallPath attribute. This attribute stores the current installation path.
Having problems? Ask for help in the Exchange forums. Visit the forums at Exchange Server.
Use Setup /m:RecoverServer to recover a server
Retrieve any replay lag or truncation lag settings for any mailbox database copies that exist on the server being recovered by using the Get-MailboxDatabase cmdlet:
Get-MailboxDatabase DB1 | Format-List *lag*
Remove any mailbox database copies that exist on the server being recovered by using the Remove-MailboxDatabaseCopy cmdlet:
If the DAG member being removed is offline and can't be brought online, you must add the ConfigurationOnly parameter to the preceding command. If you use the ConfigurationOnly switch, you must also manually evict the node from the cluster.
Reset the server's computer account in Active Directory. For detailed steps, see Reset a Computer Account.
Open a Command Prompt window. Using the original Setup media, run the following command:
After the server has been added back to the DAG, you can reconfigure mailbox database copies by using the Add-MailboxDatabaseCopy cmdlet. If any of the database copies being added previously had replay lag or truncation lag times greater than 0, you can use the ReplayLagTime and TruncationLagTime parameters of the Add-MailboxDatabaseCopy cmdlet to reconfigure those settings:
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