Exchange Server Forums

Could not deliver the message in the time limit specified

Users viewing this topic: none

Logged in as: Guest

Printable Version

All Forums >> [Microsoft Exchange 2003] >> General >> Could not deliver the message in the time limit specified

Page: [1] 2 next > >>

Message

<< Older Topic Newer Topic >>

Could not deliver the message in the time limit specified - 22.Aug.2003 10:58:00 PM

Ricci

Posts: 23
Joined: 30.Jan.2001
From: Ware, Herts, England
Status: offline

I have a problem with some mails. They get stuck in my smtp queue and eventuallu I get the ndr with: "Could not deliver the message in the time limit specified. Please retry or contact your administrator. <riccisoft.co.uk #4.4.7>"

Running Exchange 2003, on Windows 2003. Connects to internet through separate ISA2000 server.

I have checked DNS settings at: http://www.dnsreport.com/

Even got domain company to recreate my mx records to clear a few warnings..

Most mail is delivered with no problem, just some domains do not work. (samsung.com, ntlworld.com,....)

Here is the strange thing, if I telnet from my exchange server to the server that is not accepting my mail and manually type the smtp commands... The message is accepted and gets delivered !

So looks like my E2K3 server has the problem "[Confused]"

I have googled for an answer (which returns 1000s of hits) but have not been able to find a solution.

Any ideas ?

Post #: 1

Featured Links*

RE: Could not deliver the message in the time limit sp... - 25.Aug.2003 7:08:00 PM

AMathewsFL

Posts: 42
Joined: 25.Aug.2003
From: Florida
Status: offline

Do you have "external" DNS servers setup in the properties of the Exchange 2003 SMTP Virtual Server?

Sometime I believe problems can arise if you dont.

Best to put in ISPs DNS servers in this area AFAIK.

Lemme know,
ADAM

(in reply to Ricci)

Post #: 2

RE: Could not deliver the message in the time limit sp... - 25.Aug.2003 8:52:00 PM

Henrik Walther

Posts: 6928
Joined: 21.Nov.2002
From: Copenhagen, Denmark
Status: offline

quote:
Originally posted by AMathewsFL:
Do you have "external" DNS servers setup in the properties of the Exchange 2003 SMTP Virtual Server?

Sometime I believe problems can arise if you dont.

Best to put in ISPs DNS servers in this area

You don't have to type DNS addresses of an external ISP in the SMTP Virtual Server properties, you should only configure DNS addresses in TCP/IP settings of the respective LAN adapter (normally you specify the IP address oof one or more DNS servers for the AD eenvironment)

Never specified IP's in SMTP Virtual Server properties in any of the installations I've done... [Roll Eyes]

And they have not had this issue.

Regards

(in reply to Ricci)

Post #: 3

RE: Could not deliver the message in the time limit sp... - 25.Aug.2003 9:57:00 PM

Ricci

Posts: 23
Joined: 30.Jan.2001
From: Ware, Herts, England
Status: offline

quote:
Originally posted by AMathewsFL:
Do you have "external" DNS servers setup in the properties of the Exchange 2003 SMTP Virtual Server?

I have tried with and without, makes no difference [Frown]

(in reply to Ricci)

Post #: 4

RE: Could not deliver the message in the time limit sp... - 25.Aug.2003 11:41:00 PM

Henrik Walther

Posts: 6928
Joined: 21.Nov.2002
From: Copenhagen, Denmark
Status: offline

Is it all mail send to the mentioned domains (samsung.com, ntlworld.com) which are not delivered or just some ?

Normally that NDR code means the remote server didn't respond to resolve of domain, could f.ex be a very busy server which in periods can't resolve for all senders.

Regards

(in reply to Ricci)

Post #: 5

RE: Could not deliver the message in the time limit sp... - 26.Aug.2003 3:01:00 AM

Ricci

Posts: 23
Joined: 30.Jan.2001
From: Ware, Herts, England
Status: offline

It appears to be all mail to the domains.

Is there anyway to log the exact smtp commands that exchange is sending?

I don't understand why I can manually send from the same box [Frown]

(in reply to Ricci)

Post #: 6

RE: Could not deliver the message in the time limit sp... - 26.Aug.2003 6:49:00 PM

AMathewsFL

Posts: 42
Joined: 25.Aug.2003
From: Florida
Status: offline

Henrik I am researching my use of those Ext DNS entries and I will comment later on that...

Ricci ... do you have reverse DNS setup correctly...

(in reply to Ricci)

Post #: 7

RE: Could not deliver the message in the time limit sp... - 26.Aug.2003 6:59:00 PM

AMathewsFL

Posts: 42
Joined: 25.Aug.2003
From: Florida
Status: offline

Click Configure to configure external DNS servers for this virtual server.

You must configure external DNS servers for this virtual server if you are running separate internal DNS servers for your Local Area Network (LAN). If you add one or more external Internet DNS servers, you enable your SMTP virtual servers to resolve and deliver to external domains. To add an external DNS server, click Add, type the IP address of the external DNS servers, and then click OK. Add a second DNS server for redundancy, and then click OK three times.

Tell me if this seems applicable...

Having a large number of internal hosts/workstations you may not want your Internal DNS servers responing to requests for external/Internet IPs...

Going further in this scenario... you might be using a proxy server such as ISA Server thereby not requiring an individual desktop machine to resolve Internet domains.

Therefore you might require ISP DNS entries in exchange to allow for proper resolving.

Am I correct in this ?

(in reply to Ricci)

Post #: 8

RE: Could not deliver the message in the time limit sp... - 27.Aug.2003 4:38:00 PM

gagnec

Posts: 14
Joined: 5.Aug.2003
From: Massachusetts
Status: offline

There shouldn't be any need for configuring an external DNS server, as long as your internal DNS is configured correctly. The internal DNS server should do the look up of any external address it does not contain in it's cache.

