How to Mount Dismounted Exchange 2016/2013 Database?

It’s not unusual that the Exchange database stops working or terminates unexpectedly during normal operations. Exchange server database may dismount due to,

• Lack of enough storage space
• Network issues
• Database file (EDB) corruption
• Dirty Shutdown
• Missing Exchange or log files
• JET Engine errors
• Virus or Malware intrusion
• Power loss or Exchange server crash

This prevents users from accessing their mailbox data. Hence, it requires you to mount the database and restore business continuity as soon as possible.

Methods to Mount Dismounted Exchange 2016/2013 Database

There are two different manual methods to mount a dismounted database in Exchange 2016 or 2013. However, before that, ensure the following,

1. Check if the drive has enough storage space available
2. The user account that you will use to mount the database has been assigned with permissions and roles to mount the dismounted Exchange database file. To assign permissions and roles, run the following command,

Add-MailboxPermission -Identity John -User Tom.Fox -AccessRights FullAccess

• Check the status of all databases and note the name of databases that are dismounted. The command is as follows,

Get-MailboxDatabases –Status | Sort Name | Format-Table Name, Server, Mounted

If the mounted status is displayed as ‘False’, copy the database name and server name.

• Verify shutdown state and consistency of dismounted databases, if it’s dirty or clean

eseutil/mh “C:\ program files\ exchsrv\ mdbdata\ priv1.edb”

NOTE: If the dismounted database is inconsistent or in a dirty shutdown state, you can’t mount it. To mount such a database, you must bring the database to a clean shutdown state. 

• If the database shutdown state is Dirty, you must soft or hard repair the database to bring it in ‘Clean Shutdown’ state before mounting. For this, use the following commands,

-> Soft Repair Command

eseutil/r “C:\ program files\ exchsrv\ mdbdata\ priv1.edb”

If the database is still inconsistent and in Dirty Shutdown state, you must hard repair the database files.

-> Hard Repair Command

eseutil/p “C:\ program files\ exchsrv\ mdbdata\ priv1.edb”

In case, the dismounted Exchange database is still in Dirty Shutdown state, it indicates database file corruption. In such a case, you must use an Exchange database repair software such as Stellar Repair for Exchange to fix and repair a corrupt database (EDB) file.

Once repaired, you can export the EDB file and the recovered mailbox items such as emails, attachments, contacts, notes, public folders, etc. to the Live Exchange server.

Method 1: Mount Dismounted Exchange 2016/2013 Database by using EAC

To mount the Exchange database via EAC or Exchange Admin Center, follow these steps,

1. Open Exchange Admin Center as administrator and click on ‘servers’
2. Click ‘databases’ and select the database which is dismounted
3. Then click on the three dots and select ‘Mount’

• Click ‘Yes’ to confirm

• The database will be mounted

Method 2: Mount Database by using Exchange Management Shell (EMS)

To mount dismounted Exchange 2016 or 2013 database by using EMS commands, follow these steps,

• Open EMS as administrator and then enter the following command

Mount-Database ‘DB01’ –Confirm:$False

• The command will attempt to mount the DB1 database. By adding –Confirm:$False parameter, you do not see any warning or confirmation prompt

• To check and confirm if the command executed and mounted the database successfully, enter the following command,

Get-MailboxDatabase –Status | Sort Name | Format-Table Name, Server, Mounted

• If you see ‘True’ under the Mounted state, it indicates that the database is now mounted

If you need to mount multiple databases at once, you can use the following command in EMS,

Get-MailboxDatabase –Server EX01 | Mount-Database –Confirm:$False

• Then check the Mount status of all the database files by using this command,

Get-MailboxDatabases –Status | Sort Name | Format-Table Name, Server, Mounted

If all databases’ Mounted state is displayed as ‘True’, it means the databases are successfully mounted.

Conclusion

Exchange administrators can easily mount or dismount Exchange 2016/2013 database in MS Exchange by using either the Exchange Management Shell (EMS) or Exchange Admin Center (EAC). However, to mount a dismounted database, it should be in ‘Clean Shutdown’ state and must not be damaged or corrupt.

If the database is in Dirty Shutdown state, you must bring the database to a clean state. Otherwise, it’s not possible to mount the database.

But if the database does not enter the clean shutdown state or turns out to be corrupt, you must repair such database files by using an Exchange repair tool such as Stellar Repair for Exchange. You can download the demo version of the software for free and use it to repair one or multiple Exchange database files. After activating the software, you can export the EDB contents to a Live Exchange server to restore the mailboxes and communication.

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About The Author

Ravi Singh

Ravi Singh is a Senior Writer at Stellar®. He is an expert Tech Explainer, IoT enthusiast, and a passionate nerd with over 7 years of experience in technical writing. He writes about Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft 365, Email Migration, Linux, Windows, Mac, DIY Tech, and Smart Home. Ravi spends most of his weekends working with IoT (DIY Smart Home) devices and playing Overwatch. He is also a solo traveler who loves hiking and exploring new trails.