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date: Fri, 25 Jul 2008 23:59:16 -0400,
group: microsoft.public.exchange.admin
back
New Ex 03 mailbox server not sending outgoing SMTP mail.
We have an Exchange 2003 organization that had two "backend" mailbox servers
and a front end/OWA server that also functions as our bridgehead for
internet mail. The servers are running in native mode on a Windows 2003
native mode A/D network.
The servers are in a single domain/single site. We have an SMTP connector
set up for outgoing email with the bridgehead being the same as the front
end server. This arrangement has been working for for years.
Recently we added a 3rd mailbox server and moved some mailboxes to it.
Users were able to access the mailboxes using Outlook, and were receiving
email both from inside and outside addresses.
The problem was that all outgoing SMTP mail from users on this mailbox was
queuing up on the server. The status on the queue's showed "remote server
did not respond to a connection attempt". When we tried to force a
connection, it would go active for a few seconds then list as "retry", but
nothing went out of the queue.
I was able to telnet on port 25 and initiate an SMTP connection from that
server from the command line, and incoming SMTP email comes in OK. It's
just that this server can not initiate an outgoing SMTP connection, even to
the other servers in the routing group. The only difference I found in the
configuration is that I had forgot to add "ASP.NET" from the add/remove
programs (shouldn't the Exchange setup have caught that?). Other than that,
the mailbox server was set up the same as the other ones. I installed the
ASP.NET and I tried restarting services, and even rebooting the servers, but
nothing worked..
What finally worked was to set a "smart host" on the SMTP virtual server on
the new server to point to the bridgehead server. I realize this is sending
all email, even that pointed to the other internal servers, through the
single server, so I don't want to leave it this way.
Any suggestions on what would be causing this, and how to fix it?
Mike O.
date: Fri, 25 Jul 2008 23:59:16 -0400
author: Mike O.
Re: New Ex 03 mailbox server not sending outgoing SMTP mail.
On Fri, 25 Jul 2008 23:59:16 -0400, "Mike O."
wrote:
>We have an Exchange 2003 organization that had two "backend" mailbox servers
>and a front end/OWA server that also functions as our bridgehead for
>internet mail. The servers are running in native mode on a Windows 2003
>native mode A/D network.
>
>The servers are in a single domain/single site. We have an SMTP connector
>set up for outgoing email with the bridgehead being the same as the front
>end server. This arrangement has been working for for years.
>
>Recently we added a 3rd mailbox server and moved some mailboxes to it.
>Users were able to access the mailboxes using Outlook, and were receiving
>email both from inside and outside addresses.
>
>The problem was that all outgoing SMTP mail from users on this mailbox was
>queuing up on the server. The status on the queue's showed "remote server
>did not respond to a connection attempt". When we tried to force a
>connection, it would go active for a few seconds then list as "retry", but
>nothing went out of the queue.
>
>I was able to telnet on port 25 and initiate an SMTP connection from that
>server from the command line, and incoming SMTP email comes in OK. It's
>just that this server can not initiate an outgoing SMTP connection, even to
>the other servers in the routing group. The only difference I found in the
>configuration is that I had forgot to add "ASP.NET" from the add/remove
>programs (shouldn't the Exchange setup have caught that?). Other than that,
>the mailbox server was set up the same as the other ones. I installed the
>ASP.NET and I tried restarting services, and even rebooting the servers, but
>nothing worked..
>
>What finally worked was to set a "smart host" on the SMTP virtual server on
>the new server to point to the bridgehead server. I realize this is sending
>all email, even that pointed to the other internal servers, through the
>single server, so I don't want to leave it this way.
>
>Any suggestions on what would be causing this, and how to fix it?
Remove the smarhost entry on the SMTP VS, and create a SMTP Connector
instead.Add the servers SMTP VSs as bridgeheads.
( If you have smarthost entries on the other servers, remove those as
well.)
>
>Mike O.
date: Sat, 26 Jul 2008 08:38:02 -0400
author: Andy David {MVP}
Re: New Ex 03 mailbox server not sending outgoing SMTP mail.
On Fri, 25 Jul 2008 23:59:16 -0400, "Mike O."
wrote:
[ snip ]
>What finally worked was to set a "smart host" on the SMTP virtual server on
>the new server to point to the bridgehead server. I realize this is sending
>all email, even that pointed to the other internal servers, through the
>single server, so I don't want to leave it this way.
>
>Any suggestions on what would be causing this, and how to fix it?
Is that new server in the same Routing Group as the other two back-end
servers? Is the scope of the address space on the SMTP Connector set
to "Organization"?
What does WinRoute tell you about what that server thinks is the way
to send email out of the organization? Does it see the routing group
connectors, and virtual servers? Are they "up" or "down"? Does it see
the advertised address spaces?
You shouldn't need a smart host, and you really don't want on on a
SMTP Virtual Server, and you really, really don't want one if you have
multiple servers in your organization!
Have you run ExBPA on the organization to see if there are problems?
---
Rich Matheisen
MCSE+I, Exchange MVP
date: Sat, 26 Jul 2008 19:19:38 -0400
author: Rich Matheisen [MVP]
Re: New Ex 03 mailbox server not sending outgoing SMTP mail.
"Rich Matheisen [MVP]" wrote in message
news:ivbn84tc1ts3sdesbk2p8aar9b04fssvgn@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 25 Jul 2008 23:59:16 -0400, "Mike O."
