Configuring Retry Attempts and Intervals

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Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1

If a message cannot be delivered on the first attempt, the SMTP service sends it again from the Queue directory after a specified time. You can set the interval between delivery attempts. You can also designate the number of times to attempt to deliver a message. After the limit is reached, the message is returned to the sender with a non-delivery report (NDR) and copies of the message and NDR are sent to the location you designate. The NDR is placed in the Queue directory and goes through the same delivery process as messages. When the NDR reaches the maximum number of retry attempts, the NDR and message are sent to the Badmail directory.

Important

You must be a member of the Administrators group on the local computer to perform the following procedure or procedures. As a security best practice, log on to your computer by using an account that is not in the Administrators group, and then use the runas command to run IIS Manager as an administrator. At a command prompt, type runas /User:Administrative_AccountName "mmc systemroot\system32\inetsrv\iis.msc".

Procedures

To configure retry attempt and interval settings

  1. In IIS Manager, right-click the SMTP virtual server, and then click Properties.

  2. Click the Delivery tab.

  3. In the First retry interval (minutes) box, type a value for the amount of time to wait before retrying message delivery. The default is 15 minutes.

  4. In the Second retry interval (minutes) box, type a value for the amount of time to wait before retrying message delivery. The default is 30 minutes, which is 30 minutes after the First retry interval.

  5. In the Third retry interval (minutes) box, type a value for the amount of time to wait before retrying message delivery. The default is 60 minutes, which is 60 minutes after the Second retry interval.

  6. In the Subsequent retry interval (minutes) box, type a value for the amount of time to attempt delivery before posting a notification. The default is 240 minutes.

Delay Notification

To allow for network delays, you can set a delay period to expire before sending the delivery notification. The minimum value is 1 minute, the default is 12 hours, and the maximum value is 9999 days. Use the drop-down menu beside the value field to use minutes, hours, or days.

Expiration Timeout

Type a value for messages that have not been delivered after all retries and delays have expired. The minimum value is 1 minute, the default is 2 days, and the maximum value is 9999 days. Use the drop-down menu beside the value field to use minutes, hours, or days.