XADM: DS_E_ATTRIBUTE_OR_VALUE_EXISTS Error Appears When Joining a Site (258923)

SYMPTOMS

When you add a new Exchange server to an existing site, you may be unable to add the Exchange Server computer to the site and you receive the following error message:

An internal processing error has occurred:
The attribute or value exists. Try restarting the Administrator program or the Microsoft Exchange Server computer, or both.

Microsoft Exchange Directory ID no: DS_E_ATTRIBUTE_OR_VALUE_EXISTS

The error can also occur when you use the Move Server Wizard to move an Exchange server into an existing Exchange site.

CAUSE

This issue can occur if you have disabled the generation of proxy addresses for address types.

In Microsoft Exchange Server version 5.0, you can disable the generation of e-mail addresses for a particular site.

You can receive the error message in the "Symptoms" section of this article when you add an Exchange Server computer to a site in which e-mail addressing for a third-party connector or gateway such as RightFax that has been disabled, but you can also receive the error message if any e-mail address type in site addressing has been disabled.

RESOLUTION

WARNING: If you use the raw mode of the Exchange Server Administrator program (admin /r) incorrectly, serious problems may occur that may require you to reinstall Microsoft Windows NT Server, Microsoft Exchange Server, or both. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems that result from using raw mode incorrectly can be solved. Use raw mode at your own risk.

Start the Exchange Server Administrator program in raw mode by typing the following at a command prompt:
c:\exchsrvr\bin\admin /r
In the Configuration container, click the Site Addressing object, and then click Raw Properties on the File menu.
In the Object Attributes box, click Disabled-Gateway-Proxy.
Remove any attribute values that may exist by clicking the attribute in the Attribute values box, and then clicking Remove.
Click OK, and then quit the Administrator program.
You should now be able to join the Exchange server to the existing site or run the Move Server Wizard to move the server to the existing site.

MORE INFORMATION

You can disable generation of an e-mail address type by using the Administrator program:

Navigate to the particular Site object.
Click the Configuration object.
Open the properties of the Site Addressing object.
Select the Site Addressing tab.
Select the E-mail Address type.
Click Remove to disable e-mail generation of the address type for the site.