XCON: Internet Mail Service Incorrectly Routes Mail If Address Space Restriction Is Set to Site or Location

• Microsoft Exchange Server, version 5.5

SYMPTOMS

If you are using an Internet Mail Service and have restrictions set to either This Site or This Location, you may find that mail is incorrectly routed. This occurs in the following circumstances:

• You have an Exchange Server site that is geographically split with an Internet Mail Service in each site. Each server has the Server Location property set. The address space is "SMTP:*", but this has a restriction of "location."



• You have two or more Exchange Server sites linked together and fully replicated. Each site has an Internet Mail Service and the address space is "SMTP:*", but this has a restriction of "site."



• The expected behavior is that a message sent by a user in either the same site or same location as the Internet Mail Service should be sent by that Internet Mail Service. However, the message is routed to a different Internet Mail Service in another site or location, and then sent out.

CAUSE

The routing logic in the Internet Mail Service is not honoring the site or location restrictions.

RESOLUTION

A supported fix that corrects this problem is now available from Microsoft, but it has not been fully regression tested and should be applied only to systems experiencing this specific problem. If you are not severely affected by this specific problem, Microsoft recommends that you wait for the next Microsoft Exchange Server version 5.5 service pack that contains this fix.

To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the fix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services phone numbers and information on support costs, please go to the following address on the World Wide Web:

http://www.microsoft.com/support/supportnet/overview/overview.asp

WORKAROUND

A workaround to this issue is to set the restrictions to be organization-wide. However, this may not be suitable in every circumstance.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Exchange Server version 5.5.

Additional query words:

Keywords : exc55
Version : winnt:5.5
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbbug