How to Run Eseutil /M (File Dump)

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, Exchange Server 2007 SP1, Exchange Server 2007 SP2, Exchange Server 2007 SP3

You can use the /M switch with Exchange Server Database Utilities (Eseutil) to create a file dump, or formatted output of various database file types that you specify when you run Eseutil.

The syntax for Eseutil /M is:

ESEUTIL /M modemodifier filename [options] 

The most common mode modifiers that are used with Eseutil are:

  • H   This mode modifier dumps a database header (default).

  • K   This mode modifier dumps a checkpoint file.

  • L   This mode modifier dumps a log file or a set of logs.

  • M   This mode modifier dumps metadata or a dump system catalog of the database.

  • S   This mode modifier dumps information about table space usage in a database.

Note

To list additional options for Eseutil, type eseutil /? at a command prompt, and then press ENTER.

For more information about Eseutil file dump mode, see Eseutil /M File Dump Mode.

Before You Begin

Before running Eseutil /M commands on your database, do the following:

  • Make sure the database file is offline or dismounted.

  • Make sure you log on by using an account that is delegated membership in the local Administrators group for that computer.

Procedure

To view the header of database files and page headers

  • To view the header of a database file, run the following command at a command prompt:

    ESEUTIL /MH {filename.edb | mail.que}
    
  • To view the header of a checkpoint file:

    ESEUTIL /MK filename.chk
    
  • To view the header of a transaction log file:

    ESEUTIL /ML filename.log
    
  • To view the header of a database page:

    ESEUTIL /M filename.edb /Plogicalpagenumber
    

    Note

    There is no space between /P and the page number.

To verify both sequence and integrity of a set of log files

  • Run the following command to test a log file for suspected damage:

    ESEUTIL /ML Log File Name
    

    For example, to test a log file that is named E00123ab.log, type:

    ESEUTIL /ML E001234ab.log
    

    If the log file passes the test, the following response appears:

    Integrity check passed for log file: E001234ab.log
    

    If the log file fails the test, the following response appears:

    CORRUPTION DETECTED in log file: E001234ab.log
    Operation terminated with error -501 (ESE_errLogFileCorrupt, Log file is corrupt) 
    
  • Run the following command to test all the log files in a folder. To do this, open a Command Prompt window, go to the folder where the log files are located, and then type the following:

    ESEUTIL /ML Enn
    

    Note

    In this command, Enn signifies the log prefix. The log prefix is the first three characters of the log file name that are shared by all logs that belong to a particular storage group. For example, the Eseutil /ML E00 command scans all transaction log files in a folder that share the same log prefix. Additionally, the command reports if any transaction log files are damaged, out of sequence, missing, or mismatched with the other log files.

To view metadata dump information

  • Run the following basic command syntax to display metadata information for a database:

    ESEUTIL /MM filename.edb 
    

    Note

    In a typical database, the metadata dump will require multiple screens to be displayed. To preserve the output by sending it to a file, append a redirection command to the preceding command, as shown in the following example:

    ESEUTIL /MM filename.edb > filename.txt
    

To view space usage dump information

  • Run the following basic command syntax to display space usage information for a database:

    ESEUTIL /MS filename.edb
    

    Note

    An aggregate total of the free pages in the database is listed on the last line of a space usage dump. You can multiply this number by the page size for the database to get an approximation of the space that will likely be reclaimed by defragmentation. For more information about the Eseutil defragmentation mode, see Eseutil /D Defragmentation Mode.

Note

The output of the metadata and space usage commands is very similar. A space usage dump is a metadata dump with an added column of information that tells you how much space each table in the database file is using. A space dump takes longer to run than the metadata dump. The metadata dump is a dump of the system catalog of the database file. The system catalog contains structural information about the database.

For More Information

You can see the complete command-line reference and syntax for Eseutil /M by typing eseutil /? at a command prompt and then by selecting M for file dump.

For more information, see the following: