Hi,

I manage two exchange servers in two separate domains \ forests. Domain A works great. Domain B sends and receives fine but OOF messages are not being delivered either internally nor externally.

I have confirmed OOF is correctly enabled on both servers.

[PS] C:\>Get-RemoteDomain | fl AllowedOOFType, AutoReplyEnabled, AutoForwardEnabled

AllowedOOFType     : ExternalLegacy
AutoReplyEnabled   : True
AutoForwardEnabled : True

When I run a MessgaeTrackingLog query on both servers specifically looking at a senders message log and isolating the message subject which is prefixed with "Automatic Reply:" the logs are vastly different.

The working server in Domain A has usually between 10 and 11 steps for processing messages prefixed with "Automatic Reply" but the dysfunctional domain B only ever has 2 steps for messages prefixed with "Automatic Reply"!?!?

Below is the working Exchange server in Domain A - DomainA-EX01 log data...

Timestamp	    ClientHostname	                EventId	         Source	        TotalBytes   Sender	                   Recipients
2015/08/14 16:44		                        RECEIVE	         MAILBOXRULE	7096	          user@domainA.com	   abc@xyz.com
2015/08/14 16:44		                        HAREDIRECTFAIL   SMTP	        9000	          user@domainA.com	   abc@xyz.com
2015/08/14 16:44    DomainA-EX01.domain.local           RECEIVE	         SMTP	        9000	          user@domainA.com	   abc@xyz.com
2015/08/14 16:44		                        RECEIVE	         MAILBOXRULE	7112	          user@domainA.com	   abc@xyz.com
2015/08/14 16:44    DomainA-EX01	                DROP	         ROUTING	8996	          user@domainA.com	   abc@xyz.com
2015/08/14 16:44    DomainA-EX01	                AGENTINFO	 AGENT	        8996	          user@domainA.com	   abc@xyz.com
2015/08/14 16:44		                        HAREDIRECTFAIL   SMTP	        9016	          user@domainA.com	   abc@xyz.com
2015/08/14 16:44    DomainA-EX01.domain.local	        RECEIVE	         SMTP	        9016	          user@domainA.com	   abc@xyz.com
2015/08/14 16:44		                        TRANSFER	 ROUTING	8189	          user@domainA.com	   abc@xyz.com
2015/08/14 16:44    DomainA-EX01	                AGENTINFO	 AGENT	        11937	          user@domainA.com	   abc@xyz.com
2015/08/14 16:44    DomainA-EX01	                SEND	         SMTP	        8500	          user@domainA.com	   abc@xyz.com

Below is the server not sending OOF messages in Domain B - DomainB-EX01 log data...

Timestamp	    ClientHostname	        EventId	         Source	        TotalBytes   Sender	                Recipients
2015/08/14 13:26		                RECEIVE	         MAILBOXRULE	5042	          user@domainB.com qre@lfd.com
2015/08/14 13:26		                RECEIVE	         MAILBOXRULE	5054	          user@domainB.com qre@lfd.com

Note the vast difference is the EventId and Source transactions of log data. Can somebody please talk me through these steps and explain why they are missing on the dysfunctional exchange server?

Both servers also sit behind the same firewall and no MTA is working on the firewall \ proxy so I am ruling that out.

Thanks in advance...

durrie

• Edited by durrie 21 hours 4 minutes ago

Check to see whether replies are allowed globally:

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa997857(v=exchg.150).aspx

Or on a per-user basis:

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa995906(v=exchg.141).aspx

Hi Ed,

Thanks for the reply, This is driving me insane and making my users pretty grumpy!

I may be wrong here but if I run Get-RemoteDomain | fl it shows the global setting is enforced the ExternalLegacy...

If I put my OOF on via Outlook and when I run Get-MailboxAutoReplyConfiguration against my exchange identity on the exchange it shows as Scheduled. So on the surface it seems the system is working.

I've ensured with the Firewall guys there is nothing blocking their side, I've ensured the ESET on the Exchange box is not scanning the Exchange Program folder.

The only difference between my dysfunctional and working exchange box is patch levels. The dysfunctional one is fully patched with 'Important Updates' and the working box still requires KB3040856 - Security Update for Exchange Server 2013 CU7