MS Exchange on SBS 2008 - POP3 Connector Times Out
I am running a virtual Microsoft Small Business Server 2008 over Microsoft Hyper-V 2008 on an HP ML110 server. I am using the native POP3 connector in MS Exchange 2007 to collect email from my ISP (1and1) and have checked that the authentication is correct. I know this is not the preferred method but it is a temporary situation to which I really do need a solution. Right now an SMTP connection is not an option. I have enabled verbose logging for the pop3 connector and get the following entries: When the mailbox at the ISP is empty: << [t 1] 04/18/09, 07:01:02: "Retrieve Now" requested. [t 1] 04/18/09, 07:01:02: Canceling any current downloads... [t 1] 04/18/09, 07:01:02: Waiting for current download (if any) to finish... [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:01:02: Beginning "Retrieve Now"... [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:01:02: (AsyncConn[ localhost:25 ]) Connection to 'localhost' closed. [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:01:02: (AsyncConn[ pop.1and1.co.uk:110 ]) Connecting to 'pop.1and1.co.uk' on port 110. [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:01:02: (POP3) [RX] +OK Server Ready [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:01:02: (POP3) [TX] USER "<email address> [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:01:02: (POP3) [RX] +OK password required for user "<email address>" [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:01:02: (POP3) [TX] PASS ************************ [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:01:02: (POP3) [RX] +OK mailbox "<email address>" has 0 messages (0 octets) H mimap1 [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:01:02: (POP3) [TX] STAT [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:01:02: (POP3) [RX] +OK 0 0 [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:01:02: Check for new messages: 0 (0 bytes) total. [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:01:02: (POP3) [TX] QUIT [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:01:02: (POP3) [RX] +OK Server signing off [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:01:02: (AsyncConn[ pop.1and1.co.uk:110 ]) Connection to 'pop.1and1.co.uk' closed. [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:01:02: "Retrieve Now" finished.. >> When there is at least one email at the ISP: << [t 1] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: "Retrieve Now" requested. [t 1] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: Canceling any current downloads... [t 1] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: Waiting for current download (if any) to finish... [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: Beginning "Retrieve Now"... [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: (AsyncConn[ pop.1and1.co.uk:110 ]) Connecting to 'pop.1and1.co.uk' on port 110. [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: (POP3) [RX] +OK Server Ready [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: (POP3) [TX] USER <email address> [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: (POP3) [RX] +OK password required for user "<email address>" [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: (POP3) [TX] PASS ************************ [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: (POP3) [RX] +OK mailbox ""<email address>" has 1 messages (2155 octets) H mimap5 [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: (POP3) [TX] STAT [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: (POP3) [RX] +OK 1 2155 [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: Check for new messages: 1 (2.10 KB) total. [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: (AsyncConn[ localhost:25 ]) Connecting to 'localhost' on port 25. [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: (SMTP) [RX] 220 TVNS01.tvn.local Microsoft ESMTP MAIL Service ready at Sat, 18 Apr 2009 07:03:50 +0100 [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: (SMTP) [TX] EHLO TVNS01 [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: (SMTP) [RX] 250-TVNS01.tvn.local Hello [127.0.0.1] [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: (SMTP) [RX] 250-SIZE 10485760 [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: (SMTP) [RX] 250-PIPELINING [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: (SMTP) [RX] 250-DSN [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: (SMTP) [RX] 250-ENHANCEDSTATUSCODES [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: (SMTP) [RX] 250-AUTH LOGIN [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: (SMTP) [RX] 250-8BITMIME [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: (SMTP) [RX] 250-BINARYMIME [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: (SMTP) [RX] 250 CHUNKING [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: (POP3) [TX] LIST [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: (POP3) [RX] +OK [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: (POP3) [RX] 1 2155 [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: (POP3) [RX] . [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: Downloading message 1 of 1. [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: (POP3) [TX] RETR 1 [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:03:50: (POP3) [RX] +OK 2155 octets [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:04:25: Timeout 'pop.1and1.co.uk' !!! [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:04:25: EVENT: The TCP/IP connection with the 'pop.1and1.co.uk' server was terminated while trying to access the <email address> mailbox. The cause may be server problems, network problems, a long period of inactivity, a connection time limit, or incorrect connection settings. [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:04:25: (AsyncConn[ pop.1and1.co.uk:110 ]) Connection to 'pop.1and1.co.uk' closed. [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:04:25: (SMTP) [TX] QUIT [t 0] 04/18/09, 07:04:25: "Retrieve Now" finished. >> It would appear that the number and size of emails awaiting download can be checked but as soon as an actual download is attempted something times out. When I first set the connector up two emails appeared to download but I did not have the logging set to verbose at the time. Nothing has downloaded since. I am currently getting my emails using MS Outlook to collect and which has been totally reliable using what appears to be the same settings. I have been trying to find an answer on the web to no avail and 1an1 support can see nothing their end: can anyone help?
April 22nd, 2009 8:10pm

