XADM: Workarounds for Problems with Mbconn.exe

This article describes workarounds for the following known problems in Mbconn version 6.0.4417:

• Mbconn sets uppercase legacyExchangeDN delimiters, which causes Outlook clients to be unable to publish their free/busy information.
• Mbconn suddenly quits after using file browse dialog boxes.
• Ldifde import does not work because of improperly formatted records in the Mbconn export file.
• You receive "No such object" or "No private databases found on this server" error messages.
• All mailbox reconnections are reported as failures, even though the reconnections actually worked.
  
  NOTE: It may take 10 minutes or longer for mailboxes to become accessible after a reconnection operation.

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

To work around the Mbconn problems that are listed in the "Symptoms" section of this article, use the workarounds in the following sections (as applicable):

Mbconn Sets Uppercase LegacyExchangeDN Delimiters

An Outlook client will not process free/busy information correctly if the legacyExchangeDN attribute of the owning user object has uppercase delimiters. For example, a typical legacyExchangeDN looks similar to this: An MBCONN-generated legacyExchangeDN will look similar to this: The Fbfix.exe tool can be used to automatically correct this problem. For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Alternatively, you can export and import the affected objects by using Ldifde.exe, which is installed by default on Windows 2000 server.

1. Generate an LDIF format export file that contains all of the user objects that must be changed. You can do this on a per domain basis. If your Active Directory domain name is headquarters.mycompany.com, and a domain controller in that domain is called DC01, the following Ldifde command will export all objects in the domain that have a legacyExchangeDN value:
   LDIFDE -F E:\LEGACY.LDF -D "DC=HEADQUARTERS,DC=MYCOMPANY,DC=COM" -R "(LEGACYEXCHANGEDN=*)"
   In the preceding command, the -L parameter restricts the output for each object to only the legacyExchangeDN value, thus making it easy to edit the file for re-import.
   
   This command should generate an export file that contains several entries similar to the following:
   dn: CN=Doe\, John,OU=Corporate,DC=Headquarters,DC=Mycompany,DC=com
   changetype: add
   legacyExchangeDN: /O=Organization/OU=Corporate/CN=Recipients/CN=JohnD
   dn: CN=Doe\, Jane,OU=Corporate,DC=Headquarters,DC=Mycompany,DC=com
   changetype: add
   legacyExchangeDN: /O=Organization/OU=Corporate/CN=Recipients/CN=JaneD
2. Edit the file for re-import.
   
   It is much easier to change the export file into a proper import file if you have a text editor that supports search and replace across line breaks. Notepad does not support this capability, but Microsoft Word does. The instructions given here for editing the file are for Word, but may work in other editors.
   
   The LDIF file syntax for making modifications to existing objects is quite different from the syntax for adding objects. The export is in the "add" format, and must be transformed to the "modify" format.
   
   Each record must be changed from this format:
   dn: CN=Doe\, John,OU=Corporate,DC=Headquarters,DC=Mycompany,DC=com
   changetype: add
   legacyExchangeDN: /O=Organization/OU=Corporate/CN=Recipients/CN=JohnD
   to this format:
   dn: CN=Doe\, John,OU=Corporate,DC=Headquarters,DC=Mycompany,DC=com
   changetype: modify
   replace: legacyExchangeDN
   legacyExchangeDN: /o=Organization/ou=Corporate/cn=Recipients/cn=JohnD
   Specifically, you must make the following changes:
   
   
   • You must change the changetype value from add to modify.
   • You must add a line beneath the changetype line that reads replace: legacyExchangeDN.
   • You must change the /O=, /OU=, and /CN= characters in the legacyExchangeDN to lowercase.
   • You must add a hyphen on a line by itself after each entry, and there must be an additional blank line separating entries.
   NOTE: The LDIF import format must be strictly adhered to; even minor deviations cause errors when you try to import the file. There must be one space and only one space after each colon in each entry. If you need to break long lines, you must indent the continuation of each line exactly one space. At the end of the file, the last entry must also contain a hyphen, and a blank line under the hyphen, or the file does not import correctly.
   
   Many text editors, including Word, use the characters ^p to represent line breaks. ("^p" does not stand for "CONTROL+P", but for the caret (^) character followed by a lower case p.) The following table uses the ^p convention to represent a line break, and defines each search and replace change needed in Word to transform the file:

   Search for . . .              Replace with. . . 
   
