How to mount / dismount Exchange 2016 Database?

The Exchange Server database may get dismounted under some scenarios. These may include hardware issues, server crash, network issues, JET Engine errors or many more. After fixing the issue, the database needs to be mounted again. Let’s look into the ways to mount/dismount the Exchange 2016 database.

1. Using Exchange Admin Center 

2. Execute Exchange Management Shell cmdlets

How to dismount the Exchange 2016 database using the Exchange Admin Center?

Sign in to the Exchange Admin Center and go through the following steps to dismount the Exchange 2016 database.

a. Click on the ‘servers’ tab in the left panel. Select the ‘databases’ tab at the top of the window. Now, Choose the mailbox to dismount. Click the ‘…’  (three dots) and choose ‘Dismount’.

b. Click ‘Yes’ to confirm the dismounting the selected Exchange mailbox database in the warning message that prompted.

c. The dismounting process will start. The status will be changed as ‘Dismounted’ upon completing the process.

How to mount the Exchange 2016 database using the Exchange Admin Center?

a. Click on the ‘servers’ tab and then ‘databases’. Choose the dismounted mailbox database to mount. Now click Click the ‘…’  (three dots) and then choose ‘Mount’ 

b. Click ‘Yes’ to confirm the dismounting the selected Exchange mailbox database in the warning message that prompted.

c. The mounting process will start. The status will be changed as ‘Mounted’ upon completing the process.

What are the limitations to mount / dismount Exchange mailbox database with Exchange Admin Center?

a. Only one mailbox database can be mounted or dismounted at one shot.

b. The process becomes slow if there are a large number of mailboxes to mount or dismount

c. It requires Exchange system and admin credentials

2. Execute Exchange Management Shell cmdlets to Mount/Dismount Exchange 2016 Database 

Exchange mailbox database can be mounted or dismounted using Exchange Management Shell cmdlets. The cmdlets are available only for Exchange Server 2010 and above versions. It needs Exchange administrator credentials and technical know-how to execute the cmdlets.

For a Single Exchange Mailbox Database to mount

Remember the name of the Exchange database which is dismounted and to be mounted.

Run the below command to mount a single Exchange database.

Mount-Database ‘<Exchange database name>’ –Confirm:$False

You can check the status by running the below command.

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

If the Mounted column shows as “True”, then the database mounting is successful.

Keep in mind that the Exchange database can’t be mounted if it is corrupted or inaccessible. To condition the database, run the below command.

eseutil /mh < edb file full path >

Enter the full path of the EDB file.

To mount all Exchange databases within a server 

Run the below command to mount all the dismounted mailboxes within a server 

Get-MailboxDatabase –Server <server name> | Mount-Database –Confirm:$False

Run the below command to check all the databases on the server are mounted or not 

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

To dismount a single Exchange database

Run the below command to check the Exchange databases which are mounted on your server, 

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

Run the below command to dismount the database

Dismount-Database ‘<Exchange database name>’ –Confirm:$False

To dismount all Exchange databases from a server

Run the below command to dismount all Exchange databases from a server

Get-MailboxDatabase –Server <server name> | Mount-Database –Confirm:$False

Run the below command to check the status of the databases after running the above command.

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

If all the mailbox database servers under the Mounted column are showing the status as False in the output, then all databases are successfully dismounted.

What are the limitations with the Exchange Management Shell cmdlets?

1. It needs credentials of the administrator and the Exchange server

2. Needs skilled technical know-how to execute the cmdlets

3. There are chances of errors while executing the cmdlets 

These methods are not reliable and can’t mount the database if it is in an inaccessible state. You can utilize ESEUTIL for the recovery. You need to go with a reliable tool like EdbMails EDB to PST converter tool to recover the corrupted Exchange EDB file. It recovers all the corrupt, damaged EDB files and converts the recovered file to PST. You can directly migrate EDB to Office 365 and live Exchange server.

You can try a ‘Free trial version’ of the software to test all the functionalities.

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Christophe Rude
Christophe Rude
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