Invalid Header Fields

pitti

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Jan 29, 2009, 3:26:09 AM1/29/09

to

Hello,

First sorry about my bad english-language.

I have problem in SBS 2008 Server, with POP3 Connector to receive all
emails.
POP3 Connector receives most of my companys emails just fine, but few
emails per users just remains at my ISP POP3 server.

Server Event Viewer has an error (One or more (2) e-mail messages in the
POP3 mailbox account 'xxxx...@domain.com' on the POP3 server
'mail.domain.com' have invalid header fields. Because of this, the
messages cannot be delivered to the Exchange Server mailbox
'xxxx...@domain.com' in Windows Small Business Server. The messages
are still on the POP3 server. To resolve this issue, connect to the POP3
mailbox account, and then manually retrieve or delete the messages.)

I figured out, that those emails which aren´t coming to SBS 2008
Exchange Server includes in header "return-path" has <mailer-daemon> -
text.

When one user has more than five email messages, which POP3 Connector
classified to "invalid header fields"-message, then this users emails is
not downloaded at all.

Is in SBS 2008 server some kind of filter, which can prevent email
downloading with POP3 Connector to Exchange?

I don´t want to prevent these emails coming to my companys users, so
those emails are not spam.

If someone has some kind of solution, what I should change in server, so
that POP3 connector can download those "invalid header fealds"-messages
to server, I would be very pleased.

If someone needs more information about this case, I will happily give
it, just ask.

Thanks allready everyone,
Regards
Jani

Miles Li [MSFT]

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Jan 29, 2009, 5:38:22 AM1/29/09

to

Hello,

Thank you for posting here.

According to your description, I understand that:

You receive the error that few emails remains at the ISP POP3 server.

If I have misunderstood the problem, please don't hesitate to let me know.

Suggestions:
==========================
To resolve this issue, you may try to change the properties of the domains
listed under "Accepted domains" tab to "Internal Relay Domain" from
"Authoritative". When the domain is Authoritative, it will only check the
list of internal recipients. When the domain is marked as internal relay
domain, it tries to send the email to the internal recipients first.
However, if it can't find one, it sends the email to internet using the
Send connector. To do that:

1. Open the Exchange management console--->organization
configuration--->Hub Transport--->Accepted domains tab.
2. Change the SBS internal domain and external domain from "Authoritative"
to "Internal Relay Domain".
3. Check whether the downloaded POP3 mail will be cleared or not.

Hope it helps. Also If you have any questions or concerns, please do not
hesitate to let me know.

Best regards,
Miles Li

Microsoft Online Partner Support
Microsoft Global Technical Support Center

Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
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pitti

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Jan 30, 2009, 2:28:50 AM1/30/09

to

Hello,

Thank You very fast answer!

I tried to change SBS Internal Domain and external Domain to "Internal
Relay Domain", and then tried to retreive all users POP3 Emails to
Exchange server with POP3 Connector, but no luck.
Emails (those few which have "Invalid Header Fields") still remains to
ISPs mail server and Event Viewer reports same error as before.

I didn´t boot the server, should I?

If there is more good repair options, those are really welcome.

Best regards,
Jani

Miles Li [MSFT]

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Feb 2, 2009, 5:04:10 AM2/2/09

to

Hello,

Thanks for the update.

Yes, first you may restart the SBS server to check how it works.

Moreover, I'd like to know whether these mails on the POP3 mailbox is
normal and can be accessed/downloaded. You may have a test to connect to
the POP3 mailbox with the Outlook client to check whether those problematic
mails can be accessed/downloaded properly. Please make sure you have select
the option "Leave a copy of message on the server" to remain those mail
when you connect the mailbox with Outlook client.

If those problematic mails cannot be accessed/downloaded neither in the
Outlook client, those mail may corrupted and you may have to manually clean
it on the POP3 server.

pitti

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Feb 2, 2009, 10:22:10 AM2/2/09

to

Thanks again about the very fast answering!

I haven´t tried to boot the server yet.

I apologise, that I haven´t mention this before, but I have tried to
download those emails with Outlook Express (POP3-account) so that I will
leave copy to ISPs mail-server, and they arrived to Outlook Express just
fine, and copy stays on ISPs mail-server. One user even has account
settings in his mobile-phone, and those emails downloaded fine in the
mobile-phone (of course copy leaves to ISPs email-server).

So, I try to boot the server, and then I will send more information that
what happened.

Best Regards,
Jani

Miles Li [MSFT]

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Feb 3, 2009, 5:11:33 AM2/3/09

to

Hello,

Thanks for the update.

Yes, as you have downloaded those problematic mails you may try to clean
them from the POP3 mailbox. If those mails are left in the mail box, the
error event will be logged every time the POP3 connecter attempts to
download mails. You may manually clean those problematic mails and restart
the server to check whether issue will happen on other incoming mails.

Hope it helps. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not

pitti

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Feb 3, 2009, 7:43:43 AM2/3/09

to

Hello,

I allready in history cleaned those "Invalid Header Fields"-mails
everybodys ISPs mailbox, so that no one has any problematic email there.
After few weeks, when some automatic sends to mail (those mails has
<mailer-daemon> in Return-path) there is again "Invalid Header
Fields"-mails in ISPs POP3-mail server. Those mails are not spam, those
mails are "Holiday announcements + away from office announcements +
sended to wrong email address". Those mails are everytime created by
some kind of automatic-system.

I don´t want to delete those emails, I just want that those emails are
downloaded by SBS 2008 POP3-Connector.

I hope that this message gives some more information about my problem.

Best Regards,
Jani

Miles Li [MSFT]

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Feb 4, 2009, 5:24:55 AM2/4/09

to

Hello,

Thanks for the update.

At this time, I suspect this issue is caused by certain corrupt POP3 mails
sent to that user. Generally, the POP3 connector mail flow are as follows:

1. Mail is retrieved and placed into the %systemroot%\Program
Files\Microsoft Small Business Server\Networking\POP3\Incoming Mail folder.
2. When all mail has been retrieved from the remote POP3 Server (or the
maximum number of messages has been downloaded for this POP3 session), the
Exchange component will pick up the mail that is in the Incoming Mail
folder. The headers of the messages will be modified to indicate that the
messages are being sent to a local Exchange mailbox user, and then the mail
will be placed into the %systemroot%\InetPub\mailroot\Pickup folder.
3. If the Exchange component is unable to send the message to the Pickup
folder, such as if the message is corrupt, then the e-mail message will be
placed in the %systemroot%\Program Files\Microsoft Small Business
Server\Networking\POP3\Failed Mail folder. (Therefore, you may also check
this folder for "missing" mails.)
4. All messages that are in the Pickup folder will be processed by the
local SMTP service and sent to the appropriate recipient.

For further investigation of the issue, I'd like to suggest you to check
whether those problematic mails are in the Failed Mail folder. If yes, you
may check how it works if you manually place those mails into the Exchange
Pickup folder.

How to troubleshoot the POP3 Connector in Windows Small Business Server 2003
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885685/en-us

pitti

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Feb 5, 2009, 3:05:53 AM2/5/09

to

Hello, and thanks for the more information about this case.

