6.5.6944 : Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 RTM - Released October 2003
6.5.7226 : Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 SP1 - Released May 2004
6.5.7638 : Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 SP2 - Released October 2005
Archive for the ‘Exchange’ Category
From time to time you need to troubleshoot your mail server. A telnet test can help to test connectivity to smtp port 25.
from a command prompt in windows, type:
telnet mailservermail 25 (for internal tests - EG. telnet exchangeserver 25) or for an external test :
telnet mail.mydomainname.com 25
Then type the following commands to send a mail:
helo domain name (EG. helo mydomainname)
mail from: email@address.com
rcpt to: someone@address.com
data
Subject: test message
When finished, hit ENTER twice, then type:
.
quit
The minimum level you can set through the ESM GUI is 15 minutes. This value can be further tweaked by changing the ScheduleAccelerator registry value.
NB. The connector is only available on Windows Small Business Server 2003.
Follow the below steps to decrease the value:
1. Locate and select the following registry subkey:
“HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/SmallBusinessServer/Network/POP3 Connector”
2. On the “Edit” menu, point to “New”, and then click “DWORD Value”.
3. Type: ScheduleAccelerator as the entry name.
5. On the “Edit” menu, click “Modify”.
6. In the “Value data” box, type the value that you want, then click “OK”.
To determine the polling interval, the value that is configured on the “Scheduling” tab in the ESM GUI is divided by the value that you type into the ScheduleAccelerator entry.
EG. if a 15 minute interval is specified in the ESM GUI and you set the value of the ScheduleAccelerator entry to 3, the connector will poll every five minutes.
7. Quit Registry Editor
I ran into a problem this morning where I couldn’t turn off an Out of office notification for one of my users. Here’s the error message received when trying to access OOO from the Tools Menu in Outlook :
The command is not available. See the program documentation about how to use this extension.
MS KB823472 solved the problem for me. Here is the cause and resolution from this article :
Cause
This behaviour may occur if the following key is present in the registry:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\Resiliency
Resolution
Quit Outlook, rename the Resiliency registry key, and then restart Outlook. To do this, follow these steps.
1. Quit Outlook if it is running.
2. Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE, and then click Task Manager.
3. On the Processes tab, verify that Outlook.exe does not appear in the list of processes. If it does, click Outlook.exe and then click End Process.
4. On the File menu, click Exit Task Manager.
5. Click Start, and then click Run.
6. In the Open box, type regedit and then click OK.
7. Locate and then click the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook
8. Right-click the Resiliency subkey (if it exists), and then click Rename.
9. Type Resiliency.old, and then press ENTER.
10. Quit Registry Editor.
11. Start Outlook, and then click Out of Office Assistant on the Tools menu.
View the full MS KB for further information and ensure you backup the registry before attempting any modifications.
You can use the Eseutil utility to defragment the information store and directory in Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 and to defragment the information store in Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server and in Microsoft Exchange Server 2003. Eseutil examines the structure of the database tables and records (which can include reading, scanning, repairing, and defragmenting) the low level of the database (Ese.dll).
Eseutil is located in the Winnt\System32 folder in Exchange Server 5.5 and in the Exchsrvr/Bin folder in Exchange 2000 and in Exchange 2003. The utility can run on one database at a time from the command line.
The defragmentation option makes used storage contiguous, eliminates unused storage, and compacts the database, which reduces the database’s size. Eseutil copies database records to a new database. When defragmentation is complete, the original database is deleted or saved to a user-specified location, and the new version is renamed as the original. If the utility encounters a bad record, the utility stops and displays an error message.
Defragmenting an Exchange 2000 or Exchange 2003 database
Note Defragmenting a database requires free disk space equal to 110 percent of the size of the database being processed.
1. In Exchange System Manager, right-click the information store that you want to defragment, and then click Dismount Store
2. At the command prompt, change to the Exchsrvr\Bin folder, and then type the eseutil /d command, a database switch, and any options that you want to use.
For example, the following command runs the standard defragmentation utility on a mailbox store database:
C:\program files\exchsrvr\bin> eseutil /d c:\progra~1\exchsrvr\mdbdata\priv1.edb
Use the following database switch to run Eseutil defragmentation on a specific database:
eseutil /d <database_name> [options]
Defragmentation/Compaction
Performs off-line compaction of a database.
Syntax: eseutil /d <database_name> [options]
Parameters: <database_name> is the file name of the database that you want to compact.
You are not required to use any of the following options, but you can use one or more (separated by a space) to specify the operations that you want to perform on the database.
Option Description
----------------------------------------------------------------
/b<database> Make a backup copy under the specified name
/t<database> Set the temporary database name (the default is Tempdfrg.edb)
/s<file> Set the streaming file name (the default is NONE)
/f<file> Set the temporary streaming file name (the default is Tempdfrg.stm)
/p Preserve the temporary database (in other words, do not instate)
/o Suppress logo
/i Do not defragment streaming file
Note If instating is disabled (for example, if you use the /p option), the original database is preserved uncompacted, and the temporary database contains the defragmented version of the database.
This article describes how to Backup and Restore your Exchange Server databases with the help of NTBACKUP in Windows 2003.
Server 2003 has a Built-In Backup program called NTBACKUP which you can use to backup your Windows environment. NTBACKUP is now enhanced to allow backups of your Exchange Server databases.
NTBACKUP features
- Local and remote backup of data
- Exchange Backup ready
- Scheduled Backups
- Volume Shadow Copy support
- Integration with Removable Storage from Windows 2003
How do you enhance NTBACKUP with the capability to Backup Exchange 2003 without installing Exchange Server?
