Exchange Service Does Not Start Automatically After Reboot

If you are using Exchange Server 2007 or Exchange Server 2011, it might have happened to you that after rebooting, some of the Exchange services that have been set to automatic start do not start up. This issue also arises when Exchange has been installed on the Global catalog. Some of the services that may not start are:

• Microsoft Exchange Information Store
• Microsoft Exchange RPC Client Access
• Microsoft Exchange Forms Based Authentication

The main reason behind this is that the domain controller services and the other services that are dependent on Exchange have not started completely. Since Exchange depends on the other services for starting, it will not start after rebooting if any of the services is unable to start.

Resolution to Start Exchange Automatically

In this section, we will discuss a few methods in detail. With the help of the methods, you can make your Exchange start after rebooting. They are:

1. Start The Services Manually If you encounter issues, while the Exchange Server services were in the process of starting, you can start all the instances manually. Follow the below-mentioned steps to do so:
   
   1. Login to the server.
   2. Click on Start and in the Search box, type Run.
   3. Type services.msc and click on Ok. 

      

      Run services.msc

   4. In the Services dialog box, browse to the service that has not started automatically. 

      

      Browse Automatically Started Services

   5. Right click on the service and click on Restart. 

      

      Restart Services

   6. Repeat the above steps for services that are not starting automatically.

2. BootPause For Delaying Exchange Server Startup

   For delaying the startup of Exchange Server, use the BootPause registry. For doing this, add the below mentioned registry subkey in the Server and delay the start of MS Exchange System Attendant.
   
   The path where the subkey needs to be added is:
   
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeSA\Parameters In this location, create a DWORD subkey with the name BootPause with the value 120. Note that the value 120 is in seconds.
   
   Note: It is recommended to use 120 as the default value for this key. In case this value does not prove to be suitable for your environment, lower the value and shorten the delay that the MS Exchange System Attendant will take to start.
   
   In addition to this, you will also need to set the Exchange Server services and make them depend on the MS Exchange System Attendant so that the services that access the directory do not fail. See the below mentioned example for setting MS Exchange System Attendant for other services as well:
   
   Create a Multi_SZ subkey with the name DependOnService at the location:
   
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeADTopology Set the registry value to MSExchangeSA.
   
   Caution: Take care while making any changes in the registry. In case any incorrect operation is done, serious problems can arise.
   

3. Set Exchange Services & MS Exchange System Attendant to Restart Automatically

   All the Exchange services can be made to restart automatically. For doing so, follow the below mentioned procedure:
   
   1. In the Services MMC snap-in, open Properties of MS Exchange System Attendant.
   2. Select Recovery option.
   3. In First Failure dialog box, select the Restart the Service option for restarting the service when it fails for the first time.
   4. In Restart Service After dialog box, enter 3 for restarting the service after 3 minutes.
   5. Repeat the above steps for restarting all the services that are not starting.
   Note: Some of the new Exchange Server services contain restart logic. Therefore, there is no need for modifying such services.
   

Conclusion

Apart from the manual methods mentioned in the above section, the users can also download the Easy Fixes available from Microsoft free of cost. We believe, that with the help of the above-mentioned procedure, you can easily start Exchange Service automatically after reboot.