Category Archives: SMTP queue

Clean up the Exchange Server's SMTP queues

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Clean up the Exchange Server’s SMTP
queues

Warning During this process, ALL messages that are
destined for external SMTP recipients are deleted. Internal e-mail and incoming
e-mail from the Internet are not affected. The settings below are temporary and
steps to undo these changes will be included later in this section.

Note A webcast is available that demonstrates how to clean up the
Exchange Server’s SMTP queues. To view this webcast, click the following link:

http://support.microsoft.com/servicedesks/ShowMeHow/101904_3.asx
(http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=http:%2f%2fsupport.microsoft.com%2fservicedesks%2fshowmehow%2f101904_3.asx)
1. In Exchange System Manager, click SmallBusiness SMTP Connector under Connectors. This phase requires an SMTP connector. If the
Exchange server does not have an SMTP connector, create one. To do this, follow
these steps:

a. Right-click Connectors, click
New, and then click SMTP Connector.
b. On the General tab, type a
temporary name (Temp Connector, for example) in the Name box.
c. Click Add at the bottom, select the
server name and its associated SMTP Virtual Server, and then click OK.
d. Click Address Space.
e. Click Add, click SMTP, and then click OK.
f. In the Internet Address Space
Properties dialog box, leave the default settings (E-mail domain * and
Cost 1), and then click OK.
g. Click the General tab, and then go
to step 4.
2. Right-click SmallBusiness SMTP
Connector, and then click Properties. If
you have more than one SMTP Connector, the one that you want to work with in the
following steps is the one that contains the “*” (asterisk) for the SMTP address
on the Address Space tab.
3. Click the General tab. Make a note
of all the settings on this tab. You have to return these settings later in this
article.
4. Click Forward all mail through this
connector to the following smart hosts.
5. In the field provided, type a false IP address and enclose it in
brackets. For example, type [99.99.99.99].
6. Click the Deliver Options tab
.
7. Click Specify when messages are sent through
this connector.
8. In the Connection Time list, click
Run daily at 11:00 PM.
9. Click OK to close the SMTP Connector Properties dialog box.
10. Expand Servers, expand Servername, expand Protocols, expand SMTP.
Right-click the Default SMTP Virtual Server, and
then click Stop.
11. It may take several minutes for the SMTP Virtual Server to stop.
After the Default SMTP Virtual Server has stopped, right-click the Default SMTP
Virtual Server again, and then click Start. It may
take several minutes for the Default SMTP Virtual Server to start.
12. After the Default SMTP Virtual Server has started, wait about 10
minutes.

Now the Default SMTP Virtual Server can re-enumerate the
messages and put them in a single queue for the SmallBusiness SMTP Connector or
for the one that you named when you created it in step 1.b.
13. After about 10 minutes, expand Default SMTP
Virtual Server, and then click Queues.
14. Note the total number of messages on the right next to the
Small Business SMTP Connector.

This number
has to stabilize so that all the messages can be deleted at the same
time.
15. Right-click Queues, and then click
Refresh approximately every 15 minutes.
16. Repeat step 15 until the total number of messages remains
constant.
17. Locate the queue for the SmallBusiness SMTP Connector. The queue
is indicated by the small red clock on the yellow folder icon.
18. Depending on your version of Small Business Server installation,
follow the appropriate section to delete the messages from the queues:

• Small Business Server 2003: Right-click SmallBusiness SMTP Connector, and then click Find Messages. In the corresponding box, click the
dropdown and select an appropriate number in Number of
messages to be listed in the search. Click Find
Now. In the results, select all the messages (SHIFT+PAGE DOWN).
Right-click the selected messages, and then click Delete
All Messages (No NDR).
• Small Business Server 2000: Right-click SmallBusiness SMTP Connector, and then click Delete All Messages (No
NDR).
19. Click Yes when you are prompted
with the question of whether to delete messages in the selected queue. Deleting
these message may take some time, depending on the number of messages in the
queue.
20. After the messages are deleted, right-click Queues, and then click Refresh.
21. Note the total number of messages for the SmallBusiness SMTP
Connector queue. The number is zero.
22. Wait approximately 5 minutes, and then refresh Queues again. The
goal is to have the number of messages in the SmallBusiness
SMTP Connector queue reach zero and stay at zero. If this number
increases, the Exchange server is still processing messages for external
delivery through the SmallBusiness SMTP Connector. Repeat this step until the
number stabilizes again.
23. Repeat steps 19 through 23 until the number of messages in the
SmallBusiness SMTP Connector queue is consistently
zero. When it is, the Exchange server’s SMTP queues have been purged of the
unsolicited commercial e-mail.

After Exchange
has been cleaned of the unsolicited commercial e-mail, you have to undo the
changes that you made in steps 2 through 8. To undo the changes, follow these
steps:

1. In Exchange System Manager, expand Connectors, right-click the SmallBusiness SMTP Connector, and then click Properties.

If you created a temporary SMTP
connector in step 1, click Delete instead of
Properties, and then go to step 7.
2. On the General tab, change these
settings to those documented in step 3 under Clean Up the Exchange
Server’s SMTP Queues.
3. Click the Delivery Options
tab.
4. Verify that Specify when messages are sent
through this connector is selected.
5. In the Connection Time list, click
Always Run.
6. Click OK.
7. Expand Servers, expand Servername, expand Protocols, and then expand SMTP. Right-click Default SMTP
Virtual Server, and then click Stop.
8. After the SMTP Virtual Server has stopped, right-click Default SMTP Virtual Server again, and then click Start.

Now you have configured
the Exchange server to block open SMTP relaying and you have removed the
unsolicited commercial e-mail from Exchange Server’s SMTP queues. The next step
is to clean up the file system.