The Information Store service remains in a starting state in Exchange 2000 Server (831600)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server

SYMPTOMS

When you try to start the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service, you receive the following message:Windows is attempting to start the following service on Local Computer...

Microsoft Exchange Information StoreHowever, the progress indicator does not move to the right side of the Service Control dialog box, and the service never starts.

Additionally, if you run the domain controller diagnostics tool (Dcdiag), and you direct it to the global catalog server by using the dcdiag /s:"fully-qualified domain name of the global catalog server" command, you receive the following output:

Starting test: Advertising
         Fatal Error:DsGetDcName (BRA1T14Y0) call failed, error 1722
         The Locator could not find the server.
         ......................... SERVERNAME failed test Advertising

Starting test: FsmoCheck
         Warning: DcGetDcName(GC_SERVER_REQUIRED) call failed, error 1722
         A Global Catalog Server could not be located - All GC's are down.

CAUSE

This issue may occur if there is no global catalog server available in your domain or in the root domain of your Microsoft Active Directory directory service forest. In this scenario, Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server may discover a global catalog server in another domain and try to use that global catalog server. If Exchange 2000 Server cannot resolve the host name of that global catalog server to an IP address, the Information Store service remains in the starting state and continues to try to contact the global catalog server.

This issue occurs because of a name resolution problem that causes Exchange 2000 Server to try to resolve the host name of the global catalog server by using its short (host) name instead of by using its fully-qualified domain name (FQDN).

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, configure the Domain Name System (DNS) suffix search list on your Exchange computer to include the domain names of all the domains where Exchange 2000 Server requires access to domain controllers. To do this, follow these steps:
  1. On the Exchange computer, right-click My Network Places, and then click Properties.
  2. Right-click the local area connection, and then click Properties.
  3. Double-click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then click Advanced.
  4. Click the DNS tab, and then click Append these DNS suffixes (in order).
  5. Click Add, type the domain suffix of a domain where Exchange 2000 Server requires access to a domain controller, and then click Add.

    For example, type corp.contoso.com.
  6. When you are finished adding DNS suffixes, click OK, click OK, and then click OK.

WORKAROUND

To work around this issue, configure WINS servers in your domain, or configure your network to permit broadcast message traffic to reach your domain controllers.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

259427 "SETUP /FORESTPREP" Does Not Work When Windows 2000 Sites Are Incorrectly Defined

275335 XADM: Exchange 2000 Server Name Requirements

For additional information about the Dcdiag tool, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

265706 DCDiag and NetDiag in Windows 2000 Facilitate Domain Join and DC Creation

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:12/10/2003
Keywords:kbprb KB831600 kbAudITPRO
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