Categories: Exchange

The Microsoft Exchange Replication service does not appear to be running on Exchange Server

When trying to move a mailbox database from one Exchange 2010 DAG server to another there’s an error displayed: The Microsoft Exchange Replication service does not appear to be running on “PassiveMailboxServer”. Make sure that the server is operating, and that the services can be queried remotely.

Problem Description

The error itself seems to be very descriptive but there are actually lots of reasons it can be happening. In our case the Microsoft Exchange Replication server was up and running. It was even reporting Healthy status. Still the error was there during every move.

Error Message
The Microsoft Exchange Replication service does not appear to be running on “MBX2”. Make sure that the server is operating, and that the services can be queried remotely.

Exchange Management Shell command attempted: Move-ActiveMailboxDatabase -Identity ‘MDB01’ -ActivateOnServer ‘MBX2’ -MountDialOverride ‘None’

Solution

Add missing groups to Administrators on all Exchange servers:

Organization Management

Exchange Trusted Subsystem

In our case it was clearly broken because SID's were not resolving correctly.

Those 2 groups are crucial for Exchange 2007, Exchange 2010 and Exchange 2013 to work properly regardless of the problem. Make sure that Exchange Trusted Subsystem group holds all your Exchange Servers and Organization Management group holds your Administrative account.

This post was last modified on %s = human-readable time difference 23:44

Przemyslaw Klys

System Architect with over 14 years of experience in the IT field. Skilled, among others, in Active Directory, Microsoft Exchange and Office 365. Profoundly interested in PowerShell. Software geek.

Share
Published by
Przemyslaw Klys

Recent Posts

Upgrade Azure Active Directory Connect fails with unexpected error

Today, I made the decision to upgrade my test environment and update the version of…

1 month ago

Mastering Active Directory Hygiene: Automating Stale Computer Cleanup with CleanupMonster

Have you ever looked at your Active Directory and wondered, "Why do I still have…

2 months ago

Active Directory Replication Summary to your Email or Microsoft Teams

Active Directory replication is a critical process that ensures the consistent and up-to-date state of…

7 months ago

Syncing Global Address List (GAL) to personal contacts and between Office 365 tenants with PowerShell

Hey there! Today, I wanted to introduce you to one of the small but excellent…

11 months ago

Active Directory Health Check using Microsoft Entra Connect Health Service

Active Directory (AD) is crucial in managing identities and resources within an organization. Ensuring its…

1 year ago

Seamless HTML Report Creation: Harness the Power of Markdown with PSWriteHTML PowerShell Module

In today's digital age, the ability to create compelling and informative HTML reports and documents…

1 year ago