IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you
modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore
the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the
registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry
SUMMARY
The Microsoft Exchange Server message transfer agent (MTA) versions 1459.39 and
later allow Exchange Server administrators to configure queue thresholds that
cause the MTA to log warnings in the application event log when the
specified queue size has been exceeded.
This feature is included in the latest Microsoft Exchange Server version
5.0 U.S. Service Pack. For information on obtaining the Service Pack, query
on the following word in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (without the spaces):
MORE INFORMATION
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require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve
problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own
risk.
There are four new registry settings that can be used to configure these
warning events to be logged:
Work queue alarm on
Work queue alarm off
Outbound queue alarm on
Outbound queue alarm off
All four of these case-sensitive registry values are REG_DWORDs and can be
added to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services
\MSExchangeMTA\Parameters
To create one of these registry values, follow the example below for
configuring the Work queue alarm:
- Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe) and go to the following sub-key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services
\MSExchangeMTA\Parameters
NOTE: The above registry key is one path; it has been wrapped for
readability.
- Click Add Value on the Edit menu.
- Enter the following in the Value Name field:
- In the Data Type list, click REG_DWORD.
- Click OK.
- Click Decimal option, and then enter the number of messages that must
be queued in the Work queue for the Work queue alarm to be triggered.
The work queue alarm may log two different events to notify the
administrator when the work queue reaches a certain size. One event
notifies the administrator that the work queue has reached the "alarm on"
threshold. This warning is logged with the event ID 666 and looks similar
to the following:
Event ID:666
Source:MSExchangeMTA
Type:Warning
Category:Resource
Description:
The MTA work queue is backlogged with 600 messages in
the queue. [MTA SUBMIT 18 231] (14)
After the work queue diminishes in size, the MTA will log a warning with
the event ID 667 that looks similar to the following:
Event ID:667
Source:MSExchangeMTA
Type:Warning
Category:Resource
Description:
The MTA work queue backlog has subsided leaving 300 messages in
the queue. [MTA DISP:RESULT 23 234] (14)
The work queue alarm can be configured by using only the "Work queue alarm
on" registry value. When the "Work queue alarm off" registry value is not
present, the MTA will automatically substitute half the value specified in
the "Work queue alarm on" registry value for the "off" value, which uses
the 667 event to be triggered. The example events shown above illustrate
this configuration, where the "Work queue alarm off" value is not present
in the registry and the "Work queue alarm on" registry value has been set
to 600 decimal.
The "Work queue alarm off" registry value can be configured to log the 667
event at a different value if the administrator wants. For example, if the
"Work queue alarm off" registry value is set to a value of 0, the 667 event
will not be logged until the work queue has been emptied completely.
Another example would be to set the "Work queue alarm off" value to 100
decimal, which would result in the 667 event being logged when the work
queue diminishes to 100 messages. If the "Work queue alarm off" value is
set to a higher value than the "Work queue alarm on" value, the value
specified for "Work queue alarm off" will be ignored, and the default value
of half the "Work queue alarm on" value will be used instead.
The "Outbound queue alarm on" and "Outbound queue alarm off" registry
values work similarly to the work queue alarm settings. The outbound queue
alarm works independently from the work queue alarm. The outbound queue
alarm logs a 659 event ID when a queue reaches the specified limit. For
example, if the "Outbound queue alarm on" registry value is configured to
generate the 659 event when an outbound queue reaches 500 messages and an
X.400 connector becomes backlogged to 500 messages or more, an event
similar to the following will be logged in the application event log:
Event ID:659
Source:MSExchangeMTA
Type:Warning
Category:Resource
Description:
The queue for /O=MS/OU=GUITARS/CN=CONFIGURATION
/CN=CONNECTIONS/CN=X400 CONNECTOR TO BRASS_KITTEN
is backlogged with 500 messages in the queue.
[MTA GATEWAY 45 512] (14)
When the backlog subsides, a 660 event similar to the following will be
logged:
Event ID:660
Source:MSExchangeMTA
Type:Warning
Category:Resource
Description:
The queue backlog for /O=MICROSOFT/OU=GUITARS
/CN=CONFIGURATION/CN=CONNECTIONS/CN=X400 CONNECTOR TO
BRASS_KITTEN has subsided leaving 250 messages in the
queue. [MTA GATEWAY 45 512] (14)
The functionality described above is available in version 1459.39 or later
of the MTA.