A non-SMTP gateway connection failure occurred on the specified connector

 

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 event, do one or more of the following:

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

  • Review all events that have been logged that meet the criteria of this Operations Manager alert. 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.

Details

Product Name

Exchange

Product Version

8.0 (Exchange Server 2007)

Event ID

8004

Event Source

MSExchangeTransport

Alert Type

Critical Error

MOM Rule Path

Microsoft Exchange Server/Exchange 2007/Common Components/Hub Transport and Edge Transport/Transport

MOM Rule Name

A non-SMTP gateway connection failure occurred on the specified connector. An I/O exception occurred when writing to the Drop directory.

Explanation

This Error event indicates that the specified Foreign connector experienced an I/O exception while performing a write operation to the specified Drop directory.

The following two items control the location of the Drop directory for each Foreign connector that is configured on a Hub Transport server:

  • 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 2007 installation folder. The default installation folder is C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\

  • 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. The Drop directory that is specified by the DropDirectory parameter is not created automatically.

An I/O exception can be caused by any of the following conditions:

  • Problems with the physical hard disk drive structure   This can include the hard disk drive itself or the hard disk drive controller.

  • Problems with the logical disk structure   This can include file system errors or corruption.

  • Transient software errors   This can include intense periods of read and write activity on the hard disk drive.

User Action

To resolve this error, do the following:

  • Verify that the drivers and firmware for the hard disk drives and the hard disk drive controller are up to date.

  • Run the command CHKDSK drive letter: /F /R. This command finds and repairs physical errors and file system errors on the affected hard disk drive.

  • Change the location of the Drop directory for the specified Foreign connector to another hard disk drive.

For more information, see How to Configure the Drop Directory of a Foreign Connector.

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 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.