XCON: Event ID 290 When Sending Mail to a Distribution List

ID: Q241632

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Exchange Server, versions 4.0, 5.0, 5.5

SYMPTOMS

A user has rights to a distribution list, but messages sent to that distribution list result in the following non-delivery report (NDR):

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

Subject: Test 2 Users
Sent: 9/14/99 10:07 AM

The following recipient(s) could not be reached:

Test User on 9/14/99 10:08 AM
A restriction in the system prevented delivery of the message. The MTS-ID of the original message is: c=US;a= ;p=ORGANIZATION;l=SERVER-990914140729Z-8 MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:Site:SERVER

Additionally, the application log shows the following error message:

Event ID: 290
Source: MSExchangeMTA
Type: Warning
Category: X.400 Service
A non-delivery report (reason code restricted-delivery and diagnostic code Omit any diagnostic code) is being generated for message C=US;A= ;P=Organization;L=SERVER-990913203559Z-36. It was originally destined for DN:/o=ORGANIZATION/ou=SITE/cn=RECIPIENTS/cn=TESTU§ (recipient number 6), and was to be redirected to . [MTA DISP:RESULT 22 136] (12)

CAUSE

This is by design. The sender does not have permission to send to one of the nested distribution lists or users.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem:

Verify that the sender has permissions to the distribution list.

Verify that the sender has permissions to each distribution list nested within the specified list.

Verify that the sender has permissions to each user on the distribution list.

Give the sender permissions to ALL distribution lists and users that are part of the selected distribution list.

NOTE: Rights to distribution lists are not inherited.

The error message contains the information about which user or distribution list returned the error. The event 290 is logged for each user or list that does not get the message because of delivery restrictions.

Also, the NDR contains information about which message transfer agent (MTA) returned the error and which user and list did not receive the message because of delivery restrictions.

MORE INFORMATION

To determine where the restriction is in place, start with the NDR. The last line of the NDR contains the MTA that returned the error in the following format:

MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:Site:Server

Open the application event log on that server, and look for event 290. The text of the error message specifies the user or recipient that has the restriction in place.

Additional query words:

Keywords : exc4 exc5 exc55
Version : winnt:4.0,5.0,5.5
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbprb