Recipient Update Service appears to be stalled

[This topic is intended to address a specific issue called out by the Exchange Server Analyzer Tool. You should apply it only to systems that have had the Exchange Server Analyzer Tool run against them and are experiencing that specific issue. The Exchange Server Analyzer Tool, available as a free download, remotely collects configuration data from each server in the topology and automatically analyzes the data. The resulting report details important configuration issues, potential problems, and nondefault product settings. By following these recommendations, you can achieve better performance, scalability, reliability, and uptime. For more information about the tool or to download the latest versions, see "Microsoft Exchange Analyzers" at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=34707.]  

Topic Last Modified: 2005-11-17

The Microsoft® Exchange Server Analyzer Tool queries the Active Directory® directory service to determine the value for the msExchServer1HighestUSN attribute of each Recipient Update Service object in Active Directory. The Exchange Server Analyzer also queries Active Directory to determine the value for the activationStyle attribute of each Recipient Update Service object in Active Directory. The activationStyle attribute indicates the update interval for the Recipient Update Service.

The Exchange Server Analyzer also queries Active Directory to determine the value for the highestCommittedUSN attribute for the RootDSE attribute of the domain controller being used by the Recipient Update Service. The highestCommittedUSN attribute is the highest update sequence number (USN) for any object on the server that has been committed to the database on this domain controller.

The Exchange Server Analyzer also queries Active Directory to determine the value for the msExchServer1LastUpdateTime attribute of each Recipient Update Service object. The msExchServer1LastUpdateTime attribute indicates the date and time of the most recent update of the last successful synchronization from this directory.

If the Exchange Server Analyzer finds the following three conditions, a warning is displayed:

  • The activationStyle attribute is set to 2, which indicates that the schedule for this Recipient Update Service is set to Always.

  • The sequence number listed in msExchServer1HighestUSN value is 5,000 or more behind the sequence number listed in highestCommittedUSN.

  • Six or more hours have elapsed since the time stamp recorded in the msExchServer1LastUpdateTime attribute.

This warning indicates that the specified Recipient Update Service has not run for several hours and may have stalled.

To correct this warning

  1. Open Exchange System Manager.

  2. Expand Recipients, and then select Recipient Update Services.

  3. Right-click the specified Recipient Update Service, and then select Update Now.

  4. Wait 30 minutes, and then rerun the Exchange Server Analyzer to see if this warning condition still exists. If it does, continue to step 5. If it no longer exists, no further action is required.

  5. Restart the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant service.

For more information about the Recipient Update Service, see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base articles: