-------| Exchange & Outlook UPDATE |-------
IN THIS ISSUE
*Commentary: Troubleshooting with the Fundamentals
*Vista UPDATE Debuts
*IT Pro of the Month—December 2006 Winner
*Exchanging Ideas: Configuring Password Requirements for Mobile Devices
*New and Improved: Hosted Exchange 2007 Offering
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***COMMENTARY: Troubleshooting with the Fundamentals
by Paul Robichaux, Exchange Editor, [email protected]
My oldest son loves playing basketball. I like his current coach because he stresses the importance of fundamentals: Rebounding, ball handling, and good defense are much more important than flashy plays or showboating. I ran into a novel problem last week, and I thought it would make a good column because it illustrates how fundamentals are also important in messaging troubleshooting.
I've written before about my conversion from Palm OS to Windows Mobile ("DirectPush in the Real World," April 23, 2006). My Palm Treo 700w is the most valuable object I own because it allows me to store and process much more information than my poor brain can handle alone. Windows Mobile lets you have multiple messaging accounts on a single device; you can have one Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) account, plus multiple IMAP, POP, or Hotmail accounts. The account possibilities presented me with a conundrum: Should I use my home or work Exchange server as the primary EAS account? The home server won out thanks to Windows Mobile's ability to handle meeting requests sent to IMAP accounts, and to my need to keep a shared calendar with my family.
My work email comes to an IMAP account on the handheld device. This setup worked well until a couple of months ago, when I noticed a baffling problem: Sometimes when I sent a message, I received a nondelivery report (NDR) on the device, but that NDR didn't appear in OWA or on my desktop mail clients; it was being generated by the handheld device itself. The NDR was fairly unhelpful; it said that a recipient was invalid and that the message had been moved to the Drafts folder. Sometimes resending the failed message worked; other times it didn't.
At first, I figured this problem was a transient side effect of upgrading from the beta of Exchange Server 2007 to the release version, and that it would go away once we'd finished our upgrade. Messages didn't bounce 100 percent of the time, and the workaround was simple enough. Then Christmas came, and my discretionary troubleshooting time vanished. After upgrading our Client Access server earlier this month, the problem would still occasionally occur, and I finally decided to get to the bottom of things.
My first step to solving the problem was to figure out exactly where the NDR was coming from. When I used the Message Tracking Center in Exchange 2007, I didn't see any of the failed messages arriving at all. A quick check with the Get-MessageTrackingLog command in Exchange Management Shell revealed that other messages were flowing normally but that none of my NDR-producing messages sent via SMTP ever arrived. I then checked our Exchange Server 2003 SMTP bridgehead (which we've kept around so that we have a mixed environment for testing); the protocol logs that Microsoft IIS maintains showed SMTP delivery attempts from my handheld device, some successful, some not. That was my first clue; it proved that neither the Client Access server nor the Mailbox server was responsible for the NDR.
The second clue came when I used Telnet to connect to the bridgehead and send a message. I quickly found that messages to a single recipient always worked but messages with two or more recipients would always fail on the first try. The error was very instructive: The GRYNX Greylist filter that we'd installed back in November was rejecting messages sent to two or more recipients from my home network. I could see that all the failed attempts in the protocol log came from the Verizon Wireless IP address range, and suddenly the problem was obvious: The greylisting add-on had decided that my phone was a spammer. When I tried to send or reply to more than one addressee at a time, the filter blocked my message. On a conventional SMTP server, the message would be retransmitted later. However, Pocket Outlook didn't understand the temporary status code returned by the SMTP server, so it generated a device-side NDR.
The fix was simple; I merely had to add my sending account to the greylist software's whitelist to tell it that it should always accept mail from me. Poof! Problem solved.
What did I learn from this? First, if I'd remembered earlier that the software had been installed, I would have checked it. However, because I didn't install it myself, and because it wasn't causing any other problems, I had forgotten all about it. Lesson: Keep better track of configuration changes on the server. Second, I found that I like searching the message tracking logs about a million times more with the command line than with the message tracking GUI. This is obviously a personal preference, but the point is that you might find it easy to use Exchange Management Shell with its easy-to-understand cmdlets such as Get-MessageTrackingLog. Third, never underestimate the power of knowing how things work at a basic level. Impersonating the SMTP sender by using Telnet quickly unmasked the problem; thankfully, because the people who taught me emphasized fundamentals, I knew how to apply such a fundamental tool to troubleshoot the problem.
Chris J., the author of GRYNX Greylist, already wrote to tell me that this problem has been fixed in the current version, which is excellent support in my book. GRYNX Greylist has done a great job blocking spam, and we're going to continue to use it—now with a slightly healthier regard for its abilities!
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***Vista UPDATE Debuts
We're launching a new email newsletter! Starting February 1, Vista UPDATE is the twice-monthly resource for all things Vista, from deployment to security to virtual PC and beyond. Even if your company isn't moving to Vista yet, you'll stay current with what's happening in Vista with the help of Karen Forster, author of the ever-popular "Hey Microsoft!" column in "Windows IT Pro" magazine. You'll also find desktop and client-side tips and insights from David Chernicoff, and info on what your users need to know by Kathy Ivens, plus Ivens's popular Reader Challenge. Client UPDATE subscribers, you don't have to do a thing. All others, sign up now at
http://www.windowsitpro.com/Email/index.cfm?action=Main
And please whitelist this address to ensure that your new Vista UPDATE isn't mistakenly blocked by antispam software: [email protected]
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Sponsor: Hewlett-Packard
The Essential Guide to Infrastructure Consolidation
Learn the essentials about how consolidation and selected technology updates build an infrastructure that can handle change effectively.
http://www.windowsitpro.com/go/essential/hp/infrastructure/?code=EXCMid0125
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***IT Pro of the Month—December 2006 Winner Congratulations to Steven Fellwock, who was voted the December 2006 "IT Pro of the Month." Steven successfully improved a logon process by creating a SQL database that maintains Active Directory (AD) information. His new logon script never needs modification and it's portable—able to run in any AD environment that includes a SQL database. To learn more about Steven's solution and to find out how you can become the next "IT Pro of the Month," please visit:
http://www.windowsitpro.com/go/itpromonth
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***EXCHANGING IDEAS
Focus: Configuring Password Requirements for Mobile Devices
John Savill answers the question, "How do I configure password requirements for mobile devices by using Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2)?"
http://www.windowsitpro.com/Articles/ArticleID/50625/50625.html
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Have a question? Got answers? Join your peers in the Exchange discussion forums:
http://forums.windowsitpro.com/web/forum/categories.aspx?catid=40&entercat=y
Current Threads:
OWA inside the network
Undeliverable Email - Message Header Incorrect ?
Internal messages not delivered
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Don't forget to sound off in our Instant Poll. This month's question is "What tools does your organization use for email retention?"
http://www.windowsitpro.com/MicrosoftExchangeOutlook/Index.cfm
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***NEW AND IMPROVED
by Blake Eno, [email protected]
Hosted Exchange 2007 Offering
Intermedia.NET announced its hosted Exchange 2007 offering with 2GB mailboxes, along with ActiveSync, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, and Good Mobile Messaging integration. Intermedia.NET also provides a free, Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 download, which means all 2GB of data is searchable through Outlook 2007's new Instant Search feature. Intermedia.NET's hosted Exchange 2007 solution includes free antivirus and antispam protection, along with the HostPilot control panel that provides self-service and control to your email infrastructure. Plans offering 2GB mailboxes start at $125 per month. For more information, contact Intermedia.NET at 650-641-4000 or 800-379-7729.
http://www.intermedia.net
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Wanted: your reviews of products you've tested and used in production. Share your experiences and ratings of products to "[email protected]" and get a Best Buy gift certificate.
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***EVENTS AND RESOURCES
These Windows-related events, papers, and resources will help you keep your knowledge and skills up to date and help you deploy, secure, and maintain the latest Exchange- and Windows-related technologies. For more Exchange related resources, visit
http://www.windowsitpro.com/go/exchangeresources
Protect your users and your network against email-borne threats. This free eBook gives you the knowledge required to understand the real threat that email-borne attacks pose and to address those attacks in a way that reduces risk while ensuring users aren't affected. Download it today!
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You know you need to manage your email data, but how do you do it? What steps are you taking? What additional measures should you enact? What shouldn't you do? Get the answers to these questions and gain control of your vital messaging data. Download the free eBook today!
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FEATURED WHITE PAPER
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Nominate yourself or a peer to become "IT Pro of the Month." This is your chance to get the recognition you deserve! Winners will receive over $600 in IT resources and be featured in Windows IT Pro. It's easy to enter—we're accepting February nominations now for a limited-time! Submit your nomination today:
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