   /O=                           /o=
   
   /OU=                          /ou=
   
   /CN=                          /cn=
   
   ^p^p                          ^p-^p^p
   
   changetype: add^p             changetype: modify^preplace: legacyExchangeDN^p
   					

   IMPORTANT: If you use Word or another word processing program to edit the file, be sure to save the file as plain text. Inspect the file in Notepad after you save the file to be sure that the file is readable and is formatted correctly as plain text.
3. Import EXPORT.LDF back into Active Directory by using the following command:

All objects should import successfully. If there are any problems, Ldifde reports the line on which a problem was encountered. Investigate such problems by carefully examining the affected record in the import file. For most errors, Ldifde stops the import procedure at the first error, even if records after the error are good. If the cause of an error is not immediately obvious, it may be more efficient to remove the problem record, finish the import, and then manually modify the object that did not import by using ADSIEdit or Ldp.

You can verify that all objects were modified by running the ldifde command that you used previously to export the objects. You should no longer be able to find uppercase /O, /OU or /CN values in the file.

After you modify the legacyExchangeDN values, you need to stop and restart all Exchange 2000 services, including the system attendant.

Mbconn Quits Suddenly After You Type a Log File Name in the Browse Dialog Box

Mbconn automatically generates a log file of Mbconn operations in the folder that Mbconn.exe resides in. If this location is not writeable (for example, if Mbconn.exe is on a read-only share), Mbconn prompts you to select a different log file location. A standard file selection dialog box is displayed. Regardless of the location or file name that you select, Mbconn quits unexpectedly.

To work around this problem, either copy Mbconn to a writeable location, or click Cancel in the file browse dialog box to use Mbconn without logging.

Mbconn Quits Suddenly After You Browse for an Export File Location

When you create an export file, if you click the file Browse button, Mbconn quits suddenly.

To work around this problem, type the file name, and then click Generate to create an export file.

Mbconn Does Not Enumerate Exchange Databases

After you define the domain controller and Exchange computer to which you want Mbconn to connect, you may receive either of the following error messages: This problem can occur if the administrator is not logged on with a Microsoft Windows account that belongs to the parent domain of the Active Directory Configuration container. The Configuration container is created as a sub-container of the first domain that is installed in an Active Directory forest. If the forest contains multiple trees, it may not be obvious which tree holds the Configuration container. To discover which domain is the parent of the Configuration container:

1. Start the Active Directory Sites and Services administrative console.
2. Click the Sites object, and then open its properties.
3. Click the Object tab. If the parent domain is domain.com, it is listed on the tab in the following format:
   domain.com/Configuration/Sites

To work around this problem and use Mbconn, you must log on to Windows with an account from this domain, regardless of the location of the domain controller or Exchange 2000 server with which you are working.

Mbconn Reports That Reconnection Does Not Work Even If Reconnection Succeeds

If Mbconn successfully reconnects a mailbox to a user, but Mbconn may still report that all reconnections did not work. If an administrator starts Exchange System Manager, and then runs the Cleanup Agent to verify the connection state of all of the mailboxes, the Cleanup Agent does not work, and you receive the following error message: The following error message is logged simultaneously in the Application event log: If you try to reconnect a single failed user in the Mailboxes window in Exchange System Manager, you may receive the following error message: If you restart services or System Manager, it does not clear the error. In most cases, approximately 10 minutes pass before the mailboxes become accessible. (When you can run the Cleanup Agent again successfully, the reconnection process has completed.)

You can use Ldifde to examine the homeMDB and mailNickname attributes of a user. If these attributes exist, the Mbconn portion of the reconnection process actually succeeded. To use Ldifde to examine the homeMDB and mailNickname attributes of a user, you must know the distinguished name of the user account. In its preview mode, Mbconn displays the distinguished name of the user account that Mbconn intends to link with a mailbox. For example, if you run the following command the following is a sample of the output that is generated: NOTE: Regardless of whether you find the homeMDB and mailNickname attributes for the user, Ldifde should report "1 entries exported." If Ldifde reports "No entries found," Ldifde was unable to read the user object from the directory. You may have typed the distinguished name incorrectly, you may not have sufficient permissions to view the object, or you may not have escaped characters that require escape. (For additional information about characters that require escape, see the "Export File Reports Errors During Active Directory Import" section of this article.)

If the homeMDB and mailNickname attributes are present, and you can run the Cleanup Agent successfully, it is possible that the Recipient Update Service cannot complete the reconnection process by stamping additional attributes on the user object. If user objects do not have a proxyAddresses attribute, the Recipient Update Service has not yet processed the object.

