Q261093: XADM: Readme Document for the Pfinfo.exe Program
Article: Q261093
Product(s): Microsoft Exchange
Version(s): winnt:5.5
Operating System(s):
Keyword(s): exc55
Last Modified: 02-AUG-2000
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Exchange Server, version 5.5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY
=======
The Microsoft Exchange Public Folder Information Program (PFInfo.Exe) is a
program that extracts information about the Public Folders in a Microsoft
Exchange Site. This information is saved into a delimited file, which can be
viewed in a spreadsheet like Microsoft Excel. The data can then be manipulated
in any way desired. PFInfo.exe can also generate a file, with information on
public folder permissions and replicas, that can be used in conjunction with the
PFAdmin.exe utility shipped in the BackOffice Resource kit. To use this file
with PFAdmin.exe, you must have PFAdmin.exe, version 1.3 or higher.
You can obtain the PFInfo.exe utility by calling Microsoft Product Support
Services.
COMMAND LINE OPTIONS
====================
PFINFO.EXE supports the following command line options:
-S Indicates that the program is being running from a service, like the Windows
NT Schedule service.
-LogMin Set the logging level to minimum
-LogMed Set the logging level to medium
-LogMax Set the logging level to maximum
RUNNING THE PROGRAM
===================
To run the program, double click on PFINFO.EXE from the Windows NT Explorer or
File Manager. Select the desired output file and the separator to be used when
writing data to the output file.
To generate an import file for PFAdmin.exe, select the option, "Create file for
use with PFAdmin.exe". By default this information is written to a file called
PFAdmDat.txt. To change the filename as well as configure what information is
written out to the import file,click the button labelled "Options".
To start the program, click on the button labeled 'Start'. Now the program should
list all the Microsoft Exchange profiles available on the local machine. Select
a profile that has the Microsoft Exchange Server service listed and is
configured with a mailbox on a server in the site from which you wish to extract
Public Folder information.
The program will now step through all the available Public Folders and extract
data on these folders, writing this data to the specified output file. Any
errors will be logged in the specified log file. It is recommended that you are
logged into Windows NT as the Microsoft Exchange Service Account.
To speed up operation of this program, it is recommended that you select the
"Only extract data for public folders homed in the current site" option. This
will cause the program to not try and connect to any folders that are not homed
in the site it is connected to. This is the site containing the mailbox
specified in the profile selected. Hence in order to extract information about
all public folders in an Exchange organization, it is recommended that
PFInfo.exe be run in each site.
Version 3.1 and higher of PFINFO.EXE, supports the use of an .INI file. The
program will read the settings in a file called PFINFO.INI, which should be
present in the same directory as the executable. The .INI file, allows
PFINFO.EXE to be run in batch mode, possibly in a scheduled manner.
For more information on the INI file settings available, please refer to the INI
file.
USING PFINFO.EXE TO RECOVER LOST PUBLIC FOLDER PERMISSION
===========================================================
In some circumstances, the permissions on all (or some) public folders in an
organisation may be lost. In these situations, PFINFO.EXE can be used to easily
recover public folder permissions. If a current version of the PFADMDAT.TXT
file, created by PFINFO.EXE for use with PFADMIN.EXE, is available, this file
can be imported to restore the permissions. This assumes that the file was
created, before the loss of public folder permissions.
If a valid PFADMDAT.TXT file is not available, follow the steps below:
1) On a recovery server, install Microsoft Exchange Server.
a) Select the option to create a NEW SITE.
b) Use the same Organization and Site names as the production servers.
2) Upgrade the server to the same service pack as the production server.
3) Restore the Public Information Store, from Backup, onto the recovery server.
4) DO NOT run the DS/IS Consistency Adjuster. If you do, you will lose all Public
Folder permissions.
5) Create a test user, on the recovery server.
6) Install the Exchange client or Outlook on the recovery server.
7) Create a profile for the test user created in step 5.
8) Run PFINFO.EXE
a) Do not select the option "Only extract data for public folders homed in
the current site".
b) Click on the Options button to display the PFAdmin Output File Option
dialog. Make sure that the option to include Public Folder Permissions is
selected. Click OK.
c) Click on Start and select the profile created in step 7.
9) Once PFINFO.EXE has completed, use the file PFADMDAT.TXT created by
PFINFO.EXE, as input for PFADMIN.EXE
REQUIREMENTS
============
The program requires that the Microsoft Exchange client be installed on the
machine on which it is run. The program also requires the following DLL files,
most of which should be installed when you install the Microsoft Exchange Client
and Administrator programs.
ACLCLS.Dll
ADVAPI32.dll
COMCTL32.dll
COMDLG32.dll
GAPI32.dll
GDI32.dll
KERNEL32.dll
LZ32.dll
MAPI32.dll
MFC42.DLL
MPR.dll
MSVCIRT.dll
MSVCRT.dll
MSVCRT40.dll
NTDLL.dll
OLE32.dll
RPCRT4.dll
SHELL32.dll
USER32.dll
VERSION.dll
DATA EXTRACTED BY THE PROGRAM
=============================
The current version of the program will extract the following information to the
delimited output file.
1) Folder Name
2) Folder Path
3) Permissions
4) List of Public Folder Replicas
5) Number of Replicas of the Public Folder
6) Number of Items in the Public Folder
7) Size in KiloBytes of the contents of the folder, not including sub-folders
8) Age Limit
9) Replication Message Priority
10) Replication Schedule
11) Alias
12) Storage Limit (K)
13) Date the Public Folder was Created
14) Date the Public Folder was last modified (As seen in the Exchange
Administrator program)
15) Home Site
16) Home Server
17) E-mail Addresses
AUTOMATING THE EXTRACTION OF PUBLIC FOLDER INFORMATION, USING WINAT
===================================================================
It is possible to run PFINFO.EXE in a batch process. This will allow the program
to be run from a scheduler and hence it is possible to run the program every
night to make a backup of the public folder permissions. This can be extremely
useful in case of an emergency where all public folder permissions are lost, as
explained above.
To extract public folder information in batch mode, you must be running PFINFO,
Version 3.5 or later. With this release the capability to read configuration
information from an INI file was added to the program. This allows the program
to be run without any user intervention, using the Windows NT AT Scheduler.
Instead of using the Windows NT AT command to schedule a task from a command
prompt, it is easier to use the WINAT.EXE program that uses to GUI to schedule
tasks. The WINAT.EXE program ships in the Microsoft Windows NT Resource Kit.
Running PFINFO.EXE using WINAT.EXE
-----------------------------------
1) Start the Windows NT Schedule Service. Use the Exchange Service Account as the
startup account. If the Schedule service is started using the Local System
Account, PFINFO.EXE will fail with a MAPI Logon Error.
2) Set the following settings in the PFINFO.INI file. This file should be in the
same directory as the PFINFO.EXE file.
[PFINFO]
ProfileName="Any Valid Profile"
Where "Any Valid Profile" is a profile containing the Exchange Server service.
The Exchange Server service should be configured with a server in the site that
you wish to extract public folder data from, as well as a mailbox on the server
specified. In addition to the above settings, you can also configure the names
of the output files, log file and other settings using the .INI file. For more
information on the INI file settings available, please refer to the section
below.
3) Run WINAT.EXE
4) From the Edit menu, select Add. This will bring up the Add Command dialog.
5) In the Command edit box, enter
"Path"\PFINFO -S
Where "Path" is the full path to the PFINFO.EXE file.
The -S command line option specifies that the program will be executed from a
service. If the -S option is specified, the program will execute without
displaying any user interface and not wait for any user input. However, you must
make sure that the ProfileName entry in the .INI file has a valid profile
specified and that this profile is not configured for offline use. Otherwise the
program will not be able to successfully perform a MAPI login and will fail.
The -S option should only be specified when running PFINFO from the Windows NT
Scheduler. When running PFINFO interactively (from a command prompt or Windows
Explorer), the -S command line option should NOT be specified. When the -S
command line option is specified, the program assumes that it is being called
from a Service and initializes MAPI differently.
6) Configure when you wish the program to be executed.
7) Click on OK.
8) Exit WINAT
9) The Windows NT Scheduler will automatically execute PFINFO at the time
specified and the output files will be generated in the locations specified in
the PFINFO.INI file.
Note:
The INI file with all the configuration information must be present in the same
directory as the executable and must be called PFINFO.INI
TROUBLESHOOTING
===============
The program generates a log that contains all errors that the program encounters.
It also supports the following command line options that increase the amount of
information logged.
-logmin
-logmed
-logmax
KNOWN ISSUES
============
Error getting folder properties: Error E_FAIL - Unknown Failure "Folder Name"
---------------------------------------------------------------
This error is noticed when trying there are no accessible replicas of the folder.
The error may be noticed when a Public Store (PUB.EDB) is restored on a recovery
server with a different name from the server from which the PUB.EDB was
obtained.
To resolve this problem, go to the Instances page of the Public Information Store
on the recovery server and add an instance of every public folder to the local
server.
PFINFO.EXE crashes with a Dr. Watson dump
-----------------------------------------
Check the version of the ACLCLS.DLL file. The time stamp should be 1/15/96 or
later.
Additional query words:
======================================================================
Keywords : exc55
Technology : kbExchangeSearch kbExchange550 kbZNotKeyword2
Version : winnt:5.5
Issue type : kbhowto
=============================================================================
THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY.
Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1986-2002.