> wrote:
>
> [ snip ]
>
>>What finally worked was to set a "smart host" on the SMTP virtual server
>>on
>>the new server to point to the bridgehead server. I realize this is
>>sending
>>all email, even that pointed to the other internal servers, through the
>>single server, so I don't want to leave it this way.
>>
>>Any suggestions on what would be causing this, and how to fix it?
>
> Is that new server in the same Routing Group as the other two back-end
> servers? Is the scope of the address space on the SMTP Connector set
> to "Organization"?
>
The new server is set in the same routing group. The connector scope is
set to "organization", but it's been working OK for the other two servers,
so I'm not sure why it wouldn't be working for the third.
There's actually two connectors, one for the outgoing internet mail, and
another one that our Exchange 2007 install set up (we're getting ready to
migrate). We have a few mailboxes on the Exchange 2007 server, and email
from the new 2003 box to that was also backing up.
It sounds like the new server doesn't "know" about the routing group
connectors. Is there somewhere else that can be controlled besides the
"scope" setting on the connector?
> What does WinRoute tell you about what that server thinks is the way
> to send email out of the organization? Does it see the routing group
> connectors, and virtual servers? Are they "up" or "down"? Does it see
> the advertised address spaces?
>
There's only one routing group. I'll have to check into the WinRoute
utility.
> You shouldn't need a smart host, and you really don't want on on a
> SMTP Virtual Server, and you really, really don't want one if you have
> multiple servers in your organization!
>
> Have you run ExBPA on the organization to see if there are problems?
I had run ExBPA when I initially set up the server, and later when I was
having problems. It didn't show any issues.
The message the queue was showing that the "remote server did not respond",
so it sounded like a port 25 block. However, the new server was able to
receive SMTP mail, and it can send it when I enable "smarthost" setting, so
it doesn't look like it's any kind of network issue.
I realize that setting the smarthost on the virtual server is forcing all
the mail from the new server to go to through smarthost, but besides
increasing the traffic on the bridgehead server, what other issues or
problems will this cause (until I can get it resolved).
Mike O.
date: Sun, 27 Jul 2008 23:36:35 -0400
author: Mike O.
Re: New Ex 03 mailbox server not sending outgoing SMTP mail.
"Andy David {MVP}" wrote in message
news:oi6m84935c6vgb9kl4jjjgafqgr6sucbgt@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 25 Jul 2008 23:59:16 -0400, "Mike O."
> wrote:
>
>>We have an Exchange 2003 organization that had two "backend" mailbox
>>servers
>>and a front end/OWA server that also functions as our bridgehead for
>>internet mail. The servers are running in native mode on a Windows 2003
>>native mode A/D network.
>>
>>The servers are in a single domain/single site. We have an SMTP connector
>>set up for outgoing email with the bridgehead being the same as the front
>>end server. This arrangement has been working for for years.
>>
>>Recently we added a 3rd mailbox server and moved some mailboxes to it.
>>Users were able to access the mailboxes using Outlook, and were receiving
>>email both from inside and outside addresses.
>>
>>The problem was that all outgoing SMTP mail from users on this mailbox was
>>queuing up on the server. The status on the queue's showed "remote server
>>did not respond to a connection attempt". When we tried to force a
>>connection, it would go active for a few seconds then list as "retry", but
>>nothing went out of the queue.
>>
>>I was able to telnet on port 25 and initiate an SMTP connection from that
>>server from the command line, and incoming SMTP email comes in OK. It's
>>just that this server can not initiate an outgoing SMTP connection, even
>>to
>>the other servers in the routing group. The only difference I found in
>>the
>>configuration is that I had forgot to add "ASP.NET" from the add/remove
>>programs (shouldn't the Exchange setup have caught that?). Other than
>>that,
>>the mailbox server was set up the same as the other ones. I installed the
>>ASP.NET and I tried restarting services, and even rebooting the servers,
>>but
>>nothing worked..
>>
>>What finally worked was to set a "smart host" on the SMTP virtual server
>>on
>>the new server to point to the bridgehead server. I realize this is
>>sending
>>all email, even that pointed to the other internal servers, through the
>>single server, so I don't want to leave it this way.
>>
>>Any suggestions on what would be causing this, and how to fix it?
>
> Remove the smarhost entry on the SMTP VS, and create a SMTP Connector
> instead.Add the servers SMTP VSs as bridgeheads.
>
> ( If you have smarthost entries on the other servers, remove those as
> well.)
We've already got an SMTP connector set up that's been working for several
years. There are no smarthost entries set up on the other servers, they're
all using the connector as they should. The problem is that the new server
apparently isn't finding it or using the connector. The new server is set
up in the same admin and routing group.
Mike O.
date: Sun, 27 Jul 2008 23:40:10 -0400
author: Mike O.
Re: New Ex 03 mailbox server not sending outgoing SMTP mail.
On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 23:36:35 -0400, "Mike O."
wrote:
[ snip ]
>> Is that new server in the same Routing Group as the other two back-end
>> servers? Is the scope of the address space on the SMTP Connector set
>> to "Organization"?
>>
>The new server is set in the same routing group. The connector scope is
>set to "organization", but it's been working OK for the other two servers,
>so I'm not sure why it wouldn't be working for the third.
