The Always-up-to-date Notifications feature may not work with mobile devices in Exchange Server 2003 SP1

When you try to use the Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Always-up-to-date (AUTD) Notifications feature to help keep Microsoft Outlook Mobile Access mobile devices up to date, you are unsuccessful. Mobile devices do not receive the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) notification messages that are sent from your Exchange Server 2003 computer.

This problem occurs because Exchange Server 2003 sends notification messages that contain a blank From field to the mobile devices. Some wireless carriers block the specially-formatted SMTP messages because they contain a blank From field. Some carriers block all messages that have blank RFC-821 From fields because some unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE) messages, also known as spam or junk e-mail, contain blank From fields.

To resolve this problem, modify the registry, and then apply this hotfix. After you apply this hotfix, you can create a static From SMTP address that Outlook Mobile Access (OMA) can specify in the X-Sender header while it composes the notification message body.

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. This hotfix might receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next software update that contains this hotfix.

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, contact 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.

Prerequisites

You must have Exchange Server 2003 SP1 installed to apply this hotfix. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Restart requirement

You do not have to restart your computer after you apply this hotfix. However, all the following services are automatically stopped, and then restarted when you apply this hotfix:

• W3SVC
• SMTPSVC
• RESvc
• POPSvc
• NntpSvc
• IMAP4Svc
• HTTPFilter
• iisadmin

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix does not replace any other hotfixes.

File information

The English version of this hotfix 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 tool in Control Panel.

Hotfix installation information

Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

To configure this hotfix, follow these steps.

Note It is best to follow these steps before you install this hotfix. These registry modifications will then be incorporated when the Exchange-related services are restarted during the installation of this hotfix.

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Exchange\OMA
   Note By default, the OMA registry subkey does not exist. To create this subkey, follow these steps:
   1. Right-click Exchange, point to New, and then click Key.
   2. In the New Key #1 box, type OMA, and then press ENTER.
3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click String Value.
4. Type SMTP821FromAddress, and then press ENTER.
5. Right-click SMTP821FromAddress, and then click Modify.
6. In the Value data box, type a valid e-mail address to act as the filler SMTP address, and then click OK.
   
   Note You do not have to have a mailbox that corresponds to this e-mail address. Make sure that the e-mail address has fewer than 64 characters. Use the same format as the following sample e-mail address:
   username@hostname.com
7. Quit Registry Editor.
8. Repeat steps 1 through 7 to configure this registry value on all your Exchange Server 2003 SP1 back end servers where you have users enabled for AUTD.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

For additional information, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: