The Exchange binary files are not installed but the backup registry key is present. Only build-to-build upgrade mode is available.

First, once you applied SP3, it will start check prerequite, then to remove exchange binarnies files, and to install Exchange 2007 SP3 binaries. If your installation failed with corrupt of installation file, say, Exchangeserver.msi file, etc, installation would fail with error and it cannot roll back to previous Exchange build you ran on the server. Once you try to re-apply Exchange 2007 SP3, or reboot your Exchange server and reapply SP3:

 

You Receive a Message That States That Only the Build-Build Upgrade Mode Is Available When You Install Exchange 2007 Service Pack 3

 

 

This topic provides information about how to troubleshoot an installation error that may occur when you try to install Microsoft Exchange Server 2007  Service Pack 3 (SP3).

 

When you run the Setup program to install Exchange Server 2007 SP3, you receive the following error message:

The Exchange binary files are not installed but the backup registry key is present. Only build-to-build upgrade mode is available.

 

Cause

 

This issue may occur if the Exchhelp.chm file is missing from the Exchange Server\Bin folder on the Exchange server.

Resolution

 

To resolve this issue, follow these steps:

1. Extract the Exchange 2007 SP3 files from the installation package. To do this, follow these steps:
   
   1. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
      
   2. Change to the directory that contains the E2K7SP1En64.exe file.
      
   3. Type e2k7sp3en64.exe /x, and then press ENTER.
      
   4. In the Choose Directory For Extracted Files dialog box, type the path where you want to extract the files, and then click OK. For example, type c:\exchange2007sp3files.
      
   5. When the Extraction Complete message appears, click OK.
      
2. Copy the appropriate language version of the Exchhelp.chm file from the location where you extracted the files to the Exchange Server\Bin directory on the Exchange server. For example, copy the C:\Exchange2007sp3\Setup\Serverroles\Common\mui\0409\Exchhelp.chm file to the %ProgramFiles%\Exchange Server\Bin directory.
   
3. Verify that the following services are set to an Automatic startup type and that the services are started:
   
   • IIS Admin Service (IISADMIN)
     
   • HTTP SSL (HTTPFilter)
     Note   This service is not present on a Windows Server 2008-based computer.
     
   • World Wide Web Publishing Service (W3SVC)
     
4. Verify that all the Exchange-related services are set to an Automatic startup type and that the services are started.
   
5. Start the Exchange 2007 SP3 installation from a command-line, and specify the upgrade option. To do this, follow these steps:
   
   1. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
      
   2. At the command prompt, move to the directory to which you extracted the Exchange 2007 SP3 installation files. For example, move to the C:\Exchange2007sp1files directory.
      
   3. Type setup.com /mode:upgrade, and then press ENTER. The Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unattended Setup program starts.

Note: The above procedures tested OK in LAB even if you remove all Exchange 2007 related services registry keys....

 

 

Send connector Intra-Organization SMTP Send Connector has failed to authenticate with your remote server IP:25. The response from the remote site is 454 4.7.0 Temporary authentication failure

In a Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 environment or in a Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 environment, some e-mail messages are stuck in a remote delivery queue that should have been transferred to another Exchange server in the Exchange organization. If you open the Queue Viewer tool from the Toolbox node on the Exchange Management Console, the Last Error field displays an error message that resembles the following:

 

Send connector Intra-Organization SMTP Send Connector has failed to authenticate with 172.18.102.95:25. The response from the remote site is 454 4.7.0 Temporary authentication failure

 

Event ID: 1035 is logged when some e-mail messages are stuck in a remote delivery queue in a Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 environment or in a Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 environment.

 

Cause: This issue occurs if the Exchange server cannot authenticate with the remote Exchange server. Exchange servers requires authentication to route internal user messages between servers. The issue can be caused by one of the following reasons:

• The Exchange server is experiencing Time synchronization issues
• The Exchange server is experiencing Service Principle Name (SPN) issues
• The required TCP/UDP ports for the Kerberos protocol are blocked by the firewall.

