Post by Paul C on Jul 21, 2012 17:51:05 GMT 5.5
Automatic Notifications (out of office and other notifications) to External users
If you have configured automatic delivery of out-of-office messages or any other automatic notification but users outside your organization are not getting this auto emails, this article will have to understand and get it working.
In Exchange 2010/2007 Microsoft has changed the behavior of automatic server based notifications, especially “Out of Office” replies to rely on RFC 2298. As per RFC 2298 Message Disposition Notification (MDN) messages should be sent with a blank sender. The OOF reply messages are Message Disposition Notifications. This means that the HUB Server in your organization replaces the senders name with a blank one while transferring it to the internet.
Scenario and Behaviour:
If you are running a native Exchange Server 2010 based email infrastructure you might have never heard of this issue. Native Exchange Server 2010 means you are running the Exchange Edge Server Role for mailbox delivery and acceptance. Exchange Edge Role has been designed to support this specific behavior and to interact as expected.
If you are running an Exchange Server 2010 Organization and are using Email Relay Servers of other vendors or as “Software as a Service” delivered from a cloud provider, your users might face this behavior. And if you read correctly I wrote “might”, this means that in one configuration it might work properly and in another one, it does not work at all.
Troubleshooting:
Configuration of Exchange Server “Out of Office”
To configure the default behavior for automatic system notifications, you would have to configure the following setting:
This setting needs to be configured per remote domain you are supporting. If you have chosen “Allow external out-of-office Message only”, the “out of office” MDN should leave your Exchange Organization.
OR
you can choose “Allow external out-of-office Message only
The configuration from the PowerShell is as follows
Configuration of Anti-Virus Mail Scanners
(Iron Port, Message Labs, Symantec Mail Security, McAfee, SurfControl..etc)
Nearly every edition of Anti-Virus Mail Scanner has on option to disallow any emails with an “empty sender or return path”. So, depending on what scanner you are using, the option might be in a different location, but in general it is available.
Configuration of Exchange Server Transport Rules
Another configuration that might kill your MDNs is an Exchange Server Transport Rule. To check out if that is the case, then you should disable all of them and afterwards enable one by one with tests in between.
Exchange Server Log Files
If you still have not found a solution; you should have a look at your log file configuration. If it is still disabled to log incoming and outgoing traffic on your Hub Server, you should enable it as follows:
To configure the same setting in the GUI, you should use the following:
When analyzing the log files, you should look for the following layout:
23T10:50:22.735Z,external,08CDB56C9D00D84A,19,z.y.x.w:20630,w.x.y.z:25,<,550 Requested action not taken: mailbox unavailable
The above clearly indicates that you are running into the same issue of RFC2298.
Workarounds:
Instead of server Outlook “Out of Office” use Automatic Reply
Step 1: Create a message template
Tip Download a formal or informal out of office message template from Microsoft Office.com.
1.On the Home tab, in the New group, click New E-mail.
2.In the message body, type the message that you want to send as your automated reply.
3.In the message window, click the File tab, and then click Save As.
4.In the Save As dialog box, in the Save as type list, click Outlook Template (*.oft).
5.In the File name box, type a name for your message template, and then click Save.
Step 2: Create a rule to automatically reply to new email messages
Do one of the following:
1.On the Home tab, in the Move group, click Rules, and then click Manage Rules & Alerts.
2.In the Rules and Alerts dialog box, click New Rule.
3.Under Start from a blank rule, click Apply rules on messages I receive, and then click Next.
4.Under Which condition(s) do you want to check?, select any criteria that you want, and then click Next. Typically, you don’t need to select any items.
5.Under What do you want to do with the message?, select the reply using a specific template check box.
6.Under Step 2: Edit the rule description (click an underlined value), click a specific template.
7.In the Select a Reply Template dialog box, in the Look In box, click User Templates in File System.
8.Select the template that you created in the previous section or one that you have created or downloaded, and then click Open.
9.Click Next.
10.Select the check boxes for any exceptions to the auto-reply rule. It is common not to add any exceptions.
11.Click Next.
12.Under Step 1: Specify a name for this rule, type a name for the auto-reply rule, and then click Finish.
Important For the Rules Wizard to send a reply automatically, Outlook must be running and configured to check periodically for new messages.
The reply using a specific template rule in the Rules Wizard sends your automated reply only one time to each sender during a single session. A session is every time that you start Outlook until you exit the application. This rule prevents Outlook from sending repetitive replies to a single sender from whom you receive multiple messages. During a session, Outlook keeps track of the list of users to whom it has responded. If you exit and then restart Outlook, it is considered a new session and the list of the senders who have received automated replies is reset.
Tip Consider creating an Outlook task or to-do reminder to help you remember to turn off this rule when you want to stop sending automatic replies.
After you are back in office and wnat to Turn off automatic replies
To turn off a rule that is sending automatic replies, do the following:
1.On the Home tab, in the Move group, click Rules, and then click Manage Rules & Alerts.
2.On the E-mail Rules tab, under Rule, clear the check box for the rule that you want to turn off.
Switch Relay Provider
Another – perhaps more complex – solution will be to switch to a SMTP relay provider that supports “Out of Office” messages to the Internet.
Implement Exchange Server Edge Roles
The third – perhaps most complex – solution is to switch you currently existing Relay Servers to Exchange Edge Servers. As per technical call, the Exchange Team in Redmond promises that “Out Of Office” replies are being transferred to the Internet in a successful way. And it is not only a promise; a configuration change in the existing Network Infrastructure at some customers did solve the issue, too.
The statement of a Customer Call to Microsoft’s Product Support ended as follows:
“The Exchange edge server will not reject the OOF message as the edge server will be incorporated into the Exchange organization. The HUB server will transfer the OFF messages in the address of OFF mailbox to the edge server and the edge server will then send the messages with empty return path e.g. blank sender, MAIL FROM: <> “null” to Internet.”
If you do not like running Exchange Edge Servers, you should switch to a software or hardware solution supporting MDNs to the Internet or switch your Cloud Provider to another one supporting this functionality
If you have configured automatic delivery of out-of-office messages or any other automatic notification but users outside your organization are not getting this auto emails, this article will have to understand and get it working.
In Exchange 2010/2007 Microsoft has changed the behavior of automatic server based notifications, especially “Out of Office” replies to rely on RFC 2298. As per RFC 2298 Message Disposition Notification (MDN) messages should be sent with a blank sender. The OOF reply messages are Message Disposition Notifications. This means that the HUB Server in your organization replaces the senders name with a blank one while transferring it to the internet.
Scenario and Behaviour:
If you are running a native Exchange Server 2010 based email infrastructure you might have never heard of this issue. Native Exchange Server 2010 means you are running the Exchange Edge Server Role for mailbox delivery and acceptance. Exchange Edge Role has been designed to support this specific behavior and to interact as expected.
If you are running an Exchange Server 2010 Organization and are using Email Relay Servers of other vendors or as “Software as a Service” delivered from a cloud provider, your users might face this behavior. And if you read correctly I wrote “might”, this means that in one configuration it might work properly and in another one, it does not work at all.
Troubleshooting:
- Configuration of Exchange Server “Out of Office”
- Configuration of Anti-Virus Mail Scanners
- Configuration of Exchange Server Transport Rules
- Exchange Server Log Files
Configuration of Exchange Server “Out of Office”
To configure the default behavior for automatic system notifications, you would have to configure the following setting:
This setting needs to be configured per remote domain you are supporting. If you have chosen “Allow external out-of-office Message only”, the “out of office” MDN should leave your Exchange Organization.
Set-RemoteDomain -AllowedOOFType 'ExternalLegacy' -Identity 'Default'
OR
you can choose “Allow external out-of-office Message only
The configuration from the PowerShell is as follows
Set-RemoteDomain -AllowedOOFType 'External' -Identity 'Default'
Configuration of Anti-Virus Mail Scanners
(Iron Port, Message Labs, Symantec Mail Security, McAfee, SurfControl..etc)
Nearly every edition of Anti-Virus Mail Scanner has on option to disallow any emails with an “empty sender or return path”. So, depending on what scanner you are using, the option might be in a different location, but in general it is available.
Configuration of Exchange Server Transport Rules
Another configuration that might kill your MDNs is an Exchange Server Transport Rule. To check out if that is the case, then you should disable all of them and afterwards enable one by one with tests in between.
