I've re-read the original post and I think we are all missing the problem. The problem isn't that the Linux box won't accept the one bad message. It's that the Exchange server won't give up on the one bad message and move on to the rest of the queue. That would seem to indicate a problem on the Exchange side.
A network sniff may be required to see if the Exchange box is not trying subsequent connections, or if the Linux box is bungling connections. -----Original Message----- From: B. van Ouwerkerk [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Tuesday, January 14, 2003 5:57 AM To: Exchange Discussions Subject: Re: messages frozen in an SMTP queue Look a bit closer at the headers of the message you can't send. Create a message with BLAT, keep it as clean as possible and use the same TO and FROM. See if that message ships off without any problem.. Even without anti-spam features he could have made some settings which are giving you a hard time. He will probably not see it as misconfigured, and he's probably right :-) And again: ASK the Linux guy if he would be so kind to check his logfile for the messages you couldn't ship off to his server. Try to get him on the phone and do it while he looks at the logs.. Logs on Linux servers are usually very informative and will probably reveal the real cause of the problems you're experiencing. If you ask the Linux guy for help it will probably result in a quick and real solution. --B. At 00:02 14-01-2003 -0500, you wrote: >There is nothing bad in the SMTP log. The Linus server says "ready for >data". That's it. No more records of this session. > >There is nothing bad in the Event Log either (cranked to max logging) > >My first guess (based on previous experience) was that the Linux server >had some kind of antispam feature. I told the Linux guy to give a >little slack for connections from Exchange server, to which he replied >that they did not use any antispam programs on Linux. > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "B. van Ouwerkerk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "Exchange Discussions" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sent: Monday, January 13, 2003 5:35 PM >Subject: Re: messages frozen in an SMTP queue > > > > The Linux box might have some protection in place to prevent spam. > > Blacklist, Sendmail configuration ( like sender domain does not > > resolve), others. > > > > Be nice to the Linux guy and ask if that might be the case. > > > > I don't believe in many problems while communication between > > Exchange and Linux. I'm maintaining several Sendmail (Linux) and > > Exchange (various flavors of NT) and never found any problem during > > the communication.. > > > > It would be interesting to see the error in your SMTP logs.. perhaps > > it explains more.. The Linux guy could possibly provide you with the > > relevant part of their messages log or syslog. Which they use > > depends on distro and how they configured it. > > > > Don't get yourself into a "your OS sucks" discussion.. it will not > > get you any closer to a solution.. Even if you're sure the problem > > is caused by >the > > configuration of the Linux box, it might still be an Exchange > > problem if mail gets stuck in a queue. > > > > > > > > --B. > > > > > > At 16:45 13-01-2003 -0500, you wrote: > > >Hi all. I have Exchange 2000, SP3. > > > > > >Due to company's needs some of our mail is being directly forwarded > > >to another mail server which is running on Linux and someone else > > >is taking care of that mail server. That persona also thinks that > > >there could be no problems on the Linux side. > > > > > >Here is the problem. > > > > > >Some of the mail that our Exchange server receives and forwards to > > >the Linux server is spam. > > > > > >Some of this spam gets stuck (frozen) in the Linux server -bound > > >SMTP queue. The queue goes into retry state with comment > > >"connection was dropped by the remote host". Once the "bad" message > > >gets frozen, all the subsequent messages get stuck - Linux server > > >keeps dropping connection every time the Exchange server retries > > >the bad message, and the good messages can't flow "around" the bad > > >one. > > > > > >The Linux guy just thinks that this is Exchange problem, since they > > >receive mail from everywhere else without problems. > > > > > >The Exchange SMTP logs don't show anything specific - MAIL FROM is > > >OK, RCPT TO is OK, Exchange server says DATA and Linux server says > > >READY FOR DATA. That's when there is no more communication until > > >the next retry. The Linux guy says "oh, your Exchange server does > > >not understand READY >FOR > > >DATA and times out". To which I answer, "how about 99% of messages > > >that the Echange server delivers to your Linux server without > > >problems?" > > > > > >So I fished out the file of the bad message from the queue and > > >tried to BLAT it directly to the Linux server. BLAT failed. So to > > >me it looks like the problem is with the data in the message, and > > >Linux server does not >like it. > > > > > >When I look at the message file in Notepad, I see a bunch of weird > > >square [] characters, probably un-common carriage returns. > > > > > >My feeling is that the Linux server does not like those characters > > >or their quantity. > > > > > >Does anyone here have experienced similar problems when sending > > >mail from Exchange to Linux? > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > > List posting FAQ: http://www.swinc.com/resource/exch_faq.htm > > Archives: http://www.swynk.com/sitesearch/search.asp > > To unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Exchange List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > >_________________________________________________________________ >List posting FAQ: http://www.swinc.com/resource/exch_faq.htm >Archives: http://www.swynk.com/sitesearch/search.asp >To unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Exchange List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _________________________________________________________________ List posting FAQ: http://www.swinc.com/resource/exch_faq.htm Archives: http://www.swynk.com/sitesearch/search.asp To unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Exchange List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _________________________________________________________________ List posting FAQ: http://www.swinc.com/resource/exch_faq.htm Archives: http://www.swynk.com/sitesearch/search.asp To unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Exchange List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
