Understanding Troubleshooting in Interoperability and Migration Projects

It is recommended that you adopt the following troubleshooting strategy, shown in Figure 1, when you troubleshoot interoperability and migration issues:

1. Locate the issue   Before you can troubleshoot an issue, you must determine its probable causes. This usually involves checking the legacy system, as well as Exchange 2003. Use a methodical approach to pinpoint the issue.

2. Analyze the issue   Try to replicate the problem so that you can understand exactly what is happening. Change only one setting or configuration at a time so that you can keep track of the behavior before and after the change. Carefully document the changes you make. After you determine the cause of the problem, check the configuration to find out why the affected component fails.

3. Solve the issue   Devise a solution to prevent the problem from happening again. Do not apply your solution until you have carefully tested it for side effects in a test lab. For example, service packs contain many solutions for known issues, but you should not apply a service pack without first testing it on a test server.

   Figure 1   Recommended troubleshooting approach

   

Troubleshooting Tools

Exchange 2003 includes features and tools that can help you troubleshoot interoperability and migration issues. Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003 also includes many valuable troubleshooting tools.

You can use the following standard tools to troubleshoot Exchange 2003 interoperability and migration issues. Some of these tools are grouped together in the Performance tool that is available in the Administrative Tools program group; others are included in Exchange System Manager. Which tools you use to troubleshoot a system and in which order depends on the problem you are troubleshooting.

• **System Monitor   **System Monitor is part of the Performance tool that is included in the Administrative Tools program group. Among other things, you can use System Monitor to monitor the behavior of messaging connectors in real time. You can determine the number of messages in inbound and outbound message queues and other information, such as the total number of messages that have been transferred by a connector since the connector service was started. It is a good idea to check message queues using System Monitor, because numerous messages queuing up in a messaging connector might indicate a performance bottleneck or a malfunctioning connector component.

  To add performance counters for connector queues to System Monitor, start the Performance tool and then, in the toolbar, click the Add button indicated by a plus sign (+). Table 1 lists important performance objects that you can select from the Performance object list in the Add Counters dialog box. If you select a connector component, you can then find appropriate performance counters for message queues under Select counters from list. For example, Connector for Novell GroupWise (Performance object: MSExchangeGWC) provides counters such as Message Queued Inbound and Message Queued Outbound.

  Table 1   Important Exchange 2003 performance objects

  Resource	Performance object
  Address lists	MSExchangeAL
  Directory Service Access caches	MSExchangeDSAccess Caches
  Directory Service Access global counters	MSExchangeDSAccess Global Counters
  Directory Service Access processes	MSExchangeDSAccess Processes
  Epoxy queues and activity	Epoxy
  Mailbox store	MSExchangeIS Mailbox
  Public folder store	MSExchangeIS Public
  Exchange store	MSExchangeIS
  Message Transfer Agent	MSExchangeMTA
  Message Transfer Agent connections	MSExchangeMTA Connections
  Connector for Novell GroupWise	MSExchangeGWC
  Simple Mail Transfer Protocol	SMTP Server
  Exchange routing engine	SMTP Routing

• Performance Logs and Alerts   This tool is also included in the Performance tool. You can use Performance Logs and Alerts to collect data automatically from local or remote computers. Performance Logs and Alerts is similar to System Monitor in that you can define performance objects, performance counters, and object instances, as well as set sampling intervals for monitoring. You can use this tool to create reports that document system behavior over a specified period of time. These reports can be viewed in the Performance tool, or the data can be exported to a spreadsheet or database for analysis.

• Exchange System Manager   Use the Exchange System Manager tool to check the health of your bridgehead server and the state of messaging connectors. For example, you can use the Monitoring and Status tool in the Tools container in Exchange System Manager to determine which connectors and bridgehead servers are available and which are not. Select the Status container beneath Monitoring and Status to display this information. In addition, you can use the Notifications container to configure e-mail or script notifications to alert you automatically when a critical system state is detected.

• Message Queues   You can use the Queues container object beneath a server object in Exchange System Manager to list all queues and all messages within those queues that are currently awaiting message transfer on the server. You can freeze a particular message or all messages, which prevents them from being transferred through a connector until you unfreeze the messages. You can also delete a message from a message queue (with or without sending a non-delivery report back to the originator), which might be necessary if a corrupted message is blocking other messages.

  Exchange 2003 supports two types of message queues:

  • System queues   There are three providers for system queues: SMTP (for the SMTP transport engine), X.400 (for the Exchange message transfer agent (MTA)), and MAPI (Connector for Novell GroupWise).

  • Link queues   The SMTP transport engine creates link queues when there are multiple messages bound for the same destination. These queues are listed in the Queues container only when they have messages waiting to be routed. The name of the queue matches the remote delivery destination.

• Message Tracking Center   This is another important Exchange System Manager component, which is used to track messages across an Exchange organization. You can track all kinds of messages, including system messages and regular e-mail messages that are going to or coming from a non-Exchange messaging system. For example, public folder replication messages that Exchange stores exchange with each other to synchronize public folder instances on separate servers are system messages. You can use Message Tracking Center to locate messages that have failed to arrive in your users' mailboxes, such as messages that are stuck in a connector's message queue.

  Note

  Message Tracking Center is unable to track messages within a non-Exchange messaging system. Message tracking ends (or begins, in the case of inbound messages) at the messaging connector that connects your Exchange organization to another messaging system. However, message tracking is not enabled by default. You must enable it on your Exchange servers individually or jointly in a server policy.

• Exchange Management Pack for Microsoft Operations Manager   Keeping track of issues that involve many servers across an organization can be difficult when you are using standard tools. If you are responsible for a complex organization with multiple Exchange servers, you might want to implement a centralized tool, such as Microsoft Operations Manager with the Exchange 2003 Management Pack, for monitoring and alerting, reporting, and trend analysis. The Exchange 2003 Management Pack provides preconfigured scripts, rules, and reports specific to Exchange with which you can monitor an entire Exchange organization or specific servers. The Exchange Management Pack also includes an extensive set of Microsoft Knowledge Base articles to provide you with background information and troubleshooting information.

  With Exchange Management Pack for Microsoft Operations Manager, you can:

  • Check the system status of multiple Exchange servers from a single console

  • Create sophisticated rules to respond to system events

  • Generate custom reports

  • Handle operational tasks and obtain background information for troubleshooting

  For more information about the Exchange Management Pack, see the Exchange Management Pack Technical Reference, (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=23230).

• **Event Viewer   **Many of the internal Exchange 2003 components record events in the Event Log. An event is any occurrence in the system or in a program that might require administrator attention. Event logs can help you identify and diagnose the source of current system problems or help you predict potential issues. Table 2 lists various Event Viewer logs that you might find on your Exchange 2003 servers. The standard logs, Application, System, and Security, exist in all computer configurations. Others, such as the Directory Service log, are available only in specific configurations, such as on domain controllers.

  Table 2   Important Windows 2003 Event Viewer logs

  Event log	Description
  Application log	The Application log contains events that are logged by Exchange 2003 and other applications. Most Exchange 2003 events are logged in the application log.
  System log	The System log contains events that are logged by Microsoft Windows® system components. For example, the failure of a driver or other system component to load during startup is recorded in the system log.
  Security log	The Security log can record security events such as valid and invalid logon attempts, as well as events related to resource use, such as creating, opening, or deleting files. An administrator can specify what events are recorded in the security log. For example, if you enable logon auditing, attempts to log on to the system are recorded in the security log.
  Directory Service log	The Directory Service log contains events from the Active Directory® directory service, such as reported connection problems between a server and the global catalog.
  File Replication Service log	The File Replication Service log contains events logged by the Windows File Replication service. For example, file replication failures between domain controllers are recorded in the File Replication Service log.

  Many system components and programs write events into the application event log. If you are only interested in a specific component, you can filter the events by selecting Filter from the View menu in Event Viewer. Under Event source, you can select the information source that you are interested in. The names of most Exchange 2003 event sources start with MSExchange. For example, the Exchange message transfer agent (MTA) is named MSExchangeMTA, and the event source for the internal transport engine of Exchange 2003 is MSExchangeTransport.

  Note

  If you want to increase the amount of information that an Exchange component writes to the event log, start Exchange System Manager and display the properties of the server in which you are interested. Click the Diagnostics Logging tab and then select the component of interest from the Services list. Next, select all or individual categories for this component from the Categories list. Then, under Logging Level, determine the amount of information that is written to the event log: None, Minimum, Medium, or Maximum.

• **Network Monitor   **Network Monitor is a useful tool for detecting and troubleshooting problems that can occur during communication between server components over the computer network. You can identify problems related to message transfer over a messaging connector or client-to-server connection, find a computer that makes a disproportionate number of protocol requests, and identify unauthorized users on your network. For example, if you are experiencing problems transferring messages over an X.400 connector, tracing the communication between the X.400 systems using Network Monitor can reveal protocol details that would not otherwise be visible.

  With Network Monitor, you can:

  • Identify network traffic patterns and network problems

  • Capture frames (also called data packets) directly from the network

  • Display, filter, save, and print the captured frames

  For more information about Network Monitor, see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base articles:

  • 294818, "Frequently Asked Questions About Network Monitor"

    https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=3052&kbid=294818

  • 148942, "How to Capture Network Traffic with Network Monitor"

    https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=3052&kbid=148942

  • 168862, "How to Install ISO and TP4 Parser for Network Monitor"

    https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=3052&kbid=168862

Where to Get Help

If you are dealing with a complex connectivity problem, you can get additional information and assistance from the following sources:

• Microsoft Knowledge Base   Search or browse through the Knowledge Base to find information about the various Exchange Server 2003 components. Many Knowledge Base articles provide straightforward answers to frequently asked questions or discuss known issues. Some articles clarify which components and configurations are supported by Microsoft, and others explain how to use troubleshooting tools. You can search the Knowledge Base using keywords, header text, or full text.

• Microsoft TechNet   TechNet is a central information and community resource designed for IT professionals. The TechNet program includes technical briefings, special offers, the TechNet Web site, and an electronic newsletter, in addition to a CD subscription. TechNet offers information about Microsoft strategies and industry trends, provides "how-to" information and bug fixes for known problems, and serves as a forum for sharing information, ideas, and opinions with other Exchange specialists. The Microsoft Knowledge Base is a TechNet resource, for example.

• Exchange-specific Web sites and newsgroups   You can visit numerous Web sites and newsgroups to obtain information about Exchange Server 2003. For the latest news and articles, visit https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=21277.

• Microsoft Product Support Services   If you cannot solve a problem without direct assistance from a support specialist, contact Microsoft Product Support Services online or by phone. For information about Product Support Services, including how to contact them, visit https://support.microsoft.com.