You may receive the "An invalid dn syntax has been specified" error message when you try to use the Recover Mailbox Data feature to restore a mailbox from a Recovery Storage Group in Exchange Server 2003

Hotfix Download Available
View and request hotfix downloads

View products that this article applies to.

SYMPTOMS

When you try to use the Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1) Recover Mailbox Data feature to restore a Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 mailbox from a Recovery Storage Group, you may receive the following error message:

Error 80072032 An invalid dn syntax has been specified

Back to the top

CAUSE

This issue may occur when the mailbox name contains a comma (,) character. Mailbox names may contain a comma character if the Display Name field has a "Last Name, First Name" format. The Exchange Server 2003 SP1 Recover Mailbox Data feature locates mailboxes by using the Display Name field.

Back to the top

RESOLUTION

Service pack information

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Exchange Server 2003. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

836993 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/836993/EN-US/ ) How to obtain the latest service packs for Exchange Server 2003

Back to the top

Hotfix information

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix might receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next software update that contains this hotfix.

If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, contact Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the hotfix.

Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support (http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support)

Note The "Hotfix download available" form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. If you do not see your language, it is because a hotfix is not available for that language.

Prerequisites

No prerequisites are required.

Restart requirement

You must restart your computer after you apply this software update.

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix is not replaced by any later 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 tool in Control Panel.

   Date         Time   Version        Size        File name
   -----------------------------------------------------------
   26-Aug-2004  19:44  6.5.7232.31    21,659,648  Exadmin.dll      
   31-Jul-2004  23:39  6.5.6980.94        20,480  Exhotfix.dll

Back to the top

WORKAROUND

To work around this issue, use the Microsoft Exchange Server Mailbox Merge Wizard (Exmerge.exe) to restore information from a Recovery Storage Group to the mailbox of the user in the regular storage group.

For information about how to obtain and to use the Exmerge.exe tool, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/bb288482.aspx (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/bb288482.aspx)

Back to the top

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.
This problem was first corrected in Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2.

Back to the top