You must install the Exchange System Manager on the Backup Server to backup Exchange Server. It is possible to backup the Exchange Server without Exchange System Manager with the following trick:
Copy ESEBCLI2.DLL from the Exchange 2003 CD into the EXCHSRVR\BIN folder
Add the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\BackupRestore\DLLPaths – REG_EXPAND_SZ - esebcli2 - c:\exchsrvr\bin\esebcli2.dll.
After modifying the registry you can use NTBACKUP to backup the remote Exchange Server by clicking – Tools – Remote Store.
It is possible to Backup Exchange Online or Offline. The recommended method is to Backup the Exchange Server Online. An online backup can backup the Exchange Server databases without the interruption of Exchange services.
An offline backup is a simple copy of the Exchange database files. The Exchange Information store must be stopped before NTBACKUP can be used to Backup your Information store.
Beginning with Exchange 2003 it is possible to do Exchange 2003 Volume Shadows Copy backups with 3rd party Backup applications, but not with the built-in Windows Server 2003 NTBACKUP utility.
The Volume Shadow Copy service coordinates its communication between Requestors (backup applications), Writers (applications like Exchange Server 2003), and Providers (software or hardware components that create the shadow copies). To use the Volume Shadow Copy service to backup Exchange Server 2003, the backup program must include an Exchange Server 2003 aware Volume Shadow Copy service requestor. Because the NTBACKUP program has no such requestor, organizations must use third-party backup applications or implement Exchange 2003 SP1 in its organization.
Backup choices
- Minimum selection is the storage group (SG) to truncate log files
- VSC can create a Snapshot from multiple SG at the same time
Restore choices
- You can choose the entire storage group or a single database or multiple databases from a single Storage Group
- Exchange 2003 RTM supports full backups and copy backups
- All databases must be mounted to purge logfiles.
Start the Backup process
During an online backup, the .edb, .stm, and .log files that comprise the Exchange store are being backed up and checked for corruption. The Exchange database store is checked for corruption at file system level. File system level damage may be caused by unreliable hardware, firmware, or disks. This check is done by verifying the checksums on each 4 KB block or page in the database. If there is a checksum failure, backup will terminate (Exchange will not allow you to back up an Exchange store with a wrong checksum in it). This is typical for the 1018 error.
Choose a place to save the Backup files.
Choose a Backup device
It is possible to disable Volume Shadow Copy.
NTBACKUP options
The Backup process will begin.
The running NTBACKUP process
You can see the status of your Exchange Backups when you start the event viewer and select the application log.
The type of Backup depends on the configuration of circular logging. You can specify circular logging settings at the Exchange Storage Group level.
Restore
After a successful Backup it is possible to do an Exchange Server restore in case of emergency.
You must ensure that the Exchange database store to restore is not mounted. You can dismount an Exchange Database Store in the Exchange System Manager by right clicking the database.
Start the NTBACKUP program and select Restore and Manage Media.
NTBACKUP restore process
In the following screen you must select the Server to restore the data, a temporary location for log and patch files (this directory must be empty).
Click Last Restore Set when this is the last restore device (this is also possible with ESEUTIL)
Click Mount Database after Restore if you want to automatically start the restored database.
Restore Progress
You can read the Logfile after a successful or unsuccessful Exchange restore.
NTBACKUP Logfile
The following screenshots shows the Exchange Server MDBDATA directory. As you can see, there are now more Exchange Server Transaction Logfiles except the actual logfile
You can also refer to the below MS KB :
SYMPTOMS
When users try to log on the Microsoft Outlook Web Access (OWA), they may receive one of the following error messages:
401.3 Access Denied by ACL on Resource - Internet Information Services
-or-
A Runtime Error has occurred.
Do you wish to Debug?
Line: 350
-or-
Error: Access is denied.
CAUSE
This issue occurs if the Authenticated Users group does not have access permissions to the Exchsrvr\exchweb folder.
RESOLUTION
To resolve this issue, follow these steps:
1. Start Windows Explorer, right-click the drive:\Program Files\Exchsrvr folder, and then click Properties, where drive refers to the drive letter of your system drive (typically it is C).
2. Click the Security tab, and then click to select the Allow inheritable permissions from parent to propagate to this object check box.
3. Click Apply.
4. Make sure that the Authenticated Users group has the following permissions in the Exchsrvr\exchweb folder:
- Read & execute
- List Folder Contents
- Read
If the Authenticated Users group does not have these permissions, set these permissions manually. Close the exchweb Properties dialog box.
5. Repeat steps 1-4 on the C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared folder.
6. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Internet Services Manager.
7. Right-click your server, and then click Restart IIS.
8. In the What do you want IIS to do list, click Restart Internet Services on Server Name, and then click OK.
9. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Services to open the Services dialog box.
10. Restart all Exchange services.
11. Close the Services dialog box.
Problems with “Out of Office” messages?
This is a problem with the default settings of Exchange and can easily be fixed:
Using the Exchange System Manager, open Global Settings > Internet Message Formats, right click “default” (on the right hand panel). Select Properties > Advanced. Tick the “allow out of office responses” box.
Click apply/ok.
An interesting MS whitepaper I found :
I had a problem where owa would only open in basic view. I performed the following the correct it :
1. Perform iisreset on exchange server (Run iisreset)
2. Manually restart the IIS Admin service
3. The Anonymous user on the exchweb directory in IIS needs to have the “Allow to acceess over the network” user right. Not very secure but to lock it down restict access to allow only the local machine, in other words the exchange server to be allowed access to the exchweb directory.
4. View MS KB280823 for troubleshooting.