Note: those folder paths only works with SBS 2003, and SBS 2008 has
different folder paths.
I make some research job, and found more details about this case.
There is pop3service.log in c:\program files\windows small business
server\logs\pop3connector - folder.
In that log I found the reason why those emails are not downloaded by
pop3connector.

In the pop3service.log

[t 0] 02/05/09, 09:31:23: EVENT: One or more (2) e-mail messages in the

POP3 mailbox account 'xxxx...@domain.com' on the POP3 server
'mail.domain.com' have invalid header fields. Because of this, the
messages cannot be delivered to the Exchange Server mailbox
'xxxx...@domain.com' in Windows Small Business Server. The messages
are still on the POP3 server. To resolve this issue, connect to the POP3
mailbox account, and then manually retrieve or delete the messages.

[t 0] 02/05/09, 09:31:29: Error: The "MAIL FROM" address
("MAILER-DAEMON", from header field "Return-Path") was rejected. Continuing.

So, the clear reason is now, that every message that some kind of
automate creates, and email have "MAILER-DAEMON" in "Return-Path" field
will be rejected by pop3connector.

So here is detailed discription about the header one of the email, that
is stil in ISPs POP3-mail server:

Return-Path: <MAILER-DAEMON>
Delivered-To: xxxx...@domain.com
Received: from mail11.domain.com (mail11.domain.com [xxx.xx.xx.xx])
by mx.domain.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id xxxxxxxxx
for <xxxx...@domain.com>; Mon, 29 Dec 2008 20:54:13 +0200 (EET)
Received: from localhost by mail11.domain.com;
29 Dec 2008 19:54:08 +0100
Date: 29 Dec 2008 19:54:08 +0100
To: xxxx...@domain.com
From: "Mail Delivery System" <MAILER...@mail21.domain.com>
Subject: Delivery Status Notification (Failure)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/report; report-type=delivery-status;
boundary="anc2.4NpF/xF/i.1IWNGZ.FxHSw0R"
Message-Id: <2008122918541...@mx.domain.com>

So now I think that this problem is only pop3connector-problem, and not
Exchange or any other programs problem. Pop3connector doesn´t even start
to download those problematic emails, so it can´t deliver to badmail\550
- folder.

Is there some kind of parameter that I can use with pop3connector.exe -
program?

Note: there is also C:\Program Files\Windows Small Business
Server\Data\badmail\550 - folder, which has two emails, and those two
emails were received by December 2008.

Best Regards,
Jani

Miles Li [MSFT]

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Feb 9, 2009, 5:01:57 AM2/9/09

to

Hello Jani,

From my research, it is by design in the Exchange that the mail will be
rejected when it has a invalid "Return-Path" header. A "Return-Path" header
should have a valid address containing a locally interpreted string
followed by the at-sign character "@" followed by an Internet domain. To
correct the issue, you may check whether you can specify a proper
"Return-Path" in the software that sends these mails out. It should have an
"@" in it.

pitti

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Feb 9, 2009, 7:41:16 AM2/9/09

to

Hello Miles,

Thank you for update infromations.

Software that sends these emails are some kind of automatic-systems.
Those systems seems to be still a lot around internet.

I know, that there should be in return-path-header some kind of reality
email-address, which have "@"-sign between it.

I think that it is impossible to make contact to every system, which
makes those automatic-emails, and ask them to change that system.

So after all, we only can wait to Microsoft make changes this behavior?
Can we somehow make this change-process to go faster?
Do you know, that there is any unofficial patch, that could change this?

Best regards,
Jani

fganter

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Feb 22, 2009, 9:59:01 AM2/22/09

to

I believe the issue is a bit more complicated than what's been presented so
far.

I have the same issue. However, in my case the supposedly invalid emails
are causing valid emails to stay on the POP3 server also. When I delete one
of the invalid emails, the other stuck emails get downloaded.

As you can imagine, this is a big problem, as my users are not getting
emails they should be getting.

I suspect either the POP3 connector is not working properly either because
of poor design or because there is some tweaking to the configuration that
needs to be done.

Microsoft - Let's get a bit more focus on resolution on this one, please.

Thanks,
Fred

Paul Shapiro

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Feb 23, 2009, 7:09:55 AM2/23/09

to

I've seen this problem with POP3 servers without Exchange involved, so it's
not necessarily related to the POP3 connector. When a message header is
corrupted, the POP3 protocol fails on the server, and no messages can be
pulled. In the days before webmail, that meant asking the mail server admins
to remove the message.

"fganter" <fga...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:1A433B18-C57C-4E9F...@microsoft.com...

fganter

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Feb 23, 2009, 11:13:04 AM2/23/09

to

The issue is not so much that improperly formatted emails need to be removed
by an admin. The issue is that SBS stops downloading valid emails as well.

That's a big problem.

Fred

Dan Thompson [MSFT]

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Feb 25, 2009, 3:15:09 PM2/25/09

to

First, let's be clear who is rejecting what: The Exchange server is
rejecting the mail with the invalid header (and Exchange is in the right,
according to RFC 2822). The SBS 2008 pop3connector downloads the mail and
tries to deliver it to Exchange, but Exchange rejects it with a 501 error.
You can validate this by clicking the "retrieve now" button which will
temporarily turn on full logging, including the protocol logging, which
allows you to see the conversation with Exchange. (note that the SBS 2008
pop3connector uses SMTP to submit mail to Exchange, which is different than
the SBS 2003 pop3connector.)

Since Exchange won't accept the email, the pop3connector does not want to
delete the mail off the POP3 server.

Now about the invalid mails causing valid mails to stay on the server: the
pop3connector only downloads a certain number of emails per scheduled
download period. I think it's something like a maximum of 500 messages. So
if you have a POP3 mailbox with more than 500 messages, they will be
downloaded 500 per scheduled download period.

Unfortunately, the pop3connector does not know in advance which mails will
be undeliverable. So if you accumulate more than 500 undeliverable mails in
your POP3 mailbox, at some point you will reach an equilibrium where the
pop3connector connects to your POP3 server, downloads and tries to deliver
500 mails, but none of them succeed, so it leaves them on the server. The
next time it connects, the same 500 invalid emails are there, so the process
repeats.

This is an unfortunate situation, but if you consider the alternatives, you
see that this cannot be fixed in the pop3connector alone--even if the
pop3connector were altered to keep downloading mail until it had gotten 500
successfully deliverable mails, your POP3 mailbox will still eventually fill
completely up with mail that is not deliverable to Exchange. At some point,
an admin or user with access to the POP3 mailbox MUST deal with the
malformed mail so that good mail will keep flowing.

IMO, having a relatively small limit (500) is better since it forces you to
deal with the situation while it is still manageable (dealing with 500
messages at a time is much better than trying to figure out what to do with
5GB of undeliverable mail at a time).

Also note that the pop3connector will detect this situation (no forward
progress can be made because there are too many undeliverable mails on the
POP3 server) and will log an event in the event log saying so and
instructing the admin to manually clean up those messages.

Also note that this all applies only to the SBS 2008 pop3connector; the SBS
2003 pop3connector does not use SMTP to submit mail to Exchange.

