Shutdown Script for Exchange 2007
This is the Exchange 2007 version of this article.
If you are running Exchange 2007 on a domain controller, then you will find that it takes the machine a long time to shutdown. This is because the domain functionality stops quicker than Exchange, therefore Exchange is unable to write to the domain controller and has to be be “killed” by the operating system.
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This continual “killing” of the Exchange services, instead of allowing them to shutdown gracefully is not good for the database and is one of the prime reasons for recommending that Exchange is not installed on a domain controller.
A better option is to stop the services before you begin to shutdown the server. This will also cause the server to shutdown more quickly because it isn’t waiting for the services to timeout.
Even if you have a dedicated Exchange server, if you are using a UPS, then you may also want to shutdown the Exchange services before the UPS shuts down the OS. In many cases the domain controller may shut down before Exchange, which will cause delays as Exchange needs to communicate with the the domain controller during the shutdown process.
While you can stop the services yourself using the services administrative tool, instead use a batch script with a shortcut on the desktop.
Due to the dependencies required for some services, you can shortcut the list by stopping one service with the /y command.
Below is a sample script. Simply copy and paste it in to a new notepad document and save it as “stop-exchange.cmd”.
net stop msexchangeadtopology /y
net stop msftesql-exchange /y
net stop msexchangeis /y
net stop msexchangesa /y
net stop iisadmin /y
What does the script do?
net stop msexchangeadtopology /y
Stops the “Microsoft Exchange Active Directory Topology Service” which will stop the following services
Microsoft Exchange Unified Messaging
Microsoft Exchange Transport Log Search
Microsoft Exchange Transport
Microsoft Exchange Service Host
Microsoft Exchange Search Indexer
Microsoft Exchange Replication Service
Microsoft Exchange Mail Submission
Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Assistants
Microsoft Exchange File Distribution
Microsoft Exchange EdgeSync
Microsoft Exchange Anti-spam UpdateIt will also stop POP3 and IMAP4 if those are enabled.
net stop msftesql-exchange /y
stops the “Microsoft Search (Exchange)” which does not have any dependencies
net stop msexchangeis /y
stops the “Microsoft Exchange Information Store” which does not have any dependencies
net stop msexchangesa /y
stops the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant which does not have any dependencies
net stop iisadmin /y
stops IIS which will also stop the following services
World Wide Web Publishing Service
HTTP SSL
If you are using a third party plug-in, then you may find that there is a dependency on that plug-in which can cause the script to fail. The /y at the end of each command should deal with it, but if you find that the third party service doesn’t stop in time, adjust the script to include a delay. (Sleep is part of the Windows Resource Kit tools, if you don’t have it installed on the server)
For example, this is a script used with an old version of McAfee Group Shield
net stop “McAfee GroupShield Exchange” /y
sleep 30
net stop “Microsoft Exchange Information Store” /y
net stop “Microsoft Exchange System Attendant” /y
net stop “Microsoft Exchange IMAP4” /y
net stop “Microsoft Exchange Routing Engine” /y
net stop “Microsoft Exchange POP3” /y
net stop “Microsoft Exchange Management” /y
Finally, you might also want a script to start Exchange again. This can be useful if you apply an update which requires a restart of the Exchange services, but don’t need to restart the server. However starting the services is a little more complex as the less number of the services are dependant on other services. Therefore more services have to be started manually. Simply copy and paste it in to a new notepad document and save it as “start-exchange.cmd”.
net start “World Wide Web Publishing Service”
net start “Microsoft Exchange Information Store”
net start “Microsoft Exchange System Attendant”
net start “Microsoft Search (Exchange)”
net start “Microsoft Exchange Information Store”
net start “Microsoft Exchange Unified Messaging”
net start “Microsoft Exchange Transport Log Search”
net start “Microsoft Exchange Transport”
net start “Microsoft Exchange Service Host”
net start “Microsoft Exchange Search Indexer”
net start “Microsoft Exchange Replication Service”
net start “Microsoft Exchange Mail Submission”
net start “Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Assistants”
net start “Microsoft Exchange File Distribution”
net start “Microsoft Exchange EdgeSync”
net start “Microsoft Exchange Anti-spam Update”
Shutdown or restart the server afterward stopping Exchange
If you are using these scripts to shutdown Exchange before a server is shutdown (for example by a UPS) or rebooted, then you may want to fully automate the process by scripting the shutdown/restart as well. This can be easily achieved by adding an extra line to the end of the script:
Restart the server:
shutdown /r /t 00
Shutdown the server:
shutdown /s /t 00