When deploying an Exchange Edge Transport server, the EdgeSync service replicates configuration and recipient data from your internal Exchange organization to the Edge server. Occasionally you need to force an immediate synchronization — whether testing a new Edge Subscription, troubleshooting mail flow, or verifying that changes have propagated.

What EdgeSync Replicates

EdgeSync copies data from Active Directory to the AD LDS instance on the Edge Transport server:

Data TypeDefault Sync IntervalExamples
ConfigurationEvery 3 minutesSend/receive connectors, accepted domains, transport rules
RecipientEvery 4 hoursSafe senders, blocked senders, recipient lookup data
TopologyEvery 5 minutesEdge subscription information, server topology

Prerequisites

  • Exchange Management Shell access on a Hub Transport server (Exchange 2010) or Mailbox server (Exchange 2013/2016/2019)
  • Active Edge Subscription (Get-EdgeSubscription should return results)
  • Network connectivity to the Edge server on ports 50389 (LDAP) and 50636 (Secure LDAP)

Force EdgeSync Synchronization

Basic Sync

Open the Exchange Management Shell and run:

Start-EdgeSynchronization

Specify the Source Server

If you have multiple internal servers, specify which one should initiate the sync:

Start-EdgeSynchronization -Server "HUB-SERVER-01"

Target a Specific Edge Server

Start-EdgeSynchronization -TargetServer "EDGE-01"

Force a Full Sync

To force a complete replication instead of a delta sync:

Start-EdgeSynchronization -ForceFullSync

Note: A full sync transfers all data and takes longer. Use this when you suspect data inconsistency.

Verifying EdgeSync Status

Test the Synchronization

Test-EdgeSynchronization

Healthy output:

SyncStatus           : Normal
Name                 : EDGE-01
LastSynchronizedUtc  : 2/12/2026 3:28:00 PM
TransportServerStatus: {Healthy}

Check Edge Subscription Details

Get-EdgeSubscription | Format-List Name, Domain, EdgeServerFQDN, SubscriptionExpiry

Troubleshooting

EdgeSync Service Not Running

Get-Service MSExchangeEdgeSync
Start-Service MSExchangeEdgeSync

Firewall Blocking Connectivity

Test-NetConnection -ComputerName EDGE-01 -Port 50389
Test-NetConnection -ComputerName EDGE-01 -Port 50636

Expired Edge Subscription

# On the Edge server
New-EdgeSubscription -FileName "C:\EdgeSubscription.xml"

# Copy XML to Mailbox server, then import
New-EdgeSubscription -FileData ([byte[]]$(Get-Content -Path "C:\EdgeSubscription.xml" -Encoding Byte -ReadCount 0)) -Site "Default-First-Site-Name"

Start-EdgeSynchronization

DNS and Time Sync

Resolve-DnsName EDGE-01.contoso.com
w32tm /query /status

Summary

Force an EdgeSync synchronization with Start-EdgeSynchronization in the Exchange Management Shell. After making changes to transport rules, connectors, or accepted domains, run this command followed by Test-EdgeSynchronization to verify replication to your Edge Transport servers.