"fganter" <fga...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:0F66B615-54C1-4AB4...@microsoft.com...

fganter

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Feb 25, 2009, 4:26:01 PM2/25/09

to

Thanks, Dan. I understand your delineation between Exchange and the POP3
connector and the differences between 2003 and 2007.

Regarding the valid emails...

The number of messages is well below 500 (usually less than 100), yet valid
emails (e.g. real people sending to real people) are getting hung up in the
process.

Is there a way to tweak Exchange or the POP3 Connector to automatically
remove the invalid emails from the POP3 server or send them to a default
mailbox, so the valid emails don't get hung up in the process?

Dan Thompson [MSFT]

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Feb 25, 2009, 4:30:24 PM2/25/09

to

I may have been wrong about the SBS 2008 pop3connector logging an event if
it can't make forward progress. I think in some cases it will, but perhaps
in some it won't. I'll have to check on that.

"Dan Thompson [MSFT]" <dan...@notPartOfEmail.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:eHOFEX4l...@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

Dan Thompson [MSFT]

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Feb 25, 2009, 4:39:32 PM2/25/09

to

In that case, my psychic debugging skills fail me--I don't know what's
happening.

I'd like to see the verbose logs when you're in this state. When you get
into this state, could you please click the "retrieve now" button in the
pop3connector UI (which will temporarily turn on full verbose logging for
that download session), and when it's done, send me
(dan...@microsoft.DontIncludeThisPart.com) the log file at "C:\Program
Files\Windows Small Business
Server\Logs\pop3connector\pop3\pop3service.log".

"fganter" <fga...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:6E105F0D-F0A4-4A14...@microsoft.com...

Dan Thompson [MSFT]

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Mar 2, 2009, 8:33:40 PM3/2/09

to

To followup with the group, Fred kindly sent his log, and this is what was
happening:

Exchange will close an SMTP connection after a certain number of protocol
errors (5 by default). (see the MaxProtocolErrors property of the
ReceiveConnector object at:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998618.aspx)

When the SBS 2008 pop3connector downloads a message from a POP3 mailbox, it
needs to figure out what the "return path" for the mail should be, which it
does by reading the email's headers. The pop3connector does not do
validation of the header value--it lets Exchange take care of that. If the
header value that the pop3connector chooses is malformed, when it is sent to
the Exchange server (as part of the "MAIL FROM" command), Exchange will
reject it with a 501 error. That counts as a "protocol error", and therefore
is counted against the MaxProtocolErrors limit. Since the pop3connector was
not able to deliver the mail, and does not know if the mail is safe to
delete, it leaves the mail on the POP3 server.

If there are 5 of these messages in your POP3 mailbox, then there will be 5
"protocol errors" in the pop3connector's SMTP session, which hits the limit,
and Exchange will end the session with a transient error (4xx). When this
happens, the pop3connector recognizes that the error is transient, and will
retry again at the next scheduled download period. But since those 5
malformed messages are still in the POP3 mailbox, the same thing will
continue to happen, with no "forward progress" being made.

The workaround is to increase the “MaxProtocolErrors” property of the
internal receive connector, which is called “<COMPUTERNAME>\Windows SBS Fax
Sharepoint Receive <COMPUTERNAME>”, and then restart the Exchange Transport
service for the change to take effect (and you’ll have to restart the
pop3connector service, too, since it depends on the Exchange Transport
service). Unfortunately, you can’t set that property from the Exchange
management GUI, so you have to do it from an (elevated) Exchange Powershell
prompt. Here are the instructions:

From an elevated Exchange Management Shell (Exchange Powershell window)
(right click on “Start-->Microsoft Exchange Server 2007-->Exchange
Management Shell” and then choose “Run as administrator”) run the following
Powershell commands:

Set-ReceiveConnector -Identity ($Env:computername + "\Windows SBS Fax
Sharepoint Receive " + $Env:computername) -MaxProtocolErrors 500
Stop-Service pop3connector
Restart-Service -force MSExchangeTransport
Start-Service pop3connector

That will increase the MaxProtocol errors (of the internal receive connector
only) to match the pop3connector’s max emails downloaded per session. Once
you get 500 messages with malformed headers stacked up in the POP3 mailbox,
though, you’ll still have to delete them manually.

Q. Why might you be getting emails with malformed headers?
A. It seems there are some buggy (perhaps deliberately) spam servers out
there. Or it could be non-compliant mail software (like whatever software
generated "Return-Path: <MAILER-DAEMON>" header that started this thread).

pitti

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Mar 5, 2009, 8:36:42 AM3/5/09

to

Hello Dan,

Thanks about very detailed answer.

Your answer makes the primary goal achived, so now we can make
adjustments to Exchange server settings, that it won't stop receiving
users messages, until 500 errors will come against it.

Secondary goal would be that how we can adjust the SBS2008 to receive
all those user messages, even if message has invalid header field.

Few of those messages could be spam messages, but most of those messages
are not spam, and i like to receive those messages, even they are having
invalid header field (so they are create against standard method of
email standards).

Thanks again Dan.

Best regards,
Jani

Dan Thompson [MSFT]

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Mar 5, 2009, 3:54:33 PM3/5/09

to

You're welcome.

If you want to get the malformed mail delivered, you'll have to talk to some
Exchange experts to see if that's possible--it is Exchange that is rejecting
the mail, not the pop3connector. Maybe try on
microsoft.public.exchange.misc.

"pitti" <pi...@noemail.noemail> wrote in message
news:%23gftsdZ...@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

Dan Thompson [MSFT]

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Mar 9, 2009, 3:42:07 PM3/9/09

to

See my other posts in this thread. (I have explained the problem as well as
the workaround.)

"Marcel Gätzi" <Marce...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:2D18F5C9-211C-402C...@microsoft.com...
> same problem here! Is there any solution available now?
>
> Have you fixed the problem???
>

Marcus

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Apr 3, 2009, 7:21:01 PM4/3/09

to

Thanks a lot for your detailed information, but...

neither increasing the “MaxProtocolErrors” property of the Sharepoint
Receive Connector didn´t fix the problem nor increasing the
“MaxProtocolErrors” property of any other connectors fixed the problem. In my
case, this "error" also appears, when only 1 mail with "invalid header
fields" has to be downloaded, although "MaxProtocolErrors" is set to 5.
Furthermore the returnpath is correct.
I´ll test with a 3rd party popcon... if it works...

brentmilburn

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Mar 14, 2010, 6:32:10 AM3/14/10

to

I too have an identical issue to Jani. In my case, SBS2008 was working fine (downloading and deleting the mal-formed emails..) but I changed ISPs and the issue surfaced. The new ISP required SMTP authentication, the old ISP didn't. That IMHO was the critical change. My resolution will be, unfortunately, to change ISPs again!

I'm not that technical, so excuse me if that doesn't make sence. In my case the suspect emails are almost always the bounces that occur when a user specifies an incorrect email address, and as was mentioned, the out-of-office replies. I wonder if the new ISP is responcible due to then forming the bounce emails incorrectly, rather than the SMTP authentication being the issue.

My 2c worth - and my first ever IT post - anywhare!. Brent

Marcu wrote:

Thanks a lot for your detailed information, but...

