Test-AssistantHealth
This cmdlet is available only in on-premises Exchange.
Use the Test-AssistantHealth cmdlet to verify that the Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Assistants service (MSExchangeMailboxAssistants) is healthy, to recover from health issues, and to report the status of the diagnosis or recovery action.
For information about the parameter sets in the Syntax section below, see Exchange cmdlet syntax.
Syntax
Test-AssistantHealth
[[-ServerName] <ServerIdParameter>]
[-Confirm]
[-IncludeCrashDump]
[-MaxProcessingTimeInMinutes <UInt32>]
[-MonitoringContext]
[-ResolveProblems]
[-WatermarkBehindWarningThreholdInMinutes <UInt32>]
[-WhatIf]
[<CommonParameters>] Description
The Mailbox Assistants service runs on all servers that have the Mailbox server role installed. This service is responsible for scheduling and dispatching several assistants that ensure mailboxes function correctly.
By default, when you run this cmdlet, it returns the RunspaceId, events, and performance counters in a table format.
You need to be assigned permissions before you can run this cmdlet. Although this topic lists all parameters for the cmdlet, you may not have access to some parameters if they're not included in the permissions assigned to you. To find the permissions required to run any cmdlet or parameter in your organization, see Find the permissions required to run any Exchange cmdlet.
Examples
Example 1
Test-AssistantHealth -ServerName MBXSVR01 -IncludeCrashDump -ResolveProblems | Format-ListThis example detects and repairs the mailbox assistant's health on MBXSVR01, includes the error information, and formats the output to a list.
Example 2
Test-AssistantHealth -MaxProcessingTimeInMinutes 30 | Format-ListThis example detects the mailbox assistant's health on the local Mailbox server. The MaxProcessingTimeInMinutes parameter specifies 30 minutes as the maximum amount of time the service is allowed to process an event without responding, and formats the output to a list.
Parameters
-Confirm
The Confirm switch specifies whether to show or hide the confirmation prompt. How this switch affects the cmdlet depends on if the cmdlet requires confirmation before proceeding.
- Destructive cmdlets (for example, Remove-* cmdlets) have a built-in pause that forces you to acknowledge the command before proceeding. For these cmdlets, you can skip the confirmation prompt by using this exact syntax:
-Confirm:$false. - Most other cmdlets (for example, New-* and Set-* cmdlets) don't have a built-in pause. For these cmdlets, specifying the Confirm switch without a value introduces a pause that forces you acknowledge the command before proceeding.
| Type: | SwitchParameter |
| Aliases: | cf |
| Position: | Named |
| Default value: | None |
| Required: | False |
| Accept pipeline input: | False |
| Accept wildcard characters: | False |
| Applies to: | Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019 |
-IncludeCrashDump
The IncludeCrashDump switch specifies that the command should take an error report prior to taking any recovery actions. You don't need to specify a value with this switch.
You should only use this switch on the local computer. If you use this switch while connected remotely, the command will fail.
| Type: | SwitchParameter |
| Position: | Named |
| Default value: | None |
| Required: | False |
| Accept pipeline input: | False |
| Accept wildcard characters: | False |
| Applies to: | Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019 |
-MaxProcessingTimeInMinutes
The MaxProcessingTimeInMinutes parameter specifies the maximum amount of time the MSExchangeMailboxAssistants service is allowed to process an event without responding. You can specify a value from 1 through 3600 minutes. The default value is 15 minutes.
| Type: | UInt32 |
| Position: | Named |
| Default value: | None |
| Required: | False |
| Accept pipeline input: | False |
| Accept wildcard characters: | False |
| Applies to: | Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019 |
-MonitoringContext
The MonitoringContext switch includes the associated monitoring events and performance counters in the results. You don't need to specify a value with this switch.
Typically, you include the monitoring events and performance counters in the results when the output is passed to Microsoft System Center Operations Manager (SCOM).
| Type: | SwitchParameter |
| Position: | Named |
| Default value: | None |
| Required: | False |
| Accept pipeline input: | False |
| Accept wildcard characters: | False |
| Applies to: | Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019 |
-ResolveProblems
This ResolveProblems switch specifies that if the command detects an issue, it attempts to fix it. You don't need to specify a value with this switch.
This command attempts to fix the following issues:
- Starts the Mailbox Assistants service if it isn't running.
- Restarts the Mailbox Assistants service if it detects that the service is hung or deadlocked for more than 15 minutes.
| Type: | SwitchParameter |
| Position: | Named |
| Default value: | None |
| Required: | False |
| Accept pipeline input: | False |
| Accept wildcard characters: | False |
| Applies to: | Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019 |
-ServerName
The ServerName parameter specifies the Mailbox server where you want to run this command. You can use any value that uniquely identifies the server. For example:
- Name
- FQDN
- Distinguished name (DN)
- Exchange Legacy DN
If you don't use this parameter, the command is run on the local server.
| Type: | ServerIdParameter |
| Position: | 1 |
| Default value: | None |
| Required: | False |
| Accept pipeline input: | True |
| Accept wildcard characters: | False |
| Applies to: | Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019 |
-WatermarkBehindWarningThreholdInMinutes
The WatermarkBehindWarningThreholdInMinutes parameter specifies the threshold for watermark age. Event watermarks indicate the last time that events were successfully processed by an assistant. An event watermark that hasn't been updated in a while may indicate a problem. For each Mailbox Assistant, the Test-AssistantHealth cmdlet compares the current time with the time stamp of the last event watermark to determine the watermark age. If that age exceeds the value set by the WatermarkBehindWarningThreholdInMinutes parameter, a warning is generated.
You can specify a value from 1 through 10080 minutes. The default value is 60 minutes.
| Type: | UInt32 |
| Position: | Named |
| Default value: | None |
| Required: | False |
| Accept pipeline input: | False |
| Accept wildcard characters: | False |
| Applies to: | Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019 |
-WhatIf
The WhatIf switch simulates the actions of the command. You can use this switch to view the changes that would occur without actually applying those changes. You don't need to specify a value with this switch.
| Type: | SwitchParameter |
| Aliases: | wi |
| Position: | Named |
| Default value: | None |
| Required: | False |
| Accept pipeline input: | False |
| Accept wildcard characters: | False |
| Applies to: | Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019 |
Inputs
Input types
To see the input types that this cmdlet accepts, see Cmdlet Input and Output Types. If the Input Type field for a cmdlet is blank, the cmdlet doesn't accept input data.
Outputs
Output types
To see the return types, which are also known as output types, that this cmdlet accepts, see Cmdlet Input and Output Types. If the Output Type field is blank, the cmdlet doesn't return data.