Mailbox Manager does not delete messages if the delivery time is beyond the age limit

The Exchange 2000 Mailbox Manager may not delete messages in which the delivery time is beyond the age limit if either the last modification time or the submit time are not beyond the age limit.

Mailbox Manager in Exchange 2000 uses different logic to select a message for cleaning than Exchange Server 5.5. In Exchange Server 5.5, if the delivery time is present no other time is checked. However, in Exchange 2000 all three message times (delivery, sent, and modified) must be greater than the time limit for a message to be removed.

This behavior was intentionally modified for Exchange 2000 to accommodate such things as workflow programs, journaling, and non-Ipm.Note message classes that use different properties for cleanup criteria.

Cumulative patch information

To resolve this problem, obtain the March 2003 Exchange 2000 Server Post-Service Pack 3 (SP3) Rollup. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Hotfix information

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem.

If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, submit a request to Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the hotfix.

Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site: Note The "Hotfix download available" form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. If you do not see your language, it is because a hotfix is not available for that language.Component: Exchange System Manager

The English version of this fix has the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time item in Control Panel.Note Because of file dependencies, this update requires Exchange 2000 Service Pack 3 (SP3). For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: The behavior that is introduced by this hotfix was included in the original release version of Microsoft Exchange Server 2003.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in Exchange 2000 Server.

You can use this hotfix to force Exchange 2000 to emulate the Exchange Server 5.5 message deletion logic. To do so, use ADSI Edit or Ldp.exe to edit the msExchMailboxManagerAgeLimit attribute on the Mailbox Manager recipient policy object.

Warning If you use the ADSI Edit snap-in, the LDP utility, or any other LDAP version 3 client, and you incorrectly modify the attributes of Active Directory objects, you can cause serious problems. These problems may require you to reinstall Microsoft Windows 2000 Server, Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server, Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, or both Windows and Exchange. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems that occur if you incorrectly modify Active Directory object attributes can be solved. Modify these attributes at your own risk.

How to set one of the following values on the msExchMailboxManagerAgeLimit attribute

You can find the msExchMailboxManagerAgeLimit attribute by opening the configuration container in adsiedit.msc and getting properties on the relative mailbox manager policy object: When you set a value of 1, you can expect the following behavior:

• We ignore the modified date property on messages and delete messages whose delivery and submitted date property exceed the age limit that is set by the policy setting.

When you set a value of 2, you can expect the following behavior:

• We ignore the submitted date property on messages and delete messages whose delivery and modified date property exceed the age limit that is set by the policy setting.

When you set a value of 3, you can expect the following behavior in Exchange 2000 Server: (Exchange 5.5 behavior)

• We ignore both the submitted and the modified date properties on messages and delete messages whose delivery date property exceeds the age limit that is set by the policy setting.

Important If you configure the behavior of Exchange Server, programs that are built over Exchange 2000 Server and that rely on the default behavior (which is to check all three message times before deleting the message) may not work as expected. As with any hotfix, we recommend that you test the hotfix thoroughly in a non-production environment before you deploy the hotfix.