How to Solve Failed Database Content Index for Exchange 2013

MS Exchange Server works along Exchange Information Store to respond the user’s requests. It is not wrong to say that information store is an integral part of Exchange server’s working. But during its functionality, use may face different issues like a drop of email messages into Draft while sending or DAG related problems etc. And results in “Failed Database Content Index for Exchange Server”. These problems need to be tackled very carefully as Administrators and users end up in this situation very frequently.

This blog will cover all possible causes and actions which lead to this situation and will also provide you the appropriate solution for the same. Now lets first talk about the causes of this error.

Causes of Failed Database Content Index for Exchange Server

Most of the time these above-mentioned problems are caused due to Exchange Information Store corruption. And to confirm this statement you can view the “ContentIndexStatus” to view the Status of the relevant Exchange database through EAC.

Otherwise, you can use the following Powershell command too for cross-checking the same.

Get-MailboxDatabaseCopyStatus | FL Name, ContentIndexState

After running PowerShell command you will get to know that if the Information store or database indexing is damaged or not.

A “Healthy” value is returned for a perfect Exchange database otherwise it will return “Failed” or “FailedorSuspended”. This means that there are some Database indexing issues which need to be looked upon.

Solutions for Failed Database Content Index for Exchange

You can resolve the “FailedandSuspended” content index in exchange server either by running “UpdateMailboxDatabaseCopy” cmdlet. This command will ask Exchange server to maintain the content index from the correct or good copy from other Exchange database copy.

You can resolve the “FailedandSuspended” content index in exchange server either by running “UpdateMailboxDatabaseCopy” cmdlet. This command will ask Exchange server to maintain the content index from the correct or good copy from other Exchange database copy.

Method 1:

• Firstly “check your Services” setup and fix it by creating an AD DS Security group that is used by indexing services.
• And then you need to enable Full Control Permission in Administrator and Network settings under the security tab.
• Finally, restart the Exchange Search and Exchange Controller Services.

Method 2:

• To begin with, “check your services” in case of emails being struck into Draft while sending. And restart them if they are not running.
• Then Restart the following services in order to successfully deliver the email and resolve the error caused by Failed Database Content Index for Exchange.
  “MSExchangeSubmission”, “MSExchangeDelivery”, “MSExchangeTransport”

Method 3: Rebuild the failed content index

Make sure that you follow the exact same steps as recreating can cause a significant load on the server.

• Firstly you must stop “Exchange Search Host Control” service and also “Exchange Search”
• Now you need to find the location of the content index of the database. You can refer to the name of the database to find it. The content index must be stored in the GUID folder of the Exchange database.
• Delete that folder and repeat the procedure for the failed content indexes that you have faced while checking their status.
• Finally restart the services again after deleting them successfully.

The content index will be recreated after restarting the “Search Host Control” and “Exchange Search” services. This process may take a while depending upon the amount of data stored in the exchange database. You can check for the “Healthy” Database once the process is complete.

Conclusion

Failed Database Content Index for Exchange 2013 issue should be handled very carefully and resolved using an apt solution. Otherwise, its will affect the entire data stored in Exchange database. The above-mentioned solutions might help you troubleshoot the problem easily.