How to use SMTP connectors to connect routing groups in Exchange 2000 Server (319407)

SUMMARY

You can use an SMTP connector to connect the Exchange 2000 computer to non-Exchange Server SMTP computers, such as computers on the Internet. You can also use an SMTP connector to connect Exchange Server routing groups in scenarios in which SMTP connectors are not suitable, for example, if the link between the routing groups is not permanent or if the link has to traverse the Internet. SMTP connectors are slightly more complex to configure than routing group connectors and do not automatically pass on Exchange Server link state information.

NOTE: This article does not describe how to configure an SMTP connector to deliver mail to the Internet. For more information about how to configure an SMTP connector to deliver mail to the Internet, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: back to the top

Requirements

The following list outlines the recommended hardware, software, network infrastructure, and service packs that you need:

• Microsoft Windows 2000 Server with Service Pack 2 (SP2)
• Active Directory
• Exchange Server 2000 with Service Pack 1 (SP1)
• At least two routing groups (each one must contain at least one computer that is running Exchange Server)

This article assumes that you are familiar with the following topics:

• Exchange System Manager
• The role of routing groups

back to the top

Preparations to Add an SMTP Connector

Before you implement an SMTP connector, you must perform the following tasks:

1. Configure Exchange 2000 so that routing groups (and administrative groups) are displayed in Exchange System Manager.
2. Add additional administrative groups if you require additional groups.
3. Add a second Exchange 2000 computer.
4. Make sure that you have at least two routing groups that contain at least one Exchange 2000 computer each.

You may also have to create a second SMTP virtual server. back to the top

How to Add the SMTP Connector

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. Right-click the Organization Name (Exchange) icon at the top of the tree in the left pane (where Organization Name is the name that you selected for your Exchange 2000 organization), and then click Properties.
3. Click Display administrative groups, click Display routing groups, and then click OK.
4. Restart Exchange System Manager, expand Administrative Groups in the left pane, and then expand the administrative group that you want to configure.
5. Expand the Routing Groups container, and then either create a new routing group or double-click a pre-existing routing group.
6. Right-click the Connectors container, point to New, and then click SMTP connector.
7. Type a name for this SMTP connector.
   
   Microsoft recommends that you use a descriptive name, such as "SMTP Connector for Paris and Boston Routing Groups."
8. Typically, SMTP connectors use DNS to deliver mail across the Internet. However, if you are using this SMTP connector only to link two Exchange 2000 routing groups, click Forward all mail through this connector to the following smart hosts, and then type the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the bridgehead server in the other routing group.
   
   If you do not click this option, you receive a message that states that you must specify a smart host.
9. Under Local bridgeheads, click Add, click the SMTP virtual servers that you want to act as local bridgeheads for this connector, and then click OK.
10. Click the Connected Routing Groups tab, click Add, and then select a remote routing group to which you want to connect.
11. On the General tab, select the administrative group and routing group combination to which you want to connect.
    
    NOTE: For Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 sites, you must add the name of the site manually.
12. Click the Routing Address tab, and then confirm that the e-mail domain is correct for the remote routing group.
13. Configure a cost.
    
    You can configure a cost from 1 to 100. Microsoft recommends that you configure a cost that reflects both the physical cost of delivery and the relative preference of using this connector over any other connector. By default, SMTP connectors are assigned the cost of 1, which makes them the most likely connector to be used. However, you may have routing group connectors, including X.400 or other connector types. Therefore, configure the cost of this link according the relative expense of using it.
14. Click OK, and then click OK.

NOTE: You must create the SMTP connector in the remote routing group manually.

back to the top

How to Configure the SMTP Connector

After you create the SMTP connector, configure the settings that you want to use:

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. Expand the Exchange 2000 hierarchy in the left pane until you find the Routing Groups container.
   
   If the Administrative Groups container is displayed, the Routing Groups container is in the respective administrative group.
3. Expand the Routing Groups container, and then double-click the routing group that contains the SMTP connector that you want to configure.
4. Right-click the SMTP connector that you want to configure, and then click Properties.
5. If you are routing any other mail types over this link, click the Address Space tab.
   
   If you are using this SMTP connector to route all messages to the Internet by using another Exchange 2000 routing group or site, add an address space of the SMTP type that has a wildcard character (*) for an address. To do so:
   1. Click Add, click SMTP, and then click OK.
   2. Type an e-mail domain, and then type a cost.
      
