XADM: What to Do If the Service Account Is Deleted
ID: Q163686
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The information in this article applies to:
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Microsoft Exchange Server, versions 4.0, 5.0, 5.5
SUMMARY
The Exchange Server services require a Windows NT domain account to
start. This account is called the Exchange Server service account. This
article explains what to do if the service account is deleted by mistake.
MORE INFORMATION
The service account is given permissions for the Exchange Server directory
during the setup process. The service account, by default, has permissions
for all of the objects in the directory. Windows NT accounts in the directory are
referred to by their Windows NT Security Identifier (SID) values, and not by their names.
If the service account is deleted from the Windows NT Accounts database,
none of the Exchange Server services can start. Even if you recreate this
service account using the identical name and password, the SID
value associated with this account is not the same as that of the
previous account. Thus, when an Exchange Server service tries to start
using this new account, the service cannot start because the SID value of this new account is
different from that saved in the directory, and so the account does not have access
to the directory objects.
The only recommended solution to this problem is to restore the Windows NT
Security Accounts Manager (SAM) database from a recent backup. This restores the deleted
service account with its original SID value and all of the Exchange Server
services can start.
If a backup of the SAM database is not available, the only other alternative is to
reinstall Exchange Server on all of the servers affected by the loss of
the service account.
You can save information from the Exchange Server
information store (the Priv.edb and Pub.edb databases), but you need to
recreate the directory, which results in the loss of all directory specific information
(custom recipients, distribution lists, mailbox details, connectors, and so
on).
Additional query words:
Keywords : XADM exc4 exc5 exc55
Version : winnt:4.0,5.0,5.5
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbhowto kbinfo