Support for the Esentutl.exe tool on a Windows Server 2003 certification authority database

This article describes support for the Esentutl.exe tool on a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 certification authority (CA) database. You can use the Esentutl.exe tool to maintain a Windows Server 2003 CA database.

The Esentutl.exe tool is supported for many Microsoft products and services. For example, the Esentutl.exe tool is supported for the Active Directory directory service and for Microsoft Exchange Server. Both Active Directory and Exchange Server use a Microsoft Joint Engine Technology (JET) database.

The Windows Server 2003-based CA server uses a JET Blue database.

Note The JET Blue database is generated by the Extensible Storage Engine.

A Windows Server 2003 CA database stores the following items:

• Every certificate request that is received by the CA, regardless of the disposition.
• Every certificate that is issued by the CA.
• Every certificate that is revoked by the CA.

We recommend that you back up the CA database before you use the Esentutl.exe tool. For example, back up the database before you run the following set of Esentutl.exe commands on a Windows Server 2003-based computer:

• Perform a defragmentation of the Perfca.edb database
  %systemdrive%\windows\system32\certlog>esentutl -d Perfca.edb
• Examine the integrity of the Perfca.edb database
  %systemdrive%\windows\system32\ certlog >esentutl /g Perfca.edb
• Perform database recovery
  %systemdrive%\windows\system32\ certlog >esentutl /r edb
• Perform a lossy repair of the Perfca.edb database
  %systemdrive%\windows\system32\ certlog >esentutl /p Perfca.edb
• View the Perfca.edb database in File Dump mode
  %systemdrive%\windows\system32\ certlog >esentutl /mh Perfca.edb

Note The Esentutl.exe tool is located in the %systemdrive%\Windows\System32 folder.