Event ID 3079 appears in the application log and public folder replication stops working in Exchange Server 5.5 (826767)



The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5

SYMPTOMS

Public folders from your Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 computer no longer replicate to other public folder servers. In this scenario, the following event appears in the application log in Event Viewer: Event Type: Error
Event Source: MSExchangeIS Public
Event Category: Replication Errors
Event ID: 3079
Date: date
Time: time
User: N/A
Computer: computername
Description: Unexpected replication thread error 0x46c.

EcSeek(FID / REPLID)
EcReplSendFolders
EcReplSendMessagesSelectedTimes()
FReplAgent

CAUSE

This problem occurs if Exchange 5.5 cannot locate a record in the root directory of the public folder tree to start public folder replication.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, remove the public folder store on the affected Exchange 5.5 computer, and then backfill it from another public folder replica.

Important Back up your Exchange 5.5 computer before you follow these steps. Additionally, if the affected Exchange 5.5 computer is the first Exchange 5.5 computer in your site, you must take steps to make sure that your Exchange system folders are not removed. To do this, create replicas of the following system folders on another Exchange 5.5 computer:
  • Offline Address Book
  • OAB Version 2 (if applicable)
  • Schedule+ Free Busy Information
  • Organizational Forms
For additional information about how to do this, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

152959 How to remove the first Exchange server in a site

To remove the public folder store on the affected Exchange 5.5 computer and then backfill it from another public folder replica, follow these steps:
  1. On the Exchange 5.5 computer where you experience this problem, copy the public folder information to a personal folder file (.pst), or back up the Exchange 5.5 public folder store by using a backup program.

    Note Earlier Versions of Microsoft Outlook support a .pst file size of up to 2 gigabytes (GB). However, Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 supports a .pst file size of 20 GB. By default, Outlook 2003 stores .pst files in Unicode format. While there is no theoretical size limit for a Unicode .pst file, Microsoft has tested .pst files up to 20 GB. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

    830336 The .pst file has a different format and folder size limit in Outlook 2003

  2. Stop the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service.
  3. Remove the public folder store (pub.edb) file, and then start the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service.

    Note When you start the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service, a new blank public folder store file is created.
  4. Permit the public folder information to be replicated from the other public folder servers in your organization.

    Note This process is also known as "backfilling."
  5. Restore the public folder store that you backed up from the affected Exchange 5.5 computer to a recovery server.
  6. Run the Microsoft Exchange Public Folder Information program (PFInfo.exe) to extract a public folder listing to determine if there is unique data that was only available on the affected Exchange 5.5 computer. PFInfo.exe is included with the Microsoft Small Business Server 4.5 Resource Kit and with the Microsoft BackOffice 4.5 Resource Kit. Additionally, you can obtain this program from Microsoft Product Support Services (PSS). For additional information about how to contact PSS, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
  7. Copy the information from the unique public folders on the recovery server to one or more .pst files.
  8. Import the unique public folder information from the .pst file or files to the public folder store on your Exchange 5.5 computer.

    Note When you copy or export the public folder information to .pst files, the access control list (ACL) information for those public folders is lost. In this scenario, the mailbox account that you use to create the .pst file becomes the owner of all the objects in the public folder(s). To resolve this issue, use PFInfo.exe to export the public folder permissions to a file, and then run the PFAdmin program together with the SETACL option to restore those permissions on the imported public folders.
Note If your affected Exchange 5.5 computer does not contain unique or important public folder information, you do not have to copy the public folder information to a .pst file. The public folder data will be restored from the other public folder servers by the backfill operation.

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:6/8/2004
Keywords:kbnofix kbBug KB826767 kbAudITPRO