HOW TO: Troubleshoot for
Exchange Server 2003 Transport Issues
The information in this article applies to:
Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Enterprise Edition
Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Standard Edition
For a Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server version of
this article, see 257265.
IN THIS TASK
SUMMARY
Diagnostics Logging
Queue Viewer
Protocol Logging
Message Tracking
SUMMARY
This step-by-step article describes how to use
basic troubleshooting utilities with Microsoft
Exchange Server 2003 transport components to investigate
transport issues. The most common issues involve
mail flow. You can use these utilities to investigate
the issue before you open a support incident.
Diagnostics Logging
You can use Diagnostics Logging to determine the
cause of a transport issue. To turn on Diagnostics
Logging on the MSExchangeTransport service, follow
these steps:
Start Exchange System Manager.
Expand Servers, right-click Your_ Server_Name,
and then click Properties.
Click the Diagnostics Logging tab, and then click
MSExchangeTransport under Services.
Under Categories, click the category that you
want to log.
Under Logging Level, click the appropriate logging
level for the issue that you are investigating:
None
Minimum
Medium
Maximum
Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each category that you
want to log.
Queue ViewerYou can use the Queue
Viewer tool to maintain and to administer your
organization's messaging queues. It can help you
to identify and to isolate mail flow issues. Queue
Viewer is available on all Simple Mail Transfer
Protocol (SMTP) virtual servers, with Microsoft
Message Transfer Agent (X.400), and with all Microsoft
Exchange connectors that are installed. To access
the queues, follow these steps:
Start Exchange System Manager.
Open the folder in the following location to find
the queue that you want to administer:
Servers\Your_ Server_Name\Queues
Protocol Logging
You can use protocol logging to
track incoming commands that an SMTP virtual server
receives from SMTP clients and to track outgoing
commands.
There are 4 types of protocol logs:
Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) Log
File Format
NCSA Common Log File Format
ODBC Log File Format
W3C Extended Log File Format
The default SMTP protocol log format
is the W3C Extended Log File Format. You can use
this log to select the information that you want
to track. To turn on W3C logging, follow these
steps:
1. Start Exchange System Manager.
2. Expand Servers\Your_ Server_Name\Protocols\SMTP.
3. Right-click SMTP Virtual Server, and then click
Properties.
4. On the General tab, click to select the Enable
Logging check box.
5. In the Active Log Format list, click W3C Extended
Log File Format.
6. Click Properties.
7. On the General Properties tab, click the log
schedule that you want to use under New log schedule.
8. In the Log file directory box, type the path
where you want to keep the log files.
9. Click the Advanced tab, and then click to select
the check box next to each extended logging option
in the Extended logging options list that you
want to track.
Click Apply, and then click OK to
close Logging Properties.
Click Apply, and then click OK to save your settings
and close SMTP Virtual Server Properties.
Message Tracking
You can use the Exchange Server 2003 Message Tracking
Center to search for all types of messages, including
system messages, public folder messages, and e-mail
messages. This can be useful when you think a
particular message is absent, or if you want to
track the status of a message.
Note: To successfully track messages,
you must grant read access to the share at \\Your_Server_Name\Your_Server_Name.log
to the users who will perform message tracking.
To turn on message tracking on a
particular server, follow these steps:
1. Start Exchange System Manager.
2. Expand Servers, right-click the server that
you want to use message tracking on, and then
click Properties.
3. On the General tab, click to select the Enable
message tracking check box.
This option logs information about the sender,
the time the message was sent or received, the
message size and priority, and the message recipients.
4. In the Exchange System Manager dialog box,
click OK.
5. To record the subject of any message sent to,
from, or through the server, click to select the
Enable Subject Logging and Display check box.
This exert is taken from
Microsoft's Technet Page. The Microsoft
Name belongs to Microsoft Corp.
