Incidents and problems are surfacing about Exchange Server, and you like to check the Exchange Server health. What is the best way to check the health? Perhaps you want to add a new Exchange Server to the environment, and before doing that, you want to check the health. Let’s see how to health check Exchange Server with an excellent PowerShell script.
Table of contents
- Why you want to check Exchange Server health
- Exchange Server health check PowerShell script
- Conclusion
Why you want to check Exchange Server health
It’s good to check the Exchange Server health if there are incidents, problems, or changes that you have to apply:
- There is a problem with the Exchange Server
- Before upgrading Exchange Server CU to the latest version
- Before you install the hybrid configuration wizard for Office 365 migrations
- Before you create a DAG between Exchange Servers
- Introducing a new Exchange Server in the organization
Exchange Server health check PowerShell script
The Exchange Server Health Checker script helps detect common configuration issues known to cause performance issues and other long-running issues caused by a simple configuration change within an Exchange Environment. It also helps collect useful information about your server to help speed up common information-gathering of your server.
Why I recommend using this PowerShell script:
- Supports Exchange Server 2013/2016/2019
- A changelog kept with all the fixes/features
- It’s created and maintained by Microsoft Engineers
- Always looking for improvements
- Open to suggestions and features
- It’s 100% PowerShell
Good to know is that it might work on Exchange Server 2007/2010, but it’s not supported.
Download and prepare the Exchange Health check script
Download Exchange health checker PowerShell script from the official page (GitHub). At the moment of writing, I will test Exchange Server Performance Health Checker Script version 3.1.1.
The chance is big that if you read this article, the version is changed. That’s because the team releases a couple of updates every single month, which is very great! If you do have any bugs, feature suggestions, or feedback, you can email them at extoolsfeedback@microsoft.com.
Place the HealthChecker.ps1 PowerShell script on the Exchange Server C:scripts folder. If you don’t have a scripts folder, create one. Make sure to check if the file is unblocked to prevent any errors when running the script. Read more in the article Not digitally signed error when running PowerShell script.
Verify the signature before running the script with the Get-AuthenticodeSignature cmdlet.
[PS] C:>Get-AuthenticodeSignature -FilePath "C:ScriptsHealthChecker.ps1" | ft -AutoSize
Directory: C:Scripts
SignerCertificate Status Path
----------------- ------ ----
ABDCA79AF9DD48A0EA702AD45260B3C03093FB4B Valid HealthChecker.ps1Copy
Run the Exchange Server Health Checker PowerShell script
Run Exchange Management Shell as administrator on the Exchange Server. Change directory path to C:scripts. Run HealthChecker.ps1 script and specify the Exchange Server. If you don’t identify the Exchange Server, it will check the localhost (the one you are on right now).
[PS] C:scripts>.HealthChecker.ps1 -Server "EX01-2016"
Exchange Health Checker version 3.1.1
Virtual Machine detected. Certain settings about the host hardware cannot be detected from the virtual machine. Verify on the VM Host that:
- There is no more than a 1:1 Physical Core to Virtual CPU ratio (no oversubscribing)
- If Hyper-Threading is enabled do NOT count Hyper-Threaded cores as physical cores
- Do not oversubscribe memory or use dynamic memory allocation
Although Exchange technically supports up to a 2:1 physical core to vCPU ratio, a 1:1 ratio is strongly recommended for performance reasons. Certain third party Hyper-Visors such as VMWare have their own guidance.
VMWare recommends a 1:1 ratio. Their guidance can be found at https://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/Exchange_2013_on_VMware_Best_Practices_Guide.pdf.
Related specifically to VMWare, if you notice you are experiencing packet loss on your VMXNET3 adapter, you may want to review the following article from VMWare: http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2039495.
For further details, please review the virtualization recommendations on Microsoft Docs at the following locations:
Exchange 2013: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/exchange-2013-virtualization-exchange-2013-help#requirements-for-hardware-virtualization.
Exchange 2016/2019: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/plan-and-deploy/virtualization?view=exchserver-2019.
Exchange Information
--------------------
Name: EX01-2016
Version: Exchange 2016 CU17
Build Number: 15.1.2044.4
Error: Out of date Cumulative Update. Please upgrade to one of the two most recently released Cumulative Updates. Currently running on a build that is 194 days old.
Server Role: Mailbox
MAPI/HTTP Enabled: True
Exchange Server Maintenance: Server is not in Maintenance Mode
Operating System Information
----------------------------
Version: Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Standard Evaluation
System Up Time: 2 day(s) 16 hour(s) 34 minute(s) 28 second(s)
Time Zone: W. Europe Standard Time
Dynamic Daylight Time Enabled: True
.NET Framework: 4.8
Page File Size: Error: System is set to automatically manage the pagefile size.
Power Plan: Balanced --- Error
Http Proxy Setting: <None>
Visual C++ 2012: Redistributable is outdated
Visual C++ 2013: Redistributable is outdated
Note: For more information about the latest C++ Redistributeable please visit: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads
This is not a requirement to upgrade, only a notification to bring to your attention.
Server Pending Reboot: False
Processor/Hardware Information
------------------------------
Type: VMWare
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-8259U CPU @ 2.30GHz
Number of Processors: 4
Note: Please make sure you are following VMware's performance recommendation to get the most out of your guest machine. VMware blog 'Does corespersocket Affect Performance?' https://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2013/10/does-corespersocket-affect-performance.html
Number of Physical Cores: 4
Number of Logical Cores: 4
Hyper-Threading: Disabled
All Processor Cores Visible: Passed
Max Processor Speed: 2304
Physical Memory: 12 GB
NIC Settings Per Active Adapter
-------------------------------
Interface Description: vmxnet3 Ethernet Adapter [Ethernet0]
Driver Date: 2019-07-11
Driver Version: 1.8.16.0
MTU Size: 1500
RSS Enabled: True
Link Speed: 10000 Mbps --- This may not be accurate due to virtualized hardware
IPv6 Enabled: True
IPv4 Address:
Address: 192.168.1.5224 Gateway: 192.168.1.1
IPv6 Address:
DNS Server: 192.168.1.51
Registered In DNS: True
Sleepy NIC Disabled: False --- Warning: It's recommended to disable NIC power saving options
More Information: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2740020
Packets Received Discarded: 0
Frequent Configuration Issues
-----------------------------
TCP/IP Settings: Not Set
Error: Without this value the KeepAliveTime defaults to two hours, which can cause connectivity and performance issues between network devices such as firewalls and load balancers depending on their configuration.
More details: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Exchange-Team-Blog/Checklist-for-troubleshooting-Outlook-connectivity-in-Exchange/ba-p/604792
RPC Min Connection Timeout: 0
More Information: https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/messaging_with_communications/2012/06/06/outlook-anywhere-network-timeout-issue/
CTS Processor Affinity Percentage: 0
Credential Guard Enabled: False
Security Settings
-----------------
LmCompatibilityLevel Settings: 3
Description: Clients use only NTLMv2 authentication, and they use NTLMv2 session security if the server supports it. Domain controllers accept LM, NTLM, and NTLMv2 authentication.
TLS 1.0
Server Enabled: True
Server Disabled By Default: False
Client Enabled: True
Client Disabled By Default: False
TLS 1.1
Server Enabled: True
Server Disabled By Default: False
Client Enabled: True
Client Disabled By Default: False
TLS 1.2
Server Enabled: True
Server Disabled By Default: False
Client Enabled: True
Client Disabled By Default: False
Certificate:
FriendlyName: Microsoft Exchange Server Auth Certificate
Thumbprint: 96AC7BAD02F000A6C9B0DFEB5F15A59FE396D5F2
Lifetime in days: 1758
Key size: 2048
Bound to services: SMTP
Current Auth Certificate: True
SAN Certificate: False
Namespaces:
Microsoft Exchange Server Auth Certificate
Certificate:
FriendlyName: Microsoft Exchange
Thumbprint: 8CF11037A346A3BE602E99171FFB32C07F3F2196
Lifetime in days: 1784
Key size: 2048
Bound to services: IMAP, POP, IIS, SMTP
Current Auth Certificate: False
SAN Certificate: True
Namespaces:
EX01-2016
EX01-2016.exoip.local
Certificate:
FriendlyName: mail.exoip.com @ 2020/10/3 16:46:13
Thumbprint: 11A8E3212103DD17734E46F5F4DFEA1ABC41AD35
Lifetime in days: 5
Key size: 3072
Bound to services: IIS, SMTP
Current Auth Certificate: False
SAN Certificate: True
Namespaces:
autodiscover.exoip.com
mail.exoip.com
Certificate:
FriendlyName: WMSVC-SHA2
Thumbprint: A520A23C9032B0D2B62BA812F2DBF91BB580D228
Lifetime in days: 3555
Key size: 2048
Bound to services: None
Current Auth Certificate: False
SAN Certificate: False
Namespaces:
WMSvc-SHA2-EX01-2016
Valid Auth Certificate Found On Server: True
SMB1 Installed: True
SMB1 Blocked: False
SMB1 should be uninstalled SMB1 should be blocked
More Information: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/exchange-team-blog/exchange-server-and-smbv1/ba-p/1165615
Security Vulnerability: CVE-2020-16875
See: https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-us/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2020-16875 for more information.
Security Vulnerability: CVE-2020-16969
See: https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-us/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2020-16969 for more information.
Security Vulnerability: CVE-2020-17083
See: https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-us/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2020-17083 for more information.
Security Vulnerability: CVE-2020-17084
See: https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-us/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2020-17084 for more information.
Security Vulnerability: CVE-2020-17085
See: https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-us/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2020-17085 for more information.
Security Vulnerability: CVE-2020-17117
See: https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-us/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2020-17117 for more information.
Security Vulnerability: CVE-2020-17132
See: https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-us/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2020-17132 for more information.
Security Vulnerability: CVE-2020-17141
See: https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-us/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2020-17141 for more information.
Security Vulnerability: CVE-2020-17142
See: https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-us/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2020-17142 for more information.
Security Vulnerability: CVE-2020-17143
See: https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-us/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2020-17143 for more information.
Security Vulnerability: CVE-2020-1147
See: https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-us/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2020-1147 for more information.
Exchange Web App Pools
----------------------
Web App Pool: GC Server Mode Enabled | Status
MSExchangeServicesAppPool: False | Started
MSExchangeMapiFrontEndAppPool: False | Started
MSExchangeOWAAppPool: False | Started
MSExchangeRestAppPool: False | Started
MSExchangeMapiAddressBookAppPool: False | Started
MSExchangeRpcProxyFrontEndAppPool: False | Started
MSExchangePowerShellAppPool: False | Started
MSExchangePowerShellFrontEndAppPool: False | Started
MSExchangeRestFrontEndAppPool: False | Started
MSExchangeMapiMailboxAppPool: False | Started
MSExchangeOABAppPool: False | Started
MSExchangePushNotificationsAppPool: False | Started
MSExchangeOWACalendarAppPool: False | Started
MSExchangeAutodiscoverAppPool: False | Started
MSExchangeECPAppPool: False | Started
MSExchangeSyncAppPool: True | Started
MSExchangeRpcProxyAppPool: False | Started
Output file written to .HealthCheck-EX01-2016-20201227132103.txt
Exported Data Object Written to .HealthCheck-EX01-2016-20201227132103.xmlThe Exchange HealthChecker.ps1 script will generate two files. These files are generated in the same directory of the script. In this example, it’s the folder C:scripts.
- 1x TXT file: The txt file is the same as the output in PowerShell. But it’s handy if you want to attach it to an email or place it in a folder.
- 1x XML file: To better view the XML file, you must run another command to generate a report. See below.
Generate Exchange health report
[PS] C:scripts>.HealthChecker.ps1 -BuildHtmlServersReport -HtmlReportFile "EX01-2016Report.html"A new EX01-2016Report.html is created in the scripts folder.
Open the Exchange health report EX01-2016Report.
You will see the colors:
- Grey: Informational items
- Green: Settings found to match the recommendations
- Yellow: Settings that give a warning which you can look at
- Red: Settings that can cause performance problems
The most important ones that you need to take care of are the red ones. Go through it carefully.
Note that most of these recommendations only apply to Exchange 2013/2016/2019. The script will run against Exchange 2010/2007, but the output is more limited.
Do you have more than one Exchange Server running? You want to have a report of these Exchange Servers. Let’s have a look at that in the next step.
Generate Exchange health report for multiple Exchange Servers
Get the health report of another Exchange Server. In my example, Exchange Server EX02-2016.
[PS] C:scripts>.HealthChecker.ps1 -Server "EX02-2016"The script created two files in the scripts folder.
Generate the Exchange health report. This time, only use the -BuildHtmlServersReport parameter. It will gather all the XML files in the C:scripts folder and generate an Exchange health report.
[PS] C:scripts>.HealthChecker.ps1 -BuildHtmlServersReportA new ExchangeAllServersReport.html file is created in the scripts folder.
Generate Exchange health report for all Exchange Servers
Another option is to run the cmdlet to create a report for all Exchange Servers. It will run the HTML report and open it automatically.
[PS] C:scripts>Get-ExchangeServer | ?{$_.AdminDisplayVersion -Match "^Version 15"} | %{.HealthChecker.ps1 -Server $_.Name}; .HealthChecker.ps1 -BuildHtmlServersReport; .ExchangeAllServersReport.htmlIf the report does not open automatically, you can find the report in the C:scripts folder. Open the Exchange Server health report ExchangeAllServersReport.
If everything shows green, you are all set. If it’s yellow, look into it. Do you see red items in the Exchange health report? We recommend you to fix it.
Read more: Check Exchange health mailboxes »
Conclusion
In this article, you learned how to check Exchange Server health with the PowerShell HealthChecker.ps1 script. A couple of scripts on the internet will do an Exchange Server health check, but the authors do not keep the script up to date as this one.
In the technology world, you have to provide new features, bug fixes, and adjustments to enjoy the software’s full potential. That’s why I recommend using only this script for an Exchange health check. It’s an excellent PowerShell script that you must have in your collection.
Did you enjoy this article? You may also like Take Exchange Server out of maintenance mode. Don’t forget to follow us and share this article.
