NDR Reports not arriving in Sys Admin mailbox Exchange 2007 part 3

How to Copy NDRs to a Mailbox

This topic explains how to configure Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 to copy non-delivery reports (NDRs) to a mailbox that you specify and to configure that mailbox to accept replies to system-generated email messages or messages sent to the postmaster address.

When delivery of a message is attempted and the delivery of that message fails, an NDR is generated. The NDR is sent to the sender of the original message together with information about why the delivery failed. In Exchange 2007, if an NDR is generated for a permanent delivery failure, you have the option of copying the NDR to an alternative mailbox. However, Exchange 2007 does not enable this functionality by default. You must configure Exchange 2007 to copy NDRs to a mailbox.

In Exchange 2007, you can configure whether NDRs that are originally sent to internal senders, to external senders, or to both are copied to a mailbox. This topic describes how to configure Exchange 2007 to copy NDRs in each of these scenarios.

To copy NDRs to a mailbox, you must do the following:

• Understand the difference between internal and external senders.
• Create a mailbox to accept NDRs.
• Decide whether you want to copy internal NDRs, external NDRs, or both.
• Configure the Microsoft Exchange Recipient reply address if you want to copy internal NDRs.
• Configure the external postmaster address if you want to copy external NDRs.
• Configure which NDRs should be copied.

Each of these actions is discussed later in this topic.

Before You Begin

To perform this procedure, the account you use must be delegated the Exchange Organization Administrator role.

Important:

Changes that you make by using the Set-TransportConfig and Set-OrganizationConfig cmdlets are applied to your whole Exchange 2007 organization.

Important:

This topic assumes that you have subscribed all Edge Transport servers by using the Edge Subscription process and that the Microsoft Exchange EdgeSync service is keeping the Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM) directory service instance on all Edge Transport servers up-to-date with Active Directory directory service data.

How Internal and External Senders Affect NDRs

When a permanent failure NDR is generated because a recipient mailbox could not be reached, or because of other delivery problems, Exchange 2007 determines whether the sender of the message is internal or external to the Exchange 2007 organization. Whether an NDR is sent to an internal sender or external sender affects how the NDR is addressed.

An internal sender is a sender for whom one or both of the following conditions are true:

• The sender has a mailbox inside the Exchange 2007 organization.
• The domain part of the sender’s Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) address exists in the accepted domains list for the organization.

All other senders are considered external to the Exchange 2007 organization.

Internal Senders

When an NDR is sent to an internal sender, the NDR is sent from the Microsoft Exchange Recipient. The Microsoft Exchange Recipient is a special recipient object that is used by several Exchange 2007 features to provide a unified and well-known recipient that users can use to differentiate system-generated messages from other messages.

By default, messages that are sent to the Microsoft Exchange Recipient are ignored and not delivered. For messages that are sent to the Microsoft Exchange Recipient to be delivered to a mailbox, you must associate a mailbox with the Microsoft Exchange Recipient.

External Senders

When an NDR is sent to an external sender, the NDR is, by default, sent from the Postmaster@<Authoritative Domain> SMTP address. The authoritative domain that is used to create the postmaster SMTP address is the default accepted domain. You can view the default accepted domain by using the Get-AcceptedDomain cmdlet.

By default, no mailboxes in the Exchange 2007 organization are created with the Postmaster@<Authoritative Domain> SMTP address. For messages that are sent to the Postmaster@<Authoritative Domain> SMTP to be delivered to a mailbox, you must add the SMTP address to a mailbox or create a mailbox with the name “Postmaster”.

Creating a Mailbox to Accept NDRs

Whether you associate a mailbox with the Microsoft Exchange Recipient to copy internal NDRs, or configure the external postmaster SMTP address to copy external NDRs, you must first create a mailbox to accept the NDRs.

We recommend that the mailbox that you create be used only for the specific purpose of receiving NDRs. To simplify configuration, you may want to configure the new mailbox with the name “Postmaster”. If you create a mailbox with the name Postmaster, an SMTP address of Postmaster@<Authoritative Domain> is added to the mailbox automatically. This lets you comply with SMTP standards and lets you avoid some of the configuration steps that are described later in this topic.

NOTE:

Monitor the mailbox that you use to receive copies of NDRs. If the mailbox exceeds configured mailbox or mailbox database storage limits, NDRs may not be delivered to the mailbox.

Copying Internal NDRs to a Mailbox

Perform the following procedure on a Hub Transport server in your organization to copy internal NDRs to a mailbox.

To receive copies of internal NDRs, you must associate the mailbox that you created in the “Creating a Mailbox to Accept NDRs” section earlier in this topic to the Microsoft Exchange Recipient. If you don’t associate a mailbox with the Microsoft Exchange Recipient, NDRs that are copied to the Microsoft Exchange Recipient are not captured. By default, no mailbox is associated with the Microsoft Exchange Recipient.

To associate a mailbox with the Microsoft Exchange Recipient, specify the full name of the mailbox by using the following command:

Set-OrganizationConfig -MicrosoftExchangeRecipientReplyRecipient <Recipient Identity>

IMPORTANT:

Verify that the MicrosoftExchangeRecipientEmailAddressPolicyEnabled parameter on the Get-OrganizationConfig cmdlet is set to $True. If the MicrosoftExchangeRecipientEmailAddressPolicyEnabled parameter is set to $True, Exchange 2007 automatically adds new accepted domains to the Microsoft Exchange Recipient when new accepted domains are added. If the MicrosoftExchangeRecipientEmailAddressPolicyEnabled parameter is set to $False, you must manually add new accepted domains to the Microsoft Exchange Recipient.

The mailbox that is specified by using this command will receive copies of all NDRs that are generated.

To use the Exchange Management Shell to associate a mailbox with the Microsoft Exchange Recipient

Run the following command:

Set-OrganizationConfig -MicrosoftExchangeRecipientReplyRecipient “Joe Blogs”