XCON: PRMD Value in Numeric-OR-Address Won't Downgrade to 84

• Microsoft Exchange Server, versions 4.0, 5.0, 5.5

SYMPTOMS

When you send a message to an X.400 custom recipient over a 1984 mode X.400 Connector, the following non-delivery report (NDR) may be generated:

   Your message did not reach some or all of the intended recipients.

      Subject:   Test
      Sent:   1/1/80 1:00 AM

   The following recipient(s) could not be reached:

      User, Mail on 1/1/80 2:00 AM
      The recipient could not be transferred because it could not be
      downgraded MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:Sitename:SERVERNAME

   Event ID 175    MSExchangeMTA    X400 Service
   An error occurred while transferring message C=US;A=
   ;P=PRMD;L=SERVERNAME-971223150130Z-132, because per-receipt information
   could not be downgraded. An X.400 API Association (XAPIA) unable-to-
   transfer reason code and unable-to-downgrade diagnostic code were
   returned. [MTA DISP:FANOUT 12 147] (14)

CAUSE

The custom recipient was created using a numeric-OR-address and also contains a private management domain (PRMD) value. This prevents the X.400 address from downgrading from the X.400 88 version to the 84 version. Consequently, the message is rejected, an NDR is produced, and the above error is logged.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, remove the PRMD value from the custom recipient mail address. This allows the message to be properly downgraded from X.400 1988 mode to 1984.

MORE INFORMATION

This problem occurs when you send, over a 1984 mode X.400 Connector, a message that is addressed to a recipient that contains both a numeric address, such as X.121 or User Agent numeric ID, and a PRMD value.

In accordance with X.419 Annex B section B 2.8, a numeric-OR-address containing a PRMD value cannot be downgraded from 1988 to 1984.