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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

Default (Default)

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 article lists all parameters for the cmdlet, you might not have access to some parameters if they aren't 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-List

This 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-List

This 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

Applicable: Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Server SE

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.

Parameter properties

Type:SwitchParameter
Default value:None
Supports wildcards:False
DontShow:False
Aliases:cf

Parameter sets

(All)
Position:Named
Mandatory:False
Value from pipeline:False
Value from pipeline by property name:False
Value from remaining arguments:False

-IncludeCrashDump

Applicable: Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Server SE

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.

Parameter properties

Type:SwitchParameter
Default value:None
Supports wildcards:False
DontShow:False

Parameter sets

(All)
Position:Named
Mandatory:False
Value from pipeline:False
Value from pipeline by property name:False
Value from remaining arguments:False

-MaxProcessingTimeInMinutes

Applicable: Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Server SE

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.

Parameter properties

Type:UInt32
Default value:None
Supports wildcards:False
DontShow:False

Parameter sets

(All)
Position:Named
Mandatory:False
Value from pipeline:False
Value from pipeline by property name:False
Value from remaining arguments:False

-MonitoringContext

Applicable: Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Server SE

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).

Parameter properties

Type:SwitchParameter
Default value:None
Supports wildcards:False
DontShow:False

Parameter sets

(All)
Position:Named
Mandatory:False
Value from pipeline:False
Value from pipeline by property name:False
Value from remaining arguments:False

-ResolveProblems

Applicable: Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Server SE

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.

Parameter properties

Type:SwitchParameter
Default value:None
Supports wildcards:False
DontShow:False

Parameter sets

(All)
Position:Named
Mandatory:False
Value from pipeline:False
Value from pipeline by property name:False
Value from remaining arguments:False

-ServerName

Applicable: Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Server SE

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.

Parameter properties

Type:ServerIdParameter
Default value:None
Supports wildcards:False
DontShow:False

Parameter sets

(All)
Position:1
Mandatory:False
Value from pipeline:True
Value from pipeline by property name:True
Value from remaining arguments:False

-WatermarkBehindWarningThreholdInMinutes

Applicable: Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Server SE

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 might 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.

Parameter properties

Type:UInt32
Default value:None
Supports wildcards:False
DontShow:False

Parameter sets

(All)
Position:Named
Mandatory:False
Value from pipeline:False
Value from pipeline by property name:False
Value from remaining arguments:False

-WhatIf

Applicable: Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Server SE

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.

Parameter properties

Type:SwitchParameter
Default value:None
Supports wildcards:False
DontShow:False
Aliases:wi

Parameter sets

(All)
Position:Named
Mandatory:False
Value from pipeline:False
Value from pipeline by property name:False
Value from remaining arguments:False

CommonParameters

This cmdlet supports the common parameters: -Debug, -ErrorAction, -ErrorVariable, -InformationAction, -InformationVariable, -OutBuffer, -OutVariable, -PipelineVariable, -ProgressAction, -Verbose, -WarningAction, and -WarningVariable. For more information, see about_CommonParameters.

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.