Exchange 2000 Server Service Pack 3 Has Arrived!

It’s been over seven months since the release of Exchange 2000 SP2 and in that time Exchange Admins have clamored for fixes to fix the fixes in SP2.  It’s no secret that SP2 was not a favorite install of many Exchange Admins, while many others installed it and have had no problems.  Fortunately, I am among the group that has had no problems with SP2, but then again each situation is different depending on which of the many ways you have deployed and configured Exchange 2000 Server.  Let’s take a quick look at what’s going in SP3.  In a later article I will take a more detailed look into specifics, but for right now I am just going to cover the highlights and basic information.  Oh yeah, before I get any further, you can get Exchange 2000 SP3 here.

SP3 Upgrade Concerns

As you might expect, there are some concerns associated with upgrading Exchange 2000 Servers to SP3.  The most pertinent concerns are:

·          Windows 2000 SP2 or SP3 (not yet released as of this writing) must be installed on the server that you are installing Exchange 2000 SP3.

·          You can run Exchange 2000 SP3 on Windows 2000 SP3 servers in Windows .NET Server domains with Windows .NET Server domain controllers.

·          You cannot run Exchange 2000 SP3 on servers running Windows .NET Server.  This will require the next version of Exchange Server, code-named Titanium.

·          In order to deploy Exchange 2000 SP3, you will require Exchange Full Administrator permissions at the Organization level or the Administrative Group level.

·          In order to deploy Exchange 2000 SP3 on a clustered solution, you will require Exchange Full Administrator permissions at the Organization level.

·          In order to deploy Exchange 2000 SP3 on a server acting as an Exchange Key Management server, you will require Enterprise Administrator and Exchange Full Administrator permissions at the Organization level.

·          In order to deploy Exchange 2000 SP3 on a computer that has only the Exchange System Manager installed, you will require only Local Machine Administrator permissions.

Post SP2 Hot Fixes

From the Microsoft Web site, you can see that the list of Post SP2 Hot Fixes for Exchange 2000 Server is quite extensive.  It’s no where near as long as the list of fixes for something like Windows 2000 or Windows XP, but it’s still pretty long in its own right.  This list is as July 19, 2002 and you can pretty much bet that all of these issues have been addressed in SP3.

·          XADM: A Memory Leak in Store.exe Degrades Performance (Q322125)

·          XADM: A Message Tracking Log Is Not Generated After You Restart the Server (Q319866)

·          XADM: The Exchange 2000 Migration Wizard Does Not Work When You Migrate Exchange Server 5.5 users, and an Event ID 7017 or 7048 Error Message Is Logged (Q318379)

·          XADM: An Incorrect Time Zone Setting Is Displayed in the OWA Options After You Upgrade from Exchange 2000 SP1 (Q319606)

·          XWEB: You Cannot Create an Appointment That Starts or Ends From 12:01 P.M. Through 12:59 P.M. in a Japanese-Language Environment (Q313977)

·          XADM: A Front-End Server May Use 100 Percent CPU When Using SSL (Q321134)

·          XADM: “GetAssociatedAppointment” Creates Duplicate Attachments (Q314606)

·          XWEB: HTTP/1.1 500 Internal Server Error Occurs When You Use Older Browsers to View Free/Busy Information (Q316728)

·          XADM: Canceled Calendar Items in a Notes R4 Calendar Are Migrated to Exchange 2000 (Q320371)

·          XCCC: An External Member of a Distribution List Is Not Displayed in OWA If the Distribution List Was Created by Using the Outlook Object Model (Q321427)

·          XADM: You Cannot Perform a Check Names Query Against a Front-End Exchange Computer (Q319175)

·          XADM: Message Tracking Error Message: Check to See That the Microsoft Exchange Management Service Is Started on the Exchange 2000 Server (Q319769)

·          XCLN: The Exchange Multimedia Extension Causes a Memory Leak in Outlook (Q319361)

·          XADM: Information Store Process Uses High CPU When BkExpandDontRun Is Enabled (Q318899)

·          XADM: Mailbox Manager Does Not Send Reports and Does Not Log Any Error Messages (Q322062)

·          XCON: MTA Process Can Leak Memory Because of Excessive Rerouting (Q320225)

·          XCCC: Event ID 16387 Error Message Does Not Format Parameters Correctly (Q318783)

·          XADM: Information Store Does Not Respond to Remote Procedure Call Requests (Q322124)

·          XADM: Exchange Server 5.5 Users Cannot Log On to Their Mailboxes After Active Directory Connector Replication (Q317861)

·          XADM: Permissions Properties Display “NTUSER:DOMAIN\username” After Migration (Q316754)

·          XADM: The Extensible Storage Engine Database Engine Contributes to Virtual Memory Fragmentation (Q324118)

·          XADM: GetDecodedContentStream Fails with “Unknown Error” on a Latin 9 (ISO) Encoded Message (Q322691)

·          XCON: The MTA Stops When Receiving a Message with a Deferred Delivery Date; Fix Requires Exchange 2000 SP2 (Q313573)

·          XWEB: January is always indicated as being one year earlier than the correct year in the calendar view title of Monthly View (Q317192)

·          MS02-025: Malformed Mail Attribute Can Cause Exchange 2000 to Use Up CPU Resources (Q320436)

·          XADM: Corrupted Message at Head of Queue Blocks Delivery for that Queue (Q319653)

·          XADM: The Information Store Generates a 0xfffffae2 JET_errInvalidTableId Error During Many Client Operations (Q312966)

·          XADM: Messages That Are Posted When the NNTP Service Is Not Running Are Not Displayed in the NNTP Client (Q318394)

·          XADM: An Access Violation Occurs in Exchange 2000 Components That Are Generated in DSAccess.dll (Q323523)

·          XADM: Store Generates an Access Violation When You Accept or Decline a Meeting Request in Outlook Web Access (Q319891)

·          XCCC: Instant Messaging Server Stops Processing Clients with High Outgoing Messages (Q318158)

·          XCCC: The OWA Reply Header Lists “From: User on Behalf Of” (Q307302)

·          XWEB: You Cannot Use OWA to Send a Message to an SMTP Address That Includes a Text String That Is Enclosed in Quotation Marks; Fix Requires Exchange 2000 SP2 (Q316566)

·          XADM: The Search for Deleted Objects in the Metabase Update Process Overloads Domain Controllers (Q312606)

·          XADM: Leaks Occur in Cdoex.dll During Instance Creation (Q313141)

·          XADM: The Memory Status Is Incorrect When You Monitor the Status for Available Virtual Memory (Q313084)

·          XADM: Duplicate Public Folder Directory Entries Exist After You Mail-Enable a Public Folder (Q313096)

·          XCON: Messages That Are Sent to Fax Recipients Return an NDR; Fix Requires Exchange 2000 SP2 (Q313444)

·          XADM: A Reply Reaches Only the First Recipient If You Set Alternative Reply Recipients; Fix Requires Exchange 2000 SP2 (Q313448)

·          XADM: A Crash Occurs in the DNS Resolver Sink for a Host with MX and CNAME Records (Q313625)

·          XCON: The MTA Process Is Leaking Memory with a High Handle Count (Q313735)

·          XADM: Update Method Results in Duplicate Calendar Entries with Outlook 2002; Post Exchange 2000 SP2 Update (Q313863)

·          XADM: An Event ID 5007 Error Message Is Logged When Messages with a Special Code Page Subject Are Tracked; Fix Requires Exchange 2000 SP2 (Q313570)

·          XFOR: Some HTML Messages from Exchange 2000 That Pass Through the Exchange Notes Connector Are Garbled (Q313572)

·          XADM: Store.exe Access Violation Occurs When Internet Mail Checks the Address Type (Q313678)

·          XCCC: Public Folders Are Not Accessible in OWA If You Change the Default Port; Fix Requires Exchange 2000 SP2 (Q313932)

·          XIMS: You Cannot Post Items Without a Subject to an NNTP Newsgroup (Q314072)

·          XADM: The Exchange 2000 System Attendant Incorrectly Sets Remote Registry Permissions (Q315085)

·          XGEN: Exchange 2000 Server Post-Service Pack 2 Admin Fixes Available (Q316056)

·          XCCC: OWA and DAV Client Calls Do Not Clear a Message Body from the Cache (Q315769)

·          XADM: The Information Store Stops on a Cluster Because of the IsAlive Check (Q315771)

·          XADM: The Expand and Collapse Views Do Not Work If an Additional Mailbox Is on a Different Store; Fix Requires Exchange 2000 SP2 (Q316328)

·          XCON: POP3 Clients That Are Connected Over RAS May Disconnect After 10 Minutes in a Front-End and Back-End Server Environment (Q315902)

