Microsoft Exchange

This page are my notes on Microsoft Exchange. Please let me know what you find helpful or missing.

Look into a new way of emailing on microsoft for your business. Use a microsoft exchange server to better suit your needs. The benefits are great using microsoft exchange. See what the government thinks about these web based programs.

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Outlook Web Access

• Outlook Web Access (OWA) is a service which runs on Microsoft's Internet Information Server (IIS) to allow a browser to retrieve email.

Protocols

• The protocols Exchange support include:
  • SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol),
  • POP3 (Post Office Protocol), and
  • IMAP4 (Internet Mail Access Protocol) for email, based on RFC 2060, is supported by Exchange Server 5.5+
  • NNTP (Network News Transfer Protocol) enables a full newsfeed of Internet newsgroups into your company's public folders. Employees can post responses right into the public folder, and the response is posted back to the appropriate newsgroup on the Internet.
  • LDAPv3 (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol defined by the IETF) to search, read and write information in Exchange's directory access.
  • SSL for secure Internet transmission using IETF-defined Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL),
  • HTTP and HTML for Web access,
  • S/MIME for secure encryption of MIME attachments over SMTP mail
  • MHTML to allow encapsulation of HTML content in MIME format.
  • ETRN to enable the Exchange server to act as both SMTP server and client for access to Internet mail retrieved via dial-up.
  • Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) support of industry standard MADMAN MIB allows an entire Exchange enterprise to be monitored remotely using tools such as HP OpenView.
  • Message Transfer Agent supports both 1984 and 1988 X.400 standards

Simple Main Transfer Protocol

Here's a sample exchange of how email is sent (uploaded) to an email server:

220 mail.somewhere.net ESMTP Sendmail 89.9.3/8.9.3; Tue, 12 Dec 2001 08:12:33 -0500 (PST) HELO yourcompany.net
250 ns1.yourcompany.net Hello mail.yourcompany.net [132.112.24.211], pleased to meet you mail from:someone@yourcomapny.net
250 someone@yourcomapny.net... Sender ok
rcpt to:whoelse@somewhere.com
250 whoelse@somewhere.com... Recipient ok
data
354 Enter mail, end with "." on a line by itself
Something typed
.
250 IAA22065 Message accepted for delivery

Internet Mail Service

Microsoft Exchange Internet Mail Service (IMS) is a standard SMTP server for any POP3 Client or IMAP4 Client to submit its messages.
• Set up client-based rules to manage messages in local folders, such as a delay in sending messages from the Outbox for 15 minutes, which enables you to rethink that message you just sent.
• Outlook uses Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to enable additional integration with the Office suite.
• With Delegated Access, a manager's assistant can work with mail their own Outlook Client and without logging on as their manager.
• The maximum size of each Exchange Information Store database (Private, Public, and Directory) was 16 GB with Exchange 4.0/5.0. Now with JET database technology, it's 16,000GB (16 terabytes).
• Messages are not deleted until a specified amount of time passes or until the database is backed up.
• Collaboration Data Objects (CDO) are delivered to the web using components library offers developers a set of pre-built objects called Active Messaging.
• virtual containers Exchange Directory
• backup can occur as fast as 25GB per hour.

Competitors to Exchange include:

• Lotus Notes
• Novell GroupWise
• Sendmail
• Netscape/iPlanet
• Sun Internet Mail Server
• Critical Path

Exchange Internals: Files

Exchange 5.5 stores its database in files priv1.edb and pub1.edb.

Before Exchange 2000, when messages are received from the Internet, they're converted to MAPI format. Under Exchange 2000, messages are stored in the .STM file in native format without indexes. Pointers are created to them in .EDB files. So .EDB files are useless without their corresponding .STM files. They must be restored as a matching set.

Backup Dir.edb Immediately After Install

From XADM: Recovering Exchange from a Corrupted Directory (Q184186)

When you install Microsoft Exchange Server, you should create a backup directory in the directory that contains the Dir.edb file. A default installation without optimization will have the Dir.edb file in the Exchsrvr\Dsadata directory. After replication has been completed with other servers in the site, the directory service should be stopped, and a copy of the Dir.edb file should be placed in the backup directory. Then you can restart the services.

This suggestion is made as a precautionary measure against future problems. As a standard course of action, you should have a solid backup plan with tape rotations and periodic testing of the backups. However, in a worst case scenario, this backup copy can be used to bring the server back on line if the directory has become unusable. Unlike the Priv.edb and Pub.edb, repair utilities should not be run against the Dir.edb file because it stays synchronized with the other directories in the site.

Also, unlike the Priv.edb and Pub.edb files, the Dir.edb file is machine name specific and the system cannot regenerate a new one if the old one is missing. If a directory becomes unusable and there are no viable backups, you can stop the directory service on the computer, and move all of the files out of the Dsadata directory on all drives that the Exchange Optimizer has placed them in. The original Dir.edb can then be copied from the backup directory and you can restart the directory. Through the process of backfill, the directory will bring itself up to date with the other directories in the site.

Without this original Dir.edb file or a valid backup, the only way to get a new directory is through full disaster recovery. This involves removing Microsoft Exchange Server from the computer and reinstalling it.

Exchange 2000

In Exchange 5.5, Windows NT accounts are an attribute of the Exchange mailbox.

But in Exchange 2000, the Exchange mailbox is an attribute of the Windows 2000 Active Directory account. So there is no Exchange directory.

More on this here

Restoring Exchange

Soft recovery is from replaying transaction logs to bring databases back to the current state.

To restore Exchange server software by running Exchange Setup with the disasterrecovery command line switch. Exchange 2000 gets what it needs from Active Directory instead of the Windows Registry.

Transactions that come in between the time the database is written to the tape and the time the backup finishes are stored in “patch files”. Apply these transactions to completely restore an Exchange server.

Key Management Server

mbcon.exe, ldifde.exe, and the legacyExchangeDN value

Quiz Protocols

Qustion 1: Which protocol allows the sending of additional formats across SMTP, in addition to ASCII text?

a. X.400

b. Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension (MIME)

c. Message Attachment Page Interchange (MAPI)

d. Internet Messaging Attachment Protocol (IMAP)

Debugging

SYMPTOM: Microsoft Exchange server is slowed down significantly.

POSSIBLE CAUSES:

CAUSE 1: A large message (175MB+) is stuck in the Internet Mail Service queue as “inbound message waiting for conversion”. It is addressed to an address no longer valid. The message could not be deleted via the delete button. Nor could it be deleted using Mdbvu32.exe (see Q165505). The message didn't even show up using this method.

SOLUTION: Delete the queue.dat file (see Q197792).

Spam Proofing

Query the Realtime Blackhole List (RBL) for known spamming sources and reject them automatically?

Praetor blocks email attachments and viruses at the messaging firewall, at the expense of additional overhead.

Sybari.com Content Management capabilities include Subject line, Sender, and Domain name filtering.

The most important is to operate two exchange server services: one on the public net, which forwards mail through a router to an internal exchange server where users retrieve mail.

MAPI by LoadRunner

• mapi_delete_mail Deletes the current or selected email entries.
• mapi_delete_mail_ex Deletes the current or selected email entries for a specific session.
• mapi_get_property_sz Obtain a property value from the MAPI sessions.
• mapi_get_property_sz_ex Obtain a property value from a specific MAPI session.
• mapi_logon("Logon", "ProfileName=John Smith", "ProfilePass=Tiger", LAST);
  Logs on to MS Exchange.
• mapi_logon_ex Logs on to a specific MS Exchange session.
• mapi_logout Logs out of MS Exchange.
• mapi_logout_ex Logs out from a specific MS Exchange session.
• mapi_read_next_mail Reads the next mail in the mailbox.
• mapi_read_next_mail_ex Reads the next mail in the mailbox, for a specific session
• mapi_send_mail Sends an email to recipients.
• mapi_send_mail_ex Sends an email to recipients for a specific session
• mapi_set_property_sz Sets a MAPI attribute.
• mapi_set_property_sz_ex Sets an attribute for a specific MAPI session.

  IMAP Functions

  IMAP Functions
  • imap_append Appends a message to the end of a mailbox.
  • imap_append_ex Appends a message to the end of a mailbox for a specific session.
  • imap_check Requests a checkpoint for the current mailbox.
  • imap_check_ex Requests a checkpoint for the current mailbox for a specific session.
  • imap_close Closes the current mailbox.
  • imap_close_ex Closes the current mailbox for a specific session.
  • imap_copy Copies mail messages to another mailbox.
  • imap_copy_ex Copies mail messages to another mailbox for a specific session.
  • imap_create Creates a mailbox.
  • imap_create_ex Creates a mailbox for a specific session.
  • imap_custom_request Executes a custom IMAP request.
  • imap_custom_request_ex Executes a custom IMAP request for a specific session.
  • imap_delete Deletes the specified mailbox.
  • imap_delete_ex Deletes the specified mailbox for a specific session.
  • imap_examine Examines a mailbox.
  • imap_examine_ex Examines a mailbox for a specific session.
  • imap_expunge Removes all messages that are marked to be deleted.
  • imap_expunge_ex Removes all messages that are marked to be deleted for a specific session.
  • imap_fetch Retrieves data associated with a mailbox message.
  • imap_fetch_ex Retrieves data associated with a mailbox message for a specific session.
  • imap_free_ex Frees an IMAP session descriptor.
  • imap_get_attribute_int Returns a mailbox attribute.
  • imap_get_attribute_int_ex Returns a mailbox attribute for a specific session.
  • imap_get_attribute_sz Returns a mailbox attribute as a string.
  • imap_get_attribute_sz_ex Returns a mailbox attribute as a string for a specific session.
  • imap_get_result Gets an IMAP server return code.
  • imap_get_result_ex Gets an IMAP server return code, for a specific session.
  • imap_list_mailboxes Lists the available mailboxes.
  • imap_list_mailboxes_ex Lists the available mailboxes for a specific session.
  • imap_list_subscriptions Lists the mailboxes that are subscribed or active.
  • imap_list_subscriptions_ex Lists the mailboxes that are subscribed or active, for a specific session.
  • imap_logon Logs in to an IMAP server.
  • imap_logon_ex Logs in to an IMAP server for a specific session.
  • imap_logout Logs off from an IMAP server.
  • imap_logout_ex Logs off from an IMAP server for a specific session.
  • imap_noop Performs a noop operation.
  • imap_noop_ex Performs a noop operation for a specific session.
  • imap_search Searches a mailbox by keywords.
  • imap_search_ex Searches a mailbox by keywords for a specific session.
  • imap_select Selects a mailbox.
  • imap_select_ex Selects a mailbox for a specific session.
  • imap_set_max_param_len_ex Sets the maximum buffer size to store a parameter value
  • imap_status Requests the status of a mailbox.
  • imap_status_ex Requests the status of a mailbox for a specific session.
  • imap_store Alters data associated with a mailbox message.
  • imap_store_ex Alters data associated with a mailbox message for a specific session.
  • imap_subscribe Subscribes to or activates a mailbox.
  • imap_subscribe_ex Subscribes to or activates a mailbox for a specific session.
  • imap_unsubscribe Unsubscribes from or deactivates a mailbox.
  • imap_unsubscribe_ex Unsubscribes from or deactivates a mailbox for a specific session.