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Introduction to Exchange 2003 Server SMTP Logs
In Exchange 2003 server, SMTP (Simple Mail Transport Protocol) has many shades of meaning. On this page I
use the word SMTP in the context of understanding logs. These SMTP logs contain records of each server's email conversations. However, bear in mind that the acronym SMTP has other connotations, for
example, SMTP Virtual Server, the SMTP service in IIS and SMTP routing
connections.
Let us
take the situation where one server is collecting email, but only intermittently. We would like to understand the SMTP conversation between Exchange 2003 servers and so discover the cause of the problem.
This is a classic job for SMTP protocol logging.
There are two ways of navigating to the diagram opposite, either visit IIS, or launch the Exchange System Manager and navigate to
Protocols folder and then to the SMTP server icon.
You have 4 methods for collecting SMTP conversations:
W3C Extended Log File Format
NCSA Common Log File Format
ODBC Logging
Microsoft IIS Log File Format
The default log format is W3C Extended. This format is a great way to get started with SMTP logging. However, if you need more extensive search capabilities and you have a
database such as SQL, then select ODBC Logging.
I have to admit that I have yet to find a use for NCSA common log file format. The Microsoft IIS Log File Format is O.K. but lacks the flexibility and customization of the W3C format.
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The W3C format is my favourite SMTP logging method. In particular, I like the flexibility provided by extended properties on the advanced tab.
Here is the output of log where I chose to record the client IP, the SMTP method, and the reply code or sc-status.
#Software: Internet Information Services 6.0 #Version: 1.0 #Date: 2005-02-03 12:40:23 #Fields: time c-ip cs-method cs-uri-stem sc-status
Explanation:
#Software: IIS v 6.0 (Probably
from a Windows Server 2003)
#Version: 1.0 Means W3C Extended log format (Not ODBC)
#Date: Probably USA day month format. #Fields: As the name field suggests the column heading for the data recorded. Example, cs-uri-stem means the
resource
requested.
Understanding the SMTP codes
s- means server, whereas sc- means server to client. For example sc-bytes means the number of bytes sent by the server. c- I expect that you have
already guessed,
c- means client.
Mail Transfer conversation
#Fields: time c-ip cs-method sc-status 14:13:11 10.1.1.9 HELO 250 14:13:13 10.1.1.9 MAIL 250 14:13:19 10.1.1.9 RCPT
250 14:13:29 10.1.1.9 DATA 250 14:13:31 10.1.1.9 QUIT 240
Possible SMTP methods found under
cs-method: HELO, MAIL, RCPT, DATA and QUIT.
sc-status value of 250. Server to client transactions, which return a value 250, means O.K. (421 would mean service not available, or 554 would mean transaction failed).
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Finding the SMTP logs is not trivial. Whereas many programs output their events to the Application log, SMTP Logs are to be found under the "%windir%\system32\logfiles\SMTPSVC1*. Typically, you get a one log for each day, so double click
the file that you are interested in and notepad will open the log and display the data.
All W3C Extended Log File Format files begin with ex, for example exyyddmm.log
* Corrected by Juha (Guy thought it was
%windir%\system32\logfiles\W3SVC1)
If you click Start (Menu), Run, Logfiles (Type), now you should see the Windows Explorer open the correct directory
to find your SMTP logs.
What to look out for Open Relaying - Symptoms your server is sending mail that you do not recognise to an external server. Moreover it's not just one email but a whole load of possible spam messages.
This page is to designed to help you understand SMTP logs. Exchange relies on IIS to provide protocol logging. Of the four formats available, W3C Extended Log File Format provides the greatest choice of output. ODBC logging is useful if you have a SQL
database and need to query a large amount of data. To check your SMTP logs, click Start (menu), run, logfiles.
If you click Start (Menu), Run, Logfiles (Type), now you should see the Windows Explorer open the correct directory
to find your SMTP logs.
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