18 November 2011

How to increase the Exchange Server 2003 SP2 18GB database size limit

The release of SP2 for MS Exchange 2003 has changed the default database limit from 16GB to 18GB. In addition, SP2 allows you to further increase the size a MS Exchange 2003 Standard Edition database to a maximum size of 75GB.

Exchange Server 2003 version
Licensed limit
Default configuration limit
Standard Edition before SP2
16 GB
Not applicable
Standard Edition with SP2
75 GB
18 GB
Enterprise Edition before SP2
8,000 GB (unlimited)
Not applicable
Enterprise Edition with SP2
8,000 GB (unlimited)
8,000 GB

To extend the Exchange database limit, follow these steps:
  1. On the computer that is running Exchange 2003 SP2, click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
  2. Click one of the following registry subkeys, as appropriate for the store that you want to increase:
    • For a mailbox store, click the following registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\Server name\Private-Mailbox Store
    • For a public folder store, click the following registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\Server name\Public-Public Store GUID
  3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
  4. In the New Value #1 box, type Database Size Limit in Gb, and then press ENTER.
  5. Right-click Database Size Limit in Gb, and then click Modify.
  6. Click Decimal, and then type an integer from 1 to 75 in the Value data box.
  7. Click OK, and then exit Registry Editor.
  8. Restart the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service. To do this, follow these steps:
o    Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
o    At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
net stop msexchangeis
o    After the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service has stopped successfully, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
net start msexchangeis
  1. Examine the Application log to verify that the database size has been set successfully. To do this, follow these steps:
o    Click Start, click Run, type eventvwr, and then click OK.
o    In the Event Viewer tool, click Application
o    Double-click event ID 1216 to verify that the database size has been set successfully. Event 1216 is generated every time the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service is started.

17 November 2011

Error message when you try to perform a system state backup in Windows 2008 and 2012 Servers

Symptoms: When you try to perform a system state backup to a volume on which the system state file resides, you receive an error, as mentioned below:

In Windows Server 2008, you receive the following error:

ERROR - The location for backup is a critical volume.

In Windows Server 2008 R2, you receive the following error:
ERROR - The backup storage location is invalid. You cannot use a volume that is included in the backup as a storage location.

Cause: This behavior occurs because system state backups to critical volumes are blocked in Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

Resolution: You can change the default behavior of Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 by adding a registry entry. You must also verify that the following prerequisites are met before you perform a system state backup to a critical volume.

  • Make sure that the target volume has no shadow copy before the backup starts.
  • If a system state backup is stored on a source volume, backup settings should be configured for full backups. By default, settings are configured for full backups.
  • Periodically check that no other user or program maintains a shadow copy on the target volume.
  • Do not keep volume level backups and system state backups in the same location. The volume used to store the system state backup needs twice the amount of free space as the size of the system state backup until the backup completes.

Notes:
  • Any writes on target volume with shadow copies will increase the diff area size. If the diff area is bounded, it may cause deletion of shadow copies.
  • Incremental backups leaves shadow copies behind, it will cause side effect as point 1.
  • Backup stores different versions as shadow copies, it will cause side effect as point 1.
  • Registry entry to enable system state backups to critical volumes
To enable the system state backup files to be targeted to critical volumes, you must set the value of the AllowSSBToAnyVolume registry entry under the following registry subkey:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\wbengine\SystemStateBackup\

If the key called "SystemStateBackup" not exist you should to create it and set the value of this entry as follows:

Name: AllowSSBToAnyVolume
Data type: DWORD
Value data: 1

Note: When this value is set to 1, system state backups to any volume are enabled. To revert to the default behavior, set the value to 0

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14 November 2011

System writer is not found in the backup

Symptoms: When you perform a system state backup using Windows Server Backup on Windows Server 2008, the backup fails with the following error:

System writer is not found in the backup.

Cause: The system writer fails because permissions to files in the %windir%\winsxs\filemaps\ or %windir%\winsxs\temp\PendingRenames directories are incorrect.

Resolution: To resolve this issue, type the following commands from an elevated command prompt:

Takeown /f %windir%\winsxs\temp\PendingRenames /a
icacls %windir%\winsxs\temp\PendingRenames /grant "NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(RX)"
icacls %windir%\winsxs\temp\PendingRenames /grant "NT Service\trustedinstaller:(F)"
icacls %windir%\winsxs\temp\PendingRenames /grant BUILTIN\Users:(RX)
Takeown /f %windir%\winsxs\filemaps\* /a
icacls %windir%\winsxs\filemaps\*.* /grant "NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(RX)"
icacls %windir%\winsxs\filemaps\*.* /grant "NT Service\trustedinstaller:(F)"
icacls %windir%\winsxs\filemaps\*.* /grant BUILTIN\Users:(RX)
net stop cryptsvc
net start cryptsvc

At the end type the following command to verify that the system writer is now listed:

vssadmin list writers

If the system writer is still missing, then open the Regedit and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\VSS\VssAccessControl.
Change the value of NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE (REG_DWORD) to 1.
You may also want to check and change the entry for other services (LOCAL SERVICE, NetworkService) those services will be indicated by event 8213 in your Application Event Log.
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