How to Resolve Microsoft Exchange DAG Management Service cannot be Started Issue?

After deploying a Database Availability Group (DAG) cluster in Exchange and successfully replicating the databases with all the members in the cluster, you may face a situation where the Microsoft Exchange DAG Management service cannot be started in one of the servers. When you try to start the service, you get an error with the message, saying Error 1067: The process terminated unexpectedly. If the service is not starting, it indicates that there are replication or other operational issues with the infrastructure of the Exchange Server. Below, we will see how to resolve this issue.

Ways to Troubleshoot Microsoft Exchange DAG Management Service cannot be Started Issue

Troubleshooting the issue is a little bit tricky as there could be various things that can affect the server or the service. Below, we will discuss some possible solutions to resolve the issue.

1. Restart the Server

The first thing you need to do is restart the server if it is not the primary active server. If the server is the primary active server, then it is suggested to first failover the services to another server and then put Exchange server in maintenance mode. Then, see if the problem persists.

2. Check the Event Viewer and Updates

You can check the Event Viewer and even trace the change management requests and updates on the server. This will help you find out when the service was stopped and if any configuration or third-party application has affected the service.

If the problem persists, check if there are any pending updates. You can also install the latest Cumulative Update (CU) as it would possibly fix some of the issues.

3. Check if the Server is in Maintenance Mode

You need to put the Exchange Server in Maintenance Mode when installing updates or doing maintenance work. In Maintenance Mode, Exchange Services go into the freeze state. You can check if the server is in maintenance mode. For this, you can use the below command:

Get-ServerComponentState -Identity SRV01

If the ServerWideOffline component state is Inactive, this means that the server is in maintenance mode.

4. Run the Exchange HealthChecker Script

You can also run the Exchange HealthChecker script. This will help in identifying the issues which might be affecting the Microsoft Exchange DAG Management service. You can download the HealthChecker script from Microsoft site. After downloading the script, use the below command to run the script.

.\HealthChecker.ps1 -BuildHtmlServersReport

This will give the result in HTML file.

This will give in-depth information about the Exchange Server state, which could help in identifying the source of the problem.

5. Reinstate the Server in the DAG

You can also try to remove the server from the Database Availability Group (DAG) and then reinstate it. For this, first you need to remove all the database copies from the server. To do so,

• Open the Exchange Admin Center (EAC).
• Click on Servers and then click on the Databases tab.
• Select the databases that have a copy on the server and then click on Remove.

To remove the server from the Database Availability Group,

• In the Exchange Admin Center (EAC), click on Servers and then click on the Database Availability Groups tab.
• Click on the Manage DAG Membership. Find the server you want to remove and then click on the Remove button.

Now, you can add a new member to the group and see if the problem persists.

6. Rebuild the Server

If the problem persists, then you can try to rebuild the server. You can create a new server/virtual machine with the same computer name, operating system, Exchange Server version, drive configuration, and IP address. Since all the configuration is saved in the Active Directory Schema, it will all be recovered. You can run the installation of the Exchange Server by using the below command.

Setup.exe /Mode:RecoverServer

Note: You need to recreate the certificates and custom send/receive connectors.

To Conclude

There are several possible reasons for the Microsoft Exchange DAG Management service cannot be started issue. Above, we have discussed the solutions to resolve this issue. In case the databases get damaged during troubleshooting or due to any other cause, then you can recover the databases from backup. However, you may suffer data loss if the backup is not fully updated. To prevent data loss and to recover all the data with minimal impact, you can take the help of a professional Exchange repair tool, such as Stellar Repair for Exchange. This tool can repair the corrupt EDB file of any size and of any version of Exchange Server. It then allows to export all the EDB data, including user mailboxes, user archives, deleted/purged items, disabled mailboxes, shared mailboxes, and public folders to a live Exchange Server database or Microsoft 365 tenant. It also allows to save the EDB data to PST and other file formats.

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About The Author

Shelly Bhardwaj

I am a Product Consultant and is associated with Stellar Data Recovery from last 8 years. I write about the latest technology tips and provide custom solutions related to Exchange Server, Office 365, MS Outlook, and many other Email Clients & different flavors of OS Servers. Read More