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Question
Friday, December 13, 2013 7:08 PM
Hello All...
Trying to uninstall Exchange 2013 CUv2 v2. I've moved all the Mailboxes, Arbitration, Discovery, Public Folder, etc to another working server. Everything was moved over fine. Uninstall via the control panel proceeded as normal, then just failed. No choice but to exit. Now when trying to recover, and uninstall again....I cannot. I get the vague error of "**An incomplete installation was detected. Run setup to complete Exchange installation." **
Not that I want to, but tried to reinstall, but can't do that either.
I know it's a last resort and not supported, but can I just use ASDIEdit ,and manually remove the server references? If so, what is a good guide on the procedure....? I don't want spend hours pouring over setup logs and the registry if I don't have to- just want this removed from AD.
I've searched the net quite a bit on manual removal, but can't find a concise how-to...
Any help is appreciated ...Thanks
All replies (24)
Monday, December 16, 2013 10:00 AM ✅Answered
Hi,
It is not recommended to remove Exchange Server using ADSIEdit.
If you really want to do so, please run ADSIEdit.msc and locate to:
CN=configuration
DC=domain name,DC=com
CN=Services
CN=Microsoft Exchange
CN=Organization
CN=Administrative Groups
CN=(Groupname)
CN=Servers
What's more, here is a thread for your reference.
Remove Failed Exchange 2010 Install (Note: Though it is Exchange 2010, I think it also applies to Exchange 2013)
Hope it helps.
If there are any problems, please feel free to let me know.
Best regards,
Amy
Amy Wang
TechNet Community Support
Tuesday, December 17, 2013 2:27 PM ✅Answered | 1 vote
There should not be any ill effects as long as you delete only that server. I would advise that you be very careful and pay close attention to what you are deleting. If your not sure a safer option would be to make a backup of your AD so you have that just in case of accidental deletion of a critical item. You can search TechNet for specifics on backing up your AD according to your Server version (2003, 2008, etc).
HossFly, Exchange Administrator
Friday, December 13, 2013 7:27 PM
Give this a try and let us know.
To remove the server open ADSI-Edit and go to configuration
Navigate to this path:
CN=Configuration,DC=DOMAIN,DC=LOCAL
CN=Services
CN=Microsoft Exchange
CN=EXCHANGE_ORG
CN=Administrative Groups
**for Exchange **
CN=Exchange Administrative Group (FYDIBOHF23SPDLT)
CN=Servers
HossFly, Exchange Administrator
Monday, December 16, 2013 2:53 PM
Amy....thanks. I really don't WANT to do this-- but as long as the consensus is that it won't do any harm...I'll remove it via ADSIEdit...since I can't re-install it anyway.
I'll let you know how I make out....
Monday, December 16, 2013 3:05 PM
Check the registry for the water mark key, if you see the WaterMark Key, delete the WaterMark key and try to uninstall.
Post the update.
Gulab Prasad,
Exchange Ranger
Z-Hire Employee Provisioning App
Tuesday, December 17, 2013 2:12 PM
Gulab..... I only found one watermark key under this key:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ExchangeServer\v15\MailboxRole]
I don't think that's the one related to setup- none the less I removed it but still can't uninstall.
Think I'll go the ADSIEdit route- there should be no ill effects doing that right?
Wednesday, December 18, 2013 2:34 PM
Thanks all... for the input and reassurance- all looks good now. Removed that one problem exchange server with ADSIEdit...
Happy holidays....!
Monday, March 10, 2014 6:36 AM | 4 votes
use same Exhcnage 2013 Media(if CU2 , use CU2) and use command prompt
command line: setup.com /m:uninstall
Friday, June 13, 2014 12:14 PM | 31 votes
Hi,
You'll need Microsoft Exchnage Server 2013 media. (DVD/ISO).
Execute the following command using command promt (run cmd as administrator):
Setup.exe /mode:Uninstall /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms
I was having identical problem and by using this method I didn't have to use ADSIEdit.
Sunday, July 20, 2014 5:38 PM
Thank you!!
the setup.exe /m:uninstall command worked perfectly. Now I can try again to get Exchange 2013 to install correctly. :)
Saturday, November 22, 2014 5:33 PM
This worked perfectly.
Thanks!
Eimis
Friday, July 17, 2015 12:15 AM
Lokys you little genius. Thanks for saving me from the anxiety that is ADSIEDIT.
Crystal Chadwick Sr. Exchange Administrator
Wednesday, August 26, 2015 9:28 AM | 1 vote
We always look for answers on forums and never give thanks when its do. But today I would like to say THANK YOU!
I wasted 8 hours trying to get the regedit key (watermark) and was about to do the ADSIEDIT and came across your suggestion and it was validated with a few users.
I am in the process now of uninstalling and THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
Friday, October 16, 2015 2:41 PM
Awesome.. This worked
Sunday, July 3, 2016 9:19 AM
Thank you.....!!
this also worked for me (setup.com /m:uninstall). Now I can do the uninstallation without touching ADSIEdit
Monday, December 5, 2016 8:02 PM
Hi,
You'll need Microsoft Exchnage Server 2013 media. (DVD/ISO).
Execute the following command using command promt (run cmd as administrator):
Setup.exe /mode:Uninstall /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms
I was having identical problem and by using this method I didn't have to use ADSIEdit.
I can confirm that this does not work for Exchange 2016 CU3 running on Server 2016. A botched install of Exchange, and me trying to get rid of it so I can install again. Receiving same error messages, but this post didn't work for me.
Thursday, July 20, 2017 12:43 PM
Had an issue where Exchange 2016 CU6 Setup failed because full disk.
After fixing that, and starting setup.exe in GUI mode again, it failed with a huge ammount of errors.
Trying to remove Exchange in "Programs and Features" failed saying "incomplete installation detected".
Trying to remove it with Setup.exe /mode:Uninstall started letting me hope, it yould work. Then it failed again when trying to remove Mailbox service.
The error is "[ERROR] This mailbox database contains one or more mailboxes, mailbox plans, archive m......"
Now i have an installation that cannot be completet now be uninstalled. Nice.
Friday, July 21, 2017 4:15 PM
i ended up deleting and installing the exchange server from scratch on. took some time to tidy up AD before exchange could be installed in the same domain again.
Tuesday, August 15, 2017 10:49 PM
This may be an older post but I wanted to mention that this did work for me as well. Though I forced removal from a failed Exchange server from Active Directory using ADSI Edit, I never felt good about it. Thanks for the post (3 years ago lol)
Friday, January 19, 2018 9:53 PM
I received the same error trying to uninstall an Exchange 2013 CU18 mailbox server via "Program Features", which died at step 7, but the uninstall successfully completed using the cmdlet above, thank you!
Wednesday, February 21, 2018 7:31 PM
I had same issue and I ran the following command "setup.com /mode:uninstall" and the problem has been resolved. Many Thanks
Tuesday, March 6, 2018 10:16 AM
I'm having the same issue right now, with Exchange Server 2016 CU6. Were you able to find a solution of is the only way to Uninstall it, to start from scratch or back-up?
Sunday, March 18, 2018 6:31 AM
> Setup.exe /mode:Uninstall /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms
That solved my problem quickly and safely. Thanks!
Rick
Monday, June 25, 2018 7:11 AM
Hi,
You'll need Microsoft Exchnage Server 2013 media. (DVD/ISO).
Execute the following command using command promt (run cmd as administrator):
Setup.exe /mode:Uninstall /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms
I was having identical problem and by using this method I didn't have to use ADSIEdit.
Thank You.
It helped me.
Ashraf