Exchange 2007 mailbox uninstall failed . . . but didn't?
Finishing up an Exchange 2007 to 2010 migration. Everything was moved to Exchange 2010 servers, and all Exchange 2007 servers were decomissioned except one. On the final MDB/Hub server removal, I got an error that the offline address book was created with a future version of Exchange and the uninstall failed saying mailbox role removal had failed, and hub role removal had consequently been cancelled. I ran the uninstall again in remove hub role only mode, while I researched the offline address book error. Hub role removal completed successfully. Meanwhile, I found several internet posts regarding the offline address book error, with several tips on how to fix it. However, at that point I discovered that none of those solutions would work because while the Exchange 2007 server showed in add/remove programs as a mailbox server, it did not exist anywhere anymore in AD (that I can find). Running Exchange setup and attempting to uninstall Exchange 2007 fails saying it can't find the Exchange server. "get-exchangeserver" only shows Exchange 2010 servers when run on either the Exchange 2007 server or any of the Exchange 2010 servers. Get-mailboxdatabase and get-publicfolder database also show no Exchange 2007 databases anymore when run on either Exchange 2010 or Exchange 2007. Exchange 2007 EMC shows no Exchange 2007 servers exist in the site anymore. Using ADSI edit, I verified the 2007 server is gone from the Servers container in the configuration context, and none of it's databases exist in the Databases configuration object. The Exchange 2007 server no longer exists in any of the Exchange security groups in AD. I ran EBPA (which also no longer sees any 2007 servers), and the only thing it complained about was the Site Folder Server was deleted for the offline address book (the part of the uninstall that said it failed but apparently didn't). I fixed this using ADSI edit and an MS KB article. So my question is this . . . do I just format the Exchange 2007 server and call it done, or is there somewhere else I should check in AD to verify the server is completely removed from the AD / Organization? I've seen references to running this command: "MsiExec.exe /X{24B2C164-DE66-44FE-B468-A46D9D5E6B31}" to forcefully remove Exchange 2007 when a standard uninstall fails, but can't find a detailed explanation of exactly what it does so am hesitent to run it (since I have a seemingly functional Exchange 2010 Org in AD I don't want to negatively impact). Thanks
March 25th, 2011 8:22pm

What is the error message you are getting? Do not just formate the server and delete the object from AD, this is not the proper removal process.Gulab | MCTS-MCITP Messaging: 2010 | MCTS-MCITP Messaging: 2007 | MCC 2011 | Skype: Gulab.Mallah
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March 25th, 2011 11:49pm

That's the point . . . as far as I can tell, the object doesn't exist in AD anymore. The uninstall failed with error "Object is read only because it was created by a future version of Exchange", in reference to the offline address book. It was the same error as in this thread: http://forums.msexchange.org/m_1800521706/mpage_1/key_/tm.htm#1800521706. However, I can't find the object in AD anywhere anymore, which makes me think the uninstall actually worked. If you read my original post, you'll see the EMC doesn't see the server anymore, powershell commands can't find the server, I can't find it in the Configuraiton container in AD, etc. So it looks like even though the install failed, it either did completely run or mostly ran. What I'm asking is this: how do I verify it really is completely gone from AD? I can't run the uninstall again, because the server object no longer exists in the AD configuration container so the uninstall now fails with the error it can't find the Exchange server. Again, *I* did not delete the server object out of AD, the uninstall did at some point when it "failed". So, how do I verify it finished the uninstall?
March 27th, 2011 11:55pm

I would do an ldifde dump of the exchange subtree, then do a search of the exported file for your 2007 server name. If there are no references, then I would consider it completely uninstalled from the Exchange org. ldifde -f c:\exchange.txt -d "CN=Microsoft Exchange,CN=Services,CN=Configuration,DC=fabrikom,DC=com" -p subtree James Chong MCITP | EA | EMA; MCSE | M+, S+ Security+, Project+, ITIL msexchangetips.blogspot.com
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March 28th, 2011 12:16am

Hi nbhms, James gave some good suggestion, any update for your issue? Regards! Gavin TechNet Subscriber Support in forum If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.com Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.
March 28th, 2011 12:35pm

Doing that export found an old Exchange 2003 system policy referencing a public folder store on the removed server, and some Exchange 2007/2010 address lists that were using databases on the removed server in the filter settings for the address list. Once I cleaned those two issues up a new ldifde export finds no reference of that server in the configuration container of AD.
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March 28th, 2011 10:31pm

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