XADM: Using X.400 Connector with TCP/IP in Cluster Environment

• Microsoft Exchange Server, version 5.5

SYMPTOMS

When you use the Microsoft Exchange X.400 Connector between two Microsoft Exchange Servers and at least one of the servers is a Microsoft Cluster node, message flow will not occur if you just list the IP address on the Stack tab of the properties page of the X.400 connector in the Microsoft Exchange Administrator program.

CAUSE

When the Microsoft Exchange Message Transfer Agent (MTA) attempts to send a message over the X.400 Connector using just an IP address, it will ask the Windows NT Server for the local IP address using the INADDR_ANY flag. Windows NT will return the local IP address of the active node and not the Cluster's virtual IP address which is configured in the Microsoft Exchange Administrator program. The following event will be recorded in the Windows NT Event Viewer Application Log when this problem occurs:

   Event 9301   MSExchangeMTA     Configuration
   The message transfer gateway that uses the network address
   4E434F5354455354 and the transport stack 
   /o=Microsoft/ou=sitename/cn=Configuration/cn=Servers
   /cn=servername/cn=TCP (mtaname) could not be found. Check the
   configuration of the mail gateway. [BASE IL TCP/IP DRVR 36 218] (10)

WORKAROUND

To solve this problem, open the properties page of the X.400 Connector in the Microsoft Exchange Administrator program and click the Stack tab. Change the stack to use Remote Host Name and change the field to the name of the other Microsoft Exchange Server. This will need to be done on both servers.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Exchange Server version 5.5. A supported fix is now available, but has not been fully regression-tested and should be applied only to systems experiencing this specific problem. Unless you are severely impacted by this specific problem, Microsoft recommends that you wait for the next Service Pack that contains this fix. Contact Microsoft Technical Support for more information.