03-Apr-09

Thanks a lot for your detailed information, but...

neither increasing the ???MaxProtocolErrors??? property of the Sharepoint
Receive Connector didn??t fix the problem nor increasing the
???MaxProtocolErrors??? property of any other connectors fixed the problem. In my

case, this "error" also appears, when only 1 mail with "invalid header
fields" has to be downloaded, although "MaxProtocolErrors" is set to 5.
Furthermore the returnpath is correct.

I??ll test with a 3rd party popcon... if it works...

"Dan Thompson [MSFT]" wrote:

Previous Posts In This Thread:

On Thursday, January 29, 2009 3:26 AM
pitti wrote:

Invalid Header Fields
Hello,

First sorry about my bad english-language.

I have problem in SBS 2008 Server, with POP3 Connector to receive all
emails.
POP3 Connector receives most of my companys emails just fine, but few
emails per users just remains at my ISP POP3 server.

Server Event Viewer has an error (One or more (2) e-mail messages in the

POP3 mailbox account 'xxxx...@domain.com' on the POP3 server
'mail.domain.com' have invalid header fields. Because of this, the
messages cannot be delivered to the Exchange Server mailbox
'xxxx...@domain.com' in Windows Small Business Server. The messages
are still on the POP3 server. To resolve this issue, connect to the POP3

mailbox account, and then manually retrieve or delete the messages.)

I figured out, that those emails which aren?t coming to SBS 2008

Exchange Server includes in header "return-path" has <mailer-daemon> -
text.

When one user has more than five email messages, which POP3 Connector
classified to "invalid header fields"-message, then this users emails is
not downloaded at all.

Is in SBS 2008 server some kind of filter, which can prevent email
downloading with POP3 Connector to Exchange?

I don?t want to prevent these emails coming to my companys users, so

those emails are not spam.

If someone has some kind of solution, what I should change in server, so
that POP3 connector can download those "invalid header fealds"-messages
to server, I would be very pleased.

If someone needs more information about this case, I will happily give
it, just ask.

Thanks allready everyone,
Regards
Jani

On Thursday, January 29, 2009 5:38 AM
v-milel wrote:

Hello,Thank you for posting here.
Hello,

Thank you for posting here.

According to your description, I understand that:

You receive the error that few emails remains at the ISP POP3 server.

If I have misunderstood the problem, please don't hesitate to let me know.

Suggestions:
==========================
To resolve this issue, you may try to change the properties of the domains
listed under "Accepted domains" tab to "Internal Relay Domain" from
"Authoritative". When the domain is Authoritative, it will only check the
list of internal recipients. When the domain is marked as internal relay
domain, it tries to send the email to the internal recipients first.
However, if it can't find one, it sends the email to internet using the
Send connector. To do that:

1. Open the Exchange management console--->organization
configuration--->Hub Transport--->Accepted domains tab.
2. Change the SBS internal domain and external domain from "Authoritative"
to "Internal Relay Domain".
3. Check whether the downloaded POP3 mail will be cleared or not.

Hope it helps. Also If you have any questions or concerns, please do not

hesitate to let me know.

Best regards,
Miles Li

Microsoft Online Partner Support
Microsoft Global Technical Support Center

Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
=====================================================
When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from your issue.
=====================================================
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

On Friday, January 30, 2009 2:28 AM
pitti wrote:

Hello,Thank You very fast answer!
Hello,

Thank You very fast answer!

I tried to change SBS Internal Domain and external Domain to "Internal
Relay Domain", and then tried to retreive all users POP3 Emails to
Exchange server with POP3 Connector, but no luck.
Emails (those few which have "Invalid Header Fields") still remains to
ISPs mail server and Event Viewer reports same error as before.

I didn?t boot the server, should I?

If there is more good repair options, those are really welcome.

Best regards,
Jani

On Monday, February 02, 2009 5:04 AM
v-milel wrote:

Hello,Thanks for the update.
Hello,

Thanks for the update.

Yes, first you may restart the SBS server to check how it works.

Moreover, I'd like to know whether these mails on the POP3 mailbox is
normal and can be accessed/downloaded. You may have a test to connect to
the POP3 mailbox with the Outlook client to check whether those problematic
mails can be accessed/downloaded properly. Please make sure you have select
the option "Leave a copy of message on the server" to remain those mail
when you connect the mailbox with Outlook client.

If those problematic mails cannot be accessed/downloaded neither in the
Outlook client, those mail may corrupted and you may have to manually clean
it on the POP3 server.

Hope it helps. Also If you have any questions or concerns, please do not

hesitate to let me know.

Best regards,
Miles Li

Microsoft Online Partner Support
Microsoft Global Technical Support Center

Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
=====================================================
When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from your issue.
=====================================================
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

On Monday, February 02, 2009 10:22 AM
pitti wrote:

Thanks again about the very fast answering!
Thanks again about the very fast answering!

I haven?t tried to boot the server yet.

I apologise, that I haven?t mention this before, but I have tried to

download those emails with Outlook Express (POP3-account) so that I will
leave copy to ISPs mail-server, and they arrived to Outlook Express just
fine, and copy stays on ISPs mail-server. One user even has account
settings in his mobile-phone, and those emails downloaded fine in the
mobile-phone (of course copy leaves to ISPs email-server).

So, I try to boot the server, and then I will send more information that
what happened.

Best Regards,
Jani

On Tuesday, February 03, 2009 5:11 AM
v-milel wrote:

Hello,Thanks for the update.
Hello,

Thanks for the update.

Yes, as you have downloaded those problematic mails you may try to clean

them from the POP3 mailbox. If those mails are left in the mail box, the
error event will be logged every time the POP3 connecter attempts to
download mails. You may manually clean those problematic mails and restart
the server to check whether issue will happen on other incoming mails.

Hope it helps. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not

hesitate to let me know.

Best regards,
Miles Li

Microsoft Online Partner Support
Microsoft Global Technical Support Center

Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
=====================================================
When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from your issue.
=====================================================
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

On Tuesday, February 03, 2009 7:43 AM
pitti wrote:

Hello,I allready in history cleaned those "Invalid Header Fields"-mails
Hello,

I allready in history cleaned those "Invalid Header Fields"-mails
everybodys ISPs mailbox, so that no one has any problematic email there.
After few weeks, when some automatic sends to mail (those mails has
<mailer-daemon> in Return-path) there is again "Invalid Header
Fields"-mails in ISPs POP3-mail server. Those mails are not spam, those
mails are "Holiday announcements + away from office announcements +
sended to wrong email address". Those mails are everytime created by
some kind of automatic-system.

I don?t want to delete those emails, I just want that those emails are

downloaded by SBS 2008 POP3-Connector.

I hope that this message gives some more information about my problem.

Best Regards,
Jani

On Wednesday, February 04, 2009 5:24 AM
v-milel wrote:

Hello,Thanks for the update.
Hello,

Thanks for the update.

Hope it helps. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not

hesitate to let me know.

