XCON: Replication Over X.400 Backbone Might Fail

• Microsoft Exchange, versions 4.0 and 4.0a

SYMPTOMS

When a Microsoft Exchange X.400 Connector is used to connect two or more Microsoft Exchange Sites over a corporate X.400 backbone, replication might fail.

CAUSE

This can happen because initial replication places the name of the other Microsoft Exchange Server's Directory in the X.400 P1 recipient name. When the name of the Microsoft Exchange Site or Organization contains characters that are not printable in the Microsoft Exchange Server computer's character set, the address becomes invalid in X.400 terms. A Microsoft Exchange Message Transfer Agent (MTA) in a backbone which acts as a hub between two or more Microsoft Exchange Servers might refuse the message. This is true even if the Site Addressing is changed to a correct value.

MORE INFORMATION

An example of an invalid address is:

   C=US;A=TELECOM;P=COMPANY;O=ABC;DDA.TYPE=MSXCHNGE;DDA.VALUE=ABC_XYZ

WORKAROUND

This only happens when you use characters that are not in the printable- string character set in Microsoft Exchange Organization and Site names and when an X.400 backbone refuses the message. It is not an issue when connecting to Microsoft Exchange Servers directly.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Exchange Server version 4.0. This problem was corrected in the latest Microsoft Exchange Service Pack. For information on obtaining the Service Pack, query on the following word in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (without the spaces):

   S E R V P A C K