Exchange Server Log Files
If you still have not found a solution; you should have a look at your log file configuration. If it is still disabled to log incoming and outgoing traffic on your Hub Server, you should enable it as follows:
Set-ReceiveConnector “Connector Name” -ProtocolLoggingLevel verbose
To configure the same setting in the GUI, you should use the following:
When analyzing the log files, you should look for the following layout:
23T10:50:22.735Z,external,08CDB56C9D00D84A,19,z.y.x.w:20630,w.x.y.z:25,<,550 Requested action not taken: mailbox unavailable
The above clearly indicates that you are running into the same issue of RFC2298.
Workarounds:
- Use Outlook “out of office”
- Switch Relay Provider
- Implement Exchange Server Edge Roles
Instead of server Outlook “Out of Office” use Automatic Reply
Step 1: Create a message template
Tip Download a formal or informal out of office message template from Microsoft Office.com.
1.On the Home tab, in the New group, click New E-mail.
2.In the message body, type the message that you want to send as your automated reply.
3.In the message window, click the File tab, and then click Save As.
4.In the Save As dialog box, in the Save as type list, click Outlook Template (*.oft).
5.In the File name box, type a name for your message template, and then click Save.
Step 2: Create a rule to automatically reply to new email messages
Do one of the following:
1.On the Home tab, in the Move group, click Rules, and then click Manage Rules & Alerts.
2.In the Rules and Alerts dialog box, click New Rule.
3.Under Start from a blank rule, click Apply rules on messages I receive, and then click Next.
4.Under Which condition(s) do you want to check?, select any criteria that you want, and then click Next. Typically, you don’t need to select any items.
5.Under What do you want to do with the message?, select the reply using a specific template check box.
6.Under Step 2: Edit the rule description (click an underlined value), click a specific template.
7.In the Select a Reply Template dialog box, in the Look In box, click User Templates in File System.
8.Select the template that you created in the previous section or one that you have created or downloaded, and then click Open.
9.Click Next.
10.Select the check boxes for any exceptions to the auto-reply rule. It is common not to add any exceptions.
11.Click Next.
12.Under Step 1: Specify a name for this rule, type a name for the auto-reply rule, and then click Finish.
Important For the Rules Wizard to send a reply automatically, Outlook must be running and configured to check periodically for new messages.
The reply using a specific template rule in the Rules Wizard sends your automated reply only one time to each sender during a single session. A session is every time that you start Outlook until you exit the application. This rule prevents Outlook from sending repetitive replies to a single sender from whom you receive multiple messages. During a session, Outlook keeps track of the list of users to whom it has responded. If you exit and then restart Outlook, it is considered a new session and the list of the senders who have received automated replies is reset.
Tip Consider creating an Outlook task or to-do reminder to help you remember to turn off this rule when you want to stop sending automatic replies.
After you are back in office and wnat to Turn off automatic replies
To turn off a rule that is sending automatic replies, do the following:
1.On the Home tab, in the Move group, click Rules, and then click Manage Rules & Alerts.
2.On the E-mail Rules tab, under Rule, clear the check box for the rule that you want to turn off.
Switch Relay Provider
Another – perhaps more complex – solution will be to switch to a SMTP relay provider that supports “Out of Office” messages to the Internet.
Implement Exchange Server Edge Roles
The third – perhaps most complex – solution is to switch you currently existing Relay Servers to Exchange Edge Servers. As per technical call, the Exchange Team in Redmond promises that “Out Of Office” replies are being transferred to the Internet in a successful way. And it is not only a promise; a configuration change in the existing Network Infrastructure at some customers did solve the issue, too.
The statement of a Customer Call to Microsoft’s Product Support ended as follows:
“The Exchange edge server will not reject the OOF message as the edge server will be incorporated into the Exchange organization. The HUB server will transfer the OFF messages in the address of OFF mailbox to the edge server and the edge server will then send the messages with empty return path e.g. blank sender, MAIL FROM: <> “null” to Internet.”
If you do not like running Exchange Edge Servers, you should switch to a software or hardware solution supporting MDNs to the Internet or switch your Cloud Provider to another one supporting this functionality