How to Fix “Content Index State Failed and Suspended” Error?

You can fix the Content Index State Failed and Suspended error by rebuilding the content index, in a standalone Exchange server setup. In DAG deployment, you can resolve this error by re-seeding active Exchange database from a healthy Exchange database copy. If the issue still persists, you can fix it by installing latest updates of Exchange Server and configuring antivirus exclusions. In this blog, we first explore the reasons behind this error and then explain how to fix this issue in detail.

What is the Impact of Content Index State Failed and Suspended Error?

The functionality impact of the error on the Exchange Server infrastructure is that if you have a Database Availability Group (DAG) setup, it can cause issues when doing a switchover or failover to another server. Although it is not critical to the users, you will not want any issues with your server. If something occurs on the server and it fails to do a failover, it will leave your users without access to their mailboxes.

What are the Reasons for Content Index “Failed” and “Suspended” Error?

Here are some possible reasons that can lead to this error:

• This issue might occur during migration from an older version of Exchange Server or due to a problem of storage space.
• Issues might occur post installation of the latest Cumulative Update (CU) either to a bad update or wrongfully installing an incompatible version.
• The server ended with no disk space where the database is stored and ended up with a failure on the index.
• Antivirus software which is not compatible with the Exchange Server installed or wrongly configured, can lock the Exchange Server files, and stop the indexing from working successfully. It’s important to not have an aggressive configuration as this might disrupt the system.
• The replication is not working fine in a Database Availability Group (DAG) as this would also affect the indexing and of course the data in case of a failover.

How to Identify “Content Index State Failed and Suspended” Error?

If the issue has been reported by the users that they cannot search in their mailboxes, the only way to identify the issue is by checking the mailbox database copy status.

For this, you can use the PowerShell cmdlet – Get-MailboxDatabaseCopyStatus in the Exchange Management Shell (EMS).

Get-MailboxDatabaseCopyStatus * | sort name | Select name,status,contentindexstate

This will show the status of the databases and the content index state. If the state shows FailedAndSuspended, then you need to intervene to resolve the problem.

How to Resolve ‘Content Index State Failed and Suspended’ Error in Single Exchange Server Setup?

When your Exchange Server is a standalone server and is not part of a Database Availability Group (DAG), you can rebuild the content index by following the below procedure.

Note: Although this is a simple procedure, you might end up with performance degradation on the server as it is very resource-hungry on the CPU utilization. It is strongly suggested to run this process during a maintenance window or at night or on a weekend.

• The first step is to stop the Microsoft Exchange Search and the Microsoft Exchange Search Host Controller services.

• This can be done from the services.msc. For this, right-click on the service and then click on stop. Alternatively, this can be done from PowerShell by using the Stop-Service cmdlet (as given below).

Stop-Service MSExchangeFastSearch 
Stop-Service HostControllerService

• The next step is to delete the content index from the path of the database. This can be done by using File Explorer. For this, browse to the folder where the EDB file is stored which corresponds to the database with the problem, and delete the folder with the GUID.

• Make sure that the services mentioned above are stopped. Otherwise, you will not be allowed to delete the folder. If you are unsure of the file path, you can use the PowerShell cmdlet – Get-MailboxDatabase to get the file path of the database.

Get-MailboxDatabase <database name> | select EdbFilePath

• After you have deleted the folder of the content index, start the services as given below.

• You can also use the below PowerShell cmdlet to start the services.

Start-Service MSExchangeFastSearch 
Start-Service HostControllerService

• Now, the services will start crawling and indexing all the content of the database. The indexing may take some time to complete, depending on the size and number of items of the database. Once this is done, re-run the Get-MailboxDatabaseCopyStatus PowerShell cmdlet. You will see the database state as healthy.

How to Fix ‘Content Index State Failed and Suspended’ Error in DAG Setup?

To fix ‘Content Index State Failed and Suspended’ error in DAG setup, follow the steps given below:

When your database is in a Database Availability Group (DAG), you need to run the re-seeding of the database from a healthy database copy. This can be done by using the Update-MailboxDatabaseCopy PowerShell cmdlet (as given below).

Update-MailboxDatabaseCopy <database name>\<source server name> -CatalogOnly -BeginSeed

• This operation may take time, depending on the connection between the servers and the size of the database. Once the operation is complete, re-run the Get-MailboxDatabaseCopyStatus PowerShell cmdlet. You will see the ContentIndexState as healthy.

What to do if the Issue still Persists?

If the fixes mentioned above didn’t help in resolving the ‘Content Index State Failed and Suspended’ error, you can follow the below troubleshooting steps:

• Make sure you have installed latest update of Exchange server after checking the Microsoft site.
• Restart the Exchange Server to ensure that any pending configuration changes, or updates are committed.
• Also make sure that you have enough HDD space on the drive that the database/index is on for a copy/expansion.
• Make sure you’ve configured antivirus exclusions for the database, logs, and indexes.
• Also try simplifying your networking by removing the replication network if not needed.
• Create new Exchange database and move the mailboxes to the new DB, as the index will be recreated automatically on the new DB.

Also Read: How to Fix “Exchange Database Status Unknown?”

To Conclude

While the above-given solutions resolve the issue, this does not mean that they will work every time. If the issue occurs on a regular basis, it indicates corruption in the database. If this is the case, you can use the Exchange native tools, such as ESEUtil, to run a database recovery process. However, to do so, the database must be offline.

Alternatively, you can use Stellar Repair for Exchange to repair the corrupt database and export all mailboxes to PST or to a live Exchange database. This tool allows you to browse through the whole database – mailboxes, contacts, calendar, tasks, and journal. By using the Exchange recovery software, you can also export the mailboxes directly to an Office 365 (Microsoft 365) tenant. This tool supports databases created in Exchange Server Subscription Edition (SE), 2019, 2016, 2013, and earlier versions.