Exchange Management Shell RBAC Access Denied for Server

Question

Exchange Management Shell RBAC Access Denied for Server

Jaap Hoetmer 11

Hi

On a 2019 Exchange server I have issues running the Management Shell, as it is started it throws an error related to RBAC:

[AuthZRequestId=8a7b453d-47e2-468d-8f62-ffdd36a728dc][FailureCategory=AuthZ-CmdletAccessDeniedException] The user
"<domain name>/SERVERS/<ExchangeServerName>" isn't assigned to any management roles.

followed by the message:
Failed to connect to an Exchange server in the current site.
Enter the server FQDN where you want to connect.:

When I start a standard Powershell session and load the Exchange plugin, this works, and I can execute Exchange commands:
Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.Exchange.Management.PowerShell.SnapIn

I also see repeated combinations of errors 17, 23 and 258 in the event viewer, all related to RBAC, about once every minute:
Error 17:
[AuthZRequestId=8a7b453d-47e2-468d-8f62-ffdd36a728dc][FailureCategory=AuthZ-CmdletAccessDeniedException] The user
"<domain name>/SERVERS/<ExchangeServerName>" isn't assigned to any management roles.

Error 23:
(Process w3wp.exe, PID 30316) "Exchange AuthZPlugin Fails to finish method GetApplicationPrivateData due to application exception Microsoft.Exchange.Configuration.Authorization.CmdletAccessDeniedException: The user "<domain name>/SERVERS/<ExchangeServerName>" isn't assigned to any management roles.

Error 258:
(Process 30316, PID w3wp.exe)"RemotePS Public API Func GetApplicationPrivateData throws Exception Microsoft.Exchange.Configuration.Authorization.CmdletAccessDeniedException: The user "<domain name>/SERVERS/<ExchangeServerName>" isn't assigned to any management roles.

I have tried many things but none seem to help. The addition of the Exchange server name to the Exchange Organization Management group appeared to work, as Powershell could be started without errors, but other functions were impacted in this situation, so this was clearly not a solution. Example: room reservations were no longer possible.

Exchange Server 2019 on top of Windows Server 2019, latest updates installed.
Other than Exchange, the server has ESET Mail Security installed and running, as well as CodeTwo Exchange Rules 2019 for signature management, latest release.

Any tips very welcome.

V Suryanarayanan (CONVERGYS CORPORATION) 0 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2026-05-02T00:33:08.3533333+00:00

admin recently updated the windows server su where exchange server 2 (2016 ) is and rebooted the server and after this tehy started facing the same issue, and then admin installed fresh se server in 2025 windows server and still same issue with EMS , ECP 500 and in event viwer same RBAC error as 258,23

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V Suryanarayanan (CONVERGYS CORPORATION) 0 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2026-05-02T00:33:08.3533333+00:00

admin recently updated the windows server su where exchange server 2 (2016 ) is and rebooted the server and after this tehy started facing the same issue, and then admin installed fresh se server in 2025 windows server and still same issue with EMS , ECP 500 and in event viwer same RBAC error as 258,23

Answer 1

Jaap Hoetmer 11

Hi KaelYao-MSFT,

Thanks for the reply, no need to apologize for asking questions.

The system was installed very recently, in December of last year, but I can't recall when we first detected this. All Exchange functionality works well, including Outlook, OWA and EAC. As this was part of a larger migration, we decided to leave it aside and focus our efforts on the other parts of the installation.

Continuing with a server that doesn't do all that is expected of it is undesirable, and as the migration activities have subsided, I am now trying to resolve this issue. Additionally, we need to link Exchange to 365 in a hybrid scenario, which is clearly impossible in the current situation.

I have tried to find the exact information related to this particular problem, by scouring the different websites, but very little is to be found about this particular problem; of those found none have provided a solution. So in essence I haven't been able to try much.