To work around this problem and avoid most apparent reconnection problems, add the following line to each record in the Mbconn export file: For additional information about the msExchUserAccountControl value, see the "Export File Reports Errors During Active Directory Import" section.

Export File Reports Errors During Active Directory Import

The following is the general format of each LDIF record in the export file: The following is the typical command syntax for importing the file: If syntax or formatting errors occur during import, Ldifde stops the import and reports the line in the file at which the problem record begins. (For example, an error in the first record is reported as an error at line 1.) If an entry already exists in Active Directory, the second attempt to import the file results in an error unless you use the -K switch. You cannot modify previously created entries by adding attributes to a record and re-importing the record. The LDIF standard does provide for modifications of existing directory objects, but the format and syntax are very different from the format for creating records.

In general, to troubleshoot an LDIF import, you need to locate the line that contains the record that is in error, and then examine the record for a specific problem.

The following are common problems that are encountered in Mbconn export files:

• Characters in the distinguished name may not be escaped properly. The following characters must be escaped when used in a distinguished name:
  
  
  • comma (,)
  • equal sign (=)
  • plus (+)
  • backslash (\)
  • semicolon (;)
  • quotation marks (")
  • angle brackets (< >)
  This problem most commonly occurs because of commas in CN values (such as "CN=Last, First" instead of "CN=First Last"). The LDIF format uses a comma as a delimiter between the segments of a fully distinguished name. To use a comma within a segment, you must escape the comma with a backslash (for example, "Last\, First").
• The sn (surname) field may be blank. The mailbox table in a database does not contain givenName and sn fields; therefore, Mbconn determines as best it can what the values should be, assuming that a space in the CN indicates a division. If there is no space in the CN, Mbconn treats the entire CN as the givenName, and leaves the sn blank. Because any attribute that is designated in an LDIF import file must have a value, the import does not work. To work around this problem, perform a search and replace to give all blank sn attributes a generic surname.
• There may be illegal characters in the samAccountName. A samAccountName must contain no more than 20 characters and cannot include a space or any of the following characters:
  
  
  • asterisk (*)
  • equal sign (=)
  • plus (+)
  • brackets ([ ])
  • backslash (\)
  • vertical bar (|)
  • semicolon (;)
  • colon (:)
  • quotation marks (")
  • comma (,)
  • angle brackets (< >)
  • period (.)
  • slash mark (/)
  • question mark (?)
  Mbconn constructs the samAccountName from the CN; therefore, most CNs that contain characters that require escape also contain illegal samAccountNames.

The following batch file can correct these three problems for most MBconn export files. The batch file is double spaced, with a blank line between each single line in the file. This formatting allows you to easily identify lines that may have wrapped improperly on your display.

This batch file does four things:

• Adds the escape character to the DN value, as necessary.
• Strips illegal characters from the samAccountName.
• Adds the msExchUserAccountControl value to each record.
• Removes the givenName, sn, and cn lines from each record. (If you want to keep these lines, you can edit the batch file to preserve them.)

This batch file runs on Microsoft Windows 2000 or Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, as long as the default command line extensions are enabled.

There are two mandatory parameters: the name of the Mbconn export file, and a new file name for the changes, for example: Clip and paste the batch file into a plain text editor, and then save the batch file as Mbconnfix.bat.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server. This problem was first corrected in Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server Service Pack 2.

The Mbconn.exe utility is included on the Exchange 2000 Server CD-ROM. It is used most often in conjunction with Exmerge.exe during alternate server database recoveries. In an alternate server recovery, an Exchange 2000 database from one Active Directory forest is started on a recovery server in another forest, usually to salvage data from that database. In this scenario, you can use Mbconn to generate Active Directory user accounts for each mailbox that you want to recover. You can then use Exmerge to merge data from the recovery database back to a production database.

Mbconn can generate an LDIF format file, which you can import into Active Directory with Ldifde.exe. The Mbconn export file performs a function that is similar to that of the DS/IS consistency adjuster in earlier versions of Exchange Server; the Mbconn export file creates directory accounts that match "orphaned" mailboxes in an Exchange database, which allows you to gain access to those mailboxes again. You can edit the export file to remove accounts or add attributes before you import the export file.

NOTE: Because the mailbox table in a database contains only a small set of attributes that link the mailbox to a particular user account, it is not possible to automatically repopulate the directory with optional attributes, such as telephone numbers.

For additional information about general procedures to set up alternate server recoveries, see the "Exchange 2000 Server Database Recovery" white paper at the following Microsoft Web site: