3.6 Exchange Administration Delegation wizard

Chapter 3 - Management and Monitoring Tools
Monitoring and Managing Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server
by Mike Daugherty
Digital Press 2001

3.7 ESEUTIL

ESEUTIL is a utility that is included with Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server. It is a powerfuland dangerousutility. It can be used to troubleshoot and solve many types of problems, but it can also destroy your Exchange databases if used improperly. It should not be used for regular maintenance. Generally, it should be used only after consulting Microsoft Product Support Services (PSS).

ESEUTIL examines the structure of the information store database tables and records and has the following uses:

Database defragmentation . The Exchange online information store maintenance will not reclaim disk space. The only way to reclaim disk space is to perform offline compaction. Defragmentation makes used storage contiguous, eliminates unused storage, compacts the database, and reduces its size . During the defragmentation process, ESEUTIL copies all database records to a new database. Once the defragmentation process is complete, ESEUTIL deletes the original database, and renames the new version using the name of the original database. Because of the manner in which ESEUTIL performs defragmentation, you must have disk space equal to twice the size of the database being defragmented.

Recovery . Performs recovery, bringing all databases to a consistent state.

Checking database integrity . The integrity checking option searches the database for damaged or unreadable records and displays the results. It verifies the integrity of the database, but it does not repair any errors it finds.

File dump . Generates formatted output of various database file types.

Repairing a corrupted database . The repair option evaluates the information in the database and then reassembles the database tables using only the uncorrupted information.

Restore . Restore information and completion.

ESEUTIL is located in the \Exchsrvr\BIN directory and can be launched from the Windows 2000 Run window on the Start menu. ESEUTIL requires command line switches. When you consult Microsoft Technical Support, they will tell you the appropriate command line switches to use.