I have an exchange 2003 server, I have 1500 log files at 5mb each. I do full backups using windows backup utility which is suposed to clear the log files... but it dosent.. the hard drive is filling up fast, and Im pulling my hair out.. Should I just delete them? can i just disable the damned log files? please help.
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Very frustrating, Log files are taking over! 3
- Thread starter aloose
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WhoKilledKenny
MIS
I would not delete the files!!! As a work around you could turn on circular logging so that your logs don't grow any further.
Diclaimer - Turning on circular logging will not allow you to do a point in time restore of the Exchange database. You will only be able to restore from your nightly backups. Meaning if you crash on Friday night (5:00 PM) you will only be able to restore mail from Thursdays backup, Say Thursday 2:00AM.
Once you figure out why your logs are not being deleted after a successful backup, you can turn circular loggin off.
Diclaimer - Turning on circular logging will not allow you to do a point in time restore of the Exchange database. You will only be able to restore from your nightly backups. Meaning if you crash on Friday night (5:00 PM) you will only be able to restore mail from Thursdays backup, Say Thursday 2:00AM.
Once you figure out why your logs are not being deleted after a successful backup, you can turn circular loggin off.
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Circular logging: You will be able to do a "point in time" with circular logging; you will not be able to "roll forward" and replay the logs since the last backup.
1. I would check your backup and find out why it is not completing/truncating the logs.
2. I would not arbitrairially delete log files. If you get into a real bind, you can truncate them yourself. If you run eseutil /mk against your checkpoint file and parse the output for the line with "Checkpoint:" in it. An example would be "eseutil /mk e00.chk? and the line "Checkpoint: (0x20,9D,187)" in the output. In this example, all the logs from E000020.log and above are required and those lower than E000020.log can be pruned.
I wouldn't jump right into pruning logs yourself, but if you're about to run out of space and can't immediately resolve your backup issue, this will keep things going. It's a workaround, not a fix. The longterm fix is to address the issue with your backups.
1. I would check your backup and find out why it is not completing/truncating the logs.
2. I would not arbitrairially delete log files. If you get into a real bind, you can truncate them yourself. If you run eseutil /mk against your checkpoint file and parse the output for the line with "Checkpoint:" in it. An example would be "eseutil /mk e00.chk? and the line "Checkpoint: (0x20,9D,187)" in the output. In this example, all the logs from E000020.log and above are required and those lower than E000020.log can be pruned.
I wouldn't jump right into pruning logs yourself, but if you're about to run out of space and can't immediately resolve your backup issue, this will keep things going. It's a workaround, not a fix. The longterm fix is to address the issue with your backups.
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Begin by stopping the information store service.
Open a command prompt and navigate to your Exchsvr\MDBDATA directory.
To check for clean shutdown run the following commands
Eseutil /mh priv1.edb
Eseutil /mh pub1.edb
Check for logs needed. If the report shows Logs Required 0/0 then delete all log files using:
Delete *.log
Restart your information store service.
Next you should investigate why your backup is not doing the job. Verify that you are backing up the Exchange Information Store and not doing a brick level backup which will not flush the logs.
I hope you find this post helpful.
Regards,
Mark
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Open a command prompt and navigate to your Exchsvr\MDBDATA directory.
To check for clean shutdown run the following commands
Eseutil /mh priv1.edb
Eseutil /mh pub1.edb
Check for logs needed. If the report shows Logs Required 0/0 then delete all log files using:
Delete *.log
Restart your information store service.
Next you should investigate why your backup is not doing the job. Verify that you are backing up the Exchange Information Store and not doing a brick level backup which will not flush the logs.
I hope you find this post helpful.
Regards,
Mark
Check out my scripting solutions at
Work SMARTER not HARDER. The Spider's Parlor's Admin Script Pack is a collection of Administrative scripts designed to make IT Administration easier! Save time, get more work done, get the Admin Script Pack.
RichardHuang
Technical User
You didn't mention which backup software you are using. You could use the ntbackup to perform a full backup on your exchange server and then check the event logs. It will tell you whether it is done successfully or has some errors....
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