Could not get list of Storage Groups on Exchange server (4044540)

Symptoms: Could not get list of Storage Groups on server.


This is a known Microsoft Exchange SP1, SP3 issue 

After installing the SP1 or SP3 for Exchange 2010 backup jobs which used to run fine, now show the following errors in the Binary log:


Error 2010/09/24 07:04:11 39 Data Plugin LONDON Could not get list of Storage Groups on server LONDON application Microsoft Information Store

Error Subtext: An error occurred:
The requested ESE RPC service is not started


Error 2010/09/24 07:04:11 39 Data Plugin LONDON Error ending backup: The parameter is not valid.

Error subtext: An error occurred: The parameter is not valid.


The Windows Event logs report the same issue:


Event ID: 4103
Source: NetVault7
Client:LONDON
Class:Data Plugin
Job: 39
Warnlevel: Error
Could not get list of Storage Groups on server LONDON, application Microsoft Information Store.


The Exchange Trace log shows the following errors:


1 EXCHUTIL:1488 1074 0 141730 Execute the command powershell.exe -PSConsoleFile C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14\bin\exshell.psc1 -command
{Get-ExchangeServer -identity &;LONDON; | fl edition,admindisplayversion} gt 910950109500000000011488 2 gt 910950109500000000021488

0 EXCHUTIL:1488 1077 0 141731 Failed to launch powershell script with exit status -65536
1 EXCHUTIL:1488 699 0 141731 Method ExecutePowerShellScript: ends, success = FALSE

1 EXCHUTIL:1488 954 1 141731 Failed to determine the Exchange server version. Powershell erroe: [(null)]


Further more the Exchange plugin is no longer able to read the version of Exchange installed.

Workaround:

1)This is a known Microsoft issue and the extent of the issue varies.

The first thing worth checking is if the Windows powershell is still working via the following command:

C:\Get-PSSnapin -Registered

If the Windows Power Shell is active and undamaged then you should see the following output:

Name : Microsoft.Exchange.Management.PowerShell.E2010
PSVersion : 1.0
Description : Admin Tasks for the Exchange Server
Name : Microsoft.Exchange.Management.Powershell.Support
PSVersion : 1.0
Description : Support Tasks for the Exchange Server
Name : Microsoft.Exchange.Management.PowerShell.Setup
PSVersion : 1.0
Description : Setup Tasks for the Exchange Server
Name : Windows.ServerBackup
PSVersion : 2.0
Description : This Windows PowerShell snap-in for Windows Server Backup contains cmdlets used to configure, run, and manage backups.

Should the output differ from the ones above then there is a Knowledge Base Article from Microsoft which will help fix this:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/nawar/archive/2010/09/03/exchange-management-shell-ems-missing-after-applying-exchange-2010-sp1.aspx

2) If the Microsoft.Exchange.Management.Powershell.E2010 is not showing you should add via the command:

Add-PSsnapin Microsoft.Exchange.Management.PowerShell.E2010

If we are seeing error you will need to check the following MS KB:
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/nawar/2014/02/06/microsoft-exchange-management-powershell-e2010-is-not-installed-on-this-machine/

Compare the registry with the one in the post and import any missing ones. Do be careful of changing the registry so make sure you have a good backup of the registry.

After you followed the MS KB you need to execute again the following commands:
Add-PSsnapin Microsoft.Exchange.Management.PowerShell.E2010
Add-PSsnapin Microsoft.Exchange.Management.PowerShell.Support

3) Once the Windows PowerShell is backup up and working you should be able to query the Exchange version installed via the following command:

Get-ExchangeServer -identity london | fl edition, admindisplayversion

The output should look something like this:

Edition : Enterprise
AdminDisplayVersion : Version 14.1 (Build 218.15)

[PS] C:\Get-ExecutionPolicy -list
Scope ExecutionPolicy
----- ---------------
MachinePolicy Undefined
UserPolicy Undefined
Process Undefined
CurrentUser Undefined
LocalMachine RemoteSigned