Message Tracking

Another important component for monitoring Exchange is message tracking. Exchange 2000 provided similar functionality for tracking messages as they are routed through your Exchange topology.

The following sections look at some of the new tools and techniques for tracking and archiving messages, including using message tracking logs and the improved queue viewer in the Exchange System Manager.

Message Tracking Logs

Message tracking is still accomplished through the use of message tracking logs, but you now have more control over how and where these logs are created and what options are included.

The most significant enhancement in this area is the ability to track messages after the distribution group expansion has occurred.

You can now track a message after it is sent to different members of a distribution list. This helps you troubleshoot errors that occur with individual recipients.

To turn on message tracking, follow these steps:

  1. From the Exchange program group in the Start Menu, open the Exchange System Manager.

  2. Locate the server you want to monitor, right-click on the server name, and select Properties.

  3. From the General property page, select the option Enable Message Tracking. Use the Change button to change the location of the generated log files.

MESSAGE TRACKING LOG FILES

By default, the message tracking log files are created in a shared directory on your Exchange server using your server name and with a date for the log filename. You can use the options in the General property page to change the location and filename.


After you have set the Enable Message Tracking option in step 3, you can use the logs to track messages to individual recipients as they pass through your Exchange topology. To track messages that are sent to distribution lists, you need to look at the Message Tracking Center that is available within the Exchange System Manager and shown in Figure 6.4.

Figure 6.4. Message Tracking Center.

graphics/06fig04.jpg

In Exchange 2003, you can also track messages that meet the following conditions:

  • Messages that are expanded and queued for routing

  • Messages that are routed and queued for local delivery

  • Messages that are routed and queued for remote delivery

  • Messages that are queued for expansion retry

  • Messages that are queued for local delivery retry

  • Messages that are queued for routing retry

This ability to track messages enables you to troubleshoot and correct any errors that occur after the expansion process.

COMMON EXPANSION ERRORS

One of the most common errors with emails to distribution lists in Exchange 2003 comes through the use of query-based distribution groups. Often, the query that was created does not bring back the recipient list that was expected, which makes administrators think that the expansion process failed. Before you try to trace the message through message tracking, check the query that was used to generate the query-based distribution group (QBDG) and ensure that it is returning the desired results.


Viewing the Messaging Queues

Another powerful tool in every Exchange administrator's arsenal is the Queue Viewer. If you worked with Exchange 2000, you might have used this tool to view the queues of messages flowing through your Exchange implementation to determine bottlenecks or problem areas.

With Exchange 2003, the Queue Viewer has been improved. You can now view the SMTP queue from directly within the Viewer, in addition to other queues (such as the Failed Message Retry Queue) that were previously hidden in Exchange 2000.

You can also use the Queue Viewer to halt outgoing mail, effectively disallowing mail from leaving your organization. With the recent email viruses and worms, this is an essential tool for stopping the further spread of a virus or Trojan after it has been identified.

The Queue Viewer can show the hundreds of thousands of email messages that pass through your Exchange implementation. To help you sift through these, the Queue Viewer has an updated search facility that can find email messages within the queue. Exchange administrators commonly use the Queue Viewer to determine why a particular message hasn't been sent.

To work through this scenario and find the message that is "hung," you can follow these steps:

  1. From the Exchange program group in the Start menu, open the Exchange System Manager.

  2. Navigate to and right-click the server you want to monitor, select Queues from the shortcut menu, and then highlight the queue you want to search.

  3. From the shortcut menu, select Find Messages to open the dialog box shown in Figure 6.5.

    Figure 6.5. Find Messages dialog box.

    graphics/06fig05.jpg

  4. Using the text boxes provided in this dialog box, enter your search criteria (sender, recipient, and so on). If you know that a particular message is stuck in the queue, you can use the Show Messages Whose State Is list to select a particular state or status.

  5. Click Find Now to begin the search process.

The Queue Viewer then presents a list of messages that meet the criteria you have entered. You can use the information shown to determine why the message has not progressed in or through the queue.

QUEUE REFRESH RATE

By default, the refresh rate for the Queue Viewer has been set to 2 minutes, but you can change that by right-clicking on the server and selecting Queues, Settings. Select a refresh rate from the drop-down list provided.


The most common problems with queued messages are corruption and viruses. If you attempt to view the properties of a message and they are garbled or appear to be in a different character set, the message is probably corrupt and will need to be deleted.

If the message has been deleted and re-sent multiple times, check the originating location of the email message and ensure that you are running an up-to-date virus scanner. Often, viruses or Trojans slow or stop the messaging queues by sending multiple broadcast messages or by passing large files or attachments through the queue.

To fully troubleshoot and remedy these types of problems, you might need to disable outbound mail altogether. You can disable outbound traffic directly from within the Queue Viewer. Simply select the queue you want to work with and click the option Disable Outbound Mail. This stops any outbound mail from being sent and gives you the time you need to troubleshoot and correct any problems.

TURNING QUEUES BACK ON

If you want to turn the queue back on later, simply select the option from the shortcut menu to enable.


Archiving Messages

With the introduction of new rules and regulations for corporate governance, it has become increasingly more important to keep an accurate record of email messages and other corporate communication.

For Exchange 2000 administrators, this meant using the archiving features found in that version of the product to archive all email messages. The problem with that scenario was that although the email messages were archived, blind carbon copy (BCC) recipients were not included. Therefore, it was possible to have an email message sent to someone through a BCC that would not be included in the archive.

With the introduction of Exchange 2003, it is now possible to include these recipients in the archiving process. The process for configuring archiving in Exchange 2003 is the same as previous versions. To include BCC recipients in this process, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Registry Editor (regedit.exe) on the Exchange server that hosts the information store you are archiving from.

  2. Change the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeTransport\Parameters\JournalBCC key to a Dword datatype with a value of 1.

  3. Restart the IIS Admin Service and all Microsoft Exchange services.

You can then use Outlook 2003 to view the archived messages, and all the BCC recipients will appear.

ARCHIVING EXCHANGE MESSAGES

For more information on working with Exchange archiving and event sinks, check out the Exchange Server 2003 documentation and search for the keyword Archive.




Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Delta Guide
Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Delta Guide
ISBN: 0672325853
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 109

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net