The Microsoft Exchange System Attendant service does not start on a computer that is running Exchange Server 2007 after you rename a Windows Server 2003 domain

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For a Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 version of this article, see 822590 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822590/ ) .

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SYMPTOMS

You use the Rendom.exe utility to rename an existing Microsoft Windows Server 2003 domain. After you do this, the following services do not start on computers that are running Microsoft Exchange Server 2007:

Microsoft Exchange EdgeSync
Microsoft Exchange Information Store
Microsoft Exchange System Attendant
Microsoft Exchange Transport

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CAUSE

This issue occurs because domain rename operations are not supported when Exchange Server 2007 is installed in a Windows Server 2003 domain. If you rename the domain, and if the domain contains computers that are running Exchange Server 2007, the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant service does not start.

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WORKAROUND

To work around this issue, use Rendom.exe to rename the domain its original name.

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MORE INFORMATION

Currently, domain rename operations are not supported by Exchange Server 2007. However, you can still rename a domain that includes Exchange 2007-based computers. You can do this because there is no mechanism to block a domain rename operation when the domain contains Exchange 2007-based computers.

Windows Server 2003 also lets you rename domain controllers. However, if you rename the domain controllers, and if you have Exchange 2007-based computers in the domain, you should consider the following issues:

The Directory Service Access (DSAccess) component can no longer correctly query domain controllers. This issue occurs because domain controllers that were manually specified in Exchange Server 2007 refer to the old domain controller names. In this case, the Exchange-related services no longer function.
Domain controllers that are automatically discovered by DSAccess may not be used until the Exchange Server servers are restarted. This issue occurs because DSAccess stores the original domain controller names in memory.

For more information about Windows Server 2003 domain rename tools, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/bb405948.aspx (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/bb405948.aspx)

For more information about how to specify the domain controller that DSAccess uses, view the information about the Set-ExchangeServer cmdlet. To do this, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/Bb123716.aspx (http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/Bb123716.aspx)

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