XADM: Exchange 2000 Server Setup Stops Responding While Replicating Data from Exchange Server 5.5 (289486)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server
  • Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5
This article was previously published under Q289486

SYMPTOMS

Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server Setup stops responding while replicating data from Exchange Server 5.5. This issue occurs when Exchange 2000 Server is introduced in an existing Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 site. Toward the end of the installation, Exchange 2000 Server has to contact the Exchange Server 5.5 computer to synchronize with the existing information.

If Setup encounters a problem, Setup stops with an error message. If you click Retry, an attempt is made to reconnect to the Exchange Server 5.5 computer. If you click Cancel, the messaging component is not installed, although the rest of the installation is completed.

The Exchange Server Setup log file is the best way to troubleshoot Setup issues. The Exchange Server Setup log file is named Exchange Server Setup Progress.log, and it can be found on the root directory of the boot partition. You may see entries that are similar to the following in the Setup log file: 
[17:10:57] Attempting to add the replica for the /o=ORG NAME/ou=SITE NAME/cn=Microsoft DMD Naming Context, to server E2KSERVER
[17:10:57] Entering ScAddNCReplica
[17:10:57] Entering Sc_dra_replica_add
[17:10:57] Attempting to add a replica of naming context /o=ORG NAME/ou=SITE NAME/cn=Microsoft DMD, from Server 55SERVER to Server E2KSERVER
[17:11:03] Leaving Sc_dra_replica_add
[17:11:03] Entering Sc_dra_replica_add
[17:11:03] Attempting to add a replica of naming context /o=ORG NAME/ou=SITE NAME/cn=Microsoft DMD, from Server E2KSERVER to Server 55SERVER
[17:11:49] Replication encountered a connection failure error.
[17:11:49] Replication encountered a recoverable error. About to sleep for 1 seconds.
[17:11:50] Attempting to add a replica of naming context /o=ORG NAME/ou=SITE NAME/cn=Microsoft DMD, from Server E2KSERVER to Server 55SERVER
[17:12:35] Replication encountered a connection failure error.
[17:12:35] Replication encountered a recoverable error. About to sleep for 3 seconds.
[17:12:38] Attempting to add a replica of naming context /o=ORG NAME/ou=SITE NAME/cn=Microsoft DMD, from Server E2KSERVER to Server 55SERVER
[17:13:23] Replication encountered a connection failure error.
[17:13:23] Replication encountered a recoverable error. About to sleep for 4 seconds.
[17:13:28] Attempting to add a replica of naming context /o=ORG NAME/ou=SITE NAME/cn=Microsoft DMD, from Server E2KSERVER to Server 55SERVER

CAUSE

The Setup log file that is shown in the "Symptoms" section of this article indicates a networking issue. There are many different networking issues, such as Host Name resolution, no physical network connectivity, incorrect DNS settings, and others. The most common cause of this issue is that DNS is not configured correctly on the Exchange Server 5.5 computer.

RESOLUTION

To troubleshoot this issue, start with the following items:
  1. Verify that the two servers can ping each other by IP address.
  2. Verify that the two servers can ping each other by fully qualified domain name (FQDN).
  3. Use NSLookup to verify that you can query a Name server. Make sure that the Name server that is returned contains records for the Exchange Server 5.5 computer that you are trying to replicate with.
  4. Verify that the Exchange 5.5 computer is pointing to an internal DNS server that has an A record (host record) for the Exchange 2000 computer. Typically this will be the same Windows 2000 DNS server that the Exchange 2000 computer is pointing to for DNS.

MORE INFORMATION

The errors that the "Symptoms" section of this article describes can also be caused if the logon account that is specified for the MS Exchange Directory Service is different from the Exchange Server 5.5 service account. If you change the logon account for the service to be the same as the Exchange Server 5.5 service account (and password), the connection can be made, and Exchange 2000 Server Setup can resume.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:4/25/2005
Keywords:kbprb KB289486 kbAudITPRO
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