·          XADM: The Recipient Update Service Does Not Work in an Environment That Contains More Than 800 Domain Controllers (Q316350)

·          XGEN: Exchange 2000 Server Post-Service Pack 2 Message Transfer Agent (MTA) Fixes Available (Q315911)

·          XCCC: Non-ActiveX Clients Cannot Join Conference (Q315957)

·          XIMS: Error Message: “Your Password Was Rejected” When You Use POP3/IMAP to Log On to Mail Server: Fix Requires SP2 (Q315963)

·          XGEN: Exchange 2000 Server Post-Service Pack 2 Directory Fixes Available (Q316463)

·          XGEN: Exchange 2000 Server Post-Service Pack 2 Collaborative Data Objects (CDO) Fixes Available (Q316465)

·          XGEN: Exchange 2000 Server Post-Service Pack 2 Protocols Fixes Available (Q316664)

·          XADM: Security Descriptors That You Retrieve from Exchange 2000 by Using ActiveX Data Objects and the Exchange 2000 OLEDB Provider May Be Empty (Q316952)

·          XGEN: Exchange 2000 Server Post-Service Pack 2 Transport Fixes Available (Q317323)

·          XIMS: Deeply Nested NDR Messages Stuck in the Outbound Queue (Q317124)

·          XADM: The Members of a Universal Security Group Are Denied Access to Public Folders (Q318246)

·          XADM: Migrated Exchange Server 5.5 Mailboxes Generate Event ID 9551 Warning Messages for the ACL (Q318549)

·          XCCC: Outlook Web Access Displays the Note Form Instead of the Contact Form (Q318853)

·          XFOR: The Custom Schedule for the Exchange 2000 to Notes Directory Synchronization Process May Stop Working (Q320287)

·          XADM: Messages That You Copy to a Newsgroup Folder from a .pst File Are Visible to MAPI Clients but Not to Newsgroup Clients (Q321331)

·          XCON: Messages Stack Up in SMTP Local Delivery Queue (Q319461)

·          XGEN: The Exchange 2000 Information Store Reports an Event ID 327 Warning Message and Virtual Memory May Be Fragmented (Q319682)

SP3 Issues

You should be aware of the following issues that are specific to installing Exchange 2000 SP3:

·          If you have an Outlook Web Access implementation setup using a Front-End / Back-End solution, you must upgrade all Front-End servers before upgrading any of the Back-End servers.  OWA clients download scripts from the Front-End servers that they connect to; these scripts are not compatible with any Back-End servers that running an older Service Pack, such as in the case where you mistakenly upgraded your Back-End servers to SP3 while leaving your Front-End servers at SP2.  If you are running multiple Front-End servers, you do not have to upgrade all of them at once but you must upgrade all of them before upgrading any of the Back-End servers.

·          Installation of Exchange 2000 SP3 does not automatically update the help files for OWA clients.  You will need to update the files manually or install them by running an .MSI file or language pack for each language that is used by your OWA clients.  You must remove any existing SP1 or SP2 OWA help files from the Add/Remove Programs applet before installing the SP3 help files.  To update your OWA help files, click Outlook Web Access Help Files from the Microsoft Exchange SP3 main setup screen.  Complete the installation process for each language required by your OWA clients.  Alternatively, you can access the help files in the x:\setup\i386\exchange\exchweb directory, where x is the location of your SP3 files.

·          After an upgrade from Exchange 2000 or Exchange 2000 SP1 to Exchange 2000 SP3, the Exchange MTA Stacks service and Exchange Information Store (IS) service will not start if you do not meet the following requirements.  Pay attention to this as this is one of those gotchas you can prevent with careful pre-planning!

o         At least one available global catalog server resides in a domain where you ran the DomainPrep utility. This utility creates the groups and permissions necessary for servers running Exchange to read and modify user attributes.

o         A Recipient Update Service exists in that same domain.

If you are using a global catalog server in a different domain, then you must run DomainPrep in that domain, create a new Recipient Update Service for that domain and then restart the newly upgrade Exchange 2000 SP3 server.  Only by doing this will you get Directory Access to run properly.

That’s All for Now

Well, that’s all I have to share for now about Exchange 2000 SP3.  As promised, I will revisit this issue once I have had adequate time to work with SP3.  Have you deployed SP3 and have something to share?  Please do not hesitate to email me with your comments or concerns.  Until next time…