Exchange2013 unable to remove empty database

Question

I am unable to remove one of the mailbox databases in our exchange org.

The error i get says it is because the MailboxDB is not empty, but I've checked for all types of mailboxes. There are no regular, archive, or arbitration mailboxes on this database according to powershell.

I also made sure this database is not an archive target DB for any mailboxes in the organization.

the exact error is:

This mailbox database contains one or more mailboxes, mailbox plans, archive mailboxes, public folder mailboxes or arbitration mailboxes, Audit mailboxes. To get a list of all mailboxes in this database, run the command Get-Mailbox -Database . To get a list of all mailbox plans in this database, run the command Get-MailboxPlan. To get a list of archive mailboxes in this database, run the command Get-Mailbox -Database -Archive. To get a list of all public folder mailboxes in this database, run the command Get-Mailbox -Database -PublicFolder. To get a list of all arbitration mailboxes in this database, run the command Get-Mailbox -Database -Arbitration. To get a list of all Audit mailboxes in this database, run the command Get-Mailbox -Database -AuditLog. To disable a non-arbitration mailbox so that you can delete the mailbox database, run the command Disable-Mailbox . To disable an archive mailbox so you can delete the mailbox database, run the command Disable-Mailbox -Archive. To disable a public folder mailbox so that you can delete the mailbox database, run the command Disable- Mailbox -PublicFolder. To disable a Audit mailbox so that you can delete the mailbox database, run the command Get-Mailbox -AuditLog | Disable-Mailbox. Arbitration mailboxes should be moved to another server; to do this, run the command New-MoveRequest . If this is the last server in the organization, run the command Disable-Mailbox -Arbitration -DisableLastArbitrationMailboxAllowed to disable the arbitration mailbox. Mailbox plans should be moved to another server; to do this, run the command Set-MailboxPlan -Database .

This is when i thought to run "Remove-MailboxDatabase" with -verbose. This did not return any verbose text. Instead it only returns the error.

this database is not part of a database availability group and all our servers are on premise. This was also not the first mailbox database created in this organization. It is the default first mailbox database created on that server however.

Answer 1

The error message is close to useless, as half of what it refers isn't available in on premise installations. Run through the following commands:

get-mailbox -database "DatabaseName"

get-mailbox -database "Databasename" -archive

get-mailbox -database "Databasename" -arbitration

get-mailbox -database "Databasename" -publicfolder

get-mailbox -database "Databasename" -monitoring

I expect one of those will come back with a result. Move/Remove the mailbox in question, depending on the result.

Answer 2

get-mailbox -database db1 -archive does not work for me Exchange 2016 must use: get-mailbox | ? {$_.archivedatabase -eq "DB1"} (case sensitive to boot)

Answer 3

It is important to know that system mailboxes (like arbitration and so on) are created on the root domain by default. So if somebody see the same error here, but do not see the mailboxes via Get-Mailbox ... this might be due to the reason that the command isn´t running against the whole forest (e.g. Exchange isn´t deployed on the root level).

This can be changed via the powershell command:

Set-AdServerSettings -ViewEntireForest $True

then the mailbox commands like:

get-mailbox -database "Databasename" -arbitration

show also arbitration mailboxes where the AD object is created on the root.

Answer 4

I solved the problem easily. 3 users have "archive" in the database that I am trying to delete. I then run this command

Get-MailboxDatabase  -Identity "database" | Get-MailboxStatistics

and it list all mailboxes in this database. With this command I discovered the archive mailbox associated to an user! I then disabled the archive for these users in ECP and with this procedure I can delete the database