RE: SMTP protocol event sink

[Nathan Liu [MSFT]]

Hello JJ,

Thank you for posting in the SBS newsgroup.

According to your description, I understand that you received this error
message "The connection was dropped due to an SMTP protocol event sink",
when you are looking at the Exchange 2003 email queue. If I have
misunderstood the problem, please don't hesitate to let me know.

To narrow down this issue, please help me answer and perform the following
questions and steps:

1. What's the exact email queues which show the error message "The
connection was dropped due to an SMTP protocol event sink"?

2. Please double-click these problematic email queues, and click "Find
Now", what's the exact emails which stick in these email queues?

3. When the issue happens again, in the Exchange Server, please telnet
the problematic destination mail server which you cannot send mail to by
the following steps.

a. Click Start, click Run, type telnet, and then click OK.

b. At the Microsoft Telnet command prompt, type open server_name 25, and
then press ENTER.

c. To verify that you are successfully connected to the SMTP Mail Service,
type helo domain.com, and then press ENTER.

d. Type mail from: , and then press ENTER.

e. Type rcpt to: , and then press ENTER.

f. Type "quit" (without the quotation marks), and then press ENTER two
times to close the connection to the server and leave the Telnet session
running.

For more information about these 6 steps, please refer to the following
article.

XFOR: Telnet to Port 25 of IMC to Test IMC Communication:
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=153119

Please let me know the result and capture a screen shot if there is any
error during this process and attach it in your reply.

4. Enable message tracking, reproduce this issue and then check the
email message under Tools->Message Tracking Center (you can make a screen
capture of the tracking result and attach the picture in your reply).
Regarding how to enable Message Tracking, please refer to the following MS
KB article:

246856 XADM: How to Enable Message Tracking in Exchange 2000 Server
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=246856

5. Enable Diagnostic Logging to determine the root of the transport issue.
To enable Diagnostic Logging on the MSExchangeTransport service:

1). Start Exchange System Manager.

2). Navigate to the server object.

3). Right-click <Server object>, and then click Properties.

4). Click the Diagnostic Logging tab.

5). Under Categories, click MSExchangeTransport.

6). Under Logging Level, choose maximum for all the items. Restart the
server.

7). Let a user send an outbound message and copy all Exchange relative
events in Event Viewer.

For more information regarding how to troubleshoot Exchange problems,
please refer to the following article:

General troubleshooting for transport issues in Exchange 2000 Server and in
Exchange Server 2003
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=257265

6. Enable SMTP logging and gather SMTP log to troubleshoot the issue:

A. Open Exchange System Manager, expand Servers -> <Server name> ->
Protocols -> SMTP, right-click "Default SMTP Virtual Server" and click
Properties.

B. Under the General tab, check the option "Enable Logging".

C. With "W3C Extended Log File Format", click "Properties".

D. Under "General Properties", make sure "Use local time for file naming
and rollover" is CHECKED.

E. Switch to the "Extended Properties", and then select to enable All the
logging Options.

F. Click OK to apply the modification.

G. Right-click Default SMTP Virtual Server and click Stop.

H. Right-click Default SMTP Virtual Server and click Start to restart the
SMTP server.

I. Reproduce the issue, repeat step G to stop Default SMTP Virtual Server,
copy out or zip the SMTP log files in the
"%systemroot%\system32\logfiles\SmtpSvc1" folder, and then restart the
"Default SMTP Virtual Server".

More information:

How to Bypass DNS Name Resolution to Test SMTP Mail Flow to Remote Domains
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;285863

I appreciate your time and cooperation. If anything is unclear, please feel
free to let me know. I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,

Nathan Liu (MSFT)
Microsoft CSS Online Newsgroup Support

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--------------------
>Thread-Topic: SMTP protocol event sink
>thread-index: AcXv/0xbOgd29P9xQhKDN94we+9Lnw==
>X-WBNR-Posting-Host: 165.165.215.5
>From: =?Utf-8?B?SkogbGUgR3Jhbmdl?= <JJleG...@discussions.microsoft.com>
>Subject: SMTP protocol event sink
>Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 23:27:02 -0800
>Lines: 10
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>X-Tomcat-NG: microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs
>
>I am getting the following error message if I look at the exchange 2003
email
>queue :
>
>The connection was dropped due to an SMTP protocol event sink
>
>is this any thing to worry about and how do I solf this. Email is working
>though, this error only show up on some email queues.
>
>Thanks
>JJ
>

[JJ le Grange]

1. exact email queues which show the error message :
Small Business SMTP connector - aol.com (SMTP Connector)
Small Business SMTP connector - mweb.co.za (SMTP Connector)
Small Business SMTP connector - netactive.co.za(SMTP Connector)
Small Business SMTP connector - trainingprograms.net(SMTP Connector)

2. found messages :
aol.com : sender : rece...@whitfields.co.za 2,378 bytes subject
:statement
mweb.co.za : many senders different size email and different subjects
netactive.co.za : many senders different size email and different
subjects
trainingprograms.net : Sender : jo...@whitfields.co.za 17,331 bytes
subject : dressing to impress

3. netactive.co.za : could not connect to host on port 25 connection failed
mweb.co.za : could not connect to host on port 25 connection failed

the following does work : telnet smtp.mweb.co.za 25
using this command I can get to those mail servers

[Nathan Liu [MSFT]]

Hi JJ,

Thank you for your update.

Considering the current condition, based on my research, there''re some
cases that the outgoing SMTP traffic goes to a different server instead of
the one defined. This kind of issue may be caused by the name resolution.
When the SBS server delivers the outgoing messages through smarthost, the
server queries the MX record of the FQDN of the smarthost address. If the
MX record of the Smart Host is different from the A record, this will
occur, Suggestion is to use the IP address as the smarthost address.

ISPs so far are:
BellSouth (dsl)
DirectWay (satellite)
Roges/Yahoo (dsl)

To resolve this issue, please Right click Small Business SMTP Connector >
Properties > Select General tab > select "Forward all mail through this
connector to the following smart hosts" > input correct ISP SmartHost IP
address as following format

[SmartHostIP]

Note: please include [] mark

In addition, regarding the AOL does not receive your mail, I would like to
provide you with following information.

This problem typically occurs when your outbound Internet mail server does
not have the correct DNS configuration required to send mail to AOL.com.
The AOL.com mail server requires that a valid reverse DNS record (known as
PTR) for all of your domain''s MX records. AOL.com also requires that for
every inbound SMTP connection, the connecting SMTP server must have a valid
PTR record even if an MX record does not exist.

Note: If your Network adapter that is connected to the Internet is using a
dynamic IP address, you may have to configure your Exchange 2000 Server or
Exchange Server 2003 to route mail for the AOL.com domain through an SMTP
connector to a smart host.

To resolve this problem, follow these steps:

1. Make sure that your public DNS records that are hosted on your ISP DNS
server are correct. check the following:

a. You must have an MX record for your domain that points to a valid Host
(A) record.

For example, the MX record for <contoso.com> points to
<mail.contoso.com>, which is a valid e-mail server.

b. Make sure that the Host (A) record points to a valid IP Address.

For example, make sure that <mail.contoso.com> points to <209.54.61.76>,
which is the correct public IP Address for your e-mail server.

2. For every SMTP or Exchange server that sends outbound Internet mail,
make sure that there is a valid PTR record for the Public IP address of
that sending SMTP or Exchange server. This may be a firewall, router, or
another device that used to publish your domain information to an IP
address that is visible by Internet hosts. For example, If your Exchange
server is behind a firewall with an internal IP of 10.10.10.1, and the
firewall has an external IP of 4.3.2.1. When the Exchange server sends mail
to AOL.COM through the firewall, the receiving mail server sees that the
4.3.2.1 IP address is connecting for SMTP Communication. The receiving mail
server performs a reverse DNS lookup against this IP address, not
necessarily the MX record. The AOL mail server must find a PTR for 4.3.2.1
pointing to a valid host record in the <contoso.com> domain.

If you have any questions or concerns related to this issue, please let me
know.

Have a nice day!

Best regards,

>thread-index: AcXwzsEXnlh1b04SQnyviwgc1aaS4A==

>X-WBNR-Posting-Host: 165.165.215.5
>From: =?Utf-8?B?SkogbGUgR3Jhbmdl?= <JJleG...@discussions.microsoft.com>

>References: <4E816423-EA59-4131...@microsoft.com>
<ffsnyTL8...@TK2MSFTNGXA02.phx.gbl>
>Subject: RE: SMTP protocol event sink
>Date: Thu, 24 Nov 2005 00:12:04 -0800
>Lines: 213
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>X-Tomcat-NG: microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs

[JJ le Grange]

I can not route mail via any other mail server as the server has to use DNS
to send mail. Is there any thing else you can suggest ?
According to the ISP this mail server is sending an incorrect Hello when
sending mail to icon.co.za / global.co.za / wol.co.za
We are able to send mail to all other domains except the ones hosted by
Tiscali / mweb & iAfrica. they insist it is some setup that needs to change
on our server. Any suggestions ?