>
>There's actually two connectors, one for the outgoing internet mail, and
>another one that our Exchange 2007 install set up (we're getting ready to
>migrate). We have a few mailboxes on the Exchange 2007 server, and email
>from the new 2003 box to that was also backing up.
>
>It sounds like the new server doesn't "know" about the routing group
>connectors. Is there somewhere else that can be controlled besides the
>"scope" setting on the connector?
Yes . . . DNS is one of them.
>> What does WinRoute tell you about what that server thinks is the way
>> to send email out of the organization? Does it see the routing group
>> connectors, and virtual servers? Are they "up" or "down"? Does it see
>> the advertised address spaces?
>>
>There's only one routing group. I'll have to check into the WinRoute
>utility.
It's actually the first place to turn for problems like this. It'll
look at the information on the server and tell you what each machine
thinks of the routing situation (you'll connect WiRoute to each
machine separately).
>> You shouldn't need a smart host, and you really don't want on on a
>> SMTP Virtual Server, and you really, really don't want one if you have
>> multiple servers in your organization!
>>
>> Have you run ExBPA on the organization to see if there are problems?
>
>I had run ExBPA when I initially set up the server, and later when I was
>having problems. It didn't show any issues.
So you're not running Windows 2003 SP2?
>The message the queue was showing that the "remote server did not respond",
>so it sounded like a port 25 block. However, the new server was able to
>receive SMTP mail, and it can send it when I enable "smarthost" setting, so
>it doesn't look like it's any kind of network issue.
If you had a problem with connectivity you probably would have had a
difficult time installing the machine.
However, I'd check the binding order on the NICs and make sure the
machine's primary NIC is at the top of the binding order. It doesn't
always matter, but if DNS is a problem then it may be that the wrong
IP address is registering the name of the machine in WINS or that NBT
is resolving the name. That's just a WAG, but it doesn't hurt to
verify that everything is the way it's supposed to be.
---
Rich Matheisen
MCSE+I, Exchange MVP
date: Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:19:40 -0400
author: Rich Matheisen [MVP]
Re: New Ex 03 mailbox server not sending outgoing SMTP mail.
"Rich Matheisen [MVP]" wrote in message
news:luus849i7b8kos571r2p4ba4qkergtg2s6@4ax.com...
> On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 23:36:35 -0400, "Mike O."
> wrote:
>
> [ snip ]
>
>>> Is that new server in the same Routing Group as the other two back-end
>>> servers? Is the scope of the address space on the SMTP Connector set
>>> to "Organization"?
>>>
>>The new server is set in the same routing group. The connector scope is
>>set to "organization", but it's been working OK for the other two servers,
>>so I'm not sure why it wouldn't be working for the third.
>>
>>There's actually two connectors, one for the outgoing internet mail, and
>>another one that our Exchange 2007 install set up (we're getting ready to
>>migrate). We have a few mailboxes on the Exchange 2007 server, and email
>>from the new 2003 box to that was also backing up.
>>
>>It sounds like the new server doesn't "know" about the routing group
>>connectors. Is there somewhere else that can be controlled besides the
>>"scope" setting on the connector?
>
> Yes . . . DNS is one of them.
>
>>> What does WinRoute tell you about what that server thinks is the way
>>> to send email out of the organization? Does it see the routing group
>>> connectors, and virtual servers? Are they "up" or "down"? Does it see
>>> the advertised address spaces?
>>>
>>There's only one routing group. I'll have to check into the WinRoute
>>utility.
>
> It's actually the first place to turn for problems like this. It'll
> look at the information on the server and tell you what each machine
> thinks of the routing situation (you'll connect WiRoute to each
> machine separately).
>
>>> You shouldn't need a smart host, and you really don't want on on a
>>> SMTP Virtual Server, and you really, really don't want one if you have
>>> multiple servers in your organization!
>>>
>>> Have you run ExBPA on the organization to see if there are problems?
>>
>>I had run ExBPA when I initially set up the server, and later when I was
>>having problems. It didn't show any issues.
>
> So you're not running Windows 2003 SP2?
Yes, I am SP2 on all the Exchange 03 boxes. Also I made sure the new server
exactly matches the service pack and hotfixes of the other two. Just
curious, why did you say we weren't running SP2?
>
>>The message the queue was showing that the "remote server did not
>>respond",
>>so it sounded like a port 25 block. However, the new server was able to
>>receive SMTP mail, and it can send it when I enable "smarthost" setting,
>>so
>>it doesn't look like it's any kind of network issue.
>
> If you had a problem with connectivity you probably would have had a
> difficult time installing the machine.
That's pretty much what I figured.
>
> However, I'd check the binding order on the NICs and make sure the
> machine's primary NIC is at the top of the binding order. It doesn't
> always matter, but if DNS is a problem then it may be that the wrong
> IP address is registering the name of the machine in WINS or that NBT
> is resolving the name. That's just a WAG, but it doesn't hurt to
> verify that everything is the way it's supposed to be.
> ---
> Rich Matheisen
> MCSE+I, Exchange MVP
We're not using WINS. I'll check DNS tomorrow just to make sure everything
looks OK.
