XADM: Directory Service Does Not Start with Event ID 1171 Error Message

The Exchange Server directory service may not start and the following event ID 1171 error message may be logged in the application event log:

This issue can occur if a directory is restored from backup on a server (for this example, server A) and the directory contains knowledge of a server in the directory's site that has been deleted (for this example, server B).

After the tape restoration, when server A starts, server A attempts to synchronize with the other servers in the site and determines that server B has been deleted from the site, but server A maintains a reference to the deleted server.

While server A is in this state (this state persists until server A runs the knowledge consistency checker process), if server B is re-installed in the site with the same name, another reference to server B is added to the directory on server A (which results in two references to server B). This inconsistency may prevent the directory service on server B from starting.

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Exchange Server 5.5. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in Microsoft Exchange Server version 5.5. This problem was first corrected in Exchange Server 5.5 Service Pack 4.