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The Non-SMTP Gateway Connection failed because the drop directory filename exceeds the system-defined maximum length.

 

Applies to: Operations Manager Management Pack for Exchange 2010

Topic Last Modified: 2011-08-02

The Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Management Pack for System Center Operations Manager monitors the Windows Application log on computers running Exchange 2010 and generates this alert when the events specified in the following Details table are logged.

To learn more about this alert, in Operations Manager, 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 logged events that meet the criteria of this Operations Manager alert.

Details

Product Name

Exchange

Product Version

14.0 (Exchange 2010)

Event ID

8007

Event Source

MSExchangeTransport

Alert Type

Warning

Rule Path

Microsoft Exchange Server/Exchange 2010/Common Components/Hub Transport and Edge Transport/Transport

Rule Name

The Non-SMTP Gateway Connection failed because the drop directory filename exceeds the system-defined maximum length.

Explanation

This Error event indicates that the file name or path name of a message file that is located in the Drop directory is too long.

The maximum allowed length of a file path is 246 characters. The file path contains the following elements:

  • A single drive letter character

  • The colon character(":")

  • The backslash character("\")

  • The directory and subdirectory names

  • The backslash characters that separate the directory and subdirectory names

The maximum allowed length of a file name is 254 characters. The file name contains the following elements:

  • The file name

  • The period character (".") that separates the file name from the file name extension

  • The file name extension

The maximum allowed length of the full path is 259 characters. The full file path contains the following elements:

  • The file path

  • The file name

Two items control the location of the Drop directory for each Foreign connector:

  • The RootDropDirectoryPath parameter on the Set-TransportServer cmdlet. This option is used for all Foreign connectors that exist on the Hub Transport server. By default, the value of the RootDropDirectoryPath parameter is blank. This indicates the value of the RootDropDirectoryPath parameter is the Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 installation folder. The default Exchange Server 2010 installation folder is C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\v14\.

  • The DropDirectory parameter on the Set-ForeignConnector cmdlet. This value is set for each Foreign Connector that exists on the Hub Transport server. The value of the DropDirectory parameter must be a simple directory name. The value of the DropDirectory parameter cannot contain any absolute path information.

User Action

To resolve this error, do one of the following:

  • Shorten the names of the message files so that the combination of the message file names and the directory path is less than 259 characters.

  • Move the location of the Drop directory by using the RootDropDirectoryPath parameter on the Set-TransportServer cmdlet and the DropDirectory parameter on the Set-ForeignConnector cmdlet so that the combination of the message file names and the directory path is less than 259 characters. Changing the location of the Drop directory does not copy any existing message files from the old directory to the new directory. The new directory location is active almost immediately after the configuration change, but any existing message files are left in the old directory.

For more information, see Modify the Configuration of a Foreign Connector

For More Information

If you are not already doing so, consider running the Exchange tools, which have been created to help you analyze and troubleshoot your Exchange environment. These tools can help make sure that your configuration aligns with Microsoft best practices. They can also help you identify and resolve performance issues and improve mail flow. To run these tools, go to the Toolbox node of the Exchange Management Console. To learn more about these tools, see Managing Tools in the Toolbox.