I'm running exchange 2003 standard and I only have 220mb left on the drive where the database is. I have deleted users mailboxes that are no longer with the company and still the priv1 files have not reduced. I also want to know what does the RUN CLEANUP AGENT do for me and can I get rid of some the log files because they are taking up about 12gigs of space.Help please.

I would take a full backup of your environment, this should clear the transaction logs. Then if you need to reduce the size of the databases you'll need to follow these instructions by doing an offline defrag. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/328804 The Run Cleanup Agent will check to see if the mailbox's user account exists in AD. If it doesn't it will put a red x on it and will be deleted during the online defrag. Note that an online defrag doesn't reduce the size of the database, just marks the pages in the DB to be re used. Mark Morowczynski|MCT| MCSE 2003:Messaging, Security|MCITP:ES, SA,EA|MCTS:Windows Mobile Admin|Security+|http://almostdailytech.com

Let' s start with the cleanup agent:This is the piece of software that regularly scans all mailboxes and checks, if there is a connection between a user object in Active Directory and a mailbox in the private information store. If there is not, it marks the mailbox for deletion. The retention time for the tombstoned mailbox now begins to run. Don't worry too much about that agent. Your need to perform four tasks: Do a full online backup with an Exchange-aware backup, such as NT Backup, that is part of Windows 2000/2003. This will delete most of the log files. Do an offline defrag of the database. You might need the free space where you're log files are located. Do a new full online backup. Automate online backups with full and incremental See the links below: Backing up Exchange 2000/2003 with NTBACKUP http://www.petri.co.il/backup_exchange_2000_2003_with_ntbackup.htm Exchange 2003 Backup and Restore with NTBACKUP http://www.msexchange.org/tutorials/Exchange-2003-Backup-Restore-NTBACKUP.html How can I defragment Exchange 2000/2003 Server databases? http://www.petri.co.il/defragment_exchange_2000_2003_server_databases.htm How to defragment with the Eseutil utility (Eseutil.exe) http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb%3Ben-us%3B192185&x=16&y=10 jas

Hi Rory,Cleanup Agent will not help in this case. Some of your options are:Option 1. - Run full backup to delete those log files- Before defragging, check Application event log for event 1221. This will tell you how much space you can get back...sometimes it may not be worth defragging to gain back only a small amount of space- Take database offline and defrag it using ESEUTIL (you need 110% free diskspace) if the above step proves feasible.Option 2. - Run full backup to delete those log files- Create a brand new empty database- Move active mailboxes to the new database- Delete the old database- Move the new database (edb and stm) to the original location. (don't forget to modify the path(s) on the database tab)Question...are the logs and database on the same physical drive? If so, best practice is to separate them or you may have performance issues.

Hi guys listen thanks for the info. I'm now at a critical spot because my store has dismounted and I've run out of space on the database drive. Can I do any of the things that you all talked about right now and get immediate resolution to my disk issue. Also the logs are on the same drive as the database. Can I delete the logs that are still there from 2007?Thanks

Do you have any physical drives on that server big enough to hold the maxed out database? You may be able to move the entire database to a bigger drive.In the interim you must runNTBACKUP, thiswill most likely cleanup the 12gigs and give you some breathing room.

Nope, I only have the C:\ drive which is down to 5gigs of free space and I'm not sure if I can use that. This is a old server and it started with 220gigs and have less than a meg now.

I have some mailboxes that have a red x on them now if I go ahead a delete those will that provide me immediate space?

Online Defrag needs to run and it will mark the space as being overwritten. You will need to do an offline defrag to actually compact the database.Mark Morowczynski|MCT| MCSE 2003:Messaging, Security|MCITP:ES, SA,EA|MCTS:Windows Mobile Admin|Security+|http://almostdailytech.com

Probably not. Problem is that white space gets created in place of the mailbox. You need to run a backup.

This may help you going forward after you get a hold on this issue.How to resolve unexpected growth of EDB or/and STM Fileshttp://support.microsoft.com/kb/555360/en-us

Ok I just look at the directory where the E000*.log files are and I have 50gb that are from 2007 can I delete these and get enough space to do a backup and mount the store temporally. I'm using backup exec for my network and I been doing a nightly backup on the exchange server but could something else be going with because I thought when you do a full backup it does delete the transaction logs. Maybe I'mlooking in the wrong spot.

Hi Rory,You can delete some .log files. Please use "ESEUTIL /mk" to check how many log files had been merge to your database.Then you candelete them. After that, youhave better to make a full backup.About exeutil /mk,http://technet.microsoft.com/zh-cn/library/bb125171.aspxFrank Wang