Before updating the Exchange Server, it is recommended to put the Exchange Server in maintenance mode. We can put the Exchange Server in maintenance mode with some PowerShell commands. In this article, we have two Exchange Servers. The names of the Exchange Servers are EX01 and EX02. We will place Exchange Server EX01 in maintenance mode.
Table of contents
- Put Exchange Server in maintenance mode
- Check the load balancer
- How to verify Exchange Server is in maintenance mode
- Conclusion
Put Exchange Server in maintenance mode
Login on the Exchange Server EX01. Run Exchange Management Shell as administrator. Set the Hub Transport Service to draining. It will stop accepting any more messages.
[PS] C:\>Set-ServerComponentState -Identity "EX01" -Component HubTransport -State Draining -Requester MaintenanceCopy
Redirect any queued messages to EX02. The target Server value has to be the target server’s FQDN. The target server shouldn’t be in maintenance mode.
[PS] C:\>Redirect-Message -Server "EX01" -Target "EX02.alitajran.local"
Confirm
Are you sure you want to perform this action?
Redirecting messages to "EX02.alitajran.local".
[Y] Yes [A] Yes to All [N] No [L] No to All [?] Help (default is "Y"): YCopy
If the server is a DAG member, run the following commands. If your server is not a DAG member, skip to the command for setting ServerWideOffline.
Pause the cluster node. Suspend Server EX01 from the DAG.
[PS] C:\>Suspend-ClusterNode "EX01"
Name ID State
---- -- -----
EX01 1 PausedCopy
Disable database copy automatic activation. This command will also move any active database copies to other DAG members. Assuming there are other healthy DAG members available. This is not instantaneous, and it can take several minutes for the moves to occur. We’ll check it in one of the following commands.
[PS] C:\>Set-MailboxServer "EX01" -DatabaseCopyActivationDisabledAndMoveNow $trueCopy
Make a note of the database copy automatic activation policy on the server. You can set it back to this value at the end of maintenance. The default setting is Unrestricted.
[PS] C:\>Get-MailboxServer "EX01" | Select DatabaseCopyAutoActivationPolicy
DatabaseCopyAutoActivationPolicy
--------------------------------
UnrestrictedCopy
Set it to Blocked to prevent any of the databases from becoming Active.
[PS] C:\>Set-MailboxServer "EX01" -DatabaseCopyAutoActivationPolicy BlockedCopy
Check for any database copies that are still mounted on the server. It may take a while for the Active databases to move. This command should return no results. If any database copies are still active on the server and other DAG members host copies of the database, perform a manual switchover.
[PS] C:\>Get-MailboxDatabaseCopyStatus -Server "EX01" | Where {$_.Status -eq "Mounted"}Copy
Once the active databases have been moved, we will check the transport queue. Queues should be empty or almost empty, as we will be disabling all server components. Any emails still pending in the queues will have a delay in delivery until the server is taken out from maintenance mode.
[PS] C:\>Get-Queue
Identity DeliveryType Status MessageCount Velocity RiskLevel OutboundIPPool NextHopDomain
-------- ------------ ------ ------------ -------- --------- -------------- -------------
EX01\4 SmtpDeliveryToMailbox Ready 0 0 Normal 0 db2
EX01\8 SmtpDeliveryToMailbox Ready 0 0 Normal 0 db4
EX01\15 SmartHostConnectorDelivery Ready 0 0 Normal 0 mx1.spambull.com
EX01\20 SmtpDeliveryToMailbox Ready 0 0 Normal 0 db5
EX01\22 SmartHostConnectorDelivery Ready 0 0 Normal 0 mx2.spambull.com
EX01\Submission Undefined Ready 0 0 Normal 0 Submission
EX01\Shadow\3 ShadowRedundancy Ready 0 0 Normal 0 ex02.alitajran.localCopy
Put the Server EX01 into maintenance mode.
[PS] C:\>Set-ServerComponentState "EX01" -Component ServerWideOffline -State Inactive -Requester MaintenanceCopy
Check the load balancer
Do you have the Exchange Server configured in a load balancer? Verify that the load balancer health checks have taken the server out of the pool or marked it as offline/inactive. If the load balancer does not automatically do this, manually mark the server as offline/inactive. Log into your load balancer and set any virtual services you have to disable any connections to Server EX01. Typically there would be SMTP and HTTPS virtual services. This will force any future connections to Server EX01.
How to verify Exchange Server is in maintenance mode
Verify if the Exchange Server EX01 has been placed into maintenance mode. All components should show Inactive except for Monitoring and RecoveryActionsEnabled.
[PS] C:\>Get-ServerComponentState "EX01" | Select Component, State
Component State
--------- -----
ServerWideOffline Inactive
HubTransport Inactive
FrontendTransport Inactive
Monitoring Active
RecoveryActionsEnabled Active
AutoDiscoverProxy Inactive
ActiveSyncProxy Inactive
EcpProxy Inactive
EwsProxy Inactive
ImapProxy Inactive
OabProxy Inactive
OwaProxy Inactive
PopProxy Inactive
PushNotificationsProxy Inactive
RpsProxy Inactive
RwsProxy Inactive
RpcProxy Inactive
UMCallRouter Inactive
XropProxy Inactive
HttpProxyAvailabilityGroup Inactive
ForwardSyncDaemon Inactive
ProvisioningRps Inactive
MapiProxy Inactive
EdgeTransport Inactive
HighAvailability Inactive
SharedCache Inactive
MailboxDeliveryProxy Inactive
RoutingUpdates Inactive
RestProxy Inactive
DefaultProxy Inactive
Lsass Inactive
RoutingService Inactive
E4EProxy Inactive
CafeLAMv2 Inactive
LogExportProvider InactiveCopy
Before starting with the updates, I recommend rebooting the Exchange Server first. This will free up resources and clear any pending updates. After the reboot, you can start installing the updates.Do you like to know how to take the Exchange Server out of maintenance mode? Read the following article.
Conclusion
In this article, you learned how to place the Exchange Server in maintenance mode with PowerShell. You can perform upgrades and updates during business hours without disrupting any clients. It’s good to have a list of PowerShell commands before starting.