To resolve this issue, follow these steps:

1. Check the clock on both servers and domain controllers that might be used to authenticate the servers. All clocks should be synchronized to within 5 minutes of one other.
2. Verify that the Service Principle Name (SPN) for SMTPSVC is registered correctly on the target server.
   • Make sure that the SMTP and SMTPSVC entries are added correctly to the machine account by using the SetSPN tool. For example:
     SetSPN -L <ExchangeServerName>

     SMTP/<ExchangeServerName>
     SMTP/<ExchangeServerName>.example.com
     SMTPSVC/<ExchangeServerName>
     SMTPSVC/<ExchangeServerName>.example.com
   • Check for duplicate SPNs by using the SetSPN tool. There should only be one entry of each:
     SetSPN -x
     Processing entry 0
     found 0 group of duplicate SPNs.
3. Verify that the ports required for Kerberos are enabled.
4. If the previous steps do not work, you can turn on logging for Kerberos on the Server that is registering the Event 1035 message, which may provide additional information. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Click Start, click Run, type Regedit, and then click OK.
   2. Locate the following registry key:
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa\Kerberos\Parameters
   3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
   4. In the details pane, input the new value LogLevel, and then press Enter.
   5. Right-click LogLevel, and then click Modify.
   6. In the Edit DWORD Value dialog box, under Base, click Decimal.
   7. In the Value data box, type the value 1, and then click OK.
   8. Close Registry Editor.
   9. Again check the System Event log for any Kerberos errors.

Please note: Make all Exchange servers and all DCs. All clocks should be synchronized to within 5 minutes of one other.

 

ref:

 

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/979174

 

How to Reindex Outlook 2007 or later

If you search for items in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 or later and do not receive the results that you expect, the indexing of your Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office system data files (the search catalog) may not be complete.

 

Symptoms of an incomplete index include the following:

Partial or no search results are returned.
Items that you expect to appear based on your search criteria are not displayed.
You can rebuild the search catalog, which restarts the indexing of your data files. The search catalog is a file where all of your Outlook and Microsoft Windows items (data files) are indexed. To rebuild your search catalog, do the following:

1.Exit Outlook.
2.In Microsoft Windows, click the Start button, and then click Control Panel.
3.Do one of the following:

 

1) Windows 7 Click Index Option

2) Windows Vista     Click System Maintenance, and then click Indexing Options.
    Note   In Classic view, double-click Indexing Options.

3) Microsoft Windows XP     Under See Also, click Other Control Panel Options, and then click Indexing Options.
    Note   In Classic view, double-click Indexing Options.

4.Click Modify, select the check boxes for the locations you want to index (Outlook), and then click OK.
5.Click Advanced.
6.Click Rebuild.
7.Restart Outlook.
If rebuilding the search catalog does not correct your search problem and retrieve the expected search results, see Instant Search is not finding all the items I expect for additional information.

Cannot delete Default Exchange 2010 Mailbox Database

When an Exchange 2010 mailbox role is installed, a default mailbox database is created. In Exchange 2007, the default database is named "Mailbox Database" whereas in 2010, it comes with a random numbering at the end of the "Mailbox Database" name since you cannot have the same Mailbox Database in your Org with multiple server environments. This is to make the mailbox database name unique. Mine is named "Mailbox Database 0683456784".

 

As most of the admins, your first instinct is to remove the default database and create ones with your company's naming convention or the names of your choice. You created a new database named "MDB1" and tried deleting the default one, only to be greeted with the error below.

 

"This mailbox database contains one or more mailboxes or arbitration mailboxes. Before you can remove this mailbox database, you must disable, move or remove user mailboxes and move arbitration mailboxes"

 

Technet explains arbitration mailboxes as the mailboxes used for managing approval workflow. For example, an arbitration mailbox is used for handling moderated recipients and distribution group membership approval.

 

You moved your user mailboxes to another database and ran the following command to find the arbitration mailboxes.

 

Get-Mailbox –Database "Mailbox Database 0683456784" –arbitration

 

You moved the arbitration mailboxes as well to the second database with the command below.

Get-Mailbox –Database "Mailbox Database 0683456784" –arbitration | New-MoveRequest – TargetDatabase MDB1

You confirmed that the arbitration mailboxes were successfully moved using the

Get-MoveRequest cmdlet.

Once the mailbox move was completed, you could delete your default database!