Messages stuck in Exchange 2003 Mailbox Store

[Hotchkin]

Please Help!

I have a new Windows 2003 SBS Server set up and working well...except for e-mail!

Users can connect to mailbox using Outlook or OWA and send messages without any problems. Unfortunately, no users are receiving any messages in either Outlook or OWA. All inboxes are empty.

I have been sending test messages from externally and I can see that the server is receiving them and putting them in the "Mailbox Store" for the correct user, but when the user logs on to their mailbox, there's never any mail.

What have I got set up wrong???

Many thanks in advance,
Richard.

 

[ShackDaddy]

How can you tell that the server is getting the mail and putting them in appropriate user mailboxes? You are checking the number of items in the store?

Are users (or some other external process) also connecting to your server via POP3 and downloading the mail off of the server so that it's not there when you look?

Dave Shackelford
Shackelford Consulting

 

[Hotchkin]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for responding.

Correct. In the mailbox store in System Manager there's a count of the messages there against each user's mailbox. If I send a message to a mailbox, the count increments. If I set up a new user and send 1 test message from the outside, the count goes to 1, but when I log in as that user there are no messages received in the Inbox.

Internal messaging is working fine. I can send a message from 1 internal user to another and those messages are received.

I haven't been able to release this server to "real" users yet because e-mail isn't working. Also, I've been repeatedly doing tests and quickly checking the results. As a result I can discount the possibility of users logging on, downloading and removing messages...in any case, it there's a count of messages in the message store, then surely that's the number of messages you'd expect to see in the user's mailbox (albeit split betwen Inbox, sent items etc) isn't it?

I'm desperate to get this resolved, but I've been searching for a resolution for some time without any joy. Any advice would be gratefully received.

Many thanks once again,
Richard.

 

[mofusjtf]

Did you run the ICW to configure Exchange from the to do list? Or did you manually configure Exchange?

If you run the ICW and input the correct information (e.g. external domain name, etc.) you should not have any problems.

How are you creating your users? Via the Server Management Add user console/wizard or manually through AD? SBS works best if you use the Wizards.

 

[Hotchkin]

I configured Exchange manually. As I did with the all the users through AD Users and Computers. This is the way that I've always done it before on other servers...So tell me about the Exchange setup wizard. Where do I find it? Server Management console? Which option? If I run it now will that overwrite my settings and correct my problem?

Thanks
Richard.

 

[mofusjtf]

The ICW is found under the Server Management console. At the top you will see the to do list. run the internet connection one. This configures Exchange and your DNS forwarders, etc. While SBS can be configured manually, it has been my experience that using the wizards works best for SBS.

The server management console has almost everything you need to manage an SBS server. Group policy, exchange, ad, etc. all in one neat location.

 

[ShackDaddy]

Yeah, mofu is right. SBS really needs to be wizard managed during setup because of all the tight integration it does. Normally you wouldn't be running Exchange on a DC, not to mention all the remote access services.

So run the ICW and test again after that. It's likely that what's screwed up is your recipient policy.

Dave Shackelford
Shackelford Consulting

 

[Hotchkin]

Thanks again for replying guys.

I ran through the wizard without any problems. Unfortunately it hasn't made the slightest difference. Users are still not receiving any e-mail from the outside world.

I'm really out of ideas here. What else can I try?

Many thanks in advance,
Richard.

 

[mofusjtf]

When you say email from the outside world, would it be safe for us to say that your internal mail delivery is working properly?

 

[Hotchkin]

Hi mofusjtf,

Correct. Internal mail's working fine. If I set up a new user, send 1 message from the outside and 1 from an internal account, the Mailbox Store for that user shows 2 messages are present, but only the 1 sent internally appears in the recipient's inbox. This is the case for both Outlook and OWA.

Thanks for your ongoing support,
Richard.

 

[ShackDaddy]

What does your recipient policy look like? What's the difference between your internal and external domains?

I'm going to ask some internal M$ contacts about this situation.

Dave Shackelford
Shackelford Consulting

 

[mofusjtf]

I agree with ShackDaddy. Check your recipient policy. YOur external email domain should be your primary email domain. Also check your firewall and make sure port 25 is going to the correct server. And verify you MX Record is correct.

How do your "real users" current receive email?

 

[Hotchkin]

Hi Guys,

Many thanks for continuing to offer your advice.

Under "Recipient Policies", I have 1 entry: "Default Policy"; Priority "Lowest". Getting the properties on this reveals 3 tabs: "General", "E-Mail Addresses (Policy)" and "Details".

On the "General" tab, under "Filter Rules" it says, "(mailnickname=*)".

On the "E-Mail Addresses (Policy)" tab, under "Generation Rules", it lists with "SMTP" as the Type, all the domains that the server will handle messages for. Currently I have some domains that are all live and directed to this server, but which are not really used for anything...I'm using them as test domains. They are all preceded with an @. On this tab, there is also a single "X400" type. I must confess, I'm exactly clear what this is for, and I'm pretty sure it's not required, but I don't think it should cause any problems. I have a similar setting on another server that I have running on a different site and this works fine. All the "Types" in the list are ticked as active.

On the "Details" tab, it simply lists the "Creation Date" and the "Last Modification" date

Currently the people on the site that this server will serve are retrieving their e-mail via a POP3 link to the ISP. Ultimately (when it works) the idea is that this server will handle the messages for the domain rather than the ISP.

Interestingly, I did just get a bounce back message on a test e-mail that I sent the other day, saying that the message was undeliverable. The reason given was: "Diagnostic-Code: smtp; 5.4.7 - Delivery expired (message too old) [Default] 454-'5.7.3 Client does not have permission to submit mail to this server.' (delivery attempts: 11)"

It's the "Client does not have permission to submit mail to this server" that I'm puzzled by!

Any more thought on any of this?

Thanks again,
Richard.

 

[Hotchkin]

FIXED IT!!!!

It was the bounce back message that got me thinking.

I looked under "Servers" in System Manager, selected my server, went don to "Protocols", selected "SMTP" and got the properties on my "Default SMTP Virtual Server". On the "Access" tab, I clicked the "Authentication" button. "Anonymous access" was delselected so I ticked the box. I then clicked on the "Users" button next to the text that says, "Grant or deny submit permissions to specific users or groups" in this dialog box, under "Authenticated Users" I also ticked to "Allow" "Relay Permission" which was unchecked previously. I'm not really sure if this last step was necessary...I'm always a bit nervous about allowing relaying. I might try unchecking and seeing if it makes a difference!

Thank you both for all your help. It's been great to be able to talk this through with people who understand what I'm talking about!

Best Regards,
Richard.

 

[Hotchkin]

Just as some final closure for anyone else who might come across this in future, I DID uncheck the "Allow" for relaying and it all still worked.

Thanks again,
Richard.

 

[mofusjtf]

Glad to hear you got your issue resolved. Again,with SBS use its wizards in the future.

Was this something you configured manually in Exchange? Typically there is no need to change that area. SBS is NOT an open relay by default. If you can afford the time, it might not be a bad idea to do a system reload since the "real" users are not using the server and you did the manual configuration. You can then configure the SBS server with the wizards on a fresh install and know that everything is configured properly for SBS.

Typically you do not need the "allow" relay for authenticated users regardless... unless you have external SMTP relay clients. You also do not need any IP addresses in the list (unless of course you have some third part applications that need to relay notifications). Outlook in Exchange mode is not viewed by the exchange server as a relay client.

Also, download and run the SBS best practices analyzer. It's a good tool to make sure SBS is configured properly.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...7A-DE19-49BB-800F-352F3B6F2922&displaylang=en

Anyway, glad to hear you're email is moving.