The worst alarming situation for any Exchange administrator is when the EDB file gets damaged or corrupt or due to any Jet error. We all know that Microsoft Exchange stores all the mailboxes of users in Exchange database (EDB file), which can also be accessed through MS Outlook Email client without any trouble. But, like any other file there are circumstances when EDB files too get damaged or corrupt.
Generally, when you face Jet Error it may become practically unmanageable for you to access the exchange database files. Unluckily, such instances results in serious data loss and in order to regain access to your important data, it is necessary for you to figure out the main cause of this problem and resolve it by using the right method. One such Exchange Server Jet error which the user gets quite frequently is:
“Error -1216 (JET_errAttachedDatabaseMismatch)”
Reason of Error -1216 Generation
Error -1216 is generated when assessment of the header information in the log files and databases shows that there has been removal or substitution of some important files. This error is a notice to the admin that if soft recovery is run, it might start the storage group; on the other hand will leave the storage group running with a number of data files missing. If you run soft recovery, it might be hard or impossible to incorporate the lost information again into the storage group.
When a storage group gets started, whether the previous shutdown was unusual or not, header information is examined by the system; if the system's assessment of file headers exposes inconsistencies, a -1216 Jet error is reverted.
Resolve 1216 Errors When More Than One Database File Is Inconsistent
If a storage group stops all of a sudden, then there is chance that almost all of the database files will become inconsistent. If the problem that leads to the stoppage of storage group, leaves more than one database files inaccessible, then in that case, the following error message gets logged in the event log of the application.
Event Type: Error
Event Source: ESE98
Event Category: Logging/Recovery
Event ID: 0
Date: 4/24/2001
Time: 6:20:18 PM
User: N/A
Computer: EXCHANGE1
Description: Information Store (4312) Database recovery failed with error -1216 because it encountered references to a database, 'D:\exchsrvr\mdbdata\PRIV2.edb', which is no longer present. The database was not brought to a consistent state before it was removed (or possibly moved or renamed). The database engine will not permit recovery to complete for this instance until the missing database is re-instated. If the database is truly no longer available and no longer required, please contact PSS for further instructions regarding the steps required in order to allow recovery to proceed without this database.
You can easily identify whether the file is inconsistent or not by simply executing ESEUTIL command against the file.
eseutil /mh database_name | find /i "consistent"
If you are using higher versions of Exchange Server i.e. Exchange 2003/ 2007/ 2010 , then you can determine the state of the database file by running the command given below;
eseutil /mh database_name | find /i "Shutdown"
Check out the sample of the Output you get after running the above command
All of the logs must be available to successfully recover the database but in case, any of the logs are missing, you will not be able to perform the database recovery and will be left with no other option other than doing the following
Transfer all database files that are missing last Consistent logs to a safe location and then restore the remaining files by mounting them.
Restore the database from a backup.
Repair the database. To perform this, you need to run the eseutil /p command, eseutil /d command, and after that run the isinteg -fix command.
Note: If you are still getting Jet error 1216, even after implementing the aforementioned methods, then in order to get rid of the jet error, you should try third party Exchange Recovery tools - which are capable enough to resolve Jet errors and to restore the inaccessible mailboxes. One such widely used Exchange Recovery Tool, which can fix the Jet Errors efficiently, is Stellar Phoenix Mailbox Exchange Recovery. This tool can easily repair any severely damaged or corrupt EDB file and restores the totally inaccessible mailboxes into importable PST file. You can find more info about the software at http://www.stellarinfo.com/edb-exchange-server-recovery.htm