XADM: Troubleshooting a Rapidly Growing Information Store (170361)
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Exchange Server 4.0
- Microsoft Exchange Server 5.0
- Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5
This article was previously published under Q170361 SYMPTOMS
This article describes the steps you can use to troubleshoot a rapidly
growing Exchange Server information store (the Priv.edb or Pub.edb files).
In certain cases, the information store can grow to from a few megabytes to
several gigabytes in a 24-hour period.
CAUSE
Usually, a looping Inbox Assistant or Public Folder causes this problem.
Assistant rules that cause a message to be continuously sent and received.
RESOLUTION
To avoid the problem, set mailbox size limits for all users on a server.
This prevents the information store from continuously growing.
Set the mailbox size limits in the Exchange Server Administrator program on the
Advanced tab of the mailbox properties.
MORE INFORMATION
Use the Exchange Server Administrator program to determine which mailbox
or public folder is causing the problem. To do this, view the
mailbox resources in the properties of the private information store or the
public folder resources in the properties of the public information store.
Look for mailboxes or public folders that have an unusually large number of
items or are using an unusually large amount of disk space.
After you determine which mailbox or public folder is causing the problem,
log on to the Microsoft Exchange Client and disable any rules that reply or
forward messages. Also delete items from the mailbox or public folder.
Deleting messages in the mailbox or public folder does not automatically
reduce the size of the Priv.edb or Pub.edb files. To recover the disk
space, you must compact the Priv.edb or Pub.edb files; use the Edbutil.exe utility
with the /d switch. Note that the Edbutil utility requires disk space in an
amount equal to twice the size of the database that you want to process. Before you proceed, confirm that you have enough disk space available.
To compact the database files, perform the following steps:
- Stop the information store. Use these steps:
- In Control Panel, double-click Services.
- In the Service list, click the service that you want to stop.
- Click Stop.
- Repeat steps b. and c. as necessary to stop other services.
- Click Close, and then close Control Panel.
- At an MS-DOS prompt, change to the Exchsrvr\Bin directory.
- Type the following command to compact the Priv.edb file:
Type the following command to compact the Pub.edb file:NOTE: For Microsoft Exchange Server, version 5.5, use the following commands:
eseutil /d /ispriv eseutil /d /ispub NOTE: In Exchange Server version 5.5 Service Pack 3 a rule can start regardless of the mailbox or public folder quota limits. This was first changed to correct the situation in which meeting requests are not delivered if the recipient mailbox is full. For additional information about that situation, click the article number below
to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
217139 XADM: Meeting Requests Are Not Delivered if Recipient's Mailbox Has Exceeded the Storage Limit and Has a Delegate Defined
However, you can create the following registry key to troubleshoot a rapidly growing information store on an Exchange Server 5.5 Service Pack 3 computer:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\ParametersPrivate Value Name: Apply Mailbox Quota to Rules Data Type: Reg_DWORD
If this value is not 0, messages sent by rules still have the mailbox quota checked. If the value is not present or is 0 (the default in Service Pack 3), messages sent by rules ignore the mailbox quota for sending messages. IMPORTANT: If you set mailbox quotas to rules, there may be side effects. For example, if you set a forward and delete rule, it may result in data loss, and if you set meeting requests to go only to the delegate, neither may receive the request if the mailbox is over the limit.
Modification Type: | Minor | Last Reviewed: | 4/28/2005 |
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Keywords: | kbprb KB170361 |
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