What's so frustrating about this is that it shouldn't be that hard.. I'm
not by any means trying to imply that I'm some all knowing expert
(obviously, or I wouldn't be the one asking the questions!), but I have been
working with Windows for over 20 years, since the Dos Windows 1.0 days. I'm
part of a group of about 8 people that consolidated migrated a 9 domain, 150
server NT and Exchange 5.5 multi-departmental environment to a single
Windows 2003/Exchange 2003 A/D. Beyond the initial Exchange setup, I've
installed severa mailbox and front end servers in a test/development
environment, a production mailbox server about a year ago (to replace some
failing hardware), replaced our front end/OWA server, a recovery mailbox
server as well as probably 70+ non Exchange Windows servers.
I'm sure I'm missing something basic, but it's driving me crazy!
date: Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:56:44 -0400
author: Mike O.
Re: New Ex 03 mailbox server not sending outgoing SMTP mail.
On Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:56:44 -0400, "Mike O."
wrote:
[ snip ]
>> So you're not running Windows 2003 SP2?
>
>Yes, I am SP2 on all the Exchange 03 boxes. Also I made sure the new server
>exactly matches the service pack and hotfixes of the other two. Just
>curious, why did you say we weren't running SP2?
Because that SP installed the Scalable Network Performance Pack. If
you haven't turned it off then ExBPA would have picked that up as a
problem. You didn't mention that you'd done that but you did mention
that ExBPA didn't find anything.
>>>The message the queue was showing that the "remote server did not
>>>respond",
>>>so it sounded like a port 25 block. However, the new server was able to
>>>receive SMTP mail, and it can send it when I enable "smarthost" setting,
>>>so
>>>it doesn't look like it's any kind of network issue.
>>
>> If you had a problem with connectivity you probably would have had a
>> difficult time installing the machine.
>
>That's pretty much what I figured.
>
>
>>
>> However, I'd check the binding order on the NICs and make sure the
>> machine's primary NIC is at the top of the binding order. It doesn't
>> always matter, but if DNS is a problem then it may be that the wrong
>> IP address is registering the name of the machine in WINS or that NBT
>> is resolving the name. That's just a WAG, but it doesn't hurt to
>> verify that everything is the way it's supposed to be.
>We're not using WINS. I'll check DNS tomorrow just to make sure everything
>looks OK.
You may not be using WINS but NBT will still resolve names within its
broadcast range.
>What's so frustrating about this is that it shouldn't be that hard..
If everything is working right, it usually isn't. When something isn't
working right the symptoms may make it appear that the problem is with
an application when the real problem lies in a service that the
application depends on.
>I'm
>not by any means trying to imply that I'm some all knowing expert
>(obviously, or I wouldn't be the one asking the questions!), but I have been
>working with Windows for over 20 years, since the Dos Windows 1.0 days. I'm
>part of a group of about 8 people that consolidated migrated a 9 domain, 150
>server NT and Exchange 5.5 multi-departmental environment to a single
>Windows 2003/Exchange 2003 A/D.
I hear ya. I've consolidated four Exchange organizations into one and
reduced the server count from about 200 to 22 (about 38,000 mailboxes
and tens of thousands of public folders). Now I'm separating the part
of the company I work for to join another company. What fun! NOT!
>Beyond the initial Exchange setup, I've
>installed severa mailbox and front end servers in a test/development
>environment, a production mailbox server about a year ago (to replace some
>failing hardware), replaced our front end/OWA server, a recovery mailbox
>server as well as probably 70+ non Exchange Windows servers.
>
>I'm sure I'm missing something basic, but it's driving me crazy!
The "refused connection" can be caused by lots of reasons, but without
looking at what the server's /trying/ to connect to all you can do is
guess at what the problem is. If you put a monitor on the machine and
see it's trying to connect to 1.2.3.4 when it should be connecting to
5.6.7.8 you'll know a whole lot more and you'll at leas know where to
start looking.
---
Rich Matheisen
MCSE+I, Exchange MVP
date: Mon, 28 Jul 2008 23:20:05 -0400
author: Rich Matheisen [MVP]
Re: New Ex 03 mailbox server not sending outgoing SMTP mail.
"Rich Matheisen [MVP]" wrote in message
news:m82t84593qqlli9v2ndj4c399savherfne@4ax.com...
> On Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:56:44 -0400, "Mike O."
> wrote:
>
> [ snip ]
>
>>> So you're not running Windows 2003 SP2?
>>
>>Yes, I am SP2 on all the Exchange 03 boxes. Also I made sure the new
>>server
>>exactly matches the service pack and hotfixes of the other two. Just
>>curious, why did you say we weren't running SP2?
>
> Because that SP installed the Scalable Network Performance Pack. If
> you haven't turned it off then ExBPA would have picked that up as a
> problem. You didn't mention that you'd done that but you did mention
> that ExBPA didn't find anything.
>
When the Scalable Network Performance came out (last year?) it caused
several problems on our systems, and I saw the warnings about Exchange. Our
standard server setup has it set to disabled.
>>>>The message the queue was showing that the "remote server did not
>>>>respond",
>>>>so it sounded like a port 25 block. However, the new server was able to
>>>>receive SMTP mail, and it can send it when I enable "smarthost" setting,
>>>>so
>>>>it doesn't look like it's any kind of network issue.
>>>
>>> If you had a problem with connectivity you probably would have had a
>>> difficult time installing the machine.
>>
>>That's pretty much what I figured.
>>
>>
>>>
>>> However, I'd check the binding order on the NICs and make sure the
>>> machine's primary NIC is at the top of the binding order. It doesn't
>>> always matter, but if DNS is a problem then it may be that the wrong
>>> IP address is registering the name of the machine in WINS or that NBT
>>> is resolving the name. That's just a WAG, but it doesn't hurt to
>>> verify that everything is the way it's supposed to be.
