The Mtacheck.exe command is included in Exchange 5.5 and 2000. It is a repair utility located in the exchsrvrbin directory that can be executed only from the command prompt. It examines the Message Transfer Agent (MTA) database for corrupted messages that interfere with message flow and rebuilds the MTA queues to get the MTA working again.
When Mtacheck.exe is executed it performs the following:
Checks consistency of MTA queues;
Checks integrity of all objects in the MTA;
Deletes corrupted objects.
When should you run Mtacheck.exe?
You should run it whenever you restart the Exchange server and the MTA fails to start, or if when you examine the event viewer's application log you notice Event ID: 2110 (which indicates a fatal MTA database server error).
Before running Mtacheck, make a backup of the Mtadata folder.
The MTACHECK command takes the following optional switches:
Mtacheck.exe /v /f Mtacheck.log /rd /rp /rl
/v Log verbose details
/f Log to a file. The filename follows this switch after a space.
/rd Remove directory replication messages
/rp Remove public folder replication messages
/rl Remove link monitor messages
You should run the Mtacheck command at least twice, until you see the message:
Database clean, no errors detected.
Adesh Rampat has 10 years experience with network and IT administration. He is a member of the Association Of Internet Professionals, the Institute For Network Professionals, and the International Webmasters Association. He has also lectured extensively on a variety of topics.
