XADM: Message Rerouted Between Servers and Disappears

ID: Q157043

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Exchange Server, version 4.0

SYMPTOMS

Mail that is sent over site connectors between two sites reroutes numerous times, but then disappears without a delivery or a nondelivery report (NDR).

The following configuration produced this problem:

Site1 (site1.test.com) <-----SC-----> Site2 (site2.test.com)

Site1's Site connector address space includes SMTP* and X400. Site2's Site connector address space only includes X400 (and no SMTP address space is defined).

A message from site1, addressed to "<username>@site2.test.com" would be expected to reroute 512 times, after which an NDR would be returned to the originator.

CAUSE

Decode failure occurs for a message after it has been rerouted multiple times. An incorrect value was returned when read while processing the message.

WORKAROUND

Properly configuring the Internet Mail Connector (IMC), when installed, to have an address space for SMTP mail would avoid the rerouting and result in either delivery or NDR, as appropriate. Alternatively, configuring a site connector with an SMTP address space would achieve the same result.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Exchange version 4.0.
This problem was corrected in the latest Microsoft Exchange 4.0 U.S. Service Pack. For information on obtaining the service pack, query on the following word in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

SERVPACK

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbusage kbbug4.00 kbfix4.00.sp4 XADM
Version : winnt:4.0
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbbug