'Exchange is in recovery mode' domain issue

'Exchange is in recovery mode' domain issue

This tip originally appeared on SearchExchange.com, a sister site of SearchSMB.com.

When Outlook 2003 cannot connect to an Exchange server, it brings up the somewhat ambiguous error message, "Exchange is in recovery mode," which can

    Requires Free Membership to View

    Login

    When you register you’ll also receive the latest news, advice and technical tips designed specifically for midmarket IT leaders like yourself. Our award-winning editorial team will give you immediate access to emerging business and technology trends.

    Scot Petersen, Editorial Director, SearchCIO-Midmarket

    By submitting your registration information to SearchCIO-MidMarket.com you agree to receive email communications from TechTarget and TechTarget partners. We encourage you to read our Privacy Policy which contains important disclosures about how we collect and use your registration and other information. If you reside outside of the United States, by submitting this registration information you consent to having your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States. Your use of SearchCIO-MidMarket.com is governed by our Terms of Use. You may contact us at webmaster@TechTarget.com.

be a bit misleading.

I've written before about some of the possible reasons for this -- one being a failure of internal DNS, the other being old .OST information on the client. But there are other possible reasons for the "recovery mode" error.

The DNS issue implies that the error can come about as a result of a simple failure of connectivity, either on the part of the server or the client. Sometimes this can take a subtler form, however -- not a complete failure of network connectivity, but rather a failure to have the client rejoined to the proper domain.

This sort of thing happens if an Exchange server is hosted on the same machine as the primary domain controller, and the whole thing has to be rebuilt from the ground up by reinstalling the operating system and Exchange.

This is, in effect, an entirely new domain controller with a new GUID, a new Active Directory store, and so on. Even if all of the old naming conventions (the domain name, server's name, client machine names) are the same, the GUIDs used to represent those things in AD are not the same, and so the users will need to be rejoined to the reconstructed domain before they can work correctly.

Strictly speaking, this is more of an AD problem than an Exchange problem, but so much of Exchange's functionality is tied into how AD works that the two are essentially inextricable. This is also yet another argument for making timely and consistent "bare metal" backups, come to think of it -- you have fewer consistency issues to worry about than if you rebuild a server by reinstalling everything by hand.

About the author: Serdar Yegulalp is editor of the Windows Power Users Newsletter and a regular contributor to SearchExchange.com.

Related information from SearchExchange.com:

  • Tip: How to recover from 'recovery mode' error in Exchange 2003
  • Ask the Expert: Exchange in recovery mode
  • Topics Library: Exchange backup and recovery

    Do you have comments on this tip? Let us know.


    This was first published in May 2005

    • Disclaimer: Our Tips Exchange is a forum for you to share technical advice and expertise with your peers and to learn from other enterprise IT professionals. TechTarget provides the infrastructure to facilitate this sharing of information. However, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or validity of the material submitted. You agree that your use of the Ask The Expert services and your reliance on any questions, answers, information or other materials received through this Web site is at your own risk.

    Back to top