Fix Corrupted Content Index Catalog of a Mailbox Database with Single Copy of the Database
How to fix Corrupted Content Index Catalog of a Mailbox Database with Single Copy of the Database.
We are all quiet familiar with fixing the corrupted content Index cataog of a mailbox with multiple copies of the database by simply running the following command:
Update-MailboxDatabaseCopy –identity DBnameServerName –CatalogOnly
This one is with the switch “source
server“, in which we can specify a source server to copy from:
Update-MailboxDatabaseCopy –identity DBnameServerName –CatalogOnly –SourceServer servername
So how do we fix it when we just have a single copy of database?
If the content index catalog is corrupted we will see event ID: 123 in the Application log with the description about the same. Let’s see the procedure of fixing the corrupt content index catalog in both Exchange versions. Before following the below procedure make sure you have required Admin rights to perform all the tasks.
In Exchange 2010:
=> Open Exchange Management Shell & run Stop-Service MSExchangeSearch or we can simply stop the MSExchangeSearch Service from the services console.
=> Next we have to browse to the folder where the database files are located.
=> In this location along with the database files we will see a folder with a name “CatalogData-ramdom string”. We have to delete this folder as this stores the corrupt index.
=> Once we delete the folder we can run “Start-Service MSExchangeSearch” in the Exchange Management Shell or simply restart the MsExchangeSearch Service from the services console.
=> We have to wait for a couple of minutes for the new folder (CatalogData-ramdom string) to be recreated.
In Exchange 2013:
=> Open Exchange Management Shell & run Stop-Service MSExchangeFastSearch and Stop-Service HostControllerService or we can simply Stop the MicrosoftExchange
FastSearch and Microsoft Exchange Search Host Controller service from the services console.
=> Next we have to browse to the folder where the database files are located (C:Program FilesMicrosoftExchange ServerV15MailboxMailbox Database)
=> In this location we will see a folder with Guid value, ((C:Program FilesMicrosoftExchange ServerV15MailboxMailbox Database 0657645932_CatalogA1256A72-1F5A-494A-839A-B1F911Q279FB12.1.Single) this also has three sub-folders in it. We have to delete the main folder & the sub-folders.
=> Once we delete the folder we can run “Start-Service MSExchangeFastSearch” & “Start-Service HostControllerService” in the Exchange Management Shell or simply restart the MSExchangeFastSearch Service & HostControllerService.
=> We have to wait for a couple of minutes for the new folder that we deleted to be recreated.
So how do we know it worked?
We have to run the following command in the Exchange Management Shell:
Get-MailboxDatabaseCopyStatus | FL Name,*Index*
Look for the value of property “ContentIndexState“, if the value is “crawling” it means the reseeding process is going on & if the value is “healthy” it means the reseeding process is completed.
Ratish Nair
Microsoft MVP | Exchange Server
Team @MSExchangeGuru
