ID the two arbitration mailbox directly in ADSIEdit and just remove from there?
Hello All We are in a particularly sticky situation; also was not sure which forum to post in. We got here when attempting to upgrade/migrate to Exchange 2010 from Exchange 2003 week ago. This attempt resulted in Exch2010 server that could not start services, run EMC, Exchange PowerShell or connect to domain basically failed installation. When attempting to remove Exch2010, check domain, cleanup and try again could not remove Exchange as setup, even with ForceRemove, would not work due to arbitration mailboxes. Would like to remove the arbitration mailboxes with ADSIEdit but all procedures say have to ID them first with Exchange Shell which we have no CAS to attach to so no Shell? QUESTION: Is this accurate or is there way to ID the two arbitration mailbox directly in ADSIEdit and just remove from there? Thanks in advance for assistance. -J-
July 25th, 2012 1:09pm

In ADSI, Default Naming Context, navigate to CN=Microsoft Exchange System Objects,DC=domain,DC=com. The system mailboxes should be there. The homeMDB attribute of each should show you what database they're in. That should help you figure out which ones to delete. I must warn you that this is dangerous and not supported. However, system mailboxes are pretty easily recreated in case you screw one up. You might want to have that procedure handy before starting!Ed Crowley MVP "There are seldom good technological solutions to behavioral problems."
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July 25th, 2012 3:33pm

QUESTION: Is this accurate or is there way to ID the two arbitration mailbox directly in ADSIEdit and just remove from there? Thanks in advance for assistance. -J- Exchange 2010 has three Arbitration Mailboxes and during the installtion they are created in the Users Container. You can delete them using ADUC and here is the names they have: SystemMailbox{1f05a927-c666-480f-aaa1-40a21f54d818} SystemMailbox{e0dc1c29-89c3-4034-b678-e6c29d823ed9} FederatedEmail.4c1f4d8b-8179-4148-93bf-00a95fa1e042} Before you try to install Exchange next time, you will need to run setup.com /preparead to have the Arbitration Mailboxes recreated.Martina Miskovic
July 25th, 2012 3:54pm

QUESTION: Is this accurate or is there way to ID the two arbitration mailbox directly in ADSIEdit and just remove from there? Thanks in advance for assistance. -J- Exchange 2010 has three Arbitration Mailboxes and during the installtion they are created in the Users Container. You can delete them using ADUC and here is the names they have: SystemMailbox{1f05a927-c666-480f-aaa1-40a21f54d818} SystemMailbox{e0dc1c29-89c3-4034-b678-e6c29d823ed9} FederatedEmail.4c1f4d8b-8179-4148-93bf-00a95fa1e042} Before you try to install Exchange next time, you will need to run setup.com /preparead to have the Arbitration Mailboxes recreated.Martina Miskovic
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July 25th, 2012 4:01pm

Removed the two mailboxes but still must have another in MDB somewhere as Setup claims there are still mailboxes. That might be the DiscoverySearchMailbox. Also found in the Users Container. Martina Miskovic
July 25th, 2012 5:45pm

Removed the two mailboxes but still must have another in MDB somewhere as Setup claims there are still mailboxes. Remember no CAS; so no EMC or Exchange Shell. How can we get these mailboxes and this failed installation off here? -J-
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July 25th, 2012 5:49pm

Removed the two mailboxes but still must have another in MDB somewhere as Setup claims there are still mailboxes. That might be the DiscoverySearchMailbox. Also found in the Users Container. Martina Miskovic
July 25th, 2012 5:52pm

OK; failed Exchange 2010 instance is no longer accessible. Recall using a manual method to successfully remove all Exchange 2007 objects manually and reinstalling can anyone direct to that document/procedure? The concern is we have a working production Exchange 2003 Server and cannot risk interfering with its functions. Recall we only had the failed installation to deal with before no existing running installations. We really need this out so we can clean-up domain and try again. Thx. -J-
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July 25th, 2012 6:34pm

Mailboxes can have a homeMDB attribute of a mailbox database and that will cause you the problems you are seeing. You can use LDP to search for them if you know the distinguishedName of that database.Ed Crowley MVP "There are seldom good technological solutions to behavioral problems."
July 26th, 2012 12:14am

Mailboxes can have a homeMDB attribute of a mailbox database and that will cause you the problems you are seeing. You can use LDP to search for them if you know the distinguishedName of that database.Ed Crowley MVP "There are seldom good technological solutions to behavioral problems."
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
July 26th, 2012 12:22am

Hi there, Removing and restalling canbe a long process and we might encounter many different problems during the process. For administrative purpose, it is recommended to post one question in one thread. If the original question of arbitration mailbox is answered, please feel free to create a new thread for the new problem of removing Exchange 2007. Your understanding would be appreciated. Note that: You cannot manually remove Exchange 2007 from a computer. The only supported ways to remove Exchange 2007 are to use Add or Remove Programs or to use the Setup program on the Exchange 2007 CD to remove Exchange 2007 and to remove the Exchange 2007 object from Active Directory. Just for your reference, you may refer to the Microsoft articles below: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb123893(EXCHG.80).aspx http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927464 http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/exchangesvrgeneral/thread/412e2904-839f-4960-970d-6ee281d1d50a/ Fiona Liao TechNet Community Support
July 26th, 2012 5:39am

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