XADM: Administrator Program Corrupts the IMC Routing Table

ID: Q182522


The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Exchange Server, versions 5.0, 5.5


SYMPTOMS

When you use the Exchange Administrator program to modify the Internet Mail Service (IMC) settings, the Administrator program may corrupt the Internet Mail Service (IMC) Routing table. When this happens, the Microsoft Exchange Internet Mail Service fails to start. The following event is logged in the event viewer:


   Event ID: 4056
   Source MSExchangeIMC
   Type: Error
   Category: Initialization/termination.
   Description: Unable to parse the delivery route anlsf.msbp.co. Since
   errors in delivery routing parameters  can result in misrouted mail, the
   Internet Mail Service will not start until this error is corrected. 

This problem can occur when a change is made to the routing table in the Internet Mail Service configuration. The routing table referred to here is configured through the E-Mail Domain button on the Connections tab of the Internet Mail Service (IMC) properties page. After a change is made, the Internet Mail Service no longer starts.

Further attempts to modify this routing table may cause the Exchange Administrator program to stop responding (crash). When the Exchange Administrator program stops responding, the following information may be found in the Dr. Watson log (Drwtsn32.log):

   State Dump for Thread Id 0x1b0

   eax=00003b00 ebx=0000003b ecx=01000000 edx=00000001 esi=00a65f90
   edi=78005ca4
   eip=78005d01 esp=0012a618 ebp=00a65a60 iopl=0         nv up ei pl nz na
   pe nc
   cs=001b  ss=0023  ds=0023  es=0023  fs=003b  gs=0000
   efl=00000202

   function: strchr
        78005ceb 7537             jnz     strchr+0x80 (78005d24)
        78005ced 2500010181       and     eax,0x81010100
        78005cf2 74d3             jz      strchr+0x23 (78005cc7)
        78005cf4 2500010101       and     eax,0x1010100
        78005cf9 741f             jz      strchr+0x76 (78005d1a)
        78005cfb 5e               pop     esi
        78005cfc 5f               pop     edi
        78005cfd 5b               pop     ebx
        78005cfe 33c0             xor     eax,eax
        78005d00 c3               ret
   FAULT ->78005d01 8a0a             mov     cl,[edx]
   ds:00000001=??
        78005d03 42               inc     edx
        78005d04 38d9             cmp     cl,bl
        78005d06 0f847c1f0100     je      mbsnbicoll+0x3b (78017c88)
        78005d0c 84c9             test    cl,cl
        78005d0e 74ed             jz      strchr+0x59 (78005cfd)
        78005d10 f7c203000000     test    edx,0x3
        78005d16 74a4             jz      strchr+0x18 (78005cbc)
        78005d18 ebe7             jmp     strchr+0x5d (78005d01)
        78005d1a 81e600000080     and     esi,0x80000000
        78005d20 75a5             jnz     strchr+0x23 (78005cc7)
        78005d22 ebd7             jmp     strchr+0x57 (78005cfb)

   *----> Stack Back Trace <----*

   FramePtr ReturnAd Param#1  Param#2  Param#3  Param#4  Function Name
   00a65a60 736d2e66 632e7062 613b006f 66736c6e 62736d2e msvcrt!strchr

   *----> Raw Stack Dump <----*
   0012a618  f0 5a a6 00 29 d1 8e 01 - 01 00 00 00 3b 00 00 00
   .Z..).......;...
   0012a628  2c ab 71 00 10 01 00 00 - c4 a9 12 00 78 aa 71 00
   ,.q.........x.q.
   0012a638  b8 ad 12 00 84 af 12 00 - 04 af 12 00 44 af 12 00
   ............D...
   0012a648  0f 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - 97 00 00 00 78 a6 12 00
   ............x...
   0012a658  3c 19 c3 77 01 00 00 00 - 50 02 0a 2c 4d 00 53 00
   <..w....P..,M.S.
   0012a668  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - 2e 01 00 00 f0 00 00 00
   ................
   0012a678  44 00 65 00 6c 00 69 00 - 76 00 65 00 72 00 20 00
   D.e.l.i.v.e.r. .
   0012a688  55 00 73 00 69 00 6e 00 - 67 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
   U.s.i.n.g.......
   0012a698  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
   ................
   0012a6a8  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
   ................
   0012a6b8  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
   ................
   0012a6c8  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
   ................
   0012a6d8  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
   ................
   0012a6e8  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
   ................
   0012a6f8  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
   ................
   0012a708  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
   ................
   0012a718  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
   ................
   0012a728  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
   ................
   0012a738  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
   ................
   0012a748  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
   ................ 


CAUSE

The Imcadmin.dll file corrupts the heap when there are too many entries in the table.


RESOLUTION

The new Imcadmin.dll file only prevents the problem from reoccurring. You still need to perform the following steps to resolve the situation that is currently occurring:

  1. Run IMCCOPY (from the Exchange 5.5 Server CD \server\support\utils\i386) to copy out the information. Command line:
    IMCCOPY -save routes c:\exchsrvr\imcdata\save.txt


  2. Open Save.txt.


  3. Look for the [Routes] section. It should look similar to the following:
    
          [Routes]
          DeliveryRouting=+
          +DOMAIN.COM;xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx;0
          DefaultRouting=
       

    Note: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is an actual IP address for that domain


  4. Delete everything after DeliveryRouting= and before DefaultRouting=. The updated list should look like:
    
          [Routes]
          DeliveryRouting=
          DefaultRouting=
      


  5. Save the updated file to save_fix.txt.


  6. Run IMCCOPY again to restore. Command line:
    IMCCOPY -restore routes c:\exchsrvr\imcdata\save_fix.txt


  7. Start the Internet Mail Service and verify that it starts.


  8. Run ADMIN to verify routes are gone.


  9. Next, either re-enter the routes manually via ADMIN or "restore" the routes using IMCCOPY. Edit the save_fix.txt file and add the routes using the [Routes] above as a guide. Then use the following command line:
    IMCCOPY -restore routes c:\exchsrvr\imcdata\save.txt


  10. Restart the Internet Mail Service.



STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Exchange Server version 5.0.

A supported fix is now available, but has not been fully regression-tested and should be applied only to systems experiencing this specific problem. Unless you are severely impacted by this specific problem, Microsoft recommends that you wait for the next Service Pack that contains this fix. Contact Microsoft Technical Support for more information.

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Exchange Server version 5.5. This problem has been corrected in the latest U.S. Service Pack for Microsoft Exchange Server version 5.5. For information about 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

Additional query words: route drwatson watson

Keywords : XADM
Version : winnt:5.0,5.5
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbbug


Last Reviewed: April 2, 1999
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