What I did try:

Uninstall ESET Mail Security antivirus
Disabled the CodeTwo email signature services
Checked Task Scheduler for any tasks that had failed
Checked Event Viewer for other errors or failures
Applied all updates to the operating system and Exchange server, save for the last, U8, but the release notes do not appear to provide a fix.
Checked the installation logs of Exchange

The event viewer and installation log files contain quite a number of errors, so I am suspecting this problem was introduced during the installation. To further analyze the errors and potential installation issues, I am currently building a new server alongside the existing, and try to perform a fresh installation of Exchange. If this system works well and the errors do not show, I could migrate the mailboxes over and decommission the original Exchange server.

What do you think?

Thanks for your help.
Jaap

Kai Yao 37,786 Reputation points Moderator

2021-02-24T09:34:33.253+00:00

Hi,Jaap.
Thanks for the update!

I think building a new server for test is worth a try, since it won't have effects on current users.
If the new server is working fine, you can migrate mailboxes to it.

In addition, do you remember if you run the "setup.exe /prepareSchema, /prepareAD and /prepareDomain" commands successfully via Powershell before installing Exchange?
As mentioned in this document: Prepare Active Directory and domains for Exchange Server

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Jaap Hoetmer 11 Reputation points

2021-02-24T10:55:06.617+00:00

Hi KaelYao-MSFT,

Thanks for the quick reply.

These steps have been performed as part of the setup of the Exchange server, and I did verify the AD contents to see if the modifications were available, using ADSIEdit.
Without really being able to check all the details manually, I have verified that the Exchange structural changes had been put in place by the Exchange installer, and it appeared to be correct.

Kind regards,
Jaap
Jaap Hoetmer 11 Reputation points

2021-02-24T13:20:42.597+00:00

Hello KaelYao-MSFT,

I have completed the base installation of Exchange 2019 on the additional server I prepared, and all seems to work fine. I can start Management Shell on the new server, I can see the two Exchange servers, I can see the mailboxes and mailbox databases on both servers.

Except for the RBAC problems on the first Exchange server, it all seems to work. I am therefore going to finish the configuration of the secondary server, migrate the mailboxes to the new server, and remove the first server.

Although it annoys me not to be able to understand what is wrong with the first server, I can't waste more time on this.

Thanks for your help.
Kai Yao 37,786 Reputation points Moderator

2021-02-25T01:38:51.227+00:00

Hi,Jaap.
Thanks for your update!
If everything is working fine, please feel free to mark your reply as the answer to the question.
It may be helpful to other community members who came up with the same problem.

If you have any other questions on this issue, please feel free to post back.

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Kai Yao 37,786 Reputation points Moderator

2021-03-01T09:51:09.127+00:00

Hi,@Jaap Hoetmer
I am writing here to confirm with you how thing going now?
Do you have further questions on this issue?
Jaap Hoetmer 11 Reputation points

2021-03-01T13:51:46.57+00:00

Hi KaelYao-MSFT

This weekend I have migrated the mailboxes to the new server built alongside, uninstalled the previous Exchange server, and everything worked out fine.
I have also been able to activate the hybrid Exchange configuration with 365, allowing the customer to use Teams with their calendars synchronized.

Thanks for your help.

Kind regards,
Jaap
Kai Yao 37,786 Reputation points Moderator

2021-03-02T01:44:56.06+00:00

Glad to hear that and thanks for your update!

Answer 2

Hi, @Jaap Hoetmer

Sorry I need to ask a few questions:

What changes have you done before the problem occurs?
What solutions have you tried so far?
Do EAC and OWA work correctly?

The addition of the Exchange server name to the Exchange Organization Management group appeared to work, as Powershell could be started without errors, but other functions were impacted in this situation, so this was clearly not a solution.
Yes the server should not be added to the Exchange Organization Management group as mentioned in this document: Error occurs in EMS, EAC, ECP, OWA, or Outlook on the web in Exchange Server 2013 or Exchange Server 2016

It should only be in these groups:
Domain Computers
Exchange Install Domain Servers
Exchange Servers
Exchange Trusted Subsystem
Managed Availability Servers

I notice that you mentioned the server has ESET Mail Security and CodeTwo Exchange Rules 2019 installed.
To my knowledge, third-party software may be the possible cause of the problem.
If possible please uninstall the software and check if EMS will work.

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Exchange Management Shell RBAC Access Denied for Server

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