XCON: How to Modify the SMTP Banner (281224)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server
  • the operating system: Microsoft Windows 2000
This article was previously published under Q281224
Important This article contains information about editing the metabase. Before you edit the metabase, verify that you have a backup copy that you can restore if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, see the "Configuration Backup/Restore" Help topic in Microsoft Management Console (MMC).

SUMMARY

When you use Telnet to connect to the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) service of a Windows 2000-based server (regardless of whether it is running Exchange 2000), the following banner is displayed:

220 hostname.domain.com Microsoft ESMTP MAIL Service, Version: 5.0.2195.1600 ready at Thu, 30 Nov 2000 18:09:43 -0600

MORE INFORMATION

Warning If you edit the metabase incorrectly, you can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall any product that uses the metabase. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems that result if you incorrectly edit the metabase can be solved. Edit the metabase at your own risk.

Note Always back up the metabase before you edit it.

This may be an issue if you do not want the version of the SMTP service that is running on your server to be displayed. To remove the version information from the Windows 2000 SMTP banner, follow these steps:
  1. Using a metabase editing tool such as MetaEdit, locate the following file:

    Lm\Smtpsvc\virtual server number

  2. Click Edit, click New, and then click String.
  3. Verify that the entry in the ID box is Other, and then type 36907 (decimal) on the right side of the ID box.
  4. In the Data box, type the banner that you want to be displayed.
  5. Stop, and then restart the SMTP virtual server or the SMTP service.
To confirm that the banner has been changed, telnet to port 25 of the virtual server (the default setting). The "ESMTP MAIL Service, Version: 5.0.2195.1600" banner should no longer be displayed.

NOTE: The fully qualified domain name (FQDN) (as it was entered in the SMTP service properties) and the date and time are still displayed. The following text is an example of modified banner:

220 hostname.domain.com **************** Thu, 30 Nov 2000 18:29:36 -0600

MetaEdit 2.2 is available for download by clicking the following Microsoft link:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/iis50/Utility/5.0/NT45/EN-US/MtaEdt22.exe

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:4/25/2005
Keywords:kbdownload kbdownload kbhowto KB281224 kbAudITPRO
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