Best regards,
Miles Li

Microsoft Online Partner Support
Microsoft Global Technical Support Center

Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
=====================================================
When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from your issue.
=====================================================
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

On Monday, February 09, 2009 5:01 AM
v-milel wrote:

Hello Jani,From my research, it is by design in the Exchange that the mail
Hello Jani,

Best regards,
Miles Li

On Monday, February 09, 2009 7:41 AM
pitti wrote:

Hello Miles,Thank you for update infromations.
Hello Miles,

Best regards,
Jani

On Sunday, February 22, 2009 9:59 AM
fgante wrote:

I believe the issue is a bit more complicated than what's been presented so
I believe the issue is a bit more complicated than what's been presented so
far.

I have the same issue. However, in my case the supposedly invalid emails
are causing valid emails to stay on the POP3 server also. When I delete one
of the invalid emails, the other stuck emails get downloaded.

As you can imagine, this is a big problem, as my users are not getting
emails they should be getting.

I suspect either the POP3 connector is not working properly either because
of poor design or because there is some tweaking to the configuration that
needs to be done.

Microsoft - Let's get a bit more focus on resolution on this one, please.

Thanks,
Fred

On Monday, February 23, 2009 7:09 AM
Paul Shapiro wrote:

I've seen this problem with POP3 servers without Exchange involved, so it's
I've seen this problem with POP3 servers without Exchange involved, so it's
not necessarily related to the POP3 connector. When a message header is
corrupted, the POP3 protocol fails on the server, and no messages can be
pulled. In the days before webmail, that meant asking the mail server admins
to remove the message.

"fganter" <fga...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:1A433B18-C57C-4E9F...@microsoft.com...

On Monday, February 23, 2009 11:13 AM
fgante wrote:

The issue is not so much that improperly formatted emails need to be removed
The issue is not so much that improperly formatted emails need to be removed
by an admin. The issue is that SBS stops downloading valid emails as well.

That's a big problem.

Fred

"Paul Shapiro" wrote:

On Wednesday, February 25, 2009 3:15 PM
Dan Thompson [MSFT] wrote:

Re: Invalid Header Fields

On Wednesday, February 25, 2009 4:26 PM
fgante wrote:

Thanks, Dan.

Thanks, Dan. I understand your delineation between Exchange and the POP3
connector and the differences between 2003 and 2007.

Regarding the valid emails...

The number of messages is well below 500 (usually less than 100), yet valid
emails (e.g. real people sending to real people) are getting hung up in the
process.

Is there a way to tweak Exchange or the POP3 Connector to automatically
remove the invalid emails from the POP3 server or send them to a default
mailbox, so the valid emails don't get hung up in the process?

On Wednesday, February 25, 2009 4:30 PM
Dan Thompson [MSFT] wrote:

I may have been wrong about the SBS 2008 pop3connector logging an event if it
I may have been wrong about the SBS 2008 pop3connector logging an event if
it can't make forward progress. I think in some cases it will, but perhaps
in some it won't. I'll have to check on that.

"Dan Thompson [MSFT]" <dan...@notPartOfEmail.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:eHOFEX4l...@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

On Wednesday, February 25, 2009 4:39 PM
Dan Thompson [MSFT] wrote:

In that case, my psychic debugging skills fail me--I don't know what's
In that case, my psychic debugging skills fail me--I don't know what's
happening.

I'd like to see the verbose logs when you're in this state. When you get
into this state, could you please click the "retrieve now" button in the
pop3connector UI (which will temporarily turn on full verbose logging for
that download session), and when it's done, send me
(dan...@microsoft.DontIncludeThisPart.com) the log file at "C:\Program
Files\Windows Small Business
Server\Logs\pop3connector\pop3\pop3service.log".

"fganter" <fga...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:6E105F0D-F0A4-4A14...@microsoft.com...

On Monday, March 02, 2009 8:33 PM
Dan Thompson [MSFT] wrote:

The workaround is to increase the ???MaxProtocolErrors??? property of the
internal receive connector, which is called ???<COMPUTERNAME>\Windows SBS Fax
Sharepoint Receive <COMPUTERNAME>???, and then restart the Exchange Transport
service for the change to take effect (and you???ll have to restart the

pop3connector service, too, since it depends on the Exchange Transport

service). Unfortunately, you can???t set that property from the Exchange

management GUI, so you have to do it from an (elevated) Exchange Powershell
prompt. Here are the instructions:

From an elevated Exchange Management Shell (Exchange Powershell window)

(right click on ???Start-->Microsoft Exchange Server 2007-->Exchange
Management Shell??? and then choose ???Run as administrator???) run the following
Powershell commands:

Set-ReceiveConnector -Identity ($Env:computername + "\Windows SBS Fax
Sharepoint Receive " + $Env:computername) -MaxProtocolErrors 500
Stop-Service pop3connector
Restart-Service -force MSExchangeTransport
Start-Service pop3connector

That will increase the MaxProtocol errors (of the internal receive connector

only) to match the pop3connector???s max emails downloaded per session. Once

you get 500 messages with malformed headers stacked up in the POP3 mailbox,

though, you???ll still have to delete them manually.

Q. Why might you be getting emails with malformed headers?
A. It seems there are some buggy (perhaps deliberately) spam servers out
there. Or it could be non-compliant mail software (like whatever software
generated "Return-Path: <MAILER-DAEMON>" header that started this thread).

On Thursday, March 05, 2009 8:36 AM
pitti wrote:

Hello Dan,Thanks about very detailed answer.
Hello Dan,

Thanks about very detailed answer.

Your answer makes the primary goal achived, so now we can make
adjustments to Exchange server settings, that it won't stop receiving
users messages, until 500 errors will come against it.

Secondary goal would be that how we can adjust the SBS2008 to receive
all those user messages, even if message has invalid header field.

Few of those messages could be spam messages, but most of those messages
are not spam, and i like to receive those messages, even they are having
invalid header field (so they are create against standard method of
email standards).

Thanks again Dan.

Best regards,
Jani

On Thursday, March 05, 2009 3:54 PM
Dan Thompson [MSFT] wrote:

You're welcome.
You're welcome.

If you want to get the malformed mail delivered, you'll have to talk to some
Exchange experts to see if that's possible--it is Exchange that is rejecting
the mail, not the pop3connector. Maybe try on
microsoft.public.exchange.misc.

"pitti" <pi...@noemail.noemail> wrote in message
news:%23gftsdZ...@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

On Sunday, March 08, 2009 1:56 PM
MarcelGtz wrote:

same problem here! Is there any solution available now?
same problem here! Is there any solution available now?

Have you fixed the problem???

"fganter" wrote:

On Monday, March 09, 2009 3:42 PM
Dan Thompson [MSFT] wrote:

See my other posts in this thread.
See my other posts in this thread. (I have explained the problem as well as
the workaround.)

On Friday, April 03, 2009 7:21 PM
Marcu wrote:

Thanks a lot for your detailed information, but...
Thanks a lot for your detailed information, but...

neither increasing the ???MaxProtocolErrors??? property of the Sharepoint
Receive Connector didn??t fix the problem nor increasing the
???MaxProtocolErrors??? property of any other connectors fixed the problem. In my

case, this "error" also appears, when only 1 mail with "invalid header
fields" has to be downloaded, although "MaxProtocolErrors" is set to 5.
Furthermore the returnpath is correct.

I??ll test with a 3rd party popcon... if it works...

