How to Configure Glitch Retry Interval in Exchange Server 2003

 

If Exchange Server 2003 tries to route a message to a heavily loaded external SMTP system such as a virus firewall, it can receive a Server Busy error. In these situations, the Exchange transport goes into a state known as 'glitch retry'. In this state, Exchange Server 2003 waits 60 seconds before attempting to resend the message, and it repeats this process three times before resorting to other actions. If external SMTP servers are consistently busy, reduce the glitch retry wait time to prevent mass message queuing.

Before You Begin

Before you perform the procedure in this topic, be aware that this procedure contains information about editing the registry.

Warning

Incorrectly editing the registry can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Problems resulting from editing the registry incorrectly may not be able to be resolved. Before editing the registry, back up any valuable data.

Procedure

To configure the glitch retry interval in Exchange Server 2003

  1. Open a registry editor, such as Regedit.exe or Regedt32.exe.

  2. Navigate to: HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\SMTPSvc.

  3. Right-click SMTPSvc and select New | Key.

  4. Name the new key Queuing.

  5. Right-click Queuing and select New | DWORD Value.

  6. Name the new DWORD value GlitchRetrySeconds.

  7. Double-click GlitchRetrySeconds to edit its value data.

  8. Change the Base to Decimal.

  9. In the Value data field, enter the number of seconds that Exchange Server 2003 should wait before attempting to resend a message.

  10. Click OK to save the change, and then close the Registry Editor.

  11. Restart the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) service for the change to take effect.

For More Information

For information about editing the registry, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 256986, "Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry," (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=3052&kbid=256986).