XCCC: "Remote Contact Could Not Be Blocked" Error Message Occurs When You Try to Block a Remote Instant Messaging Contact (307003)

SYMPTOMS

If you run Exchange 2000 Setup with the /forestprep switch and the /domainprep switch, and then install only the Exchange System Management tools, you can deploy Exchange Server Instant Messaging before you deploy the rest of Exchange 2000. In this scenario, if two Instant Messaging contacts exist in same domain, these contacts can easily block each other. However, if the two contacts are in different domains, you may receive the following error message if you try to block the remote contact:

RemoteContact could not be blocked. Please try again later.

If you restart one of the Instant Messaging client computers (the blocker), the remote contact may be displayed as blocked.

If you perform a network trace, a generic "Internal server error 500" error message that includes a 80040932 error is displayed in the data section of the trace. You can also view the "Internal server error 500" error message in the Protocol log:

2001-08-30 15:43:25 135.109.14.214 NA01\ya1 135.17.163.93 80 ACL /instmsg/local/im.company.com/instmsg/aliases/user1 - 500 -

CAUSE

Because the System Attendant service is not installed, the Recipient Update Service (which runs as part of the System Attendant process) is not present. In the scenario that is described in the "Summary" section of this article, Instant Messaging servers are members of the Exchange Enterprise Servers group. The Recipient Update Service updates this group.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, use either of the following methods:

Use the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in to manually add each Instant Messaging server to the Exchange Enterprise Servers group.

-or-
Manually add the Instant Messaging servers to the Exchange Domain Servers group, and then add the Exchange Domain Servers group to the Exchange Enterprise Servers group if it is not already present.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about the Recipient Update Service and the Exchange Enterprise Servers group, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

296479 XADM: Requirements for Disabling the Recipient Update Service