Cannot send to another Exchange server via internet   

Hi.

I am running Exchange 2003 on Windows 2003 SBS. There is no ISA server.

I have a problem sending to another organization that is running the same OS 
with Exchange 2003.

I cannot send to the other Exchange server. I can send from that Exchange 
server to mine.

When I send, the smtp logs show that the communication stops at BDAT - 0.
When I view the logs from other Exchange servers, the log shows the 
communication continuing past that point all with 0's. Then it continues with 
normal smtp commands and the mail is received. My server, as I said, stops at 
BDAT - 0, which comes after the XEXCH50 command.

The receiving server also shows the start of communication in the smtp logs. 
The error for the XEXCH50 shows in Event viewer on the receiving server, 
which is normal behaviour since the servers are in different domain. But, 
this also shows that the receiving server is being reached by the sending 
server.

I have already disabled all spam filtering, Exchange filtering tools and 
blacklisting on the receiving server. There is nothing like this on the 
sending server to stop communication. I have checked and double checked all 
Exchange settings. They are the same as the settings on the server I use to 
test that can send to this server.

All mx records have been checked and are good, evidenced by the appearance 
of events in the logs on the receiving server.

One time I had an email in the que. I tested with creating and deleting 
different smtp connectors. As I deleted one connector while there was an 
email in the que, that email successfully sent to the receiving server.

At other times when I had problems, a restart of the Exchange server 
sometimes would also release the email in the que.

The problem is just between these two Exchange servers. I can send to others 
fine.

I do not know what is causing the communication to stop. I hope someone can 
help me, or give me direction on the kind of tools I can use to troubleshoot 
issues such as these.

Thanks in advance,
KT

date: Wed, 2 Apr 2008 16:10:01 -0700   author:   KT

Re: Cannot send to another Exchange server via internet   

First, can you telnet port 25 from your Exchange Server to the problem 
server?  Second, do you receive any NDR back when the message fails?

-- 
John Oliver, Jr
MCSE, MCT, CCNA
Exchange MVP 2008
Microsoft Certified Partner


"KT"  wrote in message 
news:0A9BDDE8-5D10-41DD-BA45-E72018E3BAD7@microsoft.com...
> Hi.
>
> I am running Exchange 2003 on Windows 2003 SBS. There is no ISA server.
>
> I have a problem sending to another organization that is running the same 
> OS
> with Exchange 2003.
>
> I cannot send to the other Exchange server. I can send from that Exchange
> server to mine.
>
> When I send, the smtp logs show that the communication stops at BDAT - 0.
> When I view the logs from other Exchange servers, the log shows the
> communication continuing past that point all with 0's. Then it continues 
> with
> normal smtp commands and the mail is received. My server, as I said, stops 
> at
> BDAT - 0, which comes after the XEXCH50 command.
>
> The receiving server also shows the start of communication in the smtp 
> logs.
> The error for the XEXCH50 shows in Event viewer on the receiving server,
> which is normal behaviour since the servers are in different domain. But,
> this also shows that the receiving server is being reached by the sending
> server.
>
> I have already disabled all spam filtering, Exchange filtering tools and
> blacklisting on the receiving server. There is nothing like this on the
> sending server to stop communication. I have checked and double checked 
> all
> Exchange settings. They are the same as the settings on the server I use 
> to
> test that can send to this server.
>
> All mx records have been checked and are good, evidenced by the appearance
> of events in the logs on the receiving server.
>
> One time I had an email in the que. I tested with creating and deleting
> different smtp connectors. As I deleted one connector while there was an
> email in the que, that email successfully sent to the receiving server.
>
> At other times when I had problems, a restart of the Exchange server
> sometimes would also release the email in the que.
>
> The problem is just between these two Exchange servers. I can send to 
> others
> fine.
>
> I do not know what is causing the communication to stop. I hope someone 
> can
> help me, or give me direction on the kind of tools I can use to 
> troubleshoot
> issues such as these.
>
> Thanks in advance,
> KT
>

date: Wed, 2 Apr 2008 19:51:26 -0400   author:   John Oliver, Jr. [MVP]

Re: Cannot send to another Exchange server via internet   

Yes, I can Telnet to the server just fine. I probably have not listed every 
detail of things that I have tried.

