Applies to: Exchange Server 2013
Topic Last Modified: 2012-11-01
Activating a mailbox database copy is the process of designating a specific passive copy as the new active copy of a mailbox database. This process is referred to as a database switchover. A database switchover involves dismounting the current active database and mounting the database copy on the specified server as the new active mailbox database copy. The database copy that will become the active mailbox database must be healthy and current.
Looking for other management tasks related to mailbox database copies? Check out Managing Mailbox Database Copies.
What do you need to know before you begin?
- Estimated time to complete this task: 1 minute
- You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this
procedure or procedures. To see what permissions you need, see the
"Mailbox database copies" entry in the High Availability and
Site Resilience Permissions topic.
- For information about keyboard shortcuts that may apply to the
procedures in this topic, see Keyboard Shortcuts in
the Exchange Admin Center.
 Tip: |
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| Having problems? Ask for help in the Exchange forums. Visit the forums at: Exchange Server, Exchange Online, or Exchange Online Protection. |
What do you want to do?
Use the EAC to move the active mailbox database
- In the EAC, go to Servers > Databases.
- Select the database whose copy you want to activate.
- In the Details pane, under Database Copies, click
Activate under the database copy you want to activate.
- Click yes to activate the database copy.
Use the Shell to move the active mailbox database
This example activates and mounts a copy of the database DB4 hosted on MBX3 as the new active mailbox database. This command makes DB4 the new active mailbox database, and it doesn't override the database mount dial settings on MBX3.
 Copy Code |
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Move-ActiveMailboxDatabase DB4 -ActivateOnServer MBX3 -MountDialOverride:None |
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This example performs a switchover of the database DB2
to the Mailbox server MBX1. When the command completes, MBX1 hosts
the active copy of DB2. Because the MountDialOverride
parameter is set to None, MBX1 mounts the database
using its own defined database auto mount dial settings.
| Copy Code |
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Move-ActiveMailboxDatabase DB2 -ActivateOnServer MBX1 -MountDialOverride:None |
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This example performs a switchover of the database DB1
to the Mailbox server MBX3. When the command completes, MBX3 hosts
the active copy of DB1. Because the MountDialOverride
parameter is specified with a value of Good
Availability, MBX3 mounts the database using a database auto
mount dial setting of GoodAvailability.
| Copy Code |
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Move-ActiveMailboxDatabase DB1 -ActivateOnServer MBX3 -MountDialOverride:GoodAvailability |
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This example performs a switchover of the database DB3 to the Mailbox server MBX4. When the command completes, MBX4 hosts the active copy of DB3. Because the MountDialOverride parameter isn't specified, MBX4 mounts the database using a database auto mount dial setting of Lossless.
| Copy Code |
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Move-ActiveMailboxDatabase DB3 -ActivateOnServer MBX4 |
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This example performs a server switchover for the Mailbox server MBX1. All active mailbox database copies on MBX1 will be activated on one or more other Mailbox servers with healthy copies of the active databases on MBX1.
| Copy Code |
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Move-ActiveMailboxDatabase -Server MBX1 |
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This example performs a switchover of the database DB4 to the Mailbox server MBX5. In this example, the database copy on MBX5 has a replay queue greater than 6. As a result, the SkipLagChecks parameter must be specified to activate the database copy on MBX5.
| Copy Code |
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Move-ActiveMailboxDatabase DB4 MBX5 -SkipLagChecks |
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This example performs a switchover of the database DB5 to the Mailbox server MBX6. In this example, the database copy on MBX6 has a ContentIndexState of Failed. As a result, the SkipClientExperienceChecks parameter must be specified to activate the database copy on MBX6.
| Copy Code |
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Move-ActiveMailboxDatabase DB5 MBX6 -SkipClientExperienceChecks |
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How do you know this worked?
To verify that you've successfully activated a mailbox database copy, do one of the following:
- In the EAC, navigate to Servers > Databases.
Select the appropriate database, and in the Details pane, click
View details to view the database copy properties.
- In the Shell, run the following command to display status
information for a database copy.
Copy CodeGet-MailboxDatabaseCopyStatus <DatabaseCopyName> | Format-List