"Dan Thompson [MSFT]" wrote:

Submitted via EggHeadCafe - Software Developer Portal of Choice
Measuring SharePoint Page Rendering
http://www.eggheadcafe.com/tutorials/aspnet/c0a9ac9e-53cd-442f-8981-9d5f236c2be5/measuring-sharepoint-page.aspx

brentmilburn

unread,

Mar 14, 2010, 6:35:31 AM3/14/10

to

That didn't display well it seems - trying again.

I too have an identical issue to Jani. In my case, SBS2008 was working fine (downloading
and deleting the mal-formed emails..) but I changed ISPs and the issue surfaced. The new
ISP required SMTP authentication, the old ISP didn't. That IMHO was the critical change.
My resolution will be, unfortunately, to change ISPs again!

I'm not that technical, so excuse me if that doesn't make sence. In my case the suspect
emails are almost always the bounces that occur when a user specifies an incorrect email address,
and as was mentioned, the out-of-office replies. I wonder if the new ISP is responcible due
to then forming the bounce emails incorrectly, rather than the SMTP authentication being the issue.

My 2c worth - and my first ever IT post - anywhare!. Brent

Brent Milburn wrote:

I have this issue too - there is another alternative
14-Mar-10

I too have an identical issue to Jani. In my case, SBS2008 was working fine (downloading and deleting the mal-formed emails..) but I changed ISPs and the issue surfaced. The new ISP required SMTP authentication, the old ISP didn't. That IMHO was the critical change. My resolution will be, unfortunately, to change ISPs again!

I'm not that technical, so excuse me if that doesn't make sence. In my case the suspect emails are almost always the bounces that occur when a user specifies an incorrect email address, and as was mentioned, the out-of-office replies. I wonder if the new ISP is responcible due to then forming the bounce emails incorrectly, rather than the SMTP authentication being the issue.

My 2c worth - and my first ever IT post - anywhare!. Brent

Previous Posts In This Thread:

Submitted via EggHeadCafe - Software Developer Portal of Choice

WPF Circular Progress Indicator
http://www.eggheadcafe.com/tutorials/aspnet/4d89b4cb-ba59-4362-ab0a-cc047643fd42/wpf-circular-progress-ind.aspx

Cliff Galiher - MVP

unread,

Mar 14, 2010, 3:31:38 PM3/14/10

to

Brent:

This is a newsgroup. Several "forum" websites connect to it and cache old
posts, but for those people (like me) that use newsreaders, we don't see the
original problem, so it is always best to describe your problem thoroughly
instead of "I have the same problem." It just doesn't give us much to go
on.

With that said, I'm taking an educated guess that you are having issues with
email and are using the pop3 connector to download mail from your ISP. The
pop3 connector is a transitional technology to help users move off of pop3
mailboxes to email delivered in-house via SMTP. pop3, as a protocol, has
inherent limitations and is not very resilient to changes in the message
header values that an ISP can make, so you can keep changing ISPs, but these
problems will follow you.

You should make a plan to migrate to SMTP delivery of your email to your SBS
server and then you won't be reliant on the ISP for any email services;
you'll be free to use whoever you want without worrying about whether they
are introducing these issues. You will also have a better experience
managing and troubleshooting email issues in general.

Thanks,

-Cliff

"Brent Milburn" wrote in message news:20103146...@bagels.co.nz...

Russ SBITS.Biz [SBS-MVP]

unread,

Mar 14, 2010, 6:22:47 PM3/14/10

to

An easier solution than changing ISP's
is just changing the MX Records and receiving email directly
Then you never have this issue again..
EVER!
Russ

--
Russell Grover - SBITS.Biz [SBS-MVP]
MCP, MCPS, MCNPS, SBSC
Microsoft Certified Small Business Specialist
Small Business Server/Computer Support - www.SBITS.Biz
Question or Second Opinion - www.PersonalITConsultant.com
BPOS - Microsoft Online Services - www.Microsoft-Online-Services.com

"Brent Milburn" wrote in message news:20103146...@bagels.co.nz...

Russ SBITS.Biz [SBS-MVP]

unread,

Mar 14, 2010, 7:29:34 PM3/14/10

to

I've already answered your question but here is a tip
When you reply to a post in

These web sites.
EggHeadcafe
Forums.Techarena
MSGroups
vistaheads

And many Others

They attempt to mirror Microsoft Break/Fix public newsgroups.
*For Profit from advertisements.

It shows up as a broken thread on a Microsoft Public newsgroup
and usually it's old or outdated post.

In most cases any responding or post means
that 99% of the world will not know what you are responding to.

Example: In your current post we may have no reference to what you are
talking about.
and or it may be too old to even give use proper response.

If you avoid these types of websites and post directly to the Microsoft
newsgroup you will benefit from threads not getting broken.
And a lot of misunderstanding.

To Post to the Microsoft Newsgroup.

You can either use a NNTP News Reader
(Example Outlook Express or Live Mail)

And set it up with:
NewsServer: msnews.microsoft.com
The Microsoft News Server does not require login
Please "MUNG" your email address (to Reduce Spam)
And use a unique name so you can follow/find your own posts later.

Here are a few suggestions that make it sure you get the best answer to your
question as quickly as possible:

1. Search for your question on Google or other search tools -- it's likely
someone may have already answered your question, and you won't have to waste
time waiting for it to be answered again.

2. Make sure your title summarizes the specific problem you have -- A
question with a title of "Urgent! Help needed!" is not as likely to get
answered as a question with a title of "How to configure my firewall to open
port 80". A more specific, detailed title is far more likely to get a
better response than a general one.

3. Give details about your problem -- rather than " It won't work, please
help", provide some details like Error Codes, statements like, "Program
starts, it get's to a part to install xxx and 2/3rds of the way and then
does this.", Screen Shots and images also help. Also search for any error
messages in logs etc. Other basic things like it was working before I did
this, or it stopped working after I installed this. also helps.

4. Do not reply to old posts with "Me too" I have the same problem.
Old threads may not be seen by other people and they will have no reference
To what "Me Too" is referring to. Also do not say that you have the same
problem as XYZ does, for the same reason.

5. Once you've received a correct answer to your question, either from a
Microsoft employee, an MVP, or the community in general, please reply that
the solution has been answered and what solved it. This step is important,
since it lets other people benefit from your posts.

If you wish a "WEB" Based interface with NO Advertisements
you can go directly to this forum with.
http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx?

It has the feature to notify you on a reply also.

To Search for issues in the past the easiest way is to Google them.
http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?hl=en&sel=usenet%3Dmicrosoft.public.windows
This has way more information than that website will ever have and help you
to stay connected.

I hope you find this information helpful.
Thanks for posting
Russ

--
Russell Grover - SBITS.Biz [SBS-MVP]
MCP, MCPS, MCNPS, SBSC
Microsoft Certified Small Business Specialist
Small Business Server/Computer Support - www.SBITS.Biz
Question or Second Opinion - www.PersonalITConsultant.com
BPOS - Microsoft Online Services - www.Microsoft-Online-Services.com

"Brent Milburn" wrote in message news:20103146...@bagels.co.nz...

