Windows 7 / Getting Started

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Mail Flow Troubleshooter

The Mail Flow Troubleshooter is a wizard-based application, similar in design to the Exchange Best Practices Analyzer, which provides easy access to various data sources that are necessary to troubleshoot common problems with mail flow such as messages backed up in mail queues, slow delivery of messages, or unexplained nondelivery reports.

The Mail Flow Troubleshooter enables the administrator to diagnose problems based on the symptoms observed. After selecting the observed symptom from a drop-down box, the utility gathers data and automatically diagnoses it-presenting a report that contains possible root causes. The utility also suggests corrective actions and guides administrators through the correct troubleshooting path.

Message Tracking

The message tracking utility has been around in one form or another since Exchange Server 5.5, but it has always been rather complicated to use. In Exchange Server 2010, the message tracking utility is now a web-based utility, utilizing the new Exchange Control Panel, and the interface couldn't be simpler.

Note: Before the Message Tracking tool can be run, administrators must configure their browser security-setting both "Run ActiveX Controls and Plug-Ins" and "Active Scripting" to Enable. Some administrators will not be comfortable negating these security measures on their Exchange server. Because this tool uses the Exchange Control Panel, administrators access the same interface directly from their workstation browser by logging into OWA, selecting Options, Organize E-Mail, Delivery Reports and selecting My Organization from the UI Scope Control option (labeled Select What to Manage).

Clicking the link opens a browser window, enabling the administrator to log in to the Exchange Control Panel and utilize the Delivery Reports feature. By selecting either My Organization or Another User from the drop-down box in the UI Scope Control (identified by the text stating Select What to Manage), administrators can search for delivery information about messages sent to or from a specific person in the past 2 weeks.

Additionally, the administrator can narrow the search to messages with certain keywords in the subject field.

The Search Results lists all emails found that meet the search criteria and shows four columns: From, To, Subject, and Sent Time. Administrators can select a particular message and view the details of the message, including the number of recipients and the number that were delivered.

Queue Viewer

The Exchange Queue Viewer is a Microsoft Management Console snap-in that is added to the Toolbox when an Exchange Server 2007 Hub Transport or Edge Transport server role is installed.

The Queue Viewer is a graphical interface that enables administrators to view information about mail queues and mail items on a transport server. In addition, administrators can perform management actions on these items.

Often used for troubleshooting mail flow and identifying spam messages, the viewer can also be used by administrators to easily perform intrusive actions against the queuing databases, such as suspending or resuming a queue or removing messages.

Using the Queue Viewer requires certain administrative permissions. To use Queue Viewer on a computer that has the Edge Transport server role, you must use an account that is a member of the local Administrators group on that computer. To use Queue Viewer on a computer that has the Hub Transport server role, the account you use must also be a domain account that is a member of the Server Management role.

By default, the Queue Viewer connects to the queuing database on the server on which the application is run. Administrators can use the tool to connect to any Hub Transport server in the organization and, by opening multiple instances of the utility and tiling the windows, administrators can easily monitor queues on several servers simultaneously.

To connect to a remote Hub Transport server, perform the following steps:

1. Open the Exchange Management Console.
2. In the Console Tree, click Toolbox.
3. In the results pane, click Queue Viewer.
4. In the action pane, click Connect to server.
5. In the Connect to server window, click Browse to view a list of the available Hub Transport servers.
6. In the Select Exchange Server window, select a Hub Transport server. To search for a Hub Transport server to connect to, use one of the following procedures:
   • Enter the exact server name or the first few letters of the server name in the Search: field, and then click Find Now. Select a server from the results pane.
   • Select the View menu, and then click Enable Column Filtering. In the Name column or Version column, click the filter icon, and then select the filter operator. Type the filter criteria in the Enter text here field. Press ENTER. Select a server from the results pane. If you want, you can select the check box stating Set as Default Server to ensure that the Queue Viewer focuses on this server whenever the application is launched.
7. Click OK to close the Select Exchange Server window.
8. In the Connect to server window, click Connect.

By viewing the Message Count in each of the queues, administrators can determine if mail is flowing through the queues. Using the F5 key or the Refresh button in the action pane refreshes the view.