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Tuesday 30 September 2014
9/30/2014 03:25:00 am 0

How to solve Notes Error: “The database is being taken offline and cannot be opened”?

Replication is the process of keeping copies of the same database that are kept synchronized with each other. The Lotus Notes mailbox data on server can be kept as a copy of the local user system that is known as local replica.

If you are going to recreating a replica copy of the Notes database from the server then first ensure that the size of the database is not too large. Otherwise the database replication process will take a very long time or you may have to face several other issues. You can have to face several issues associated with the local database replica while the server replica is perfectly fine and everything is working as expected. You can get a corrupt local replica copy and various related error messages may be prompted to the user screen while accessing it.

Whenever your database replica gets corrupt and you try to open it you have to face several error messages.

The common error messages that occur due to corrupt Local Replica are:

"Database is corrupt Cannot allocate space"
 OR
“The database is being taken offline and cannot be opened”

Error: "Database is corrupt Cannot allocate space" 

The error "Database is corrupt Cannot allocate space" indicates corruption to a local replica. 

Follow the given steps to solve the error:

1.    Remove the database from the workspace.

To remove a database icon from the Notes client workspace, follow the given method:

This can be done manually or programmatically using Formula language. The sample formula to remove a database icon from the Notes client workspace is:

@Command([AddDatabase]; "Server Name":"DBname.nsf");
@Command([WindowWorkspace]);
@Command([FileDatabaseRemove]);

2.    Compact the workspace.
  • Right-click on an empty bit of the Workspace. Open  its properties> click on the Advanced tab,
  • Finally click Compact 
3.   Recreate local replica.

Error: “The database is being taken offline and cannot be opened”.

Another error that occurs due to corruption in Notes database replica is: “The database is being taken offline and cannot be opened”.

The above error can occur in several scenarios such as: while launching the notes client. Restarting the notes client can help you. You may be able to launch the client but the error will occur again in next attempts.

You can have to face the error “The database is being taken offline and cannot be opened” while opening the mailbox database. This can occur if some domino tasks are running that prohibits the access to the database.

Resolution:
  • Exit Notes application.
  • Delete the local cache.ndk
  • Restart Notes
Note: Cache.dsk file: This file contains the design elements of Notes server database. It stores the design elements forms, subforms, and LotusScript libraries as well as cross-replica journaling information. This file speed up the process when the notes client requires accessing Notes server database. You can compact the cache.ndk file to recover unused space. In the Notes 6.x Client, the Cache.dsk file has been renamed to CACHE.NDK.

If the above methods don’t fix the errors then follow the given steps to resolve corruption issues with the local replica:

1.    Open command prompt. Go to Notes installation folder:
C:\Program Files\notes

2.  Run nfixup.exe, ncompact.exe, nupdall.exe to recover the corrupt database.

  • nfixup -J -F [database name]
[J] Fixup transaction-logged databases
[F] Scan all documents
  • ncompact -c -i [database name]
[c] Copy-style
[i] Ignore errors and proceed

  • nupdall -R [database name]
[R] Rebuild all used views


 
Note: Nfixup without any options will perform fixup to all Notes databases in the folder where it was executed. You can either run the fixup using the Fixup tool or from domino administrator > Task > Start tool.

You can also run Fixup using a console command or using a Program document. There are various command line switches available with the Fixup command while using a console command. Such as: nfixup -L, -l, -F, -Q,-V, -N, -U,-J,-O,-Z,-C,-Y,-y switches.


Description of the various command line switches is given below: 

  
Conclusion:

These Notes inbuilt repair utilities possess limited functionality. In case of severe corruption they may fail making the data corruption issue more critical. If these utilities don’t fix the Notes database corruption issues then you require a powerful Notes recovery solution. Such tools are capable of performing a quick an easy recovery as compared to the lengthy process involved with these inbuilt tools. Besides speed the tools are enriched with powerful features to make the Notes recovery process more efficient and let recover every piece of your mailbox data i.e. emails, contacts, calendar entries, notes, journals, etc.
Tuesday 23 September 2014
9/23/2014 03:05:00 am 0

About local mail replicas in Lotus Notes:

Replication is a powerful feature of IBM Lotus Notes. It provides flexibility and freedom to the user users to work with local replicas of their Notes databases.

