In Exchange Server 2010 (SP1) and later, the Exchange Management Shell (EMS) tool offers various PowerShell cmdlets to manage the Exchange Servers efficiently. New-MailboxExportRequest is one of the PowerShell cmdlets that is used for exporting single or multiple mailboxes to PST format for migration or backup purposes. However, when you run this cmdlet to export mailboxes, you can’t see the progress of the status of the export. To check the status of the export, you need to use the Get-MailboxExportRequest cmdlet. It shows if the export status is in progress, failed, or completed. 

Sometimes, the New-MailboxExportRequest cmdlet failed to export the mailboxes (or a few mailboxes). This mostly occurs due to the following reasons:

• Unsupported Exchange Version

This cmdlet only works in Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 (SP1) or later versions for exporting mailboxes from the Exchange database to PST. If you are trying to export Exchange mailboxes using the New-MailboxExportRequest cmdlet in an earlier version, then it will not work.

• Lack of Permissions

If the required permissions and roles are not assigned to the user to execute the New-MailboxExportRequest PowerShell command, then the Status Failed Error occurs.  

• Hidden Mailboxes

If the global address list (GAL) of the associated source mailbox is hidden, you may get the New-MailboxExportRequest status as failed. Since this cmdlet does not look at the hidden source mailboxes, it will not be executed. You can simply unhide the source mailbox to connect it successfully and start the export process. 

• Corrupted Mailbox Items

The export can also fail if there are bad or corrupt items in the mailbox. In such a case, you need to specify the number of corrupted items to be skipped from the export process. It can be done using the Set-MoveRequest cmdlet. The corrupted items will be ignored while executing the mailbox export process. 

In addition, there are various other causes that may lead to the New-MailboxExportRequest failed status issue. These include:

• Exchange Server connection issues
• Disabled MAPI protocol
• Inconsistent database where the mailbox is stored
• Wrong command syntax
• Lack of disk space on the server 
• Use of incorrect filters
• Unavailability of mailbox data
• The database does not exist or has a wrong name

Solutions to Fix the New-MailboxExportRequest Status Failed Error

It is recommended to first check the internet access and Exchange Server connection, and if the MAPI protocol is enabled. Then, verify the command syntax, check the accuracy of filters and additional parameters, and check the database status. If these steps doesn’t help in fixing the issue, you can try the below-mentioned solutions:

Solution #1 – Check the Required Permissions and Roles

You need to check that the user you’re using to run the New-MailboxExportRequest has the required roles and permissions. You can run the following cmdlet in PowerShell to check if the mailbox import export role is assigned to the user.

Get-ManagementRoleAssignment –Role “Mailbox Import Export” | fl user

It will display the users and groups having the mailbox import export role assigned. If the user name is not in the list, then use the New-ManagementRoleAssignment cmdlet to assign the role. 

New-ManagementRoleAssignment –Role “Mailbox Import Export” –User “Your User Name” 

Solution #2 – Check Log Reports

If the user has the required roles and permissions, then you need investigate the issue. You can use the Get-MailboxExportRequest cmdlet to get a list of completed exports and clear them from the server. Use the following command in the Exchange PowerShell: 

Get-MailboxImportRequest -Status Completed 

Once the completed requests are removed, you will see only the failed ones. 

Alternatively, you can use the below command to get the list of the failed exports. 

Get-MailboxImportRequest -Status Failed 

To get more information, you can use the Get-MailboxExportRequestStatistics with Get-MailboxExportRequest cmdlet.

Get-MailboxExportRequest -status failed | Get-MailboxExportRequestStatistics -IncludeReport | Format-List > \\ex01\pstfiles\report.txt

This cmdlet will provide a detailed report. You can open this report in any text editor application. You can view the report to identify the root cause of the problem.  

When you investigate the log files properly, you might notice a lot of errors that could have led to the failure of the New-MailboxExportRequest cmdlet. The below example indicates an error with content filtering.

Once the root cause of the failure is identified, you can fix the issue.

Solution #3 – Check the Database Status

You can use the Get-MailboxDatabase with the database name to check the status of the database.

If the database is not online, you can mount it using the following command:

Mount-Database –Identity –Confirm:$False

Then, try to export the mailboxes to PST using the New-MailboxExportRequest cmdlet.

What if the issue still persists?

If you have tried all the above methods and are still unable to fix the issue completely, then use an advanced EDB to PST converter tool, such as Stellar Converter for EDB to export the mailboxes to PST. This tool can help you export mailboxes from offline Exchange database files to PST files easily and quickly. The advanced tool also allows you to extract mailbox items from EDB file and save them in multiple formats, including MBOX, EML, RTF, PDF, and MSG. It supports Microsoft Exchange Server 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007, 2003, 2000, and 5.5. 

Conclusion

The New-MailboxExportRequest status failed error may occur due to various reasons. Some of the common reasons include unsupported Exchange version, hidden or corrupted mailboxes, lack of permissions, etc. You can follow the solutions mentioned above to fix this issue. In case the issue is not resolved, you can use an EDB to PST conversion tool, like Stellar Converter for EDB that can help in exporting all the mailboxes from Exchange database file to PST files in just a few clicks.