Microsoft KB Archive/317684

= Users with only a first name receive an incorrect SMTP proxy address =

Article ID: 317684

Article Last Modified on 10/30/2007

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APPLIES TO

 Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition (32-bit x86), when used with:  Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server Standard Edition

 Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2 

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This article was previously published under Q317684



SYMPTOMS
If you create a new user with only a first name on a Windows Server 2003-based computer that is running Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server Service Pack 3 (SP3) or Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2), and a recipient policy is set to stamp users with valid separator characters between %g and other user format strings, the new user may receive an incorrect SMTP proxy address.

For example, if you use &quot;%g_%s@ .com&quot; in a recipient policy (note the underscore after the %g) and you create a user that has only a first name (for example, Test1), the user may be stamped with something like &quot;_11a4e1@ .com&quot;, even though the expected address is Test1_@ .com.

The address pattern varies, but all of the SMTP addresses are unique for each user for which you enter only a first name. The order of the user format strings does not matter. For example, &quot;%s_%g@ .com&quot; still generates an incorrect SMTP address.

SMTP addresses are generated correctly for users with both first and last names or users with only last names.



WORKAROUND
To work around this problem, for all users with only a first name entered in Active Directory:  Manually change the SMTP proxy addresses for those users.</li> Bypass the recipient policy for those users: <ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;"> Start Active Directory Users and Computers; on the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Users and Computers.</li> In the console tree, double-click the domain, and then double-click the Users node. If you have multiple user nodes, click the node that contains the recipient information that you want to modify.</li> In the details pane, double-click the user that you want to exclude from the recipient policy.</li> On the E-Mail Addresses tab, click to clear the Automatically update e-mail addresses based on recipient policy check box</li></ol> </li></ol>

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STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the &quot;Applies to&quot; section.

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MORE INFORMATION
The SMTP proxy address is actually generated by the Exchange system attendant. The Recipient Update Service stamps users with the SMTP addresses that the system attendant has already generated. For more information about how the SMTP e-mail address generator creates SMTP addresses, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

285136 How to customize the SMTP e-mail address generators through recipient policies

Additional query words: RUS SMTP Proxy Address XADM

Keywords: kbbug kbnofix KB317684

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