Local mail database replication means making a copy of the user’s mail data on his local system.  This makes the user to work with his mailbox data even if there is no connection with the server.  The changes that are done to the local copy are kept in synchronization with server database at regular intervals. Generally, this replication time interval is set to 30 minutes. The server database keeps on replicating and synchronizing the changes being done to the local replica copy while offline mode. While a user is working on his workstation, the user preferences must be set in way so that arrival of a new mail is notified on frequent basis. This mail checking interval is set to 5 minutes so that in every five minutes a user will be able to receive new mails.
 
There are two ways to create mail replica either the user can do it manually form his workstation or by creating Lotus Notes/Domino environment polices for the replication process. Setting up policies for the replication is a preferred way as it let configure multiple workstation at the same time. In case of manual configuration each workstation is to be visited separately.
 
Basic steps to create a local mail replica in Lotus Notes:
  • Make a local replica
  • Create a directory catalog for name lookup while mail addressing.
  • Configure the local replicas to be kept in synchronization with the server database.
A copy is the user mailbox data is made at user’s local system/ workstation. When a user is working locally and wants to send emails then he can look up the mail addresses/names from the directory catalog.
 
The Lotus Notes client settings on the user’s workstation must be done in way so that the location to work with email is set to the location of local mail replica. Also, the Notes client on user’s workstation must be configured to use the local directory catalog while addressing mail messages.

How to create a full replica in Lotus notes?

You can create the replica of a local Notes database by using ‘Overwrite Replica for Database’ dialog box. If you want to create a replica copy of a server or a different local directory database then this can be done using the ‘Create Replica for Database’ dialog box.
 
If you are going to create a replica on server then you must be listed as manager in the database ACL. Otherwise you will not have rights to delete the server replicas created by you or you may also face several issues while replicating a server-based database to another server. In such situation you may have to ask your administrator help to provide you proper access rights and assistance.
 
You may need to set certain replication preferences before the replication process. These replication preferences contain default settings for various replication parameters such as general limits on document and attachment size, full-text index creation, and encryption etc.
 
Follow the given steps to create a full replica in Lotus Notes:

1. Open the database whose replica is to be created.
  • Go to File - Replication > New Replica menu.
  • On the bookmark bar, drag the database bookmark to the Replicator icon
  • Right click the bookmark and select the option to Copy Bookmark
  • Now, the bookmark is copied to clipboard. Open the Replicator page by clicking the Replicator icon From the Bookmark bar. Go to Edit menu and select Paste.
2. If you want to create a replica of the database residing on server, you can make its replica by using the Create Replica for Database dialog box
  • Open the Create Replica for Database DatabaseName dialog box
  • Go to the server list and choose the server name where replica is to be created. Or may also manually enter the desired server location.
  • Click Ok
  • In the “File path" field, Modify the file name for the replica. To do so: click the folder icon and browse to your desired server directory as save location for the replica to be created.
3. If you want to create replica of a local database, it can be done using ‘Overwrite Replica for Database’ dialog box
  • Open Overwrite Replica for Database DatabaseName dialog box.
  • To create the replica on a server
    • From the Server list, select the server name where replica is to be created. Or may also manually enter the desired server location
    • Click OK.
    • Notes changes the title of the dialog box to Create Replica for Database DatabaseName.
  • To create the replica locally:
    • In the "File path" field, modify the file name for the replica. This will prevent overwriting if the original database is local
    • Click the folder icon and browse to your desired directory location where the replica is to be saved.
4. Notes provides various optional "Replica Settings" that you can configure according to your needs
.
Some of the Replica settings are:
  • Choose an encryption type: You can choose three types of encryption type for the replica i.e. Strong, Simple, or Medium. Simply go to Replica settings>"Encrypt the replica using" and choose the desired encryption type
  • Create full text index for searching: This let you save your hard disk space and improve full-text searching of this replica. Simply select this option to the improve full-text searching and deselect it to save your hard disk space
  • Copy Access Control List: If this option is selected, the security settings for the original database will be applied as it is to the replicated database. Deselect it if you want to apply different settings on the replicated database.
  • Create Immediately: This option let you create a new replica regardless of the replication preferences. Select this option and click OK.
Click OK once you are done with the customizations.

You can go to more settings and customize settings for the replica. You can choose to replicate to or from the server (or both), a schedule, and which documents in the database to replicate.

Most of the organizations prefer to user local mail replication for their Notes users. Timely, there have been many advances to this feature in the recent notes versions. Many changes have been made to the replication process, policies & directory catalogs and its creation process. Notes replication has been made easier in the current versions of Notes (V6.0 and later). 

