Attachments of incoming mails missing, Exchange 2k3
Dennis Apel
I got a certain phenomenon here which I can't explain - hopefully
someone of you has got a little clue for me.
So. We got an Exchange 2k3 Server running here (6.5.7638.1), which is
running flawlessly for years now, basically. Since a short time (about
4 weeks, maybe) there's certain senders from our office in spain (with
their own Domain and own Exchange-Server) whose attachments are not
attached to their mails when they arrive in my inbox - but the same
mail sent to my gmail-Account arrives with all attachments. So I think
I can rule out their side as source of the problem.
What makes it even more weird: not all of their mails get stripped -
another colleague in the same office sends me mails which arrive
complete with all attachments.
So I looked into the Message Tracking Center and the mails are
received with the size you would assume concerning the attachments...
some ~45.000 bytes for the mail we sent to and fro for testing. Once
in my inbox, it's only 5kb in size and w/o attachment, though :(.
Er are using a watchguard firebox x700, the log of which is without
anything that would hint to cut off attachments. Also we are using
McAfee AntiVirus Gateway - same thing: nothing unusual in the logs.
So. Has anybody experienced something similar so far? Can I check the
mails in the message store itself and see if arttachments are
existing?
Does anybody have any clue on this phenomenon?
I am very grateful for any help!!
Thanks,
Dennis
frydaddy
issue. I have noticed that the missing attachments for me are all from one
sender at one company so far. When I inspect the mail header for his emails
with missing attachments I have noticed this:
Content-Type: application/ms-tnef;
name="winmail.dat"
The emails with missing attachment all have this content-typ and file name,
even though some of his messages contianed, .xls, .doc, and .pdf file
attachments.
I know if he sends the same email to my webmail account, I can then forward
the message to my company account through our Exchange Server and Firebox and
everything arrives correctly.
I hope someone has some insight on this issue. We are on Exchange 2003 Sp2
with Outlook 2003 clients. Exchange server is fully patched.
"matthew_h" wrote:
>
> lucky me... I continue to have the same or very similar problem.
>
> Outlook 2003 SP2 clients set up identically. Exchange 2003 server. A few
> clients will receive the attachment (from an outside email) and one will not.
> It's the same user not receiving the attachment each time though. Attachments
> do not show up in Outlook Web Access for this user either.
>
> This user DOES receive attachments from other outside sources without any
> problem.
>
> Oddly enough, I'm using a Watchguard Firebox also and no signs of the
> attachment being removed anywhere.
>
> Did you find the cause of your problem?
matthew_h
I really don't believe this is a problem on the receiving end. Each user has
the same version of Outlook 2003 with SPs and updates. I have searched the
Watchguard website and found nothing as well...
Frydaddy... try to find out if the sender has your address added into their
Contacts. If they have you in their Contacts, ask them to delete you and send
a test message with attachment by manually entering your email address. I'm
trying to get my problematic sender to try this but I can't reach them.
It's possible that the format is screwy on the Contact in the sender's
address book. Doing this would rule that out. Post your results if you don't
mind.
Thanks,
frydaddy
tech does think it is the firewall stripping the winmail.dat filename. He had
had two suggestions: (1) go into the smtp proxy and under the attachment
section - filenames (advanced view), and add the winmail.dat file type with
the action "allow."
However, he also said it may be insecure to allow that filename for ips
others than a company you explicitly trust.
So, option (2), he thought my firebox was stripping some headers that may be
causing the attachment to become wrapped into the winmail.dat filename. The
answer to that problem is to go into the policy manager and allow the header
types that could be causing the problem. For me, those header types were:
X-MS-Has-Attach:*
X-MS-TNEF-Correlator:*
X-MimeOLE:*
Anyway, I chose option number (2); but if that doesn't work, I may be forced
to set up a seperate SMTP filter for just his ip to accept winmail.dat
filename from him.
It will probably be a while until I get the guy to test it again for me
though. He is hard to get a hold of, and doesn't care much about IT. He just
wants everything to work and work now. I'm sure your familiar with that type
of person.
I will post again if I find this procedure solves my problem.
matthew_h
On the Firebox, I have Content Type set to ALLOW for anything that I want to
pass through and then I do A\V Scan (Gateway AntiVirus Scans) on the File
Names like "*.jpg". I also have winmail.dat set to A\V Scan and all this was
per Upper Level Watchguard Support here in the States. Anything that gets
Stripped should be logged.
I suppose it's possible but stripping the attachment for just one user seems
like a stretch. I've dealt with the Watchguard people several times and it is
always a "shooting in the dark" game until I get mad and ask for upper level
support. Upper level guys were superb, but anyway...
I'll post again on Tuesday 9-4 after I talk to the knucklehead that I'm
trying to help 1500 miles away that won't return my calls.