The Geek Crew - Email/Exchange Problem

Stick

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Email/Exchange Problem
Aug 13^th, 2008 at 4:38pm

Hey guys,
I have an app that sends out an email using SMTP. Everything works fine when testing and even in production but the thing is, it doesn't send emails when the server has been inactive. I used to run the scheduled task at 3:30 AM until this problem arose. I moved it to 5:30 AM and it still failed. I moved it to 12:30 PM and it succeeded sending the email. Except now over the weekend it doesn't send the email probably because of the server inactivity or something. I cannot think of any possible solutions. It will work at any time during the day as long as it is during an active time. I'm not sure if RDP makes it active again or any login activity what so ever, I've looked for hibernating features through power settings but there are none for Windows Server 2003. Any ideas?

-Modification: It seemed to start failing around the time that the Cisco PIX got a firmware upgrade.

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b0b

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Re: Email/Exchange Problem
Reply #1 - Aug 13^th, 2008 at 7:30pm

No version of Exchange has a "hibernation" feature that I'm aware of. Unless somebody has seriously b0rked a third-party program, there is nothing in Exchange itself that would cause the server to become "inactive" during extended periods without use. Besides, if the Exchange server is supporting all that many users, it is probably fairly active 24/7 just from handling spam. My home Exchange server (Exchange 2003 Enterprise) rarely goes more than 5 minutes without processing some sort of mail.

I'd recommend running checking the Event Log on the application and Exchange servers and the syslogs from your PIX firewall to determine what's going on. Exchange has a special logging feature that can be set to "debug mode" to help you figure out just what the heck is going on. It can be configured to show you any authentication denials, which might be your problem.

Just a stab in the dark, but is it possible that the account you're using for SMTP authentication against Exchange has a logon hour limitation in Active Directory? I've run into this problem before. A system account was accidentally thrown into an organizational unit intended for users, and an ADSI modification was made at a later date that limited logons to business hours. Several external processes choked every night at 6:00pm when that account lost logon authority.

If that doesn't work, I'd recommend running a packet analyzer and manually trying to send the e-mail, just to see what happens to the traffic. It's not entirely unlikely that an ACL on the PIX firewall is set a bit too restrictively. Ask your network administrator to log any dropped connections from the server running the problematic application, if he isn't doing so already.

Finally, if none of this works, reply back or give me a call. There aren't a whole lot of Exchange issues that I haven't had to deal with at one time or another, and I'd be happy to help you figure this out.

-b0b
(...is the PIX sitting between the Exchange and app servers?)

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MediaMaster GeekCrew Administrator FTP Server Offline Holy Xenu! Posts: 1884 Detroit Gender:	Re: Email/Exchange Problem Reply #2 - Aug 14^th, 2008 at 8:44am nerds. also im on vacation for a week and a half, take it easy fellas.
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b0b GeekCrew Administrator FTP Server Offline The revolution will not be televised. Posts: 7464 Battle Creek, Michigan Gender:	Re: Email/Exchange Problem Reply #3 - Aug 14^th, 2008 at 9:42am You're a nerd. Have fun on your vacation! -b0b (...will be leaving for vacation on 09/27.)
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MediaMaster GeekCrew Administrator FTP Server Offline Holy Xenu! Posts: 1884 Detroit Gender:	Re: Email/Exchange Problem Reply #4 - Aug 14^th, 2008 at 10:51am the forums exploded... into blueness
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b0b

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Re: Email/Exchange Problem
Reply #5 - Aug 14^th, 2008 at 11:06am

I just finished the upgrade to v2.2.3, which was long overdue. I have to restore the old template and tweak it a bit for the new version. Hit "refresh" to load the latest template.

The new software has a lot of nifty features. My personal favorite is the resizable text window. You can drag the text entry box up or over to resize it, just like an Explorer window. Very nifty if you ask me!

-b0b
(...likes it!)

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Stick

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Re: Email/Exchange Problem
Reply #6 - Aug 14^th, 2008 at 12:05pm

The active directory issue you explain sounds like it fits the symptoms because we've had users working at 5:40 AM get error pages in places where emails are supposed to be sent out.

I'll let you know if this solves the problem.

Thanks for the feedback. My boss is looking for employees if you are interested. It's a startup company that looks like it is going to go big, so the earlier the better.

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b0b GeekCrew Administrator FTP Server Offline The revolution will not be televised. Posts: 7464 Battle Creek, Michigan Gender:	Re: Email/Exchange Problem Reply #7 - Aug 14^th, 2008 at 12:11pm Thanks for the plug, but I just took a new job that I haven't even started yet. If your boss is looking for a night-time/weekend contractor, though, be sure to give him my name! -b0b (...is always open for contract work!)
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Stick Wootzor von Leetenhaxor FTP Server Offline Stick is back Posts: 501 Michgan Gender:	Re: Email/Exchange Problem Reply #8 - Aug 14^th, 2008 at 1:59pm My boss said that he would like a copy of your resume. His email is salman.anwar@iyetek.com
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spanky Post Whore FTP Server Offline Posts: 1540 Detroit-ish Gender:	Re: Email/Exchange Problem Reply #9 - Aug 14^th, 2008 at 2:21pm Quote: (...is always open for contract work!) So that is why you are always out on the corner... PS. Forum is different. Change is bad, MMMKay.
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b0b GeekCrew Administrator FTP Server Offline The revolution will not be televised. Posts: 7464 Battle Creek, Michigan Gender:	Re: Email/Exchange Problem Reply #10 - Aug 14^th, 2008 at 2:36pm It's the first upgrade in two years, and it will probably be the last change for another two years, so stop your whining. What looks different? Outside of a different header and footer, pretty much everything else is identical. -b0b (...somebody call the whaaaaambulance.)
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spanky Post Whore FTP Server Offline Posts: 1540 Detroit-ish Gender:	Re: Email/Exchange Problem Reply #11 - Aug 14^th, 2008 at 2:41pm Quote: What looks different? Outside of a different header and footer, pretty much everything else is identical. So...you admit they are different! I think monk said it best, "I don't think anything should change...ever." And I will keep my sand anywhere I want no matter what darth vador says!
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b0b GeekCrew Administrator FTP Server Offline The revolution will not be televised. Posts: 7464 Battle Creek, Michigan Gender:	Re: Email/Exchange Problem Reply #12 - Aug 14^th, 2008 at 2:44pm You have to admit, the resizable post entry tool is pretty damn cool. It goes both ways! -b0b (...just like Wes's Mom!)
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b0b GeekCrew Administrator FTP Server Offline The revolution will not be televised. Posts: 7464 Battle Creek, Michigan Gender:	Re: Email/Exchange Problem Reply #13 - Oct 3^rd, 2008 at 6:09am Stick, Did your Exchange problem ever return, or did this seem to fix it? -b0b (...is just wondering.)
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Stick Wootzor von Leetenhaxor FTP Server Offline Stick is back Posts: 501 Michgan Gender:	Re: Email/Exchange Problem Reply #14 - Oct 3^rd, 2008 at 9:07am My boss is the kind of person that says just make it work for now, so he had me just send mail through gmail... This "make it work now" attitude makes for terrible messes.
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