Applies to: Exchange Server 2007 SP3, Exchange Server 2007 SP2, Exchange Server 2007 SP1, Exchange Server 2007
Topic Last Modified: 2008-01-08

This topic explains how to use the command-line version of the Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service tool (VSSAdmin.exe) and the Exchange Server Database Utilities (Eseutil.exe) to perform a physical consistency check against a passive copy of a storage group in a cluster continuous replication (CCR) environment.

Before You Begin

Before you run a physical consistency check of a database, you must temporarily suspend all transaction log replay for the storage group that contains the database to be verified. For detailed steps about how to suspend and resume transaction log replay using the Exchange Management Shell, see:

To perform the following procedure, the account you use must be delegated the Exchange Server Administrator role and local Administrators group for the target server. For more information about permissions, delegating roles, and the rights that are required to administer Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, see Permission Considerations.

Procedure

To verify the database and transaction log files for a passive storage group in a CCR environment

  1. Suspend all transaction log replay activity for the storage group volume containing the database to be verified. To do this:

    1. Open the Exchange Management Shell.

    2. Run the following command to suspend replication:

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      Suspend-StorageGroupCopy -Identity <Server\StorageGroup> -SuspendComment <Comment>

  2. Open a Command Prompt window, and navigate to the %Windows%\System32 folder. Run the following command to create a shadow copy of the volume containing the databases to be verified:

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    Vssadmin create shadow /for=<Volume>
    Note:
    The <Volume> parameter must be a local drive letter or a drive letter representing a volume mount point.

  3. Resume transaction log and replay activity for all databases on the volume. To do this:

    1. Open the Exchange Management Shell.

    2. Run the following command to resume replication:

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      Resume-StorageGroupCopy -Identity <Server\StorageGroup>

  4. In the Command Prompt window, change to the directory that contains Eseutil.exe. By default, Eseutil.exe is located in %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft\Exchange Server\bin.

  5. To verify the physical integrity of the database, use the following command:

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    Eseutil /k /p20 <Path for VSS Shadow Copy of database>

  6. Depending upon the results that Eseutil returns, do either of the following:

  7. Delete the shadow copy using the following command:

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    Vssadmin delete shadows /For=<Volume>
Note:
If a failover occurs during this process, this database will not mount upon failover because the file will be in use.
Note:
Minimize the amount of time that a copy is suspended. The longer a copy is suspended, the more logs must be replayed after the failover.

For More Information

For more information about viewing CCR environment information, see How to View the Status of a Storage Group in a CCR Environment.

For more information about suspending a storage group copy, see Suspend-StorageGroupCopy.

For more information about reactivating a storage group copy, see Resume-StorageGroupCopy.