Hi,I have a Exchange 2003 Active/Passive cluster. Recently the Virtual SMTP server keep failing.a) When I failover to the other passive server, all the resource(System attendent, Information Store, etc)can be brought online, except Virtual SMTP server. It will then failingbetween the active/passive server. Problem resolved by restarting the serversb) The Virtual SMTP server has the stastus "Online Pending" and it timed-out and fail. There isn't many SMTP messgae queue. The queue folder is reachable.c) Mcafee Antivirus Real-Time Scan is disabled.I looked at the cluster log, there is an error:-[EXRES] EventLogging: SMTP Virtual Server Instance 1 (XXX): Failed to start the service 'SMTPSVC'. Error Code: 99500000f70.0000193c::2009/05/05-07:51:11.152 INFO [FM] FmpOfflineResource for SMTP Virtual Server Instance 1 (XXX), bad status returned 5023.On Event log, there are a few error entries:-SMTP Virtual Server Instance 1 (XXX): Failed to bring the resource onlineSMTP Virtual Server Instance 1 (XXX): Failed to start the service 'SMTPSVC'LDAP returned the error [10] No Such Attribute when importing the transactionAppreciate your help.

When did the issue started? any specific changed done on the cluster configuration/networking/AV settings?Any specific event pertaining to the current issue in application log? if this is not under NDA then could you paste the application log here for further investigation?The first thing i would like to check the setting of virtual smtp server on both the node, like Queue directory and diskspace where the queue direct resides.Compare the smtp virtual server setting of first node with the second node.Check if there is DNS issues on the second node, - specific DNS settings/smart host settings.Run ExBPA on the second node and see if there any issues pointed.and at the end we would like to perform isAlive dump to figureout what is failing out here.isAlivehttp://support.microsoft.com/kb/834877Arun Kumar | MCSE - 2K3 + Messaging | ITIL-F V3

Issue description: SMTP virtual server resource is in online pending state Check info: 1. When you said Virtual SMTP server keeps failing, do you mean that cluster keep failover between two nodes or the resource keep failing after failover? 2. As Arun suggested, please check the Queue folder on the nodes, see if there are messages in it, if yes, please move the messages to other folder and see if the issue still persists 3. Please also check if theres any messages stay in the queue via ESM 4. Please check if theres any Event 5007 on the nodes Troubleshooting: 1. If theres any 3rd party SMTP sinks on the nodes, please disable them 2. Have you enabled message tracking on the nodes, please disable it temporarily, and reboot the server, see if the issue still can be reproduced 3. Please increase diagnostic logging for SMTP Protocol & Categorizer via ESM, and reproduce the issue, see if theres any related error event on the nodes Resources: How to Configure Diagnostics Logging How to Enable Message Tracking in Exchange System Manager