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RPC error when using PowerShell command Start-managedfolderassistant

Anonymous
2024-02-07T18:42:37+00:00

I have enabled Online archive for a mailbox and in Powershell when I use start-managedfolderassistant -identity <user mailbox>  I get RPC Error as follows:

The call to Mailbox Assistants Service on server: 'CY1PR0701MB1932.namprd07.prod.outlook.com' failed. Error from RPC is -214
7220992.
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidOperation: (:) [Start-ManagedFolderAssistant], TaskException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : [Server=SN2PR0701MB1008,RequestId=826c779b-f7a7-493f-8f09-8b448fd8960f,TimeStamp=10/2/2015 5:
   34:19 PM] [FailureCategory=Cmdlet-TaskException] C16BF700,Microsoft.Exchange.Management.SystemConfigurationTasks.StartE
  lcAssistant

I have successfully used the command in the last 1 week and have encountered the error in the past. I try couple of time and it works without error. Today , the error just will not go away.  Issues with Office365 servers?

Microsoft 365 Insider | Outlook | Other

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-02-07T18:43:29+00:00

    As it turns out, thanks to a helpful blog post from Tim McMichael on TechNet, there’s an easy solution. Look up the GUID of the user’s primary mailbox and then use this as the identity for the Managed Folder Assistant.

    • get-mailboxLocation –user user@example.com | fl mailboxGuid,mailboxLocationType

    If you have archiving enabled, then this returns two GUIDs, one for the Primary and one for the MainArchive mailboxes.

    Grab the GUID for the Primary mailbox, and use it like so:

    • Start-ManagedFolderAssistant aace1f4e-feed-ace0-babe-466f1deed1d1

    When utilizing the GUID we can minimize the change that any initialization process does not cause the command to fail.

    See for more information https://learn.microsoft.com/en-gb/archive/blogs/timmcmic/office-365-start-managedfolderassistant-in-office-365

    Note: Using GUID will easily run the command but the issue does not resolve. The email movement will not start unless the user logs in to OWA once.

    Please note that if a mailbox is too full, archiving may still not start. In that case, you must bring the size of the primary mailbox below 85% capacity, according to Microsoft, or below 95%, according to my actual experience. Then triggering Start-ManagedFolderAssistant actually gets it going.

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