TIP: Before you do anything on the system other than log on as the Add2Exchange Service Account, please try to capture the existing state of the system by reading this entire post and the Troubleshooting steps below.
Automatic updates are dangerous because they do not always reboot afterwards and can leave the system in an unstable state. Updates don’t always orderly stop services associated or relying on the software being updated. The underlying services become unavailable and this can cause improper operation and actually can make the sync process HANG.
The short explanation is you must stop the Add2Exchange Service first before MS updates because the A2ESP hangs when the underlying system becomes unavailable. The A2ESP program or Director may be hung or may have duplicates due to a recent MS update on the replication server or Exchange Server (without a reboot)
For ease of use, please make shortcuts to the desktop of (all users) the Administrator and the Add2Exchange Service account: http://guides.diditbetter.com/a2e-guide/stopping_the_add2exchange_service_during_backup.htm
Troubleshooting
To see if the MS update issue is the case and see what part of A2E is not working, Check Status of Replication before you do anything. To do this
Log on as the A2E Service account
Open Task manager
Sort by processes, image name
Look to add2 or a2 services. Note status
If running Add2Exchange Service should be in memory
If syncing, A2EDirector and A2ESP program should be in memory
The A2ESP program should have some CPU time
If there is no CPU time, then it is ok, just note
Then open the Add2Exchange Console while looking at Task Manager.
The A2E Console should open and the A2E Service should stop and the A2EDirector and A2ESP should also stop and drop from memory. That is normal operation.
If they do not, there is a problem, they are stuck.
If the A2E Console does not open, A2ESP should be getting no CPU time and it is (relatively) safe to kill the A2ESP process. Don’t make this a practice, let’s fix the underlying cause. If there are multiple Directors or A2ESP that is another related symptom.
If either of these are the case, there are several causes, such as a MS update without a reboot of the Server, or Exchange went down, went offline, was doing an antiviral scan or some other event which caused the test for Exchange to fail during a sync from this server.
Open the Add2Exchange Console. Go to Services Utility and make sure to select Start and Stop logging. All errors get logged no matter what setting you choose here, but full logging is almost never necessary. Start and Stop logging tells you how long it takes to replicate in your environment.
Close the A2E Console and start the A2E Service when prompted or from the Services Control Manager
Use the white “DidItBetter MMC.msc” icon on the desktop for convenience.
Monitor the Add2Exchange Event log to see successes and failures. This is how it should work:
http://support.diditbetter.com/Forums/Thread.aspx?pageid=1&mid=2&ItemID=3&thread=80
Again, it is best to stop the Add2Exchange Service before an MS update and sometimes a good idea to stop the Add2Exchange Service in order to create some “quiet time” during the Exchange backup.
Alternatively, you can create a timed scheduled execution to stop the Add2Exchange Service during the MS Critical Updates, but it is always best practices to reboot the server after any system update. It is not necessary to reboot after an Add2Exchagne update following the procedures below.
The best practices is to manually do updates, or configure the Add2Exchange Service to stop prior and reboot afterward.
At that time, it may be a good time to check to see if Add2Exchange can be updated for free, because it is within the FREE software subscription period (open the Add2Exchange Console and read the Folder line – you can upgrade for free until that day).
We guarantee that the released version of A2E on the web works with the current MS critical Service packs out at the time. It is possible you are doing MS updates and not A2E updates. This can also create a situation where it will not replicate correctly. Always use the released version.
Don’t worry, the relationships and settings will all be there after the upgrade and you can use this process:
http://support.diditbetter.com/kb/A2E_188.aspx
Here are some other tips which will provide consistent replication:
http://support.diditbetter.com/kb/a2e_219.aspx
Follow the above link to:
Upgrade the software
Disable antiviral active file scanning interference!!!
Make faster
Be more sensitive to MS updates
Be better prepared for Migrations
If the issue still persists, you can continue on free email support or can escalate this if time is of the essence: http://support.diditbetter.com/premium-support.aspx