XFOR: DXA Reports 249 Error with Error -1201

• Microsoft Exchange Server, version 5.0

SYMPTOMS

After you upgrade a Microsoft Exchange Server version 4.0 that was running the Microsoft Exchange Directory Synchronization (DXA) service to Microsoft Exchange Server version 5.0, or you upgrade Windows NT or install a Windows NT Service Pack, the following error may appear in the Windows NT Event Viewer Application Event Log.

   EventID: 249
   Source: MSExchangeDX
   Type: Error
   Category: Startup
   Description:
   Error -1201 occurred while trying to create a new database.

CAUSE

On systems that have recently been upgraded (either Microsoft Exchange or the operating system), the database indexes must be rebuilt to assure proper sort order. This is due to subtle changes in the Windows NT 4.0 Unicode sort order. The DXA does not rebuild Xdir.edb automatically and this causes the above error.

WORKAROUND

The underlying database in the \DXADATA subdirectory is a standard Jet database. This database needs to be defragged after upgrading to Microsoft Exchange version 5.0 from Microsoft Exchange version 4.0. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Stop the Microsoft Exchange Directory Synchronization service (DXA).

2. Run 'EDBUTIL /d XDIR.EDB' against the XDIR.EDB located in the \DXADATA directory.

   NOTE: In cases where the XDIR.EDB has grown to contain a great deal of data, step 2 above may fail with the following error:

         Encountered duplicate key in MapTable table.
         Operation terminated with error -1605.
   

   If this is incountered, the database must be repaired as well using:

         EDBUTIL /d /r XDIR.EDB
   

3. Start the Microsoft Exchange Directory Synchronization service (DXA).

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Exchange Server version 5.0. This problem has been corrected in the latest U.S. Service Pack for Microsoft Exchange Server version 5.0. For information on obtaining the service pack, query on the following word in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (without the spaces):

   S E R V P A C K

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q153658
   TITLE     : XFOR: DXA Crashing with Event ID 268