A server in a cluster may fail over when you try to create a dump file of the information store using ADPlus or Userdump in Exchange 2000 Server or Exchange Server 2003

You try to create a dump file of the process that hosts the cluster resource, such as Mad.exe, Store.exe, Emsmta.exe, Inetinfo.exe, and so on. You do this by using the ADPlus or the Userdump utilities on a Microsoft Windows 2000 Server-based cluster or on a Windows Server 2003-based cluster that has either Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server or Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 installed. However, the Exchange resources may stop working and fail over to another cluster node.

Method 1: Turn off the "Affect the group" resource option

To resolve this issue, turn off the Affect the group resource option, collect the information store dump file, and then turn back on the Affect the group resource option. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Start Cluster Administrator.
2. Expand the Server container, and then expand Active Resources.
3. Right-click the appropriate virtual resource instance that you want, and then click Properties.
4. Click the Advanced tab, click to clear Affect the group, and then click OK.
5. Quit Cluster Administrator.
6. Use the ADPlus utility or the Userdump utility to collect the information store dump file.
7. After you have collected the dump file, turn on the Affect the group resource option in Cluster Administrator.

Method 2: Increase the Exchange Server time-out value

To resolve this problem, you can increase the Exchange Server time-out value to 600,000 milliseconds (600 seconds or 10 minutes). The default time-out value in Exchange 2000 Server and in Exchange Server 2003 is 180,000 milliseconds (180 seconds or 3 minutes).

Exchange 2000 Server

In Exchange 2000 Server, the Exchange storePendingTimeOut property controls the length of time that the resource can remain in an unresponsive state before a time-out occurs. To increase the time-out value in Exchange 2000 Server, follow these steps:

1. Open a Command Prompt window.
2. To view the PendingTimeOut property settings, type cluster res "resource name" /prop, and then press ENTER.
3. To change the value of the PendingTimeOut property, type cluster res "resource name" /prop PendingTimeOut=600000:DWORD, and then press ENTER.
   
   This value is read when the resource first comes online. If you make a change, you must take the resource offline and then bring the resource online.

Exchange Server 2003

In Exchange Server 2003, the Exchange store IsAliveTimeOut property controls the length of time that the resource can remain in an unresponsive state before a time-out occurs. To increase the time-out value in Exchange Server 2003, follow these steps:

1. Open a Command Prompt window.
2. To change the value, type cluster res <resource name> /priv IsAliveTimeout=600000:DWORD, and then press ENTER.
   
   This value is read when the resource first comes online. If you make a change, you must take the resource offline and then bring the resource online.

By default, all cluster resources, such as the Exchange information store, are configured to affect the group where they belong. For more information about Cluster service fail over policies, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For more information about Exchange Server clusters, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

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