Attempting to export an Exchange Server mailbox to PST throws the error: “Couldn’t locate a database suitable for storing this request.”

I’ve noticed that many of my colleagues and clients have asked me about the following error that is thrown when they attempt to export an Exchange Server mailbox to PST so I thought it would be a good idea to quickly write a post about the error.

Problem

You attempt to export a mailbox to PST via the Exchange Admin Center but received the following error:

Couldn’t locate a database suitable for storing this request.

Using the New-MailboxExportRequest feature displays a similar error:

[PS] C:\Windows\system32>New-MailboxExportRequest -Mailbox mbraithwaite -FilePath "\\tmrfp09\archive$\Outlook Archive\mb
raithwaite.pst"
Couldn't locate a database suitable for storing this request.
     + CategoryInfo          : InvalidArgument: (mbraithwaite:MailboxOrMailUserIdParameter) [New-MailboxExportRequest],
     MailboxDatabase...manentException
     + FullyQualifiedErrorId : [Server=contBMEXMB01,RequestId=c7446094-7d17-4e06-90c4-07be8ca10829,TimeStamp=8/23/2017 2
    :46:00 PM] [FailureCategory=Cmdlet-MailboxDatabaseVersionUnsupportedPermanentException] 4B192EAA,Microsoft.Exchang
   e.Management.Migration.MailboxReplication.MailboxExportRequest.NewMailboxExportRequest
     + PSComputerName        : contbmexmb01.contoso.com

[PS] C:\Windows\system32>

Solution

The reason why this error would be thrown is if you are trying to export a mailbox that is on a different version than the admin console you are working from.  In the example above, the attempt was made from the Exchange 2016 admin center but the mailbox actually resides on an Exchange 2010 server.  Simply execute the export job from the PowerShell prompt of one of the Exchange 2010 servers to get the mailbox to export.