How to Use Eseutil Command on Exchange 2016, 2013, 2010 Database
If you are a long-time user of Exchange Server and use it as your primary email client, then you might have come across one of the common issues in Exchange i.e. Exchange Database Dirty Shutdown or Failed to mount database in Exchange. In such cases, most administrators run eseutil command in Exchange to resolve all such issues.
These issues usually occur when the Exchange database is not in a “Clean Shutdown” state. This can be due to database corruption or inconsistency in transactions of transaction log files.
For such issues, there is an inbuilt utility provided by Microsoft that helps users defrag Exchange mailbox database, helps perform an integrity check of the database, perform a soft recovery on the Exchange database, etc. Thus, in this article, we will discuss a step-by-step guide to run the eseutil /r command in Exchange 2010, 2013, and 2016.
How to Use Eseutil on Exchange 2016, 2013 or 2010
Users can locate the Eseutil or Extensible Storage Engine Utilities in the \EXCHSRVR\BIN directory of the Exchange Server. But before that, just make sure that you have kept a backup copy of your Exchange database on which you are planning to perform soft recovery.
In the first step, you have to check the health of the Exchange database by running eseutil /mh command.
Output:
If it shows a Dirty state, then perform a health check on the transaction logs to see whether they are in a healthy state or not.
When the log files are in a healthy state, then you can run eseutil /r command to replay the transactional log files to bring the database into a consistent state.
Guide to Use Eseutil /r for Soft Recovery
The syntax to run eseutil /r is:
ESEUTIL /r <log_prefix> /l <folder_path_containing_log_files> /d <folder_path_containing_database>
Command:
After the successful completion of soft recovery in Exchange, now again run a health check on your Exchange database. If the database is back in a consistent or Clean state, then you can mount the database in Exchange.
There are chances that you have used eseutil command on Exchange 2016, 2013, or 2010 database, and still, the database is not in a Clean Shutdown state. Now, the second option that you can choose is either go with eseutil hard recovery or a professional solution recommended by experts.
Although the hard recovery is free to use, it will purge all the data items that are irrecoverable. Thus, most of the administrators don’t prefer going with this solution.
In most cases, when administrators / users are unable to get their database back to the consistent state or clean shutdown state, they prefer going with the expert-recommended Exchange Server Recovery Tool. It is a special solution that is designed specifically to repair corrupted EDB files, irrespective of the corruption levels (major or minor).
Additionally, the software also ensures recovery without deleting a single bit of data. Not just that, you will also be able to recover deleted data items from the database in just a matter of a few clicks. Once the recovery process is completed, the software will enable you to import an EDB file into Exchange without any hassle.
Final Words
Many Exchange users might have faced issues with the Exchange database when it goes to an inconsistent state. In those cases, many users have queries like how to run eseutil command on Exchange 2016, 2013, and 2010 databases. It is only recommended to use eseutil /r command as it helps in soft recovery and doesn’t cause any data loss. For major corruption levels, it is always recommended to go with the professional solution discussed in the above section.
