An update is available that lets you dump the information store on a clustered Exchange 2000 server

This article discusses an update that lets you create a dump file of the Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server information store on a server cluster if the IsAlive function cannot communicate with a particular resource.

Note The configuration steps in this article apply to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange 2000. The hotfix is only required for Exchange 2000. No hotfix is required to configure DumpProcessOnIsAliveFailure on Exchange 2003.

On a server cluster, the IsAlive function communicates with the cluster resources to determine if those resources are functioning correctly. If a particular resource does not respond, you might want to immediately dump the information store to help you determine why that resource did not respond.

Hotfix information

To resolve this problem, obtain the August 2004 Exchange 2000 Server Post-Service Pack 3 update rollup.

For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Prerequisites

Because of file dependencies, this update requires Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server Service Pack 3 (SP3). For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Restart requirement

You do not have to restart your computer after you install this hotfix. However, you must manually shut down the Cluster Service and all the dependent resources before you install this hotfix. To do this, move the cluster group or groups from the cluster node where you want to install this hotfix, and then stop the Cluster Service on that cluster node.

Additionally, the following service is automatically stopped and then restarted when you apply this hotfix:

• Microsoft Exchange Information Store

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix does not replace any other hotfix.

File information

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time item in Control Panel.

Hotfix installation information

After you install this hotfix, when IsAlive fails because of either a timeout or an error from the IsAlive check, the Exres component determines if the failed cluster resource has the private property DumpProcessOnIsAliveFailure set to a non-zero DWORD value. If this property is set to a non-zero value, Exres calls the existing functionality in Exchange to dump the information store. The function to dump the information store requires the following registry subkey to be set: To configure these settings, follow these steps:

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

1. Install the hotfix on each node of the server cluster.
2. Obtain the User Mode Process Dumper Version 8.1 tool. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Download the UserModeProcessDumper8_1_2929_4.exe file from the following Microsoft Web site:
      http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=E089CA41-6A87-40C8-BF69-28AC08570B7E&displaylang=en (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=E089CA41-6A87-40C8-BF69-28AC08570B7E&displaylang=en)
   2. Run the UserModeProcessDumper8_1_2929_4.exe file to extract the contents.
   3. Copy the Userdump.exe file and the DBGHelp.dll files from the UserModeProcessDumper8_1_2929_4.exe package to the C:\Windows folder.
3. Create a folder where you want the information store dump file to be saved.
   
   For example, create a folder named d:\dumps.
4. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
5. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Exchange\Cluster
6. Right-click Cluster, point to New, and then click String Value.
7. In the New Value #1 box, type ProcessDumpDirPath, and then press ENTER.
8. Right-click ProcessDumpDirPath, and then click Modify.
9. In the Value data box, type the path of the folder where you want the information store dump file to be saved, and then click OK.
   
   For example, type d:\dumps in the Value data box.
10. Quit Registry Editor.
11. Set the private property DumpProcessOnIsAliveFailure on one or more of the Exchange resources. To do this, follow these steps:
    1. On a cluster node, click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
    2. Type the following command, where resourceName is the name of the Exchange cluster resource. Then press ENTER.
       cluster res "resourceName" /priv DumpProcessOnIsAliveFailure=1:dword
       
       
       For example, to set this property on an Exchange resource that is named "SMTP Virtual Server Instance - (MAIL)", type the following command, and then press ENTER:
       cluster res "SMTP Virtual Server Instance - (MAIL)" /priv DumpProcessOnIsAliveFailure=1:dword

If you set the DumpProcessOnIsAliveFailure private property for SMTP, the inetinfo is dumped to the folder that you specified in the ProcessDumpDirPath registry value.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.