Configuring ESA to use a specific Active Directory server

Category: How do I?
Date: 31 Mar 2010
Product: Exchange Server Archiver
Exchange Server Archiver will locate Active Directory servers using a broadcast, and choose the first available server. In some installations, this may not be optimal, for instance, if the chosen AD server is at the end of a slow WAN link.

ESA version 1.0 and 1.1 do not have the ability to explicitly specify an AD server. This feature is available in version 2.1 of ESA.

  · Once downloaded run the installer and choose your account/communication protocol and install the service. During install, the Service will not be able to start and come up with an error saying so. At this point please visit the following directory:

%programfiles%\Red Gate\ESA Archive Service 1

  · Then edit the following file:

RedGate.ExchangeArchiver.ArchiveService.exe.config

  · In <appSettings> there is a section about domain search. Uncomment the following line:



Edit it to look like this:

<add key="DCSearch" value="ForceDC"/>

  · Once this is done, save the file and open Windows Services. Attempt to start the ESA Archive Service.

  · After the service starts, uncomment the following line:



To look like this:

<add key="ForceDC" value="example.com=dc1.example.com;dc2.example.com,london.example.com=dc3.london.example.com" />

  · Each domain is separated by a comma, each server in the domain is separated by a semi-colon.