>
>>We're not using WINS. I'll check DNS tomorrow just to make sure
>>everything
>>looks OK.
>
> You may not be using WINS but NBT will still resolve names within its
> broadcast range.
>
>>What's so frustrating about this is that it shouldn't be that hard..
>
> If everything is working right, it usually isn't. When something isn't
> working right the symptoms may make it appear that the problem is with
> an application when the real problem lies in a service that the
> application depends on.
>
>>I'm
>>not by any means trying to imply that I'm some all knowing expert
>>(obviously, or I wouldn't be the one asking the questions!), but I have
>>been
>>working with Windows for over 20 years, since the Dos Windows 1.0 days.
>>I'm
>>part of a group of about 8 people that consolidated migrated a 9 domain,
>>150
>>server NT and Exchange 5.5 multi-departmental environment to a single
>>Windows 2003/Exchange 2003 A/D.
>
> I hear ya. I've consolidated four Exchange organizations into one and
> reduced the server count from about 200 to 22 (about 38,000 mailboxes
> and tens of thousands of public folders). Now I'm separating the part
> of the company I work for to join another company. What fun! NOT!
>
>>Beyond the initial Exchange setup, I've
>>installed severa mailbox and front end servers in a test/development
>>environment, a production mailbox server about a year ago (to replace some
>>failing hardware), replaced our front end/OWA server, a recovery mailbox
>>server as well as probably 70+ non Exchange Windows servers.
>>
>>I'm sure I'm missing something basic, but it's driving me crazy!
>
> The "refused connection" can be caused by lots of reasons, but without
> looking at what the server's /trying/ to connect to all you can do is
> guess at what the problem is. If you put a monitor on the machine and
> see it's trying to connect to 1.2.3.4 when it should be connecting to
> 5.6.7.8 you'll know a whole lot more and you'll at leas know where to
> start looking.
> ---
> Rich Matheisen
> MCSE+I, Exchange MVP
date: Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:46:00 -0400
author: Mike O.
Re: New Ex 03 mailbox server not sending outgoing SMTP mail.
I've done some more testing. I installed another mailbox server as a test
system and moved a couple of mailboxs to it. It showed the same problems,
able to send to the other internal servers, but backing up in the queue
anything sent through the connectors. I set most of the MTA and/or SMTP
related logging settings to "maximum" then tried sending. I also turned on
logging in the SMTP virtual server. Unfortunately, I didn't see anything
that stood out.
The SMTP logging did shows what appears to be SMTP traffic both incoming and
outgoing to and from this server to the other mailbox servers. It also
showed incoming mail coming from the bridgehead server and going to the test
one.
The queue on the problem server shows the target as the SMTP connector, and
the source as the "default SMTP virtual server". It looks like it's just
not able to use the SMTP connectors for mail going to the internet (and our
Exchange 2007 group). I've checked all the settings I can find, including
turning on the "security" tabs in ESM, and I can't find any setting that
would be blocking that either on the test/problem server or the connector
bridgehead server.
Looking back, the only significant system change I can think of between the
last time I added a mailbox server and this new one was that we installed
Exchange 2007 into the organization around the first of the year. It
created a new admin group and routing connector, but did not cause any
problems with the other mailbox servers. Mailboxes that have been moved to
the Exchange 2007 box can send and receive mail with no problems (outgoing
internet mail from the Exchange 2007 box still goes through the Exchange
2003 SMTP connector). Could something related to that Exchange 2007 install
have modified a setting on the existing servers and/or connectors so that
they continued to work, but now isn't set on the new servers?
Mike O.
"Rich Matheisen [MVP]" wrote in message
news:ivbn84tc1ts3sdesbk2p8aar9b04fssvgn@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 25 Jul 2008 23:59:16 -0400, "Mike O."
> wrote:
>
> [ snip ]
>
>>What finally worked was to set a "smart host" on the SMTP virtual server
>>on
>>the new server to point to the bridgehead server. I realize this is
>>sending
>>all email, even that pointed to the other internal servers, through the
>>single server, so I don't want to leave it this way.
>>
>>Any suggestions on what would be causing this, and how to fix it?
>
> Is that new server in the same Routing Group as the other two back-end
> servers? Is the scope of the address space on the SMTP Connector set
> to "Organization"?
>
> What does WinRoute tell you about what that server thinks is the way
> to send email out of the organization? Does it see the routing group
> connectors, and virtual servers? Are they "up" or "down"? Does it see
> the advertised address spaces?
>
> You shouldn't need a smart host, and you really don't want on on a
> SMTP Virtual Server, and you really, really don't want one if you have
> multiple servers in your organization!
>
> Have you run ExBPA on the organization to see if there are problems?
> ---
> Rich Matheisen
> MCSE+I, Exchange MVP
date: Tue, 29 Jul 2008 23:00:37 -0400
author: Mike O.
Re: New Ex 03 mailbox server not sending outgoing SMTP mail.
On Tue, 29 Jul 2008 23:00:37 -0400, "Mike O."
wrote:
>I've done some more testing. I installed another mailbox server as a test
>system and moved a couple of mailboxs to it. It showed the same problems,
>able to send to the other internal servers,
Even to other mailbox servers in the same routing group?
