Managing and Troubleshooting Message Queues

Typically, administrators won't see messages in a queue because messages are processed and routed quickly. Messages will remain in the queue if a problem exists. Administrators use the Queue Viewer in System Manager to check for messages in the queue. Queue Viewer provides information helpful for troubleshooting message-flow problems, queue state (Active, Ready, Frozen, and so on), as well as other information such as message submission time or the number of messages waiting in the queue. To locate messages in a queue, use the following steps:

1.	In ESM, expand the administrative group of the server you want to work with. Expand Servers, the server to work with, and then select the Queues node to display a list of available queues.
2.	Double-click the queue to display the Find Message dialog box and then click Find Now. Search results should be displayed in the Search Results section of the dialog box.
3.	Double-clicking a message displays additional information that identifies the message, such as a message ID that can be used with message tracking. Click OK to exit the Message Properties dialog box.

The common problems with queued messages include things such as corruption or viruses. If information is garbled or in an unknown character set when you're viewing message properties, the message is probably corrupt and will need to be deleted. Messages that have multiple deletions and resend attempts are probably infected with a virus and will slow down or stop message queue delivery. Check the originating source of the message and double-check and ensure the virus scanner in use is up-to-date.

If need be, administrators can disable all outbound message delivery directly in the Queue Viewer. Select the queue to work with and then click the Disable Outbound Mail button. This stops outbound mail and give administrators time to troubleshoot and remedy mail problems.