In this article I have discussed basic overview of the local mail replica model. In my further articles, I will discuss the advances in the replication feature and a detailed explanation of the replica creation and configuration procedure.
Sunday 14 September 2014
9/14/2014 09:57:00 pm 0

How to resolve Exchange error -1022 JET_errDiskIO?

In this article, we are  going to discuss about the Exchange error -1022 JET_errDiskIO.  This error occurs due to physical Exchange database corruption. It indicates file level damage in the Exchange database.

To know more about physical corruption, refer my previous article: “How to detect and prevent physical Exchange database corruption?

Exchange error -1022 JET_errDiskIO:

The error -1022 JET_errDiskIO occurs due to a fault in an underlying system. 

Whenever you try to read a file that is severely damaged, some parts of the file data missing entirely or inaccessible due to some other reason, then the error will be prompted:

"-1022 (JET_errDiskIO) The hardware, device driver, or operating system is returning errors".

Why does error -1022 JET_errDiskIO occur?

The above error occurs because of a disk input/output (I/O) failure. Whenever the exchange requests a database page and the operating system cannot gain access to that page due to any reason then the error occurs. In such case, Exchange requests a page number that is larger than the number of pages in the database file. 

The above can also occurs if an incomplete transaction log set is replayed in the database. It can also result to sudden system crashes, system may hang while starting and accessing data. For example: if a transaction is being going on in log 9, it couldn’t not be completed as it has exceeded the database size but the new pages reference has been added to log 10 then what would happen? Such incomplete transaction would lead to error -1022.

Consider one more case, if a transaction replay is to be started from log n and if the administrator deletes the checkpoint file and log n, then the transaction replay could be forced to start from the log n+1. In such case the above error can occur. In case of exchange 2002, this isn’t possible as it prevents such incomplete transaction log replay that can cause damage to the database. It is easily possible in the exchange version 5.5.

Below given are some reasons that make the database pages inaccessible by the exchange server and leads to the error -1022 JET_errDiskIO.

What causes Exchange error -1022 JET_errDiskIO?
  • Damaged/corrupt database file
  • Damaged file system or other Issues in the file system
  • Missing file  elements
  • Truncated file elements
  • improper transaction log replay
  • Other applications are keeping the database pages open, that don’t let exchange to access them
  • Third party software that prevents the Information Store service from accessing the Exchange data

How to resolve Exchange error -1022 JET_errDiskIO?

The resolution method to fix the error may vary according to the error causing factor.
  • If the error occurred due to Damaged/corrupt database file or file system then,
    • Restore Exchange from a backup.
    • verify or repair the file system
  • If you don’t have an updated backup of the data then you need to repair the corrupt data. You can use The Esefile.exe utility to detect errors in databases at the page/ file level.  You can run inbuilt exchange repair utility .i.e. Eseutil.exe utility for repairing corrupt Exchange database
  • The error can occur if other applications are keeping the database pages open, that don’t let exchange to access them. In such case:
    • Restart all Exchange services
    • Then restart the Exchange server
  • Third party software (such as file-level virus scanner) that prevents the Information Store service from accessing the Exchange data. So to avoid the error, always configure the scanner to exclude Exchange data files from being scanned
If all of the above methods fail, then opt for some powerful exchange recovery solution.

You can find many third party exchange recovery solution that provide you the advanced exchange repair features and thus overcome the limitations of inbuilt utilities.

Here I personally recommend “Stellar Phoenix Mailbox Exchange Recovery” software. The tool can successfully recover your data in even in cases of severe corruption in which the inbuilt tools badly fails or even denies scanning.

Some features of the software are given below:
  • Quickly and efficiently repair the damaged Exchange Server database files and restore all mailbox data including emails, contacts, tasks, calendar etc. from them.
  • Repairs the corrupt EDB database and save the recovered data to PST format.
  • Capable of performing recovery of Unicode formatted EDB files.
  • Capable of performing recovery of PUB.EDB files
  • Capable of recovering and restoring accidentally or intentionally deleted the user mailboxes from the exchange database
  • Let you preview the recoverable exchange mailbox data before saving it to PST.  Also let you perform selective recovery of the recoverable mail items. From the preview, you can choose to save all recoverable items or only the desired ones.
  • Let you save the Log Report of Entire Recovery Process
  • Provides support for 64-bit MS Office.
  • Provides wide operating system compatibility
  • The supported versions of Operating systems are: Windows 7, Vista, Server 2003 and XP
  • Provides support for MS Exchange 2010, 2007, 2003, 2000 and 5.5

To know more about the software, visit: http://www.stellarinfo.com/edb-exchange-server-recovery.htm
Thursday 11 September 2014
9/11/2014 09:44:00 pm 0

How to detect and prevent physical Exchange database corruption?