>but backing up in the queue
>anything sent through the connectors.
SMTP is used between servers, too. So if the problem is just getting
mail to the outflow servers that's really odd (but not impossible).
>I set most of the MTA and/or SMTP
>related logging settings to "maximum" then tried sending. I also turned on
>logging in the SMTP virtual server. Unfortunately, I didn't see anything
>that stood out.
Maybe not "stand out", but did you see, in the SMTP protocol log, any
communication between the troubled server and the outflow server?
>The SMTP logging did shows what appears to be SMTP traffic both incoming and
>outgoing to and from this server to the other mailbox servers.
Okay. That answers the question I asked earlier.
>It also
>showed incoming mail coming from the bridgehead server and going to the test
>one.
>
>The queue on the problem server shows the target as the SMTP connector, and
>the source as the "default SMTP virtual server". It looks like it's just
>not able to use the SMTP connectors for mail going to the internet (and our
>Exchange 2007 group).
The SMTP Connector is just a collection of parameters, not an actual
"connection". Try creating another SMTP Connector (you can leave the
one you have as it is) with, say, just one specific domain in the
address space. Can you then send mail to that one domain while the
other mail sits there? If so, change the address space on the new SMTP
Connector to "*". If things start working, remove the original SMTP
Connector.
>I've checked all the settings I can find, including
>turning on the "security" tabs in ESM, and I can't find any setting that
>would be blocking that either on the test/problem server or the connector
>bridgehead server.
>
>Looking back, the only significant system change I can think of between the
>last time I added a mailbox server and this new one was that we installed
>Exchange 2007 into the organization around the first of the year. It
>created a new admin group and routing connector, but did not cause any
>problems with the other mailbox servers.
Did you add any "Send Connectors" to the Exchange 2007 configuration?
Probably not if the messages are trying to leave through the E2K3
outflow servers.
>Mailboxes that have been moved to
>the Exchange 2007 box can send and receive mail with no problems (outgoing
>internet mail from the Exchange 2007 box still goes through the Exchange
>2003 SMTP connector). Could something related to that Exchange 2007 install
>have modified a setting on the existing servers and/or connectors so that
>they continued to work, but now isn't set on the new servers?
The only thing Exchange 2007 installed was a Routing Group Connector
between the 1st E2K7 Hub Transport server and a bridgehead server in
your Exchange 2003 configuration.
Now that you know the problem isn't limited to just one machine it's
time to use a network monitor to see what's going on.
---
Rich Matheisen
MCSE+I, Exchange MVP
date: Wed, 30 Jul 2008 08:13:46 -0400
author: Rich Matheisen [MVP]
Re: New Ex 03 mailbox server not sending outgoing SMTP mail.
"Rich Matheisen [MVP]" wrote in message
news:vpl094959qt4mihjndo25vqfgaf8ljb3ql@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 29 Jul 2008 23:00:37 -0400, "Mike O."
> wrote:
>
>>I've done some more testing. I installed another mailbox server as a test
>>system and moved a couple of mailboxs to it. It showed the same problems,
>>able to send to the other internal servers,
>
> Even to other mailbox servers in the same routing group?
>
>>but backing up in the queue
>>anything sent through the connectors.
>
> SMTP is used between servers, too. So if the problem is just getting
> mail to the outflow servers that's really odd (but not impossible).
>
>>I set most of the MTA and/or SMTP
>>related logging settings to "maximum" then tried sending. I also turned
>>on
>>logging in the SMTP virtual server. Unfortunately, I didn't see anything
>>that stood out.
>
> Maybe not "stand out", but did you see, in the SMTP protocol log, any
> communication between the troubled server and the outflow server?
>
>>The SMTP logging did shows what appears to be SMTP traffic both incoming
>>and
>>outgoing to and from this server to the other mailbox servers.
>
> Okay. That answers the question I asked earlier.
>
It appears that "normal" mail flow between all the servers (including this
one) in the routing group are working OK. It's only things that this server
is trying to send out the connectors that are having problems.
>>It also
>>showed incoming mail coming from the bridgehead server and going to the
>>test
>>one.
>>
>>The queue on the problem server shows the target as the SMTP connector,
>>and
>>the source as the "default SMTP virtual server". It looks like it's just
>>not able to use the SMTP connectors for mail going to the internet (and
>>our
>>Exchange 2007 group).
>
> The SMTP Connector is just a collection of parameters, not an actual
> "connection". Try creating another SMTP Connector (you can leave the
> one you have as it is) with, say, just one specific domain in the
> address space. Can you then send mail to that one domain while the
> other mail sits there? If so, change the address space on the new SMTP
> Connector to "*". If things start working, remove the original SMTP
> Connector.
>
I thought about creating a new connector, I'll try that tomorrow.
>>I've checked all the settings I can find, including
>>turning on the "security" tabs in ESM, and I can't find any setting that
>>would be blocking that either on the test/problem server or the connector
>>bridgehead server.
>>
>>Looking back, the only significant system change I can think of between
>>the
>>last time I added a mailbox server and this new one was that we installed
>>Exchange 2007 into the organization around the first of the year. It
>>created a new admin group and routing connector, but did not cause any
>>problems with the other mailbox servers.
>
> Did you add any "Send Connectors" to the Exchange 2007 configuration?
> Probably not if the messages are trying to leave through the E2K3
> outflow servers.
