How to shutdown one exchange 2016 mailbox server in DAG

Question

How to shutdown one exchange 2016 mailbox server in DAG

This is Parya 401

Hello everybody,
I have an exchange 2016 and a DAG, I have two exchange servers and 12 databases.
I want to shutdown one of the mailbox servers in the DAG which is exchange1
What I did for this:
First active the copy on exchange2.
delete the DNS records point to Exchange1 and I ran this comment: Get-MailboxDatabaseCopyStatus -Server exchange2 and the result was "mounted" and I test mapi connection and it was successful. and I ran Get-MailboxDatabaseCopyStatus -Server exchange1 and it was healthy.
But after shutdown the service didn't work and also the status of databasecopy was unknown.
Did I miss something?
what should I did step to step?

Andy David - MVP 159.7K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2021-09-08T17:08:47.963+00:00

But after shutdown the service didn't work and also the status of databasecopy was unknown.

What server was showing unknown? WHy did you delete the DNS record?
What is the goal here?
This is Parya 401 Reputation points

2021-09-08T17:26:15.557+00:00

We had a live downtime for changing exchange1. I remove the dns record that all the load balance go to exchange2.
the exchange2 showed unknown.
Kai Yao 37,776 Reputation points Moderator

2021-09-09T07:26:31.457+00:00

Hi @This is Parya

But after shutdown the service didn't work and also the status of databasecopy was unknown.

Did you mean you shutdown the exchange1 server?
But the clients cannot connect to exchange2 and if running Get-MailboxDatabaseCopyStatus -Server exchange2, the databasecopy status shows unknown.

If it is the case, currently is the witness server online and accessible?
This is Parya 401 Reputation points

2021-09-09T07:30:08.203+00:00

Yes I shutdown the exchange1.
No they couldn't be able to use exchange2 (mail service was down). and yes by the command all the databasecopy status were unknown.
Yes witness server is in another server separated from Exchange servers.
Yes it is online and accessible.

Did I missed some step for shutting down exchange1 ?

Answer accepted by question author

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Andy David - MVP 159.7K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2021-09-08T17:08:47.963+00:00

But after shutdown the service didn't work and also the status of databasecopy was unknown.

What server was showing unknown? WHy did you delete the DNS record?
What is the goal here?
This is Parya 401 Reputation points

2021-09-08T17:26:15.557+00:00

We had a live downtime for changing exchange1. I remove the dns record that all the load balance go to exchange2.
the exchange2 showed unknown.
Kai Yao 37,776 Reputation points Moderator

2021-09-09T07:26:31.457+00:00

Hi @This is Parya

But after shutdown the service didn't work and also the status of databasecopy was unknown.

Did you mean you shutdown the exchange1 server?
But the clients cannot connect to exchange2 and if running Get-MailboxDatabaseCopyStatus -Server exchange2, the databasecopy status shows unknown.

If it is the case, currently is the witness server online and accessible?
This is Parya 401 Reputation points

2021-09-09T07:30:08.203+00:00

Yes I shutdown the exchange1.
No they couldn't be able to use exchange2 (mail service was down). and yes by the command all the databasecopy status were unknown.
Yes witness server is in another server separated from Exchange servers.
Yes it is online and accessible.

Did I missed some step for shutting down exchange1 ?

Answer 1

Kai Yao 37,776 Moderator

To me the problem seems to be the DAG lost quorum, which caused the databases on exchange2 to be dismounted.
It would happen if the witness server wasn't online or accessible in a two-node DAG.

If you run this command in Powershell, would it show the witness server is online?

Get-ClusterResource

This is Parya 401 Reputation points

2021-09-11T07:42:08.007+00:00

By using Test-ReplicationHealth I found my Quorom was failed. So after setting the witness again.
it's OK now.
Kai Yao 37,776 Reputation points Moderator

2021-09-13T05:57:25.697+00:00

Hi,
Thanks for the update and glad to hear the issue has been resolved!

Please feel free to mark the reply as the answer to the question if it helped with this issue.
It would be beneficial to other community members as well.
Kai Yao 37,776 Reputation points Moderator

2021-09-16T09:40:41.047+00:00

Hi @This is Parya

If the issue has been resolved, please feel free to mark the helpful replies as answers.
This will make answer searching in the forum easier.
Thanks for your understanding!
Sparking 0 Reputation points

2023-10-04T00:21:35.21+00:00

Hi This is Priya, how did you resolve this? I've had this problem too, we have the same setup of DAG and problem, thanks!
This is Parya 401 Reputation points

2023-10-04T08:26:08.8933333+00:00

You should make a new path for your witness

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How to shutdown one exchange 2016 mailbox server in DAG

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