XADM: How to Remove Orphaned Public Folders
ID: Q152433
|
The information in this article applies to:
-
Microsoft Exchange Server, versions 4.0, 5.0, 5.5
SYMPTOMS
After you stop replication between two or more sites, folders are still
shown in the Public Folder Hierarchy but they are not accessible from
Microsoft Exchange clients or the Microsoft Exchange Administrator program.
For Exchange Server 4.0, from the Microsoft Exchange Administrator program, the following message
will be encountered:
The object cannot be found in the directory. This may be because
replication has not completed.
Microsoft Exchange Directory. c1010aae."
From a Microsoft Exchange client, the error message will be:
The folder could not be opened. The contents of this public folder
are currently unavailable. Either the MS Exchange server computer
servicing this public folder is down or the public folder has not
been replicated to this site.
In Exchange Server 5.5, you receive the following error message:
The object in the information store could not be found.
Microsoft Exchange Information Store
ID no: c1040af2
RESOLUTION
To remove these orphaned folders, follow these steps:
Warning: The orphaned folders should not be deleted if site replication is
ever going to be re-established. This is because once a folder is removed
from a site, and replications is re-established, the remove action will be
backfiled to the server were the folder belonged to originally. This means
that if a folder that used to belong to site A is removed while on site B,
and sites A and B are rejoined through replication, the folder will
eventually be also deleted on site A.
- Start the Microsoft Exchange Administrator program and go to the Server
container.
- Double-click on the Public Information Store.
- Look for the Public Folders on the left hand side of the Instances
Property page and add them to Folders on This Information Store on the
right hand side of the Instances Property page. This has to be done for
every orphaned folder.
NOTE: If the folders do not appear on the right hand side, you must
follow these steps:
WARNING: If you ever plan to re-join the sites, do NOT go through this
procedure.
- Go back to the server object and display the properties.
- From the Advanced tab, go to the DS/IS consistency adjustment.
- Choose to adjust all inconsistencies and click on Adjust.
- Go to the Organization's Public Folder tree on left hand side of the
window.
- Double-click on the folder in question.
- Click the Client Permissions button on the General tab and give Owner
rights to an administrator account.
- Start a Microsoft Exchange client, log on as the administrator above,
and remove the orphaned folders.
The Offline Address Book and Schedule+ Free Busy folders from other
replicated sites cannot be removed from the hierarchy using this procedure.
These folders should disappear from the System Folder hierarchy a week
after replication has been broken. The Information Store will mark the
folders for deletion the first time it is restarted after replication has
been broken between the sites. The next time that the Information Store is
restarted, after the 7 day waiting period, the orphan folders will be
removed from the hierarchy. This is done to avoid recreating the system
folder hierarchy if the sites are re-connected within a week. These folders
are completely harmless because they are not visible from the clients and
have no effect on any other store task.
MORE INFORMATION
If you plan on setting replication back up again, DO NOT take ownership of
the public folders and delete them in the manner described in this article,
as this will cause the public folders in the original site to be deleted
once the replication connector is re-established.
Only take ownership of these orphaned public folders if you NEVER want to
setup replication again with the site that actually contains the public
folders.
Additional query words:
80004005-0507-00000469
Keywords : kbusage XADM exc4 exc5 exc55
Version : winnt:4.0,5.0,5.5
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbprb