How to Fix the Error: Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Storage.ConnectionFailedTransientException?

When you try to open the Exchange Admin Center (EAC) to manage your Exchange Server or servers, you may get an error, such as Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Storage.ConnectionFailedTransientException. The complete error message reads as:

X-ClientId: T1T8 – TACB – 1UYP – EFDPEZGA
X-OWA-Error: Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Storage.ConnectionFailedTransientException
X-OWA-Version: 15.1.225.42
X-FEServer: BRA-EXCHANGE
X-BEServer: BRA-EXCHANGE
Date: 18/02/2017 22:07:53

From the error message, it seems that the error has occurred due to an issue while connecting to the database or mailbox permissions.

In this post, we’ll be discussing the ways to identify the issue and fix this error.

Steps to fix the Error: Microsoft Exchange Data Storage ConnectionFailedTransientException

Step 1: The first thing you need to do is ensure that the emails are working. If the users are able to send and receive emails using their locally installed Outlook, this will ensure that the business is still running. However, if users cannot send or receive emails, then you might have some pressure in getting this solved at the earliest possible time.

Step 2: Now, go back and track the changes from when the web apps were working till you identified that the web apps started showing the error. It’s good to keep a log of what was changed so that when an issue occurs, you can identify the changes, configurations, or installation of third-party application that would have caused the issue. In this log, Windows patches installations are also listed.

Step 3: Once you check the Windows Logs (see above), you can then go and check the related errors in the Exchange section under Microsoft, which is in the Applications and Services section. Although any issue with services and others will be shown in the Windows Logs (see the below section), you will find Exchange Server specific event messages that might help with the investigation.

Step 4: The next thing to do is ensure that the services of Exchange Server are running and have started without any issues. After this, you should check the event viewer for any related error message or any information which would help in identifying the issue. Sometimes, Exchange Server shows an error that is too generic. But when viewing the entries in the Event Viewer, you can find the cause of the issue or at least a direct indication to the culprit. Event Viewer is your first choice to look before starting to troubleshoot.

Step 5: You need to establish where the issue is by trying to understand if this error is specific to a particular mailbox, all mailboxes, or to the Exchange Admin Center (EAC). Try to get a sample of users and get them to log in their Outlook Web Access (OWA). If you have more than one Exchange Admin user (which is strongly suggested), try to log into the Exchange Admin Center (EAC) to ensure that the problem is global or with a specific user.

You can also check the status of the mailbox database where the affected mailboxes are situated. To check the database, first you need to check if there are any issues with the copy status. You can check this by running the below command:

Get-MailboxDatabaseCopyStatus

This will give an indication if there is a problem with the copy status of the database and if the database is mounted or not. If the database is not mounted, you can try to mount the database via the Exchange Management Shell (EMS) or by using the Exchange Admin Center (EAC), if another user is working. To do it via PowerShell, you can use the following command:

Mount-Database MyDatabase

Step 6: Now, if all goes well, the database mounts and the users will again be able to connect with the specific database. But if the database fails to mount, there could be signs of corrupted database or logs. You can try to repair the database by using the native utility – EseUtil and perform a soft recovery, which will basically run a quick recovery of the database. This is ideal to start with as it might fix minor corruption issues which are stopping the database to mount. After this is successful, try to mount the database. If this is unsuccessful, you might try the hard recovery but be cautious as this would result in data loss. The other option is to restore the database from the backup. But this would mean that any data from the backup till the error showed up will be lost.

Final Thoughts

The best alternative to fix the Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Storage.ConnectionFailedTransientException error and retain the data, with the least downtime possible, is to use Stellar Repair for Exchange. This application can open any Exchange Server version database. You don’t need Exchange Server to open the database as the application can be installed on a Windows 10 machine. You can export mailboxes granularly from the database to PST and other file formats. You can also export directly to a live Exchange Server database. Stellar Repair for Exchange helps you recover the Exchange Server database data in no time and with no data loss.

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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.