Windows Server 2003-based domain controllers show a decrease in performance when they process certain Active Directory objects

To resolve the issues that are described in the "Symptoms" section, use one or more of the following methods.

Method 1

You can install the 834349 and the 835894 hotfixes to resolve this issue. For more information about the 834349 hotfix, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

834349 The Exchange Server 2003 Recipient Update Service continually updates some recipients or public folders with random SMTP proxy addresses

For more information about the 835894 hotfix, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

835894 The Exchange Recipient Update Service creates multiple recipient proxy addresses of the same type

Method 2

You can create an LDAP Data Interchange Format (LDIF) dump file for the Active Directory objects that you see in the 2008 event to determine the values for the attributes of the object.

If you find any attribute values that exceed the maximum forest functional level value, you can reduce or remove the values for the attributes after you determine the root cause of the increase in values.

Create an LDIF dump file to find the attribute values

For example, to create an LDIF dump file and to find the attribute values for an object that has the "CN=object1,CN=Microsoft Exchange System Objects,DC=Contoso,DC=Com" distinguished name (DN) path, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
2. At the command prompt, type the following, and then press ENTER:
   ldifde -f Attribfile.txt -d "CN=object1,CN=Microsoft Exchange System Objects,DC=Contoso,DC=Com"
3. After you run the command successfully, type exit, and then press ENTER to close the Command Prompt window.
4. After you create the Attribfile.txt LDIF dump file, locate the Attribfile.txt file, and then open the file by using Notepad.
5. Look for attributes that have values that might exceed the maximum value that is supported by the functional level in your forest.
6. If you find any attributes, copy the values for those attributes to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.
7. Count the number of rows or count the number of characters that are used to delimit each unique value in the attribute.
8. Note the attribute names for the objects that have values that exceed the maximum limit.

Remove or reduce the values for an attribute

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.


Note The ADSI Edit tool is included in the Windows Server 2003 Support Tools that are provided in the Windows Server 2003 CD. To install Windows Server 2003 Support Tools, run the Suptools.msi file from the \SUPPORT\TOOLS folder in the Windows Server 2003 CD.

To remove or reduce the values for an attribute, you can use the ADSI Edit tool. To use this tool, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type adsiedit.msc, and then click OK.
2. In the ADSI Edit Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in, expand the Domain node.
3. Locate and then click the container node that contains the Active Directory object that you noted in the Event ID 2008 that is mentioned in the "Symptoms" section."
4. In the right-pane, double-click the object to open the object properties dialog box.
5. In the Attributes list, locate the attribute names that you noted in step 8 of the "Create an LDIF dump file to find the attribute values" section.
6. After you locate the attributes, modify the attribute values one at a time. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Double-click the first attribute that you noted.
   2. In the Values list, click a value, and then click Remove.
   3. Repeat step 6b for other values, as appropriate for your situation.
   4. Click OK to close the attribute properties dialog box.
7. Repeat step 6 for the other attributes that you noted in the Attributes list in step 5.
8. Click OK to close the object properties dialog box.
9. On the File menu, click Exit to close the ADSI Edit tool.

Note If the attribute limit is for DNS or NS record registrations, try removing some of the unwanted DNS records from the server to see whether you can reduce the number of attribute values. If this is not successful, try to restrict SRV and NS record registrations. For more information, see the "References" section.

Method 3

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.


You can use the ADSI Edit snap-in to remove unwanted SMTP addresses (proxy addresses) for specific Active Directory objects. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open Exchange System Manager.
2. Expand Recipients, and then click Recipient Update Services.
3. In the right pane, double-click Recipient Update Service (Enterprise Configuration).
4. In the Update interval list, click Never Run, and then click OK.
   
5. Close Exchange System Manager.
6. Click Start, click Run, type adsiedit.msc, and then click OK.
7. In the ADSI Edit Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in, expand the Domain node.
8. Locate and then click the container node that contains the Active Directory object that you noted in Event ID 2008. This is the Event ID that is mentioned in the "Symptoms" section."
9. In the right-pane, double-click the object to open the object properties dialog box.
10. In the Attributes list, double-click proxyAddresses.
11. Remove all the unwanted values from the Values list.
12. Click OK to close the attribute properties dialog box.
13. Click OK to close the object properties dialog box.
14. On the File menu, click Exit the ADSI Edit snap-in.
15. Open Exchange System Manager.
16. Expand Recipients, and then click Recipient Update Services.
17. In the right pane, double-click Recipient Update Service (Enterprise Configuration).
18. In the Update interval list, click Always Run, and then click OK.
    
19. Right-click Recipient Update Service (Enterprise Configuration), and then click Update Now.
20. Right-click Recipient Update Service (Enterprise Configuration), and then click Rebuild.
21. In the Rebuild Address Lists and Recipient Policies dialog box, click Yes.
22. Exit Exchange System Manager.

Method 4

You can follow the procedure that is described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article to remove unwanted proxy addresses:

318774 Removing duplicate and unwanted proxy addresses in Exchange