Ah yes - that one's a classic Exchange/AD migration ghost. What you're seeing is an orphaned reference to a deleted Public Folder database, still hanging around in the AD configuration container.
The Problem
You're getting:
Object ... Property [PublicFolderDatabase] is set to value [...] Deleted Objects [...] This property should be fixed as soon as possible.
This means that some mailbox databases (or other Exchange objects) still have a reference to a Public Folder database that was deleted, and AD is now pointing to it in the Deleted Objects container.
This is a harmless but noisy issue - until you try something that expects a clean AD config, such as:
- Installing a new CU
- Adding/removing mailbox databases
- Migrating to modern public folders
- Decommissioning the last 2013 server
What To Do: Clean the Orphaned PublicFolderDatabase Property
You need to clear that attribute manually in AD using ADSIEDIT.
Step-by-Step Fix (ADSIEDIT)
Be cautious in ADSIEDIT - changes are instant and permanent.
1. Open ADSI Edit
- Run
adsiedit.msc
- Connect to Configuration context
2. Navigate to the Mailbox Database object
Go to:
CN=Configuration [DC...]
CN=Services
CN=Microsoft Exchange
CN=Argofield HQ
CN=Administrative Groups
CN=Exchange Administrative Group (FYDIBOHF23SPDLT)
CN=Databases
CN=Mailbox Database 0655979533
3. Right-click Properties
Find the attribute: msExchHomePublicMDB
You'll likely see it set to something like:
CN=Public Folders\0ADEL:34584a90-efcc-4f9d-a2db-16cb21312559,CN=Deleted Objects,...
4. Clear it
- Select the attribute
- Click Clear
- Click OK to apply
5. Close ADSIEDIT and wait for replication
This removes the broken reference to the old PF database.
Optional: Check All Databases
You can scan all mailbox databases for stale PF links via PowerShell:
Get-MailboxDatabase | Select Name,PublicFolderDatabase
If any of them are populated, you can clear them with:
Set-MailboxDatabase "Mailbox Database 0655979533" -PublicFolderDatabase $null
Note: This only works if PublicFolderDatabase was still valid in Exchange - if it's already pointing to a deleted object, you must use ADSIEDIT.
Summary
Step |
Action |
|---|
1 |
Open ADSIEDIT and connect to Configuration context |
2 |
Browse to CN=Mailbox Database 0655979533 |
3 |
Clear msExchHomePublicMDB |
4 |
Confirm and exit |
5 |
Let replication settle and confirm error disappears from event log |
Let me know if you want a script to scan for and report on all such broken PF links across all databases.