>
No. Due to some issues in our fiscal department (very long and messy
story!), we don't have licenses (yet) for our entire organization for
Exchange 2007, so I wasn't going to have the Exchange 2007 hub server
handling the entire organization mail flow. Currently only one department
is on Exchanage 2007, but as soon as we get the remaining licenses
(hopefully about a month or so) we're going to move our internet mail
routing through the Exchange 2007 box and start the migration of rest of the
organization to 2007. The Exchange 2007 servers are all new hardware and
lots of RAM and disk. This "new" Exchange 2003 server I'm setting up is a
temporary measure to aleviate some of the congestion and performance issues
with our Exchange 2003 server and disk structure.
>>Mailboxes that have been moved to
>>the Exchange 2007 box can send and receive mail with no problems (outgoing
>>internet mail from the Exchange 2007 box still goes through the Exchange
>>2003 SMTP connector). Could something related to that Exchange 2007
>>install
>>have modified a setting on the existing servers and/or connectors so that
>>they continued to work, but now isn't set on the new servers?
>
> The only thing Exchange 2007 installed was a Routing Group Connector
> between the 1st E2K7 Hub Transport server and a bridgehead server in
> your Exchange 2003 configuration.
>
> Now that you know the problem isn't limited to just one machine it's
> time to use a network monitor to see what's going on.
> ---
> Rich Matheisen
> MCSE+I, Exchange MVP
Until I can get this resolved, what problems might I be seeing or causing by
having the "problem" server set with a smarthost entry in the SMTP Virtual
Server? That entry is basically telling the server to send all it's
outgoing SMTP mail to that specific server, correct?
The server it's pointing to is not one of our regular mailbox servers, it's
our OWA server (not heavily used), and is the "bridgehead" server for our
internet mail; basically doing similar functions as the Hub and CAS server
in in the Exchange 2007 environment. It's also fairly new hardware, so even
with the additional traffic, it's probably not anywhere near to overloading
it.
Mike O.
date: Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:49:16 -0400
author: Mike O.
Re: New Ex 03 mailbox server not sending outgoing SMTP mail.
On Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:49:16 -0400, "Mike O."
wrote:
[ snip ]
>It appears that "normal" mail flow between all the servers (including this
>one) in the routing group are working OK. It's only things that this server
>is trying to send out the connectors that are having problems.
>
>>>It also
>>>showed incoming mail coming from the bridgehead server and going to the
>>>test
>>>one.
>>>
>>>The queue on the problem server shows the target as the SMTP connector,
>>>and
>>>the source as the "default SMTP virtual server". It looks like it's just
>>>not able to use the SMTP connectors for mail going to the internet (and
>>>our
>>>Exchange 2007 group).
>>
>> The SMTP Connector is just a collection of parameters, not an actual
>> "connection". Try creating another SMTP Connector (you can leave the
>> one you have as it is) with, say, just one specific domain in the
>> address space. Can you then send mail to that one domain while the
>> other mail sits there? If so, change the address space on the new SMTP
>> Connector to "*". If things start working, remove the original SMTP
>> Connector.
>>
>
>I thought about creating a new connector, I'll try that tomorrow.
I sure would.
[ snip ]
>Until I can get this resolved, what problems might I be seeing or causing by
>having the "problem" server set with a smarthost entry in the SMTP Virtual
>Server? That entry is basically telling the server to send all it's
>outgoing SMTP mail to that specific server, correct?
Nope. It's sending ALL its mail there. Public Folder replication
messages, etc.
---
Rich Matheisen
MCSE+I, Exchange MVP
date: Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:48:02 -0400
author: Rich Matheisen [MVP]
Re: New Ex 03 mailbox server not sending outgoing SMTP mail.
"Rich Matheisen [MVP]" wrote in message
news:0nm1941l6ddhs7bvf4va16n9s1mgg4g1pd@4ax.com...
> On Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:49:16 -0400, "Mike O."
> wrote:
>
> [ snip ]
>
>>It appears that "normal" mail flow between all the servers (including this
>>one) in the routing group are working OK. It's only things that this
>>server
>>is trying to send out the connectors that are having problems.
>>
>>>>It also
>>>>showed incoming mail coming from the bridgehead server and going to the
>>>>test
>>>>one.
>>>>
>>>>The queue on the problem server shows the target as the SMTP connector,
>>>>and
>>>>the source as the "default SMTP virtual server". It looks like it's
>>>>just
>>>>not able to use the SMTP connectors for mail going to the internet (and
>>>>our
>>>>Exchange 2007 group).
>>>
>>> The SMTP Connector is just a collection of parameters, not an actual
>>> "connection". Try creating another SMTP Connector (you can leave the
>>> one you have as it is) with, say, just one specific domain in the
>>> address space. Can you then send mail to that one domain while the
>>> other mail sits there? If so, change the address space on the new SMTP
>>> Connector to "*". If things start working, remove the original SMTP
>>> Connector.
>>>
>>
>>I thought about creating a new connector, I'll try that tomorrow.
>
> I sure would.
>
> [ snip ]
>
>>Until I can get this resolved, what problems might I be seeing or causing
>>by
>>having the "problem" server set with a smarthost entry in the SMTP Virtual
>>Server? That entry is basically telling the server to send all it's
>>outgoing SMTP mail to that specific server, correct?
>
> Nope. It's sending ALL its mail there. Public Folder replication
> messages, etc.