Also, the NDR I get is this:
user@receivingdomain.org on 4/3/2008 11:08 AM
            Could not deliver the message in the time limit specified.  
Please retry or contact your administrator.
            <mail.sendingdomain.com #4.4.7>

Also, as I stated below, after a few hours of again working with this issue, 
I restarted the sending server. At reboot all the emails that were stuck in 
the que sent and were received just fine.

After this, when I attempt to send, the problem reoccurrs.
Also, when I send the email originally appears to leave the que. The que for 
that domain is empty (even after refreshing it.) The smtp log shows BDAT - 0 
as the last command sent. After a period of time (several minutes), the email 
shows back up in the sending que and an NDR is then sent.

Also, I have tried the registry change where the XEXCH50 command is 
disabled. This does not change the behaviour. The XEXCH50 command is not 
sent, but the communication still stops at the BDAT -0 command.

I also noticed just now that when sending to a different exchange server, 
which we send to successfully all the time, the smtp logs do not show the 
XEXCH50 command to that server, even though I do remember seeing it on a 
previous day then I tested it.

Thanks for your help. This is a real stumper.

KT

"John Oliver, Jr. [MVP]" wrote:

> First, can you telnet port 25 from your Exchange Server to the problem 
> server?  Second, do you receive any NDR back when the message fails?
> 
> -- 
> John Oliver, Jr
> MCSE, MCT, CCNA
> Exchange MVP 2008
> Microsoft Certified Partner
> 
> 
> "KT"  wrote in message 
> news:0A9BDDE8-5D10-41DD-BA45-E72018E3BAD7@microsoft.com...
> > Hi.
> >
> > I am running Exchange 2003 on Windows 2003 SBS. There is no ISA server.
> >
> > I have a problem sending to another organization that is running the same 
> > OS
> > with Exchange 2003.
> >
> > I cannot send to the other Exchange server. I can send from that Exchange
> > server to mine.
> >
> > When I send, the smtp logs show that the communication stops at BDAT - 0.
> > When I view the logs from other Exchange servers, the log shows the
> > communication continuing past that point all with 0's. Then it continues 
> > with
> > normal smtp commands and the mail is received. My server, as I said, stops 
> > at
> > BDAT - 0, which comes after the XEXCH50 command.
> >
> > The receiving server also shows the start of communication in the smtp 
> > logs.
> > The error for the XEXCH50 shows in Event viewer on the receiving server,
> > which is normal behaviour since the servers are in different domain. But,
> > this also shows that the receiving server is being reached by the sending
> > server.
> >
> > I have already disabled all spam filtering, Exchange filtering tools and
> > blacklisting on the receiving server. There is nothing like this on the
> > sending server to stop communication. I have checked and double checked 
> > all
> > Exchange settings. They are the same as the settings on the server I use 
> > to
> > test that can send to this server.
> >
> > All mx records have been checked and are good, evidenced by the appearance
> > of events in the logs on the receiving server.
> >
> > One time I had an email in the que. I tested with creating and deleting
> > different smtp connectors. As I deleted one connector while there was an
> > email in the que, that email successfully sent to the receiving server.
> >
> > At other times when I had problems, a restart of the Exchange server
> > sometimes would also release the email in the que.
> >
> > The problem is just between these two Exchange servers. I can send to 
> > others
> > fine.
> >
> > I do not know what is causing the communication to stop. I hope someone 
> > can
> > help me, or give me direction on the kind of tools I can use to 
> > troubleshoot
> > issues such as these.
> >
> > Thanks in advance,
> > KT
> > 
> 
> 
>

date: Thu, 3 Apr 2008 16:33:01 -0700   author:   KT

Re: Cannot send to another Exchange server via internet   

KT,

On the receiving server which is not accepting your mail can you run ExBPA?