Leonid S. Knyshov // SBS Expert

unread,

Mar 15, 2010, 7:36:17 PM3/15/10

to

It sounds to me that you don't know how to configure SMTP smarthost
authentication in SBS 2008, which is certainly supported.

http://uksbsguy.com/blogs/doverton/archive/2008/05/30/how-to-configure-a-smart-host-for-internet-e-mail-in-sbs-2008.aspx

More sources:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=sbs2008+smarthost&aq=f&aqi=g-sx1&aql=f&oq=

You linked to a lengthy thread that began with an SBS 2003 problem.

Please explain your problem in your own words from the beginning so we
can help you better.

Auth SMTP shouldn't have anything to do with this. Agree with suggestion
to switch to SMTP delivery, but you may run into issues if your ISP is
blocking outbound port 25, hence why I am mentioning smarthost
configuration.
--
Leonid S. Knyshov
Crashproof Solutions
510-282-1008
Twitter: @wiseleo
http://crashproofsolutions.com
Microsoft Small Business Specialist
Try Exchange Online http://bit.ly/free-exchange-trial
Please vote "helpful" if I helped you :)

Dick Koers

unread,

Jul 26, 2010, 9:23:56 AM7/26/10

to

Hello all,

I had the same issue, until today. Thought I'd share a solution with you, that I found on the Microsoft Communities Website.

<http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx?query=Invalid+header+fields&dg=microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs&cat=en_US_77750084-cabb-4056-9708-d9264353c1b3&lang=en&cr=US&pt=&catlist=&dglist=&ptlist=&exp=&sloc=en-us>

Here we go;

As mentioned before; it is not the POP3 connector that is rejecting the mails, it is Exchange itself.

The reason for Exchange rejecting the mails, was in my case (and I hear this is common) misformatted "FROM:" address fields.

A valid address should always have a "@" in it. e.g. <myad...@myprovider.com>. However, sometimes non-compliant mailers use addresses like <MAILER-DEAMON>. This example is often found in bounce notifications.

According to RFC rules, Exchange is right when it refuses such mails. However, maybe you don't want Exchange to be that strict on this point, as it is a common issue.

If you want Exchange to accept incoming mails from addresses without a "@", you can tell Exchange to append your local domainname to those addresses. This makes the address correct and your problems disappear. :)

There is one risk though; the mails are considered local. So *if* you have your local domainname on a whitelist in your spamfilter or antivirus software, those misformatted mails bypass all checks.

So, make sure your local domain is *not* whitelisted and then proceed with this setting through the Exchange Management Shell:

Set-ReceiveConnector -Identity ($Env:computername + "\Windows SBS Fax Sharepoint Receive " + $Env:computername) -DefaultDomain $Env:UserDNSDomain

Hope this helps for you as it did for me!

Cheers,
Dick

Brent Milburn wrote:

try again
14-Mar-10

That didn't display well it seems - trying again.

I too have an identical issue to Jani. In my case, SBS2008 was working fine (downloading
and deleting the mal-formed emails..) but I changed ISPs and the issue surfaced. The new
ISP required SMTP authentication, the old ISP didn't. That IMHO was the critical change.
My resolution will be, unfortunately, to change ISPs again!

I'm not that technical, so excuse me if that doesn't make sence. In my case the suspect
emails are almost always the bounces that occur when a user specifies an incorrect email address,
and as was mentioned, the out-of-office replies. I wonder if the new ISP is responcible due
to then forming the bounce emails incorrectly, rather than the SMTP authentication being the issue.

My 2c worth - and my first ever IT post - anywhare!. Brent

Previous Posts In This Thread:

On Thursday, January 29, 2009 3:26 AM
pitti wrote:

Invalid Header Fields
Hello,

Best regards,
Miles Li

Best regards,
Jani

Thanks for the update.

Best regards,
Miles Li

Best Regards,
Jani

Thanks for the update.

Best regards,
Miles Li

I don?t want to delete those emails, I just want that those emails are

Best Regards,
Jani

Thanks for the update.

Best regards,
Miles Li

Best regards,
Jani

Thanks,
Fred

Fred

"Paul Shapiro" wrote:

Regarding the valid emails...

Thanks again Dan.

Best regards,
Jani

"fganter" wrote:

"Dan Thompson [MSFT]" wrote:

On Sunday, March 14, 2010 6:32 AM
Brent Milburn wrote:

I have this issue too - there is another alternative
I too have an identical issue to Jani. In my case, SBS2008 was working fine (downloading and deleting the mal-formed emails..) but I changed ISPs and the issue surfaced. The new ISP required SMTP authentication, the old ISP didn't. That IMHO was the critical change. My resolution will be, unfortunately, to change ISPs again!

I'm not that technical, so excuse me if that doesn't make sence. In my case the suspect emails are almost always the bounces that occur when a user specifies an incorrect email address, and as was mentioned, the out-of-office replies. I wonder if the new ISP is responcible due to then forming the bounce emails incorrectly, rather than the SMTP authentication being the issue.

My 2c worth - and my first ever IT post - anywhare!. Brent

On Sunday, March 14, 2010 6:35 AM
Brent Milburn wrote:

try again

That didn't display well it seems - trying again.

I too have an identical issue to Jani. In my case, SBS2008 was working fine (downloading
and deleting the mal-formed emails..) but I changed ISPs and the issue surfaced. The new
ISP required SMTP authentication, the old ISP didn't. That IMHO was the critical change.
My resolution will be, unfortunately, to change ISPs again!

I'm not that technical, so excuse me if that doesn't make sence. In my case the suspect
emails are almost always the bounces that occur when a user specifies an incorrect email address,
and as was mentioned, the out-of-office replies. I wonder if the new ISP is responcible due
to then forming the bounce emails incorrectly, rather than the SMTP authentication being the issue.

My 2c worth - and my first ever IT post - anywhare!. Brent

Submitted via EggHeadCafe - Software Developer Portal of Choice

Six Free Visual Studio 2010 MSDN Memberships Giveaway
http://www.eggheadcafe.com/tutorials/aspnet/f7338bb9-7fa4-4fa8-9e5a-244857b0d9d4/six-free-visual-studio-2010-msdn-memberships-giveaway.aspx

Rob C

unread,

Oct 21, 2010, 4:53:59 PM10/21/10

to

Dick - Where do I go to make sure our local domain is NOT whitelisted?

And (in the temp fix for the max protocols error), do you replace [computer name] with the name of the server or the fqdn? Ie. servername or servername.local?

>>>>>>>>>>> far.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> I have the same issue. However, in my case the supposedly invalid emails
>>>>>>>>>>> are causing valid emails to stay on the POP3 server also. When I delete one
>>>>>>>>>>> of the invalid emails, the other stuck emails get downloaded.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> As you can imagine, this is a big problem, as my users are not getting
>>>>>>>>>>> emails they should be getting.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> I suspect either the POP3 connector is not working properly either because
>>>>>>>>>>> of poor design or because there is some tweaking to the configuration that
>>>>>>>>>>> needs to be done.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Microsoft - Let's get a bit more focus on resolution on this one, please.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>>>>>>> Fred

>>>>>>>>>>>> On Monday, February 23, 2009 7:09 AM Paul Shapiro wrote:

>>>>>>>>>>>> I've seen this problem with POP3 servers without Exchange involved, so it's

>>>>>>>>>>>> not necessarily related to the POP3 connector. When a message header is
>>>>>>>>>>>> corrupted, the POP3 protocol fails on the server, and no messages can be
>>>>>>>>>>>> pulled. In the days before webmail, that meant asking the mail server admins
>>>>>>>>>>>> to remove the message.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> "fganter" <fga...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>>>>>>>>>>> news:1A433B18-C57C-4E9F...@microsoft.com...

