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Q272672: XIMS: Internet Mail Service Does Not Generate NDR Message

Article: Q272672
Product(s): Microsoft Exchange
Version(s): 5.5
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): exc55 kbExchange550preSP5fix
Last Modified: 08-MAY-2002

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Exchange Server, version 5.5 
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SYMPTOMS
========

A message in the Imcdata\In folder may never be delivered and may remain in that
folder. If you stop and restart the Exchange Server Internet Mail Service, the
message may be redelivered to most of the recipients of the message.

The following event ID 4120 error message is logged in the application event
log:

  Event ID: 4120
  Type: Error
  Source: MSExchangeIMC
  Category: Internal Processing

  Description:
  In the process of creating a notification of delivery failure to the sender of
  a message, an error occurred causing the notification to be aborted. The
  sender will not be informed that his original message failed to be
  delivered.

  Data:
  0000: 9a 01 02 00 0e 00 07 80 ?......?
  0008: 54 47 34 35 43 4c 50 36 TG45CLP6
  0010: 00 .

The following event ID 4131 error message may be logged in the application event
log as well:

  Event ID: 4131
  Type: Information
  Source: MSExchangeIMC
  Category: Internal Processing

  Description:
  An unexpected error occurred in the Internet Mail Service. Information about
  this error is stored in the data portion of this event.

  Data:
  0000: 3e 02 01 00 0e 00 07 80 >......?
  0008: 54 47 34 35 43 4c 50 36 TG45CLP6
  0010: 00

CAUSE
=====

This problem can occur if the message has more than 32,766 (0x7FFE in
hexadecimal numbers) recipients defined. The Internet Mail Service uses
Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI) to create non-delivery report
(NDR) messages, and attempts to add the recipients to an NDR message that MAPI
is creating. MAPI uses the Emsmdb32.dll file to communicate with the information
store, and the Emsmdb32.dll file has a limit of 32,766 recipients defined for
the number of recipients on a single message.

RESOLUTION
==========

A supported fix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to
correct the problem described in this article and should be applied only to
systems experiencing this specific problem. This fix may receive additional
testing at a later time, to further ensure product quality. Therefore, if you
are not severely affected by this problem, Microsoft recommends that you wait
for the next Microsoft Exchange Server version 5.5 service pack that contains
this fix.

To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services
to obtain the fix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services
phone numbers and information about support costs, please go to the following
address on the World Wide Web:

  http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;CNTACTMS

NOTE: In special cases, charges that are normally incurred for support calls may
be canceled, if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific
update will resolve your problem. Normal support costs will apply to additional
support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in
question.

The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or
later:

Component: Internet Mail Service

+----------------------------+
| File name    | Version     | 
+----------------------------+
| Msexcimc.exe | 5.5.2654.14 | 
+----------------------------+
| Imcmsg.dll   | 5.5.2654.14 | 
+----------------------------+



STATUS
======

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Exchange Server
version 5.5.

MORE INFORMATION
================

This fix has two parts and addresses both the message that is already in the
Imcdata\In folder and new messages that arrive to the Internet Mail Service with
more than 32,766 recipients.

For the message in the Imcdata\In folder, the basic problem is the inability to
create an NDR because of the number of recipients. This fix creates the NDR with
32,766 recipients and does not show the rest in the NDR. The following new event
ID has been created to report this exceptional circumstance:

  Event ID: 3041
  Type: Warning
  Source: MSExchangeIMC
  Category: Internal Processing

  Description:
  Unable to deliver mail to all recipients. The total number of recipients
  exceeds 32766.

If a new message is delivered to the Internet Mail Service, the server sends a
452 response when the number of recipients being submitted exceeds 0x7FFE. This
response is an indicator to the sender that another message needs to be
submitted with the remaining recipients (in other words, that the sender needs
to break the message into multiple messages with fewer recipients on each
message).

  Up to 0x7FFE recipients the SMTP Command/Reponse pair would look like this:

  SMTP: Command = RCPT TO: USER@MAIL.COM
  SMTP: Response = 250 OK - Recipient <USER@MAIL.COM>

  For every recipient after this, the following command/response pair would result:

  SMTP: Command = RCPT TO: TOOMANY@MAIL.COM
  SMTP: Response = 452 Requested action not taken: Exceed Recipient Limit

Additional query words: Too Many Recipients IMS

======================================================================
Keywords          : exc55 kbExchange550preSP5fix 
Component         : IMC IMS Transport TransportCore
Technology        : kbExchangeSearch kbExchange550 kbZNotKeyword2
Version           : :5.5
Issue type        : kbbug
Solution Type     : kbfix

=============================================================================

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