SMTP Logging
Logging
SMTP protocol activity provides administrators with a powerful tool
when troubleshooting issues with message delivery. By enabling SMTP
logging, administrators can capture the SMTP conversations with email
servers during message transport. Each Receive and Send Connector in an
Exchange Server 2010 environment has the capability of logging SMTP
activity, providing information regarding messaging commands that a user
sends to the Exchange Server 2010 server. This includes, but is not
limited to, such information as IP address, bytes sent, data, time,
protocol, and domain name.
To enable SMTP protocol
logging, administrators must enable the feature on each Send and Receive
Connector on each 2010 Exchange server where logging is desired. By
default, SMTP logging is disabled on all Send and Receive Connectors.
Configure SMTP Logging from the Exchange Management Console
The configuration
of SMTP protocol logging utilizing the Exchange Management Console is
limited to enabling or disabling the feature. To enable or disable SMTP
protocol logging from the Exchange Management Console, perform the
following tasks:
1. | Start the Exchange Management Console.
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2. | Locate the Send or Receive Connector on which you want to enable logging.
- For Hub Transport Send Connectors—
In the console tree, select Organization Configuration, then Hub
Transport. In the results pane, click the Send Connectors tab, and then
select the appropriate Send Connector.
- For Hub Transport Receive Connectors—
In the console tree, select Server Configuration, then Hub Transport.
Select the appropriate server in the results pane, and then select the
appropriate connector in the bottom half of the results pane.
- For Edge Transport Connectors—
On the Edge Transport server, select Edge Transport in the console
tree. Select the appropriate server in the results pane, and then select
the Receive Connectors or Send Connectors tab in the bottom half of the
results pane. Select the desired connector from those displayed.
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3. | After you have selected the appropriate connector, select Properties from the action pane.
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4. | On
the General tab, configure the desired protocol logging level. By
default, all connectors are set to None. The only other option is
Verbose.
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Changing the Protocol Log Path
Exchange Server
2010 allows administrators to specify the location of the Send and
Receive log files. The log files for all Send Connectors on a particular
server are in one location, and the log files for all Receive
Connectors are in another.
By default, these files are located in the following locations:
Receive log— C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14\TransportRoles\Logs\ProtocolLog\SmtpReceive
Send log— C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14\TransportRoles\Logs\ProtocolLog\SmtpSend
To change the default location for these log files, use the following commands in the Exchange Management Shell.
Change log file location for the Receive Connectors:
Set-TransportServer <Identity> -ReceiveProtocolLogPath <LogPath>
Change log file location for the Send Connectors:
Set-TransportServer <Identity> -SendProtocolLogPath <LogPath>
Sample command: To set the Receive SMTP protocol log path for all Receive Connectors on Server1 to C:\SMTP Receive Logs, use the following command:
Set-TransportServer Server1 -ReceiveProtocolLogPath "C:\SMTP Receive Logs"
Configuring Log File and Log Directory Maximum Size
To prevent log files
from growing so large that they deplete all available disk space,
Exchange Server 2010 allows administrators to configure maximum log file
and directory sizes. This configuration setting is a per-server setting
and, by default, the maximum directory size is 250MB, whereas the
maximum log file size is 10MB. When the maximum file size is reached,
Exchange Server opens a new log file. When the maximum directory size is
reached, Exchange Server overwrites the log files, starting with the
oldest logs first.
To configure SMTP
protocol log directory and file sizes, use the following commands in the
Exchange Management Shell. Be aware, these commands must be performed
for each server that you want to modify. The <DirectorySize> and <FileSize> arguments should be entered as a number followed by one of the following:
B (bytes)
KB (kilobytes)
MB (megabytes)
GB (gigabytes)
TB (terabytes)
Change maximum size for Receive SMTP protocol log directory:
Set-TransportServer <Identity> -ReceiveProtocolMaxDirectorySize <DirectorySize>
Change maximum size for Send SMTP protocol log directory:
Set-TransportServer <Identity> -SendProtocolMaxDirectorySize <DirectorySize>
Change maximum size for Receive SMTP protocol log files:
Set-TransportServer <Identity> -ReceiveProtocolMaxFileSize <FileSize>
Change maximum size for Send SMTP protocol log files:
Set-TransportServer <Identity> -SendProtocolMaxFileSize <FileSize>
Sample command: To
set the maximum size for the Receive SMTP protocol log directory on
Server1 to 1 Gigabyte, use the following command:
Set-TransportServer Server1 –ReceiveProtocolMaxDirectorySize 1GB
Configuring the Maximum Age for the SMTP Protocol Log
In addition to having
the ability to configure the maximum file and directory sizes for SMTP
protocol logs, administrators can also configure a maximum age for each
SMTP protocol log file. The default age for all log files is set to 30
days, and any log files that exceed this age are deleted by Exchange
Server.
To change the maximum age of SMTP protocol log files, use the following commands in the Exchange Management Shell. The <Age> argument is entered in the following format: DD.HH:MM:SS, for Days, Hours, Minutes, Seconds.
Change maximum age for the Receive SMTP protocol log file:
Set-TransportServer <Identity> -ReceiveProtocolLogMaxAge <Age>
Change maximum age for the Send SMTP protocol log file:
Set-TransportServer <Identity> -SendProtocolLogMaxAge <Age>
Sample command: To set the maximum age of the Send SMTP protocol log file on Server1 to 60 days, use the following command:
Set-TransportServer Server1 –SendProtocolLogMaxAge 60.00:00:00
