Share via

Remove Last Exchange 2010 - Cannot remove Public Folder (Folder replicas)

Bruno Rocha 1 Reputation point
2021-12-10T15:00:05.727+00:00

Hi Guys

Need some help, im trying to remove the last exchange server on my org, but i got this error.

Uninstall cannot continue. Database 'PublicDB01': The public folder database "PublicDB01" contains folder replicas. Before deleting the public folder database, remove the folders or move the replicas to another public folder database. For detailed instructions about how to remove a public folder.

I already try using the console to remove any replicas, and i only got the Internet Newsgroups. And the only replica is the local public database itself.

Try also the removereplicafrompfrecursive.ps1 and the moveallreplicas.ps1 without success. I want to remove it using the cleanest method, and not forcing it from the ADSI edit.

Any help is appreciated. Thank you

Exchange Server Management
Exchange Server Management
Exchange Server: A family of Microsoft client/server messaging and collaboration software.Management: The act or process of organizing, handling, directing or controlling something.
7,505 questions
0 comments

3 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Andy David - MVP 145.6K Reputation points MVP
    2021-12-10T16:08:12.15+00:00
    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Amit Singh 4,956 Reputation points
    2021-12-13T11:12:51.51+00:00

    Since Exchange caches information, as does IIS sometimes we need to simply allow time. The same is also true for Active Directory. Depending on the environment, AD replication latency may also need to be factored in. This may take hours. For a large enterprise, do not expect to run through all of the decommission tasks in a 30 minute maintenance window.

    For more detail check out this article - https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/09/30/unable-to-remove-exchange-2010-public-folder-database/

    Please mark as "Accept the answer" if the above steps helps you. Your suggestion will help others also !

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Kael Yao-MSFT 37,676 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
    2021-12-13T02:42:20.97+00:00

    Hi @BrunoRocha-4314

    Have you run the following commands to delete user public folders and system public folders: 

    Get-PublicFolder -Server <server containing the public folder database> "\" -Recurse -ResultSize:Unlimited | Remove-PublicFolder -Server <server containing the public folder database> -Recurse -ErrorAction:SilentlyContinue  
  
Get-PublicFolder -Server <server containing the public folder database> "\Non_Ipm_Subtree" -Recurse -ResultSize:Unlimited | Remove-PublicFolder -Server <server containing the public folder database> -Recurse -ErrorAction:SilentlyContinue

    If not yet, please run the commands first and check if you can successfully remove the public folder database to uninstall Exchange.

    Here are also two links for your reference:
    Remove the last public folder database from an organization
    Remove Multiple Public Folders from a Public Folder Database

    If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".
    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.