-- 
John Oliver, Jr
MCSE, MCT, CCNA
Exchange MVP 2008
Microsoft Certified Partner


"KT"  wrote in message 
news:DBDAE0E5-7C76-4EB3-97FC-E7E7F420F761@microsoft.com...
> Yes, I can Telnet to the server just fine. I probably have not listed 
> every
> detail of things that I have tried.
>
> Also, the NDR I get is this:
> user@receivingdomain.org on 4/3/2008 11:08 AM
>            Could not deliver the message in the time limit specified.
> Please retry or contact your administrator.
>            <mail.sendingdomain.com #4.4.7>
>
> Also, as I stated below, after a few hours of again working with this 
> issue,
> I restarted the sending server. At reboot all the emails that were stuck 
> in
> the que sent and were received just fine.
>
> After this, when I attempt to send, the problem reoccurrs.
> Also, when I send the email originally appears to leave the que. The que 
> for
> that domain is empty (even after refreshing it.) The smtp log shows BDAT - 
> 0
> as the last command sent. After a period of time (several minutes), the 
> email
> shows back up in the sending que and an NDR is then sent.
>
> Also, I have tried the registry change where the XEXCH50 command is
> disabled. This does not change the behaviour. The XEXCH50 command is not
> sent, but the communication still stops at the BDAT -0 command.
>
> I also noticed just now that when sending to a different exchange server,
> which we send to successfully all the time, the smtp logs do not show the
> XEXCH50 command to that server, even though I do remember seeing it on a
> previous day then I tested it.
>
> Thanks for your help. This is a real stumper.
>
> KT
>
> "John Oliver, Jr. [MVP]" wrote:
>
>> First, can you telnet port 25 from your Exchange Server to the problem
>> server?  Second, do you receive any NDR back when the message fails?
>>
>> -- 
>> John Oliver, Jr
>> MCSE, MCT, CCNA
>> Exchange MVP 2008
>> Microsoft Certified Partner
>>
>>
>> "KT"  wrote in message
>> news:0A9BDDE8-5D10-41DD-BA45-E72018E3BAD7@microsoft.com...
>> > Hi.
>> >
>> > I am running Exchange 2003 on Windows 2003 SBS. There is no ISA server.
>> >
>> > I have a problem sending to another organization that is running the 
>> > same
>> > OS
>> > with Exchange 2003.
>> >
>> > I cannot send to the other Exchange server. I can send from that 
>> > Exchange
>> > server to mine.
>> >
>> > When I send, the smtp logs show that the communication stops at BDAT - 
>> > 0.
>> > When I view the logs from other Exchange servers, the log shows the
>> > communication continuing past that point all with 0's. Then it 
>> > continues
>> > with
>> > normal smtp commands and the mail is received. My server, as I said, 
>> > stops
>> > at
>> > BDAT - 0, which comes after the XEXCH50 command.
>> >
>> > The receiving server also shows the start of communication in the smtp
>> > logs.
>> > The error for the XEXCH50 shows in Event viewer on the receiving 
>> > server,
>> > which is normal behaviour since the servers are in different domain. 
>> > But,
>> > this also shows that the receiving server is being reached by the 
>> > sending
>> > server.
>> >
>> > I have already disabled all spam filtering, Exchange filtering tools 
>> > and
>> > blacklisting on the receiving server. There is nothing like this on the
>> > sending server to stop communication. I have checked and double checked
>> > all
>> > Exchange settings. They are the same as the settings on the server I 
>> > use
>> > to
>> > test that can send to this server.
>> >
>> > All mx records have been checked and are good, evidenced by the 
>> > appearance
>> > of events in the logs on the receiving server.
>> >
>> > One time I had an email in the que. I tested with creating and deleting
>> > different smtp connectors. As I deleted one connector while there was 
>> > an
>> > email in the que, that email successfully sent to the receiving server.
>> >
>> > At other times when I had problems, a restart of the Exchange server
>> > sometimes would also release the email in the que.
>> >
>> > The problem is just between these two Exchange servers. I can send to
>> > others
>> > fine.
>> >
>> > I do not know what is causing the communication to stop. I hope someone
>> > can
>> > help me, or give me direction on the kind of tools I can use to
>> > troubleshoot
>> > issues such as these.
>> >
>> > Thanks in advance,
>> > KT
>> >
>>
>>
>>

date: Thu, 3 Apr 2008 23:37:49 -0400   author:   John Oliver, Jr. [MVP]