XADM: Troubleshooting Link Monitor When Red Arrow Is Displayed

Connection problems may exist for the Exchange Server computers that you are using link monitors to monitor. In link monitor in the Exchange Server Administrator program, if the arrow points down and is red, this indicates a problem. This article provides some steps that can help you troubleshoot this issue.

To troubleshoot connection problems:

1.	Ensure that the four following core services for Exchange Server are started on the server you are monitoring: � The Exchange Server System Attendant service � The Exchange Server Directory service � The Exchange Server Information Store service � The Exchange Server Message Transfer Agent (MTA) service If these services are not started, you need to check the Windows NT Event Viewer application event log and the System log on the server for any error messages. If there are any errors for any of these services that prevent the start of the service, you need to correct those errors first.
2.	On the Exchange Server computer that you want to monitor, make sure that the system attendant has an X.400 address: a. Start the Exchange Server Administrator program. b. Connect to the server that you want to monitor; on the File menu, click Connect to Server. c. Go to the Servers container for the server that you want to monitor. d. Select the server that you want to monitor. e. In the right pane, select System Attendant. f. On the File menu, click Properties to open the properties for the system attendant. The System Attendant Properties dialog box is displayed. g. Click the E-mail Addresses tab, and check to see if there is an X.400 address. If there is no X.400 address listed, you must generate a new X.400 address. To do this, either reinstall Exchange Server or restore the directory from a backup that you know is good and that contains this information. If you reinstall Exchange Server, the X.400 address is generated for the system attendant.
3.	Further general troubleshooting steps that you can take include the following: a. Ping by Internet protocol (IP) and fully qualified domain name (FQDN). b. Check the status of the network connection by using the RPCPING command.For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 167260 How to Use RPCPing to Test RPC Communication c. If multiple connections do not work, check your network for common causes of the problem, such as servers, routers, switches, bridges, gateways, or leased lines. d. Ping messages that you send to foreign servers should be received by an application that replies to the messages. If you send the ping message to a non-existent address, a non-delivery report (NDR) is a sign that the link is operational. However, when NDRs are returned from foreign systems, it is not clear which host actually generated the NDR and which connection has been tested. Send a message along the route of the ping message and examine the NDR to determine the host that replied. e. Check the link monitor log for the polling intervals, bounce tolerances, and notifications. This can help you troubleshoot possible causes. f. Use the Event Viewer to search application event logs on the home server of the link monitor and on the destination server. To make the search more efficient, filter the display to show only those events between the last successful message and the first link monitor warning. Look for warnings and alerts from the MTA, information store, and directory.