> ---
> Rich Matheisen
> MCSE+I, Exchange MVP
We're not using public folders on that server, so there should't be any
replication traffic at least..
Even routing all its mail through the bridgehead server, it's not
necessarily going to break anything, just cause more traffic and increased
load on the bridgehead server, correct?
When Exchange 2007 was installed, could the install have done something to
the existing permissions, group memberships, etc. related to the connectors
and mailbox servers? I'm wondering if something was modified on the servers
& connectors that were in place at the time of the Exchange 07 install, that
isn't being set on the servers that I'm setting up now. The account used
for the install is the same one I used previously for the other installs.
date: Wed, 30 Jul 2008 22:38:41 -0400
author: Mike O.
Re: New Ex 03 mailbox server not sending outgoing SMTP mail.
"Mike O." wrote in message
news:OcXeCar8IHA.1592@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>
> "Rich Matheisen [MVP]" wrote in message
> news:0nm1941l6ddhs7bvf4va16n9s1mgg4g1pd@4ax.com...
>> On Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:49:16 -0400, "Mike O."
>> wrote:
>>
>> [ snip ]
>>
[snip]
>>>>
>>>> The SMTP Connector is just a collection of parameters, not an actual
>>>> "connection". Try creating another SMTP Connector (you can leave the
>>>> one you have as it is) with, say, just one specific domain in the
>>>> address space. Can you then send mail to that one domain while the
>>>> other mail sits there? If so, change the address space on the new SMTP
>>>> Connector to "*". If things start working, remove the original SMTP
>>>> Connector.
>>>>
>>>
>>>I thought about creating a new connector, I'll try that tomorrow.
>>
>> I sure would.
>>
>>
I created a new connector, set it for the domain "hotmail.com" (I have an
account on it). I then tried sending from the mailbox on the test server to
my hotmail account. The message started queueing up from the test server to
the new connector. I tried sending an an email from a mailbox on another
server to the hotmail account, it went through OK.
I also ran the Windows network monitor during this test. It did not show
any attempted traffic from the test server to the bridgehead server.
I don't know where to take it from here. Any suggestions?
Mike O.
date: Thu, 31 Jul 2008 21:54:06 -0400
author: Mike O.
RE: New Ex 03 mailbox server not sending outgoing SMTP mail. -SOLVED
I figured it out.
Originally we had all of our outgoing internet mail going through a smart
host/appliance. We had a connector set up defining one server as the
bridgehead and sending directly to the smart host.
About a year ago, we modified our configuration to send outgoing email
directly from our "bridgehead" server to the outside recipients.
Our internal DNS namespace is not the same as our external addresses. To
ensure that the reverse DNS done by outside recipients worked correctly, we
had to set the "Fully-Qualified Domain Name" entry in the "Virtual Server",
Delivery, Advanced to match the external DNS name for the server. This was
set up last year and had been working.
What has happening was that the new mailbox server was picking up the
bridgehead servers external FQDN and attempting to use that to send email.
That name resolved to our external IP. However, our firewall does not allow
internal mailbox servers (except the bridgehead server) to send directly to
the outside.
What uncovered the problem was when I was digging through the logs. I found
the Exchange transport entry where it tried to connect to the connector, but
was using the external IP of the server.
I created a HOSTS entry on the new server, defining the bridgehead servers
external DNS name, but pointing it to the internal address. Within a few
minutes, everything started working OK. Everything is working OK now.
That hosts entry had been put on the other mailbox servers at the time, so
that's why they had been working. Unfortunately, it hadn't been documented
as well as it shoudl have been. It has now also been clearly listed on our
internal documentation for any future server setups.
Mike O.
"Mike O." wrote:
> We have an Exchange 2003 organization that had two "backend" mailbox servers
> and a front end/OWA server that also functions as our bridgehead for
> internet mail. The servers are running in native mode on a Windows 2003
> native mode A/D network.
>
> The servers are in a single domain/single site. We have an SMTP connector
> set up for outgoing email with the bridgehead being the same as the front
> end server. This arrangement has been working for for years.
>
> Recently we added a 3rd mailbox server and moved some mailboxes to it.
> Users were able to access the mailboxes using Outlook, and were receiving
> email both from inside and outside addresses.
>
> The problem was that all outgoing SMTP mail from users on this mailbox was
> queuing up on the server. The status on the queue's showed "remote server
> did not respond to a connection attempt". When we tried to force a
> connection, it would go active for a few seconds then list as "retry", but
> nothing went out of the queue.
>
> I was able to telnet on port 25 and initiate an SMTP connection from that
> server from the command line, and incoming SMTP email comes in OK. It's
> just that this server can not initiate an outgoing SMTP connection, even to
> the other servers in the routing group. The only difference I found in the
> configuration is that I had forgot to add "ASP.NET" from the add/remove
> programs (shouldn't the Exchange setup have caught that?). Other than that,
> the mailbox server was set up the same as the other ones. I installed the
> ASP.NET and I tried restarting services, and even rebooting the servers, but
> nothing worked..
>
> What finally worked was to set a "smart host" on the SMTP virtual server on
> the new server to point to the bridgehead server. I realize this is sending
> all email, even that pointed to the other internal servers, through the
> single server, so I don't want to leave it this way.
>
> Any suggestions on what would be causing this, and how to fix it?
>
> Mike O.
>
>
date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:34:19 -0700
author: Mike O.
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