WARNING: Exchange can't connect to the Information Store service on server [Moderator note: personal info removed] .LOCAL. Make sure that the service is running and that there is network connectivity to the server.

Question

I am running Two Exchange 2013 Servers with the last CU which was released by Microsoft on both nodes in DAG setup. Now, I have introduced a new single Exchange Server 2019 with CU14, which is not part of DAG. Because, all our mailboxes are already moved to cloud and we kept these server only for recipient management and reley for on-prem applications. So aim is to move the system mailboxes, arbitration, Discovery mailboxes etc to my new Exchange 2019 CU14 which is in co-existence with Exchange 2013 and later decommission the Exchange 2013 servers. However, I am facing below issue due to which, for some reason, I am unable to administer one Exchange server from another.  I get the following error message which I attached:

"WARNING: Exchange can't connect to the Information Store service on server XYZ.LOCAL. Make sure that the service is running and that there is network connectivity to the server."

The information store on each server works fine when accessed from that server.  all the RPC and other ports are open I confirmed that in bi-direction. Restarted the Exchange servers as well and also 

Issues: unable to run get-mailboxdatabase -status to pull data from Remote Servers as you can see in picture when running this command from any of these servers. No warning only for the Server from where it is ran locally. In ECP, getting details on a database mounted on Servers will produce the error above In ECP, anything tried to open or edit related to new Exchange Server 2019 produce the same error. I just shutdown the new Exchange Server 2019 for checking and after that When I run this command it gives no warning message for the databases for Exchange 2013 nodes which are in DAG.

I've tried everything I can think of and I'm stumped. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Hi @Hin-V Thank you so much for your excellent detail and support. Please note after enabling/allowing the any-to-any ports between Exchange servers (2013-2019) subjected issue resolved. Moreover, now able to access the ECP from new Exchange 2019 server as well, which previously only was working from Exchange 2013 servers and when tried to edit the databases like to change the name or view the settings I was getting RPC warning. which is now also resolved after enabling any-to-any ports between Exchange Servers. Even though, as per Microsoft there must be any-to-any ports allowed between Exchange Servers and Exchange Server to domain controllers. If there a firewall between Exchange Servers even that any-to-any must be allowed for communication between Exchange Servers. https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/exchange/exchange-firewalls-and-support8230-oh-my/595710

Answer 2

Please note that our forum is a public platform, and we will modify your question to hide your personal information in the description. Kindly ensure that you hide any personal or organizational information the next time you post an error or other details to protect personal data.  

Hi @Mirza Irfan Anjum

Thank you for sharing your concerns.

Based on your description, the warning "Exchange can't connect to the Information Store service on server XYZ.LOCAL" when running Get-MailboxDatabase -Status (or similar status cmdlets) might indicated to connectivity between the Exchange servers (or between your PowerShell session and the target server). 

As far as I know, the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service (MSExchangeIS) on each Mailbox server is responsible for managing the actual mailbox databases. Cmdlets like Get-MailboxDatabase -Status, Get-Mailbox -Status, or Mount-Database need to query this service directly on the server that hosts the database to retrieve live status information (mounted/dismounted, copy status). 

In a mixed Exchange 2013 and 2019 environment (without a shared DAG), when you run the cmdlet from one server or remotely, it often tries to contact the Information Store service on the other server via RPC (Remote Procedure Call). If that RPC connection fails, you might encounter this warning. 

Reference: Overview of Exchange 2013 services: Exchange 2013 Help | Microsoft Learn 

Get-MailboxDatabase -Status does not work reliably across different major versions (between 2013 and 2019) without proper inter-server connectivity. It could work if  you run it locally on the server that owns the database or when full RPC connectivity exists between all Exchange servers in the organization. 

You could try to: 

Restart the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service on XYZ.LOCAL. 

Run the cmdlet locally on each server. 

Please note that this summary is based on my own findings and may not fully address your concerns. To help you reach your goal more effectively, I recommend engaging with  [GitHub Community Forum] for a deeper technical dive or to connect with individuals who have relevant experience and expertise. Some approaches may behave differently or be restricted depending on your specific environment and configuration. These forums include many experienced developers and Microsoft specialists who can assist with troubleshooting and guidance.  

Apologies for redirecting you to the related development team support. As moderators in this community, we do not have access to your specific tenant configuration, and my testing environment is limited. Therefore, my guidance is based on available Microsoft documentation and resources. That said, I’ll do my best to provide additional insight where possible.  

If you have any additional concerns, feel free to comment below. I would be more than happy to assist. 

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