Microsoft KB Archive/315591

= Authoritative and non-authoritative domains in Exchange 2003 and in Exchange 2000 =

Article ID: 315591

Article Last Modified on 4/17/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q315591



SUMMARY
You can configure Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2000 to be authoritative or non-authoritative for a given Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) address space. This setting significantly affects the way that e-mail messages for that address space are handled.



MORE INFORMATION
By default, Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2000 are authoritative for an SMTP address space when the address space is added to a recipient policy. To observe this:
 * 1) Start Exchange System Manager, expand Recipients, and then expand Recipient Policies.
 * 2) Open the properties of the Default Policy.
 * 3) Click the E-Mail Addresses tab, click New, and then click SMTP.
 * 4) A dialog box is displayed that you can use to type an SMTP address space. A This Exchange Organization is responsible for all mail delivery to this address check box is also located at the bottom of the dialog box. If this check box is selected, Exchange is authoritative for that address space. If this check box is clear, Exchange is not authoritative.

When Exchange is attempting to deliver a message to a local address space (that is, an address space that exists on a recipient policy) Exchange tries to find the destination address in Active Directory. If Exchange cannot find the destination address, what occurs next depends on whether or not Exchange is authoritative for the domain.

If the server is not authoritative, Exchange seeks another route to that address space by checking connectors and the Domain Name System (DNS). If Exchange finds a connector with a matching address space, the message is routed to that connector. If Exchange does not find a connector, Exchange checks the DNS for a mail exchange (MX) record and routes the message to the corresponding host. If both methods do not locate another route for the message, a non-delivery report (NDR) is generated with a 5.4.0 error code, which indicates a name resolution issue.

If the server is authoritative, Exchange immediately generates an NDR with a 5.1.1 error code, which indicates that the destination address does not exist. You can modify this behavior by specifying a host to which unresolved mail is forwarded. To locate this setting:
 * 1) In Exchange System Manager, expand the name of the Exchange server, expand Protocols, and then expand SMTP.
 * 2) Open the properties of the SMTP virtual server, and then click the Messages tab.
 * 3) A Forward all messages with unresolved recipients to host box is located near the bottom of the Messages tab. If you populate this box (with either a fully qualified domain name or an IP address enclosed in brackets), unresolved messages to authoritative domains are forwarded to the specified host, and no NDR is generated. This setting has no effect on domains for which Exchange is not authoritative.

For additional information about how authoritative and non-authoritative domains are used when sharing an SMTP address space, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

321721 XCON: Sharing SMTP Address Spaces in Exchange 2000

Additional query words: shared SMTP address space EX2003 EX2000

Keywords: kbhowto KB315591

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