AD forest database corrupted!

Hello Kingsley,

If you have used certificates for OWA and the CA was on the root DC this
can happen if the certificates are not longer valid.

Best regards

Meinolf Weber
Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers
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> Hi Guys, forget to mention this earlier. I noticed that I can no
> longer use OWA to access corporate emails running Exchange 2003. But
> users can still use Outlook or MAPI client to both send and receive
> emails. Does this have any connection with my corrupted AD forest root
> server? I need to figure this out quickly........Any idea?
>
> Kingsley.
>
> "Marcin" <marcin@community.nospam> wrote in message
> news:uj8mqC4DKHA.1540@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>
>> Root domain is essential to the functioning of entire forest - so
>> reinstalling the DC is not the option here. For implications, refer
>> to
>> http://blogs.technet.com/instan/arch...-where-s-my-fo
>> rest-root.aspx
>>
>> Without a valid backup, your options are limited (I assume you
>> already tried http://support.microsoft.com/kb/258062 - correct?).
>> Besides learning a valuable lesson first-hand, you could also try
>> promoting another DC in the same domain, although I doubt that this
>> will be successful. Ultimately, you might need to look into migration
>> of your forest...
>>
>> hth
>> Marcin
>> "Kingsley Akhimien" <d_worldsgreatest@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:E427F8A4-C451-4A88-8B45-462AC7D9883D@microsoft.com...
>>
>>> I have problem with my AD forest domain. The AD database of my
>>> forest/root
>>> domain server is corrupted and I don't have a system state backup of
>>> the
>>> forest/root server. I know the AD database is corrupted because when
>>> I
>>> boot
>>> up the server normally it gets to a point saying "rebuilding Active
>>> Directory indices..." but it fails to complete the AD rebuilding. It
>>> then
>>> displays an error message saying "Directory Service cannot
>>> start.....",
>>> it then suggest that I should try starting the server in Active
>>> Directory
>>> Restore Mode.
>>> I am able to start the forest /root server in AD restore mode and
>>> tried
>>> all the database recovery steps and commands from TechNet but still
>>> can't
>>> fix the problem. I know my last option is to reinstall the server
>>> since I
>>> don't
>>> have a system state backup for the restore process. But am scared to
>>> do
>>> this because I don't want to lose my child domain servers
>>> functionalities and connections to the forest domain. My child
>>> domain
>>> servers are responsible
>>> for authentication of all computer and user accounts on the network.
>>> All
>>> users on the domain still can logon to the domain and carry out
>>> domain
>>> tasks even with the forest domain server offline.
>>> My question is if I reinstall the forest domain server, will I lose
>>> the connection and functionality of my child domain server which is
>>> working "fine" presently. Secondly, will domain applications that
>>> depends on some functionalities of the schema and domain naming
>>> master roles (held present by my faulty forest/root server) continue
>>> to function properly. Thirdly, is there any way I can repair the
>>> server without reinstalling.
>>>
>>> My AD domain/server setup is as follows:
>>> - Forest/Parent Domain: DC1.rootdomainname.com
>>> - Child Domain: DC1.childdomainname.rootdomainname.com &
>>> DC2.childdomainname.rootdomainname.com
>>> Please any help will be appreciated.
>>>

"Kingsley Akhimien" <d_worldsgreatest@DELETETHIS.hotmail.com> wrote in
message news:OQKHVHPEKHA.1252@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> Hi Guys, forget to mention this earlier. I noticed that I can no longer
> use OWA to access corporate emails running Exchange 2003. But users can
> still use Outlook or MAPI client to both send and receive emails. Does
> this have any connection with my corrupted AD forest root server? I need
> to figure this out quickly........Any idea?
>
> Kingsley.


Hi Kingsley,

I know I'm getting into this late, and I saw your post earlier, but I was
pretty busy this week with a customer.

As for OWA, what type of error message are you receiving when you try to
connect?

Were you previously connecting with "https?" If so, how was the certificate
provided on the original Exchange installation?

If not accessing it with "https," and simply using "http," was error are you
receiving?

Also, was Forms Authentication previously used?

Can you simply access OWA by typing in http://servername/owa?


--
Ace

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confers no rights.

Please reply back to the newsgroup or forum to benefit from collaboration
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Ace Fekay, MCT, MCTS Exchange, MCSE, MCSA 2003 & 2000, MCSA Messaging
Microsoft Certified Trainer
http://twitter.com/acefekay

For urgent issues, you may want to contact Microsoft PSS directly. Please
check http://support.microsoft.com for regional support phone numbers.