>>>>>>>>>>>>> On Monday, February 23, 2009 11:13 AM fgante wrote:

>>>>>>>>>>>>> The issue is not so much that improperly formatted emails need to be removed

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> it can't make forward progress. I think in some cases it will, but perhaps
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> in some it won't. I'll have to check on that.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> "Dan Thompson [MSFT]" <dan...@notPartOfEmail.microsoft.com> wrote in
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> message news:eHOFEX4l...@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On Wednesday, February 25, 2009 4:39 PM Dan Thompson [MSFT] wrote:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> In that case, my psychic debugging skills fail me--I don't know what's

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> happening.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I'd like to see the verbose logs when you're in this state. When you get
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> into this state, could you please click the "retrieve now" button in the
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> pop3connector UI (which will temporarily turn on full verbose logging for
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> that download session), and when it's done, send me
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> (dan...@microsoft.DontIncludeThisPart.com) the log file at "C:\Program
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Files\Windows Small Business
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Server\Logs\pop3connector\pop3\pop3service.log".
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> "fganter" <fga...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> news:6E105F0D-F0A4-4A14...@microsoft.com...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On Monday, March 02, 2009 8:33 PM Dan Thompson [MSFT] wrote:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> To followup with the group, Fred kindly sent his log, and this is what was

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> You're welcome.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you want to get the malformed mail delivered, you'll have to talk to some
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Exchange experts to see if that's possible--it is Exchange that is rejecting
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> the mail, not the pop3connector. Maybe try on
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> microsoft.public.exchange.misc.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> "pitti" <pi...@noemail.noemail> wrote in message
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> news:%23gftsdZ...@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On Sunday, March 08, 2009 1:56 PM MarcelGtz wrote:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> same problem here! Is there any solution available now?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Have you fixed the problem???
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> "fganter" wrote:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On Monday, March 09, 2009 3:42 PM Dan Thompson [MSFT] wrote:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> See my other posts in this thread. (I have explained the problem as well as
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> the workaround.)

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On Friday, April 03, 2009 7:21 PM Marcu wrote:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Thanks a lot for your detailed information, but...
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> neither increasing the ???MaxProtocolErrors??? property of the Sharepoint
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Receive Connector didn??t fix the problem nor increasing the
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ???MaxProtocolErrors??? property of any other connectors fixed the problem. In my
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> case, this "error" also appears, when only 1 mail with "invalid header
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> fields" has to be downloaded, although "MaxProtocolErrors" is set to 5.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Furthermore the returnpath is correct.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I??ll test with a 3rd party popcon... if it works...
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> "Dan Thompson [MSFT]" wrote:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On Sunday, March 14, 2010 6:32 AM Brent Milburn wrote:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I too have an identical issue to Jani. In my case, SBS2008 was working fine (downloading and deleting the mal-formed emails..) but I changed ISPs and the issue surfaced. The new ISP required SMTP authentication, the old ISP didn't. That IMHO was the critical change. My resolution will be, unfortunately, to change ISPs again!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I'm not that technical, so excuse me if that doesn't make sence. In my case the suspect emails are almost always the bounces that occur when a user specifies an incorrect email address, and as was mentioned, the out-of-office replies. I wonder if the new ISP is responcible due to then forming the bounce emails incorrectly, rather than the SMTP authentication being the issue.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> My 2c worth - and my first ever IT post - anywhare!. Brent

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On Sunday, March 14, 2010 6:35 AM Brent Milburn wrote:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> That didn't display well it seems - trying again.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I too have an identical issue to Jani. In my case, SBS2008 was working fine (downloading
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> and deleting the mal-formed emails..) but I changed ISPs and the issue surfaced. The new
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ISP required SMTP authentication, the old ISP didn't. That IMHO was the critical change.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> My resolution will be, unfortunately, to change ISPs again!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I'm not that technical, so excuse me if that doesn't make sence. In my case the suspect
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> emails are almost always the bounces that occur when a user specifies an incorrect email address,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> and as was mentioned, the out-of-office replies. I wonder if the new ISP is responcible due
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> to then forming the bounce emails incorrectly, rather than the SMTP authentication being the issue.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> My 2c worth - and my first ever IT post - anywhare!. Brent

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On Monday, July 26, 2010 9:23 AM Dick Koers wrote:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Hello all,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I had the same issue, until today. Thought I'd share a solution with you, that I found on the Microsoft Communities Website.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> <http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx?query=Invalid+header+fields&dg=microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs&cat=en_US_77750084-cabb-4056-9708-d9264353c1b3&lang=en&cr=US&pt=&catlist=&dglist=&ptlist=&exp=&sloc=en-us>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Here we go;
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> As mentioned before; it is not the POP3 connector that is rejecting the mails, it is Exchange itself.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The reason for Exchange rejecting the mails, was in my case (and I hear this is common) misformatted "FROM:" address fields.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> A valid address should always have a "@" in it. e.g. <myad...@myprovider.com>. However, sometimes non-compliant mailers use addresses like <MAILER-DEAMON>. This example is often found in bounce notifications.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> According to RFC rules, Exchange is right when it refuses such mails. However, maybe you don't want Exchange to be that strict on this point, as it is a common issue.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you want Exchange to accept incoming mails from addresses without a "@", you can tell Exchange to append your local domainname to those addresses. This makes the address correct and your problems disappear. :)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> There is one risk though; the mails are considered local. So *if* you have your local domainname on a whitelist in your spamfilter or antivirus software, those misformatted mails bypass all checks.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> So, make sure your local domain is *not* whitelisted and then proceed with this setting through the Exchange Management Shell:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Set-ReceiveConnector -Identity ($Env:computername + "\Windows SBS Fax Sharepoint Receive " + $Env:computername) -DefaultDomain $Env:UserDNSDomain
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Hope this helps for you as it did for me!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Dick

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Submitted via EggHeadCafe - Software Developer Portal of Choice

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Freeze Row Group Header in WPF DataGrid
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> http://www.eggheadcafe.com/tutorials/aspnet/98891749-f30a-4cbe-b711-dcaaee52bef3/freeze-row-group-header-in-wpf-datagrid.aspx

Rob C

unread,

Oct 21, 2010, 4:57:55 PM10/21/10

to

Dick - where do I got to check and make sure that my local domain is *NOT** whitelisted?

And one more question - in temporarily fixing the max protocols error (due to invalid headers), do I replace [computer name] with the name of the server or the name of the server followed by the domain (fqdn)?

IE->Fax Sharepoint Receive " + $Env:computername) -MaxProtocolErrors 500

Do I replace "Computername" with the server name? The Exchange console does give any output when I've tried before.

Thanks,
Rob