You should have configured the SBS POP3 Connector through the Windows SBS Console-Network-Connectivity Tab. Can you verify if this is how you actually configured the SBS 2008 POP3 Connector?There is no native POP3 Connector for Exchange 2007.MVP Exchange Server
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April 23rd, 2009 5:07am

Hi John, thanks for responding.Yes, it was configured through the Windows SBS Console-Network-Connectivity Tab. I used the term native POP3 Connector to differentiate the Microsoft product that comes with Small Business Server from third party products. I configured the email account in exactly the same was as I had done on a different system: that one worked!
April 23rd, 2009 3:38pm

No problem, just wanted to make sure we are on the same page. So any events fired off in the Microsoft-Windows-Small Business Server/Operational Log? Having any line or WAN issues that you know of? I would also run ExBPA to see if it finds anything.MVP Exchange Server
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April 23rd, 2009 9:57pm

Hi John,The only error event shown in the event log is the one reported by the POP3 connector and shown in the logs included in my original post. It is as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike; it might as well say it could be due to a storm in Outer Mongolia or a sunspot on the moon! The event log shows Event ID 112 Your domain name is manually configured although as far as I can remember I used the wizards for all this sort of thing when I installed the system. The only other recent event is event ID 502 Clear the licensing out of compliance status for which a TechNet search gives nothing. I doubt that these events are germane to the problem but I have included them in case there is some obscure connection. I know of no WAN or line issues and none of the other systems in the office are experiencing problems connecting and authenticating to anything including the MS Outlook I use to collect my email from the same ISP mailbox. The only thing different is thatthis server is connecting through a different firewall appliance; could it be a port issue? Can you list the ports that should be open as I do not want to publish all the ports that my firewall has open. I have run the ExBPA yet again to be sure and again no problems were reported. If you let me have a private email address I will send you the ExBPA reports (I do not want that sort of detail published). Ihave done all the obvious things and the POP3 Connector logs show that the server is connecting and authenticating properly and is able to interrogate the mailbox at the ISP. It just cannot download any email. They show a successful transaction when the ISP mailbox is empty so doesnt this mean there are no connectivity issues? The POP3 logs claim something is timing out. 1and1 say their timeouts are set very high so just what is timing out? I have looked for parameters relating to timeouts in MS Exchange or the POP3 connector and cannot find any; is there an obscure setting lurking in some dark corner of the registry? Can you let me have your time schedule so I can synchronise with you. At one interchange a day this could take for ever.
April 24th, 2009 9:50am

Tegglet,I would verify you have Port 110 inbound port forwarded to your Exchange Server Internal IP on the new Firewall appliance. If its open Outbound it willl connect but when trying to download your messages at the ISP it will fail since Inbound POP3 (110) port is not configured. This would makes sense as to why your OL clients are able to POP the messages successfully since they are going to through a different firewall appliance.MVP Exchange Server
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April 25th, 2009 6:18am

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