Unable to uninstall Exchange 2016 CU23

Question

Hello.

We have a lot of exchange servers in our organization and sometimes we need to uninstall exchange for re-organizing environment. It is easier to add new server migrate stuff there and then uninstall old servers.

During such tasks I have found that it is impossible to uninstall Exchange 2016 CU23, while other versions were uninstalling with no problem.

When I uninstall exchange server uninstall successfully runs throug removing Mailbox role, removes object from AD organization, but then follows to uninstall Unified Messaging Role and fails on

Error:
The following error was generated when "$error.Clear(); 
          uninstall-MsiPackage -ProductCode $RoleProductCode -LogFile $RoleLogFilePath -PropertyValues ("ESE=1");

          $lochost=hostname;
          $exchsrv=Get-ExchangeServer -Identity $lochost -DomainController $RoleDomainController;
          if (-not $exchsrv.IsMailboxServer)
          {
            uninstall-MsiPackage -ProductCode $RoleTeleProductCode -LogFile $RoleLogFilePath;
          }

          if ( $RoleTransProductCode -ne [system.guid]::empty )
          {
            uninstall-MsiPackage -ProductCode $RoleTransProductCode -LogFile $RoleLogFilePath;
          }

          uninstall-MsiPackage -ProductCode $RoleTtsProductCode -LogFile $RoleLogFilePath;
        " was run: "Microsoft.Exchange.Configuration.Tasks.ManagementObjectNotFoundException: The operation couldn't be performed because object 'MBX' couldn't be found on 'DC'.
   at Microsoft.Exchange.Configuration.Tasks.Task.ThrowError(Exception exception, ErrorCategory errorCategory, Object target, String helpUrl)
   at Microsoft.Exchange.Configuration.Tasks.GetObjectWithIdentityTaskBase`2.InternalProcessRecord()
   at Microsoft.Exchange.Configuration.Tasks.Task.<ProcessRecord>b__91_1()
   at Microsoft.Exchange.Configuration.Tasks.Task.InvokeRetryableFunc(String funcName, Action func, Boolean terminatePipelineIfFailed)".

This error is absolutely legit - because there's no such exchange server in organization anymore. Uninstall already removed it on previous step. Why it works this way I have no idea. There're no way I could find to at first remove unified messaging role and only after that proceed with removing mailbox role. Also, to my surprise there're no way to repair this installation - nothing helps. uninstall from command prompt, repair, try for reinstall failed installation - nothing helps.

Answer 1

Hi,

We're seeing the exact same error in our Environment, i was able to uninstall Exchange 2016 C23 successfully:-)

first remove/delete the Watermark items in the image.

had a Watermark and Action under the ClientAccessRole, CafeRole, HubTransport, UnfiedMessegingRole and TransportRole

Answer 2

Hi @Ivan Kucheryaviy

Following to the error , it seems that the Exchange server is not found in active directory. You can check it through adsiedit.

You can also delete the server and it's mailbox database using ADSIEDIT GUI:

Please don't forget to mark helpful answer as accepted

Answer 3

As I described in my post Exchange server is not in AD anymore. It was deleted by uninstall step uninstalling Mailbox role. But uninstall process still trying to find it for following step and failing. It looks for me like uninstallation bug.

Answer 4

Hi @Ivan Kucheryaviy,

If you confirm that the Exchange server is not in AD, it is recommended that you reinstall the operating system, which will not have any impact on AD.

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Answer 5

I have the exact same issue. The question is, if you check the link Markus has above, if the servers you want to uninstall exchange from are no longer in the Schema Config (from ADSIEDIT) and no longer in AD, and you run the Get-ExchangeServer and Get-TransportService from a good, running Exchange Server, and the old ones you ran the uninstall on dont show up, is it safe to assume from a Schema and AD perspective (your Tenant Environment) that they are gone, and no remnants remain, and it is safe to format those systems ?