Exchange 2007 and OnTimer-eventsink   

Hello NG,

i have a quite frustrating problem developing an OnTimer-eventsink for 
exchange server 2007, or that is to say updating the eventsink when 
changes are made in the corresponding system file.

The eventsink is developed via Visual Studio 2005 in C#.NET. For testing 
issues i have reduced the OnTimer-event code to writing one entry into 
the application event log.
I have installed the assembly as an COM+ application using the 
regsvcs-tool and set the application-identity-setting to the 
administrator-account.
The eventsink registration is done through the "regevent.vbs" script 
(from microsoft).
The installation works without problems or errors.

Now the problem is, that the eventsink often does not fire at all when i 
reinstall it to test my assembly changes. I've tried to renew the 
eventsink registration, the COM+ installation, restart the exchange 
server services, restart the computer, nothing helps.
I've removed the eventsink assembly from the GAC to get any response 
from the exchange server, but no error in the logs about a missing 
eventsink. Seems that the event is simply not fired.

First i thought that something is wrong with my code changes, so i've 
undone them, recompiled the assembly and try to reinstall it, but the 
problem remains.

After some time of numerous reinstalls and restarts, the eventsink 
suddenly works again. The exact procedure is not reproducable.

One thing i've recognized: The exchange server seems to cache an 
assembly if it is called once. So the simple installation of the new 
assembly into the GAC does not work to get the new assembly to run.

So, my questions are:
1. What am I doing wrong?
2. What are the steps to reliably update an eventsink assembly?
3. How can i make sure that my registered eventsink is properly fired?

Thanks very much in advance for your help.

Regards,
Daniel L.

date: Mon, 03 Mar 2008 12:58:24 +0100   author:   Daniel L.

Re: Exchange 2007 and OnTimer-eventsink   

I've tried the installation on an exchange server 2003, and i get the 
same results.

Maybe i'm forgetting something, but when i enumerate the registered 
items for the public folder using the regevent.vbs, my event sink is 
listed correctly.

Any ideas what else i can check?


Daniel L. schrieb:
> Hello NG,
> 
> i have a quite frustrating problem developing an OnTimer-eventsink for 
> exchange server 2007, or that is to say updating the eventsink when 
> changes are made in the corresponding system file.
> 
> The eventsink is developed via Visual Studio 2005 in C#.NET. For testing 
> issues i have reduced the OnTimer-event code to writing one entry into 
> the application event log.
> I have installed the assembly as an COM+ application using the 
> regsvcs-tool and set the application-identity-setting to the 
> administrator-account.
> The eventsink registration is done through the "regevent.vbs" script 
> (from microsoft).
> The installation works without problems or errors.
> 
> Now the problem is, that the eventsink often does not fire at all when i 
> reinstall it to test my assembly changes. I've tried to renew the 
> eventsink registration, the COM+ installation, restart the exchange 
> server services, restart the computer, nothing helps.
> I've removed the eventsink assembly from the GAC to get any response 
> from the exchange server, but no error in the logs about a missing 
> eventsink. Seems that the event is simply not fired.
> 
> First i thought that something is wrong with my code changes, so i've 
> undone them, recompiled the assembly and try to reinstall it, but the 
> problem remains.
> 
> After some time of numerous reinstalls and restarts, the eventsink 
> suddenly works again. The exact procedure is not reproducable.
> 
> One thing i've recognized: The exchange server seems to cache an 
> assembly if it is called once. So the simple installation of the new 
> assembly into the GAC does not work to get the new assembly to run.
> 
> So, my questions are:
> 1. What am I doing wrong?
> 2. What are the steps to reliably update an eventsink assembly?
> 3. How can i make sure that my registered eventsink is properly fired?
> 
> Thanks very much in advance for your help.
> 
> Regards,
> Daniel L.

date: Tue, 04 Mar 2008 11:55:57 +0100   author:   Daniel L.