Compress Priv.edb

Take the server offline by stopping the Exchange services, specifically the IS service.
Run edbutil /d (eseutil /d for Exchange 5.5)
This reclaims spcae and reduces database file size.
This process can take significant time: edbutil on dual pentium, raid5 :~45 min/Gig
eseutil up to 4-6 Gig /hour.

As always, have a current backup handy in the event of failure.

You may want to read KB q151495 if this doesn't compact the database.

regards, lazarus.

Before you run "eseutil /d", there are some things that you should do. First, check the application log for Event 1221. Event 1221 will tell the results of the online defrag that runs as standard maintenance of Exchange. This event will tell you how much free space is in the priv.edb. This will tell you whether or not if would be worthwhile to run an offline defrag. If you are not seeing Event 1221, then your online defrag is not completing. You should get this back up and running properly before running your offline defrag. If Event 1221 shows less than 1 GB free, then it probably wouldn't be worth your while to run an offline defrag; it will probably just expand back in a short time anyway. If Event 1221 does not indicate a significant gain and you absolutely need to get the priv.edb size down (approaching that 16 GB limit?) then you might look using ExMerge to archive old messages out of the priv.edb before running the offline defrag. If this is done, I would still advise that you let the online defrag run normally for a couple of days before running your offline defrag.

I agree with answer 2 and only wished to throw in the observation that you probably need to clean up the mailboxes because you can only "compress" the priv.edb by the amount of free space. If your users are packrats like my users, the amount of free space will be trivial and the real problem is Too Much Stuff.

To see how much space is being used by each user, go into Exchange Administrator and drill down to the Private Information Store, Mailbox Resources and look for the column labeled Total K. By clicking on the column header, you can sort it from smallest to largest and see who is occupying the space. If you don't see this column, click View, then Columns, and add it.

Where you go from here depends on the politics of your organization and whether you have the authority to clean up mailboxes or just the authority to ask users to do so.

paul

This question was closed by the author