      NOTE: For the e-mail domain, type your own domain name if you want to use this connector to connect to another routing group and type the wildcard character to specify all domains.
   3. Click OK, and then add more address spaces if required.
6. Click the Delivery Restrictions tab, and then configure the users who can send mail by using this connector.
   
   All messages are accepted by default. To prevent users from sending mail by using this connector, add these users to the Reject messages from list. Alternatively, click Rejected, and then add users to the Accept messages from list.
7. To add a recipient from either the Accept or the Reject list, click Add, click the user or contact name that you want to accept or reject, and then click OK.
8. Click the Content Restrictions tab.
9. Under Allowed priorities, click the message priority levels that are allowed through this connector.
   
   If you use an SMTP connector, you may not want to restrict usage in this manner because SMTP connectors generally run across reasonably fast, permanent links. To prevent messages of a certain priority level from using this connector, click to clear the appropriate check box.
10. Click Allowed Types, and then click either System messages or Non-system messages to indicate the types of messages that are sent over this connector.
    
    Because this SMTP connector will be exclusively used to link Exchange 2000 routing groups, you want both system messages and non-system messages to traverse this connector.
11. Click to select the Allowed sizes check box, and then type the upper limit in kilobytes (KB) for messages that propagate over this connector.
    
    Oversize messages are either sent over another connector or are returned with a non-delivery report (NDR).
12. Click the Delivery Options tab, and then specify the time that you want the connector to run.
    
    The default setting is Specify when messages are sent through this connector with the delivery frequency set to Always run. Alternatively, you can either click a pre-configured time from the drop-down list box or click Customize to specify the times that you want the connector to deliver messages. If you use an SMTP connector, you may not want to restrict delivery times unless either the physical connection itself is very expensive or the bandwidth is restricted.
13. To configure different settings for oversized values:
    1. Click Use different delivery times for oversize messages, and then specify a value for oversize messages, for example, 1000 KB.
    2. Under Connection time, either click a time or click Customize.
    3. Type the times when you want to deliver oversize mail, and then click OK.
       
       NOTE: You do not have to configure a size value for oversize mail that exceeds the Allowed Sizes setting on the Content Restrictions tab.
14. Click to select the Queue mail for remote triggered delivery check box if you are configuring another computer to dial in to this computer and request extended TURN (ETRN) or TURN commands to start delivering mail.
15. Click Add, and then add the user account that this computer uses to authenticate and start the download process.
16. Click the Advanced tab.
    
    Use this tab to configure settings if the computer that is running this connector is dialing in to another server to collect queued mail.
    
    NOTE: If you click to select the Send HELO instead of EHLO check box, you cannot configure anymore settings on this tab. If you use HELO commands, you cannot use TURN or ETRN commands. If you do not send an ETRN or TURN dequeuing command, do not configure any more settings on this tab.
17. To specify that dequeuing requests are sent with the message, click Request ETRN/TURN when sending messages.
18. To request dequeuing from a server other than the one to which the message is sent, click Request ETRN/TURN from a different server, type a server name (use the FQDN), and then specify a connection time.
19. To specify the domains for which the ETRN command is issued, under Issue ETRN, click Domains, click Add, select the local domain for which you want to collect mail, and then click OK.
20. To use the TURN command, click Issue TURN.
    
    However, if you use TURN command, you must use authentication. To do so, click Outbound Security, click either Basic Authentication or Integrated Windows Authentication, and then click OK.
21. Click OK to accept the changes.

back to the top

How to Confirm That You Configured the SMTP Connector Correctly

To confirm that the SMTP connector is working as expected:

1. Start Exchange System Manager.
2. Click Tools in the left pane.
3. Expand Tools, expand Monitoring, expand Status, and then expand Status.
   
   Confirm that two objects are listed for each SMTP connector (one for each end). The Status column indicates the current state of the link.

Additionally, you can configure the Notification functionality so that you get a message or a script-based notification if one of the connectors stops responding.

back to the top

Troubleshooting

You may have issues configuring SMTP connectors if you have not performed the preparation tasks. You must have two or more routing groups already configured and each routing group must have at least one instance of an SMTP virtual server in it.

If DNS name resolution is not working as expected, you cannot connect your two routing groups.

back to the top