XFOR: LinkAge Directory Exchange Agent or Directory Exchange Man (175387)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Exchange Server 4.0 SP5
  • Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5
  • Microsoft Exchange Server 5.0
This article was previously published under Q175387

SYMPTOMS

Attempts to propagate updates results in the Directory Exchange Agent (DXA) or Directory Exchange Manager (DXM) consistently timing out. This is indicated by the following error messages in the log: "Agent has timed out," "Permanent error has occurred," or "Agent or manager will disable sending or receiving now." Another symptom is, in Process Manager, the current activity of the DXM or the DXA process is "Processing updates" or "Generating updates for an abnormal amount of time.

CAUSE

The DXM or DXA cannot process the Message Information File (MIF) or update request. Causes are usually a malformed or corrupted .rdy file, MIF, or MIF Partition Block (.mpb) file (see the More Information section). If the files are indeed corrupted and the process can determine this, the file will be moved to the badmif queue. If the file cannot be processed and cannot be moved, it will become stuck in the queue. If the file becomes stuck in the queue, additional update requests can be initiated, however, they will not be processed because the agent or manager will continually try to process the first file.

WORKAROUND

Delete and/or rename the problem files. These files are resident in the file-based queues in the Linkage\Q\Dxanotes.in, Dxm.in, Router.in, or Dxamex.in queue.

MORE INFORMATION

The following is excerpted from the LinkAge self-study guide.

LinkAge Directory Exchange (LDE) Queues

Directory synchronization between Notes and Exchange uses four file-based queues, Router.in, DXM.in, DXANOTES.in and DXAMEX.in.

All communications between the DXM and the DXAs are first placed in Router.in as .RDY files. Router.in places the .RDY file in the appropriate DXA queue (e.g. DXANOTES.in, DXAMEX.in, and DXM.in).

For example, when the DXM requests an incremental update from the Notes DXA, the request is formulated by the DXM into .RDY file; a process then places this file into Router.in. The Router.in process is activated by work items (.RDY files) in its queue. These items are placed into the appropriate queue - in this case DXANOTES.in. Each DXA periodically monitors its queue and in the event that a work item arrives in the queue, the DXA processes the request (in this case, for an incremental update). Next, the DXA queries its native mail system, gathers any updates and/or deletions, creates another .RDY file, as well as a .MIF file, which contains the actual directory updates. The .RDY file is forwarded to Router.in; Router.in forwards it to DXM.in. The .MIF file is forwarded into the LinkAge\q\archive directory.

The .RDY file that is sent back to the DXM is a work order file, which informs the DXM that DXANOTES has completed the request. The .RDY file also contains pointers to the actual information (directory updates) contained within .MIF files. Each .MIF file can hold up 9999 entries. Therefore, in a dirsync cycle with 25,000 updates, there will be 3 .MIF files. (The number of entries a .MIF can hold can be changed by updating a parameter in the LINKAGE.INI file. See the LINKAGE.INI file online help for more information.)

Once processing of the transactions has begun, the .RDY file becomes a MIF Partition Block (.MPB) file. .MPB files are used to organize and track the .MIF files in a given set of directory updates while processing is taking place.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:8/17/2005
Keywords:kbprb KB175387
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