Exchange 2010

There are a couple quick and easy methods which can be used to return the round-trip SMTP tests.

Either way no extra software or plug-ins are required.

Method 1.

Set up a contact with SMTP address to return messages to [mailive01@knowledgefront.com]

Screen shots and step by step instructions Method 1

Advantages

• Fast and always works whether or not the store is online.
• Captures complete incoming and outgoing message headers
• This method has proven to provide more consistent round trip times for testing pure mail receipt and delivery.

Disadvantages

• This method always returns the test message, even when the exchange storage is offline.
• Should be used purely as a mail flow monitoring mechanism and not for testing the exchange store.

Method 2.

Setup a full mailbox with a server side rule to return and then delete messages

See screen shots and step by step instructions Method 2

Advantages

Tests the Exchange store and will fail if the store goes offline.

Disadvantages

• In previous versions of Exchange it has been noticed the rule may not trigger or be processed in a timely fashion causing delays with test messages that may not exist otherwise. This has been traced back to busy systems dealing with heavy loads of messages.
• Only provides outbound headers for later inspection. The response is created as a completely new message in this method and inbound headers are not retained.