I am attempting to uninstall Exchange 2010 that exists at a DR site in which Double Take Availability was used to replicate the Exchange Database and logs in the event of a catastrophe. Long story short, this server is no longer necessary and I'd like to get rid of it to free up some space on the DR box.
Attempting to uninstall the server on the DR site fails at the Readiness Check with the following error.
Error: Uninstall cannot continue. Database 'Public Folder Database XXXXXXXXXX (servername)': The critical property 'PublicFolderHierarchy' is missing in the PublicFolderDatabase object 'Public Folder Database XXXXXXXXXX (servername)'
In investigating this error I've come across This Article however there is nothing matching the CN=ServerName discussed in my Configuration Container of ADSI.
I'm stumped on this one - any help would be appreciated.
On the DRsite run the following command on exchange powershell.
If the DR server has not synchronised for a while this might be causing the error. Above will update hierarchy and might allow you then remove.
Sorry for the late response on this but I submitted a ticket with Double Take and this issue is caused because when Double-Take Application Protection creates a job, it sets the msExchOwningPFTree Attribute from the standby server (Target) to NUL. This setting is necessary for public replication between the live Exchange Servers and the standby Exchange Server not to occur. Exchange Server Uninstall script fails because it is looking for the missing attribute's value.
The solution to the issue was to use ADSIEDIT to locate CN=Configuration, CN=Services, CN=Org Name, CN=Administrative Groups, CN=Exchange Administrative Group (FYIXXXXXXXXXXX), CN=Databases, CN=Public Folder Database 123123(DRServer Name) and delete the entire folder.
Once that was done the uninstall process ran without issue.