Microsoft Exchange server has been evolving as one of the most popular collaboration and communication email-server applications used now-a-days. It stores all its user mailbox data in EDB file format. These files may get corrupted due to various physical or logical reasons such as: Power failure, Virus Attack, over sized files and Dirty system shutdown etc.

Exchange database corruption can occur at three levels:

  • Page /file system level
  • Database (JET database engine) level
  • Application (Exchange information store) level
Page /file system level corruption occurs due to hardware malfunctioning, other hardware issues, problems in drivers & firmware, or some problems in Exchange.Database (JET database engine) level &Application (Exchange information store) level corruption occurs due to issues with Exchange code or in third-party programs installed on the exchange system

How to detect and prevent physical database corruption?

Any kind of damage to the Exchange database creates troublesome situations for the users. The user has to face various kinds of error messages and an obstructed mail communication indirectly affects the overall productivity of organization.

So detecting and resolving any kind of corruption to the Exchange database at early stage is a good practice. Otherwise later on it can lead to disastrous data loss situations that will be hard to tackle with.

How to detect physical corruption to the database:

Various error messages will be prompted to the screen if the database gets physically corrupt. For example, Exchange error 1022 (JET_errDiskIO) is a common error message that you may face if physical corruption occurs to the Information store.Such kinds of error messages are a clear indication that your database has got corrupt and needs to be repaired.

Online backups are a great way for detecting physical corruption in the information store. While online backup process, every page of the database is checked so if there is any corruption that will be spotted.

If you discover corruption in the information store then it’s better to run exchange recovery tools over the Exchange database before the corruption gets severe.

  • You can use The Esefile.exe utility to detect errors in databases at the page/ file level.
  • The page/file level corruption can be detected and repaired by Eseutil.exe utility.
Eseutil.exe can also detect the corruption at database level. To detect the application level corruption, you need to run Isinteg.exe utility. The page/file level corruption can further lead to database or application level corruption issues. So, it’s always recommended to use Isinteg utility after running Eseutil.

How to prevent physical corruption to the database:

  • The hardware components used must be of good quality
  • The configuration and other settings of the hardware components must be properly done and timely checked.
  • Avoid using antivirus or any other file level utility on the Exchange server computer.
  • Don’t use write-back caching, it’s better to turn it off but if using then keep the data protected completely
The above written are some preventive measures to avoid physical data corruption. These play a very significant role in preventing your valuable data from getting corrupted. Though these cannot guarantee to forbid the occurrence of physical corruption, there can be several other factor that can lead to a physically corrupt database.
Once the database is affected by corruption, you will not be able to access it or face troubles/errors while working with corrupt data. In such case you need to recover the corrupt data.

Below given are ways to recover data after physical corruption:

Restore from backup: If you have a recent backup of the data,then you can restore your data from it. You can easily roll forward the log files and get your data back to a previous consistent state.

Run  Exchange recovery tools: If you don’t have an updated backup of the data, then you need to repair the corrupt data.You can run Eseutil.exe utility for repairing corrupt Exchange database.Always make a copy if the database before running any Exchange Recovery tool over the exchange database. Especially in case you are using Eseutil.exe, it always recommended to backup your data as this tool can’t recover the severely damaged pages, it simply removes them. This can lead you to more troublesome situations.

This is one of the reasons why most of the users prefer to use other third party Exchange Recovery tools instead of using Eseutil.exe utility. Also, the software takes a lot of time while the recovery process and may fail in several cases.

If you are facing similar kind of issues and looking for a reliable Exchange recovery solution, here I would like to suggest “Stellar Phoenix Mailbox Exchange Recovery” software.

This software is recommended by a lot of trusted users and Exchange experts. The software makes the recovery process easier, less time consuming and more user friendly. The software is capable of dealing with any kind of corruption to the exchange data. It can easily repair the severe corrupt exchange database and restores the inaccessible user mailboxes from them. The recovered exchange mailbox data is saved in pst format. You can import the recovered pst file into outlook and access the data stored within it.
9/11/2014 04:01:00 am 0

How to fix Outlook error: “Encounter a large numbers of conflict items with ost file”

In case, the Outlook is being used with Exchange server, then an OST file is formed in the user’s local system. Whenever you are using Outlook in Exchange environment, a default OST file will be created. 