When you used telnet to connect to the external mail host and send a message, did you connect via host name or IP address??

(in reply to Ricci)

Post #: 9

RE: Could not deliver the message in the time limit sp... - 27.Aug.2003 7:43:00 PM

Ricci

Posts: 23
Joined: 30.Jan.2001
From: Ware, Herts, England
Status: offline

I used the host name after doing a nslookup for the mx record.

As far as I know my DNS is working perfectly, no problems resolving external addresses.

[ August 27, 2003, 07:44 PM: Message edited by: Ricci ]

(in reply to Ricci)

Post #: 10

RE: Could not deliver the message in the time limit sp... - 27.Aug.2003 8:14:00 PM

AMathewsFL

Posts: 42
Joined: 25.Aug.2003
From: Florida
Status: offline

Ricci...

You may not have seen this question in the mess I posted earlier...

Do you have reverse DNS properly setup ?

Have you run www.dnsreport.com on your domain to very it is following standards...

Some servers check reverse DNS records for verification and if yours does not pass they will not accept mail...

Not sure why the telnet would still work though...

Under the options for SMTP Virtual Server near where it talks about External DNS... did you change the "masquerade" option by typing in a hostname there ? ? ?

(Sorry I am not able to look at my E2K3 server to verify the exact name of these windows)

ADAM

[ August 27, 2003, 08:30 PM: Message edited by: AMathewsFL ]

(in reply to Ricci)

Post #: 11

RE: Could not deliver the message in the time limit sp... - 28.Aug.2003 1:30:00 AM

Ricci

Posts: 23
Joined: 30.Jan.2001
From: Ware, Herts, England
Status: offline

Have run report from dnsreport and all passes :-)

Have not set a masquerade domain.

(in reply to Ricci)

Post #: 12

RE: Could not deliver the message in the time limit sp... - 28.Aug.2003 2:15:00 PM

AMathewsFL

Posts: 42
Joined: 25.Aug.2003
From: Florida
Status: offline

OK. All of your mail server(s) have reverse DNS (PTR) entries. RFC1912 2.1 says you should have a reverse DNS for all your mail servers. It is strongly urged that you have them, as many mailservers will not accept mail from mailservers with no reverse DNS entry. The reverse DNS entries are:

So This is the response you got in the MX section of the DNSREPORT ?

Is your internal domain name the same as your external domain name ?

(in reply to Ricci)

Post #: 13

RE: Could not deliver the message in the time limit sp... - 28.Aug.2003 2:45:00 PM

Ricci

Posts: 23
Joined: 30.Jan.2001
From: Ware, Herts, England
Status: offline

My mail server passes all items in the dnsreport.

My internal domain name is the same as my external domain name.

[ August 28, 2003, 04:47 PM: Message edited by: Ricci ]

(in reply to Ricci)

Post #: 14

RE: Could not deliver the message in the time limit sp... - 28.Aug.2003 6:01:00 PM

AMathewsFL

Posts: 42
Joined: 25.Aug.2003
From: Florida
Status: offline

Are you running "split brain DNS"

(in reply to Ricci)

Post #: 15

RE: Could not deliver the message in the time limit sp... - 28.Aug.2003 7:09:00 PM

AMathewsFL

Posts: 42
Joined: 25.Aug.2003
From: Florida
Status: offline

Ricci...

Why do mail and mail2 both go to the same IP ?

Doesnt seem right to me...

(in reply to Ricci)

Post #: 16

RE: Could not deliver the message in the time limit sp... - 28.Aug.2003 7:14:00 PM

AMathewsFL

Posts: 42
Joined: 25.Aug.2003
From: Florida
Status: offline

mail.riccisoft.co.uk: 220 riccisoft.co.uk Microsoft ESMTP MAIL Service, Version:

Do you see this line ricci...

See when I telnet on 25 to mail.riccisoft.co.uk

the server answers as riccisoft.co.uk

I would fix that to start.

you set this in the masquerade section... when I get home tonight I will give you more specifics...

(in reply to Ricci)

Post #: 17

RE: Could not deliver the message in the time limit sp... - 28.Aug.2003 8:48:00 PM

Ricci

Posts: 23
Joined: 30.Jan.2001
From: Ware, Herts, England
Status: offline

As far as I know that is not a problem, dnsreports passes it. I will set the masquerade anyway but not sure it will make any difference.

mail and mail2 point at the same server as there is only one server.

(in reply to Ricci)

Post #: 18

RE: Could not deliver the message in the time limit sp... - 29.Aug.2003 2:53:00 AM

AMathewsFL

Posts: 42
Joined: 25.Aug.2003
From: Florida
Status: offline

Ricci,

If they both point to the same box I do not understand the reason for both of them...

The only reason you have two is for redundancy which you clearly dont have...

I believe you are complicating matters and you should remove all references to mail2 from DNS.

You have improper reverse DNS...

DNSReports.com does not check for the accuracy of the reverse DNS ... it only checks that it exists.

(in reply to Ricci)

Post #: 19

RE: Could not deliver the message in the time limit sp... - 29.Aug.2003 3:07:00 AM

AMathewsFL

Posts: 42
Joined: 25.Aug.2003
From: Florida
Status: offline

I apologize Ricci... its not the area called masquerade... its under that...

the FQDN is what needs to be a proper DNS entry that corresponds to the IP address that outbound emails goes through...

Wish you weren't in the UK makes it harder to use a phone call to fix this stuff... Sometimes I find it hard to use email to get the point across quickly and accurately.

ADAM

(in reply to Ricci)

Post #: 20