Microsoft KB Archive/822451

= Troubleshoot Message Failures in Exchange Server 2003 =

Article ID: 822451

Article Last Modified on 11/30/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Enterprise Edition
 * Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Standard Edition

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SUMMARY
This article describes troubleshooting steps for message flow issues in Exchange 2003.



MORE INFORMATION
To troubleshoot message delivery failure in Exchange 2003, follow these steps:  To determine where the message is stuck, or to find where the non-delivery report (NDR) is being generated, do the following:  Use Message Tracking Center to track the message if it seems to disappear. To use Message Tracking Center, in Exchange System Manager, click Tools, and then click Message Tracking Center. Check various locations to determine where the message is stuck, such as the message queues and the BadMail folder.

To locate the Exchange 2003 message queues, do the following:  If you do not have routing or administrative groups defined, in Exchange System Manager, expand Servers, expand  , and then click Queues. If you do have administrative groups defined, in Exchange System Manager, expand Administrative Groups, expand  , expand Servers, expand, and then click Queues.

The BadMail folder is located at :\Program Files\Exchsrvr\Mailroot\Vsi 1\BadMail, where   is the hard disk that Exchange 2003 is installed. Check the NDR to verify if there are error codes, and to determine the server and the component that are generating the NDR.</li></ol> </li> Check the server where the message is stuck, or check the server that is generating the NDR, to make sure that all the required Exchange services are started. To do so: <ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;"> Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Services.</li> Locate the Microsoft Exchange services, and verify that the services that are set to start automatically are started.</li></ol> </li> Check the server where the message is stuck, or the server that is generating the NDR, to make sure that the connectors are available. To do so: <ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;"> Click Start, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.</li> Expand Tools, expand Monitoring and Status, and then click Status to view the status of the connectors.</li></ol> </li> Check Windows Event Viewer to see the event IDs that are in the application event log. Increase logging on the components that the message is stuck in or that are generating NDRs.</li> Check the error codes in the NDR. The error codes can be useful to help determine the source of the problem. For example, an error code might point to a problem with the DNS service or with network connectivity.

For additional information about NDR error codes, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256321 XCON: Enhanced Status Codes for Delivery - RFC 1893

</li> Generate a raw property dump file of the object that you are trying to send mail to, even if there are not any application log event IDs that are specific to your problem, or any NDR messages.

For additional information about how to create an object's raw properties dump file in Exchange Server 4.0, 5.0, and 5.5, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

199412 XGEN: Administrator Program Dump Files (Admindmp.txt)

</li> Verify that the following list of Microsoft Active Directory attribute values are correct for the user or the contact object that the message is being sent to. To find the attribute values, you can use the ADSI Edit utility. ADSI Edit is located in the Support\Tools folder of the Windows 2000 Server CD.

Note You must check the attribute values on the same global catalog server that is being referenced by the Exchange 2003 computerthat is generating the NDR or where the message is stuck.

Warning If you use the ADSI Edit snap-in, the LDP utility, or any other LDAP version 3 client, and you incorrectly modify the attributes of Active Directory objects, you can cause serious problems. These problems may require you to reinstall Microsoft Windows 2000 Server, Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server, or both Windows and Exchange 2000 Server. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems that occur if you incorrectly modify Active Directory object attributes can be solved. Modify these attributes at your own risk.  Legacyexchangedn</li> Homemdb</li> Homemta</li> mailNickname</li> <li>proxyAddresses</li> <li>msExchHomeServerName</li> <li>msExchMailboxSecurityDescriptor</li> <li>msExchMailboxGuid</li></ul>

For additional information about how to install the ADSI Edit tool, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

301423 HOW TO: Install the Windows 2000 Support Tools to a Windows 2000 Server-Based Computer

</li> <li>Compare the Active Directory attribute values that you obtained in step 7 to the recipient object's attributes on the object's home Exchange 2003 computer. For Microsoft Exchange Server 4.0, 5.0, and 5.5, compare these attribute values to the object's raw properties.</li> <li>If any of the attribute values are incorrect, do the following: <ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;"> <li>Verify that replication is working between global catalog servers. For more information about how to troubleshoot Active Directory replication issues, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/Bb727057.aspx

Note You can use the Nslookup.exe command to test your DNS configuration. DNS configuration issues are frequently the cause of replication problems.

For additional information about how to use Nslookup.exe, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

200525 Using NSlookup.exe

</li> <li>Verify that the Recipient Update Service (RUS) is working.</li> <li>Verify that Active Directory Connector (ADC) and all Connection Agreements are working correctly if you have any Exchange Server 5.5 computers.</li> <li>Verify that the Site Replication Service (SRS) is running if you have any Exchange Server 5.5 computers. Make sure to include Exchange servers that are located in remote sites.</li> <li>If everything in steps 9a through 9d appears to be working, use ADSI Edit to manually correct the incorrect attributes in Active Directory.

Warning If you use the ADSI Edit snap-in, the LDP utility, or any other LDAP version 3 client, and you incorrectly modify the attributes of Active Directory objects, you can cause serious problems. These problems may require you to reinstall Microsoft Windows 2000 Server, Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server, or both Windows and Exchange 2000 Server. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems that occur if you incorrectly modify Active Directory object attributes can be solved. Modify these attributes at your own risk.</li></ol> </li> <li>Run the Regtrace utility to collect a trace file on the Exchange 2003 computer that experiences the issue.</li></ol>

Additional query words: XCON

Keywords: kbhowto KB822451

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