Microsoft KB Archive/886654

= Outbound public folder replication cannot work from a particular Exchange Server 2000 computer =

Article ID: 886654

Article Last Modified on 10/26/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Exchange 2000 Enterprise Server

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SYMPTOMS
In your organization, a Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server computer stops performing outbound public folder replication. However, inbound public folder replication still occurs on the server and no Error events or Warning events are logged in the Application log.



CAUSE
This problem occurs if Exchange 2000 incorrectly interprets a valid Exchange 2000 Server Messaging Database (MDB) GUID to be the distinguished name of a Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 MDB.

The Exchange Server 5.5 format for an MDB in the replication state table is a compressed server legacy distinguished name. The site part of the compressed distinguished name is stored in a lookup table. In this compressed distinguished name, this site part is replaced by an index to the lookup table where the site part of the distinguished name is stored. The rest of the server name, including the terminating NULL character, appears after this index to the lookup table. Therefore, the Exchange Server 5.5 MDB in the replication state table may appear similar to the following:

03 10 'M' 'Y' 'S' 'E' 'R' 'V' 'E' 'R' 00

When the problem that is described in the &quot;Symptoms&quot; section occurs, it occurs because the computer name has 13 characters. If the computer name has 13 characters, the whole Exchange Server 5.5 MDB entry in the replication state table has 16 bytes. Therefore, if the computer name has 13 characters, the whole entry is the same length as a GUID. An Exchange Server 5.5 compressed distinguished name and an Exchange 2000 GUID are both stored in the same column of the replication state table. When Exchange 2000 loads this table, Exchange 2000 must determine whether the data object is an Exchange 2000 GUID or an Exchange Server 5.5 compressed distinguished name.

Exchange 2000 first determines this data to be a directory service GUID and searches for this object in the Active Directory directory service. If this object does not appear in Active Directory, Exchange 2000 performs a test to determine whether this object is an Exchange Server 5.5 compressed DN. To test this, Exchange 2000 does the following:
 * Exchange 2000 verifies whether the binary large object is equal to or more than 5 bytes.
 * Exchange 2000 verifies whether the binary large object has a single zero byte.
 * Exchange 2000 verifies whether the single zero byte is the last byte of the binary large object.

If all these conditions are true, Exchange 2000 determines the object to be an Exchange Server 5.5 compressed DN.

Consider the following scenario:
 * You have a valid directory service GUID for an Exchange 2000 database.
 * This GUID is longer than 5 bytes.
 * This GUID has a single zero byte at the end of the binary large object.
 * This GUID is no longer present in Active Directory.

In this scenario, Exchange 2000 incorrectly determines this GUID to be an Exchange Server 5.5 compressed distinguished name. Therefore, the replication engine does not initialize when the database is mounted.



Hotfix information
A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that is described in this article. Only apply it to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix may receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next Exchange 2000 service pack that contains this hotfix.

To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services phone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;[LN;CNTACTMS]

Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

Prerequisites
Because of file dependencies, this update requires the following:  Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server Service Pack 3 (SP3). For additional information about Exchange service packs, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

301378 How to obtain the latest Exchange 2000 Server service pack

 The update that is described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

870540 Availability of the August 2004 Exchange 2000 Server Post-Service Pack 3 Update Rollup

 Mdbmsg.dll version 6617.15.

Restart requirement
You do not have to restart your computer after you apply this hotfix. However, many Exchange-related services may be automatically stopped and then restarted when you apply this hotfix.

Hotfix replacement information
This hotfix does not replace any other hotfixes.

File information
The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.

Date        Time   Version            Size    File name --   13-Nov-2004  01:57  6.0.6617.21     2,310,144  Mdbmsg.dll 13-Nov-2004 01:55  6.0.6617.21     4,689,920  Store.exe



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

Additional query words: XADM outbound PF ReplDN MDB CDN backfill

Keywords: kbqfe kbhotfixserver kbfix kbexchange2000presp4fix kbbug KB886654

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