• Article

One of the System Attendant's tasks is blocked

 

Topic Last Modified: 2007-11-16

The Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Management Pack for Operations Manager monitors the Windows Application log on computers that are running Exchange Server 2007 and generates this alert when the event or events specified in the following Details table are logged.

To learn more about this alert, if you are using Microsoft Operations Manager 2005, do one or more of the following:

  • From the Operator Console, select this alert, and then click the Properties tab. Review the description of the alert that includes the variables specific to your environment.

  • From the Operator Console, click the Events tab, and then double-click the event in the list for which you want to review the event description. Review the events that have been logged that meet the criteria of this Operations Manager alert.

To learn more about this alert, if you are using System Center Operations Manager 2007, do one or more of the following:

  • From the Operations Console, double-click this alert, and then click the General tab. Review the description of the alert that includes the variables specific to your environment.

  • From the Operations Console, double-click this alert, and then click the Alert Context tab. Review the events that have been logged that meet the criteria of this Operations Manager alert.

Details

Product Name

Exchange

Product Version

8.0 (Exchange Server 2007)

Event ID

1031

Event Source

MSExchangeSA

Alert Type

Warning

MOM Rule Path

Microsoft Exchange Server/Exchange 2007/Mailbox/System Attendant

MOM Rule Name

One of the System Attendant's tasks is blocked.

Explanation

This Error event indicates that the Microsoft® Exchange System Attendant service cannot start because one or more tasks of this service are blocked. The function name that is specified in the event description indicates the blocked task. Each blocked task will cause this event to be logged with the function name in the event description. This event may occur for various reasons. See "User Action" for information about how to resolve this error.

User Action

To resolve this error, do one or more of the following:

  • If this Error event is followed by MSExchangeSA Informational Event ID 1032 with the same function name as specified in the event description, it indicates that a blocked task has recovered from a long delay and now operates correctly.

  • If this event occurs repeatedly without an MSExchangeSA Event ID 1032, increase the diagnostic logging level on the following counters of the MSExchangeSA performance object for additional events:

    • NSPI Proxy

    • RFR Interface

    • OAL Generator

    • Proxy Generation

    • Clean Mailbox

You can increase logging by running the following Exchange Management Shell commands:

  • Set-EventLogLevel "MSExchangeSA\NSPI Proxy" -Level High

  • Set-EventLogLevel "MSExchangeSA\RFR Interface" -Level High

  • Set-EventLogLevel "MSExchangeSA\OAL Generator" -Level High

  • Set-EventLogLevel "MSExchangeSA\Proxy Generation" -Level High

  • Set-EventLogLevel "MSExchangeSA\Clean Mailbox" -Level High

For detailed information about how to increase logging, see How to Change Logging Levels for Exchange Processes.

  • Review other related Error and Warning events in the Application log. These related events may help you find the root cause of this error.

  • Try to restart Microsoft Exchange System Attendant service from the Services panel.

Important After you have completed troubleshooting this issue, return logging to the default level by running the following commands:

  • Set-EventLogLevel "MSExchangeSA\NSPI Proxy" -Level Lowest

  • Set-EventLogLevel "MSExchangeSA\RFR Interface" -Level Lowest

  • Set-EventLogLevel "MSExchangeSA\OAL Generator" -Level Lowest

  • Set-EventLogLevel "MSExchangeSA\Proxy Generation" -Level Lowest

  • Set-EventLogLevel "MSExchangeSA\Clean Mailbox" -Level Lowest

For More Information

To search the Microsoft Knowledge Base articles based on criteria that generated this alert, visit the Search the Support Knowledge Base (KB) Web site.

To review Exchange Server 2007 event message articles that may not be represented by Exchange 2007 alerts, see the Events and Errors Message Center.

If you are not already doing so, consider running the tools that Microsoft Exchange offers to help administrators analyze and troubleshoot their Exchange environment. These tools can help you make sure that your configuration is in line with Microsoft best practices. They can also help you identify and resolve performance issues, improve mail flow, and better manage disaster recovery scenarios. Go to the Toolbox node of the Exchange Management Console to run these tools now. For more information about these tools, see Toolbox in the Exchange Server 2007 Help.