JJ

[Nathan Liu [MSFT]]

Hi JJ,

Thank you for your kind update.

>> I can not route mail via any other mail server as the server has to use
DNS to send mail. Is there any thing else you can suggest ? According to
the ISP this mail server is sending an incorrect Hello when sending mail to
icon.co.za / global.co.za / wol.co.za

Considering the current condition, please kindly contact your ISP to
properly configure its smarthost, thanks for the understanding.

>> We are able to send mail to all other domains except the ones hosted by
Tiscali / mweb & iAfrica. they insist it is some setup that needs to change
on our server. Any suggestions ?

Please kindly note that if we can successfully send outgoing email to those
specific mail servers through DNS on the SBS Server, it indicates our SBS
Server is properly configured. If we are using ISP Smarthost to relay
outgoing email to those specific mail servers, the SBS Server just forward
outgoing email to ISP Smarthost, ISP smarthost performs these emails
delivery process.

I appreciate your time and cooperation. Please do not hesitate to let me
know if you have any further concerns, I am looking forward to hearing from
you.

Have a nice day!

Best regards,

>thread-index: AcYGzf4Q/CnoCalXS9KPRhcH/ijK3w==
>X-WBNR-Posting-Host: 198.54.202.210

>From: =?Utf-8?B?SkogbGUgR3Jhbmdl?= <JJleG...@discussions.microsoft.com>
>References: <4E816423-EA59-4131...@microsoft.com>
<ffsnyTL8...@TK2MSFTNGXA02.phx.gbl>

<B968DBA5-CA5F-4FE9...@microsoft.com>
<sP6S79V8...@TK2MSFTNGXA02.phx.gbl>

>Subject: RE: SMTP protocol event sink

>Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 00:02:02 -0800
>Lines: 313
>Message-ID: <3600CD1C-8BBD-4971...@microsoft.com>

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>Xref: TK2MSFTNGXA02.phx.gbl microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs:231918
>X-Tomcat-NG: microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs

[JJ le Grange]

What do you make of the incorrect HELO that this server sends ?
I don't understand how it will be possible for all other mail servers to
accept mail correctly from us and onthly those specific ones not. I am
convinced it is not a problem on our side but at that particular ISP

[Nathan Liu [MSFT]]

Hi JJ,

Thank you for your kind update.

1. Considering the current condition, please kindly check the following
settings on the SBS 2003 Server side:

Open the Exchange System Manager on the SBS Server, expand Connectors,
right-click SmallBusiness SMTP connector and select Properties, click
Advanced tab, check or uncheck the "Send HELO instead of EHLO" check box,
and then check if the issue can be reproduced.

2. When the issue happens again, in the Exchange Server, please telnet
the destination mail server (AOL) which you cannot send mail to by the
following steps.

a. Click Start, click Run, type telnet, and then click OK.

b. At the Microsoft Telnet command prompt, type open server_name 25, and
then press ENTER.

c. To verify that you are successfully connected to the SMTP Mail Service,
type helo domain.com, and then press ENTER.

* We also can type ehlo domain.com to try again.

d. Type mail from: , and then press ENTER.

e. Type rcpt to: , and then press ENTER.

f. Type "quit" (without the quotation marks), and then press ENTER two
times to close the connection to the server and leave the Telnet session
running.

For more information about these 6 steps, please refer to the following
article.

XFOR: Telnet to Port 25 of IMC to Test IMC Communication:
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=153119

Please let me know the result and capture a screen shot if there is any
error during this process and attach it in your reply.

Merry Christmas!

Best regards,

>thread-index: AcYHgGLXc+IuwJAqQky6jKnD4fSh1w==
>X-WBNR-Posting-Host: 198.54.202.234

>From: =?Utf-8?B?SkogbGUgR3Jhbmdl?= <JJleG...@discussions.microsoft.com>
>References: <4E816423-EA59-4131...@microsoft.com>
<ffsnyTL8...@TK2MSFTNGXA02.phx.gbl>
<B968DBA5-CA5F-4FE9...@microsoft.com>
<sP6S79V8...@TK2MSFTNGXA02.phx.gbl>

<3600CD1C-8BBD-4971...@microsoft.com>
<Lht4MNuB...@TK2MSFTNGXA02.phx.gbl>

>Subject: RE: SMTP protocol event sink

>Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 21:19:02 -0800
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