The Arbitration Mailbox Is Used By Exchange And Can’t Be Removed…

ByRajith Enchiparambil

I came across the error below while decommissioning Exchange 2010 servers in 2003-2010 co-existence environment (test lab). I was trying to remove the arbitration mailbox using Get-Mailbox –Arbitration | Remove-Mailbox –Arbitration –RemoveLastArbitrationMailboxAllowed and got the error below. The Arbitration Mailbox “mailbox name” is used by Exchange and can’t be removed. I can see the arbitration…

I came across the error below while decommissioning Exchange 2010 servers in 2003-2010 co-existence environment (test lab). I was trying to remove the arbitration mailbox using Get-Mailbox –Arbitration | Remove-Mailbox –Arbitration –RemoveLastArbitrationMailboxAllowed and got the error below.

The Arbitration Mailbox “mailbox name” is used by Exchange and can’t be removed.

Remove arbitration mailboxes fails

I can see the arbitration mailboxes using Get-Mailbox –Arbitration. I was able to remove one of the system mailboxes using the command above (The screenshot above only has one system mailbox, the other one being removed).

If you are in a multi domain environment, especially with a blank root domain, you need to run Set-ADServerSettings –ViewEntireForest $true before you can list the arbitration mailboxes using Get-Mailbox –Arbitration.

Set AD Settings

Though I can use ADSIEdit and remove the AD account, I was thinking of removing the Exchange attributes the proper way, using the Shell. I tried disabling the arbitration mailboxes and it worked (surprise). The command I ran was Get-Mailbox –Arbitration | Disable-Mailbox –Arbitration –DisableLastArbitrationMailboxAllowed

Disable arbitration mailboxes

I couldn’t remove the mailbox, but I could disable it. Go figure Winking smile

Rajith Enchiparambil

Cloud Architect & Blogger with interests in Microsoft 365, Azure, AWS & PowerShell. I am active on Experts Exchange & TechNet forums and I am a technical author for SearchExchange. Follow me on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook for the latest updates. For consultancy opportunities, drop me a line.

15 Comments

  1. disable worked when remove didnt

    Reply
    1. Rajith Enchiparambil says:

      Thanks for the update Raf

      Reply

  2. Thank a Lot man !!!!

    Reply
    1. Rajith Enchiparambil says:

      Glad it helped you Antonio

      Reply

  3. Thank you. Disable worked where remove did not

    Reply
    1. Rajith Jose Enchiparambil says:

      Thanks Rob

      Reply
  4. shivendra says:

    It works perfectly!!

    Reply

  5. Perfect! Thank u so much! :)

    Reply
    1. Rajith Jose Enchiparambil says:

      Glad that the article helped you Rafael.

      Thanks.

      Reply

  6. Thanks! Helped me too with a failed Exchange 2010 server.

    Reply
    1. Rajith Jose Enchiparambil says:

      Glad the article was of some help Adam.

      Reply
    1. Rajith Jose Enchiparambil says:

      Glad it helped David.

      Reply

  8. WARNING: The database ‘Mailbox Database 0478292179’ to be accessed on server ‘xxx.xxx.com’ is not mounted or is not available.

    Reply
    1. Rajith Enchiparambil says:

      Is that the error you get Giorgi?
      Can you not mount it manually?

      Reply

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