XGEN: General Information on Exchange Management Service

This article explains the Exchange Management Service that is new in Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server Service Pack 2 (SP2). The purpose of this new service is to run two new Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) providers in Exchange 2000 SP2: Directory Service Access (DsAccess); and, Message Tracking. The three previous Exchange 2000 Release to Market (RTM) WMI providers (ExchangeQueueProvider, ExchangeRoutingTableProvider, ExchangeClusterProvider) are not dependent on the Exchange Management Service.

Functionality of the New WMI Providers

The new DsAccess WMI provider is used in Exchange 2000 SP2 as a new DsAccess Interface in Exchange System Manager. The new DsAccess interface is on the Directory Access tab on the Server Properties page in Exchange System Manager, where you can view and set domain controllers and global catalog servers that DsAccess uses.

The new Message Tracking WMI provider has improved and updated message tracking functionality in the Exchange 2000 SP2 Message Tracking Center.

Effects of Service Not Running

For both of these new SP2 features to work, the Exchange System Management service must be running. If the service is stopped or will not start, neither the DsAccess interface nor the Message Tracking Center will work.

NOTE: For the Message Tracking Center to work, the Exchange Management Service must be started and running on both the server (or workstation) that is running the SP2 Message Tracking Center, in addition to any Exchange 2000 SP2 server because this is how Exchange 2000 SP2 servers communicate with the new Message Tracking Center. Because the Message Tracking Center is backward-compatible, it will track messages across Exchange 2000 SP1 and Exchange 2000 RTM.

Access to Service

The new Exchange System Management service is located under Services in the Computer Management snap-in. To open the Services manager:

1. Right-click My Computer on the desktop, and then click Manage.
2. The Computer Management snap-in opens. Expand Services and Applications, and then click Services.

You can also stop or start the service by using the net command with the service name of msexchangemgmt.

Event Logging for Service

You can view events for this service in the Application log; the source is MSExchangeMGMT, and the events are the starting of the service, the stopping of the service, and the errors encountered during service startup.