It is the exact replica of the user’s data residing on the Exchange server mailbox.OST file enables user to work in offline mode. If due to some reason, Exchange isn’t available then at that time user can work in offline mode with the OST file. In offline mode user can perform mail operations such as compose mail, send mail etc.  Whenever the Exchange server will be connected again,then these changes will be synchronized back with Exchange.

A user can have to face several OST synchronization related issues or the OST file may turn inaccessible. The reason behind this is OST file corruption.

Common reasons for OST corruption:

  • The increasing size of your Outlook data files (OST/PST)
  • Sudden outlook termination
  • Any kinds of interruption in the software update process
  • Version or other Compatibilities issues with Operating system
  • Outlook application isn’t handled properly, improper startup or closing of application.
  • Improper system shutdown
  • Adds-on incompatibility of MS Outlook
  • Abnormal system shutdown
  • Virus or Malware attack
  • Hardware crash
When an ost file gets corrupt/damaged it couldn’t be synchronized with exchange. It prohibits the user from performing the usual mail operations and accessing the ost file data. User can have to face problems while launching and opening outlook client. In such situation, various erroneous messages will be prompted on the user screen
 
While working with a damaged ost file, it’s common for the user to face the error “Encounter a large numbers of conflict items with ost file”.

The reason for the above error is corruption of OST File. So, in order to fix the error the corrupt/damaged ost file need to be repaired. After repairing the corrupt OST file the data stored within it can be accessed and outlook user can resume normal functioning.

Resolution method:

To solve the above error try out the following methods:
  • First make a backup copy of the original OST file then, tryout the following steps:
  • Rename or delete the original OST file.
  • Ensure that the Outlook to Exchange settings iscorrectly configured or not. Try connecting Outlook to Exchange.
  • Restart Outlook application and initiate send/receive.
This will automatically create a new OST file and synchronize its data with Exchange.

To know more about “how to fix ost synchronization issues in outlook” visit:
http://recover-email.blogspot.in/2014/04/how-to-fix-common-ost-synchronization.html

If the above method doesn’t help then the error might be caused to incorrect mail profile.

In such case, Deleting the old profile and creating a new one will resolve the issue.

Follow the given steps to create a new mail profile:
  • Close Outlook application
  • Go to start> Control Panel. Then Double-click Mail to open the Mail Setup dialog box, in Windows XP or higher versions,
  • You need to Switch to Classic View, then Go to Mail and open the Mail Setup dialog box by double clicking.
  • After the Mail Setup dialog box is opened, click Show Profiles and select the incorrect profiles that are causingthe problem.
  • After selectingthe incorrect profiles from the list, click Remove one by one
  • After, all the incorrect profiles have been deleted click Add to create a new profile.
  • Now, add email accounts to the newly created mail profile.
  • Restart Outlook application. The OST file will now be automatically synchronized with the exchange.
To deal with OST corruption you need to repair the corrupt OST file and extract data from it. To repair the ost file:
  • Exit Outlook application. Also close all other applications that are accessing the OST file.
  • Locate your OST file. If you don’t know the location of your OST file then you can search it using Windows search function
  • Now run an ost recovery tool over the corrupted ost file that can repair the corrupt file and extract the recovered data from it. There are free inbuilt repair utilities (Inbox repair tool & OST integrity check tool) in outlook that can perform outlook data file recovery in an easy manner.
The detailed procedure to Repair Outlook Data Files using the Inbox Repair tool & OST Integrity Check tool is given at: http://office.microsoft.com/en-001/outlook-help/repair-outlook-data-files-pst-and-ost-HA010075831.aspx

These inbuilt Outlook repair tools possess limited functionality and aren’t powerful enough. So there can be many possible cases when these tools fail to perform an efficient ost/pst recovery. If these tools fail to recover your corrupt OST file then a more powerful solution is required. 

Thankfully a huge list of such OST recovery software is available in market. But the user needs to make a wise decision before choosing the one. Most of the software are available with Free DEMO versions. That’s makes it easy for a user to select the one. Just download the DEMO, run it over your corrupt file and see if that offers desired output or not. Finally you can go for the one that best suits your needs.