asked on

553 Requested action not taken: mailbox name not allowed

I have a user who tried to send an email and received the following error:

This message has not yet been delivered. Microsoft Exchange will continue to try delivering the message on your behalf.

She then received the message that the delivery had failed:

#550 4.4.7 QUEUE.Expired; message expired ##

I can telnet to their mail server via port 25 from my Exchange Server.

I have protocol logging turned on for my Exchange Server and my Edge Transport Server.

There are no logs in the protocol logging directory on the Exchange Server (Haven't figured out why yet) but there are logs in the protocol logging directory on the Edge Transport Server. Below is the log data from that particular email that was delayed and then rejected:

2009-03-27T14:01:31.991Z,edgesync - default-first-site-name to internet,08CB7AE3103DAF09,0,,213.180.138.18:25,*,,attempting to connect
2009-03-27T14:01:32.131Z,edgesync - default-first-site-name to internet,08CB7AE3103DAF09,1,192.168.5.25:27299,213.180.138.18:25,+,,
2009-03-27T14:01:33.459Z,edgesync - default-first-site-name to internet,08CB7AE3103DAF09,2,192.168.5.25:27299,213.180.138.18:25,<,220 mx.poczta.onet.pl Service ready,
2009-03-27T14:01:33.459Z,edgesync - default-first-site-name to internet,08CB7AE3103DAF09,3,192.168.15.5:27299,213.180.138.18:25,>,EHLO mail.mycompany.com,
2009-03-27T14:01:33.459Z,edgesync - default-first-site-name to internet,08CB7AE3103DAF09,4,192.168.15.5:27299,213.180.138.18:25,<,503 Bad sequence of commands,
2009-03-27T14:01:33.459Z,edgesync - default-first-site-name to internet,08CB7AE3103DAF09,5,192.168.15.5:27299,213.180.138.18:25,>,HELO mail.mycompany.com,
2009-03-27T14:01:33.600Z,edgesync - default-first-site-name to internet,08CB7AE3103DAF09,6,192.168.15.5:27299,213.180.138.18:25,<,553 Requested action not taken: mailbox name not allowed,
2009-03-27T14:01:33.600Z,edgesync - default-first-site-name to internet,08CB7AE3103DAF09,7,192.168.15.5:27299,213.180.138.18:25,>,QUIT,
2009-03-27T14:01:33.756Z,edgesync - default-first-site-name to internet,08CB7AE3103DAF09,8,192.168.15.25:27299,213.180.138.18:25,<,221 Service closing transmission channel,
2009-03-27T14:01:33.756Z,edgesync - default-first-site-name to internet,08CB7AE3103DAF09,9,192.168.15.25:27299,213.180.138.18:25,-,,Local

Is this on my end or theirs? How do I fix it if I need to. I've ran a DNS report and all of my "stuff" is correct and functioning properly.

coolsport00

Here are a couple posts to look at to see what may be going on:
https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/23176470/SMTP-Error-4-4-7-SMTP-450-Service-temporarily-unavailable.html
http://thebackroomtech.com/2008/03/28/troubleshooting-exchange-error-447-delivery-delay-and-failures/

Also, to turn on logging on your server, you need to make sure Verbose is select under the "Protocol Logging Level" in your connectors (receive and send).

Regards.
~coolsport00

vetted

ASKER

I appear to have everything needed per those two posts you suggested. The only thing possible would be the greylisting if they have it. How do I go about looking into this further?

I have Verbose selected under Protocol Logging for my send connector on both Exchange and Edge Transport server, however only the Edge Transport server is producing logs.

coolsport00

The only other thing would be to contact the recv'ing org Exchg Admin to see if they have anything setup that would prevent emails from your org getting thru. Another idea is to make sure you have an SPF record setup in your external DNS, if you haven't already (http://www.openspf.org/; have a tool to assist in creating the record on this site, as well).

Logging for send should probably only be seen on your Edge since that is where your email is being routed through. I dont have the Edge setup on my org, just an ISA for my "Edge", so I can't be 100% confident in that answer, but believe it's correct.

vetted

ASKER

I do have an SPF record and it is correct. I'll try contacting the other admin and see what I can find out.

vetted

ASKER

I'm thinking perhaps it's my Watchguard firewall blocking it. I have a request in for support with them.

coolsport00

Hmmm...not sure how that could be, other than if you have header size limitations set on it. I'm not too familiar with firewalls though. Let me know what you find out.

~coolsport00

vetted

ASKER

My Watchguard firewall did have a policy to block the "_" but it was disabled. I know that Exchange doesn't support all characters. I'm now wondering if it's coming from my Exchange Server. Is there a setting in Exchange for this to allow it?

The reason I know it's on my end is because the recipient has offered another address for testing for us (which has an underscore in it but uses a different domain) and that one is hanging in the queue as well.

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

coolsport00

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vetted

ASKER

It wasn't the firewall after all. I had that rule set correctly. As I was continuing to troubleshoot this issue, the "Last Error" in the mail queue on the Exchange server changed from the 553 to one saying that our mail was blocked by that recipients mail server anti-spam.

I have contacted this person and the fix is in progress. I wish that this was the original error instead of sending me around a loop to find this answer. Thanks for responding, points awarded.

coolsport00

Thanks for posting and the points 'vetted'; You know technology...it certainly can get under our skin sometimes, but at least it keeps us getting paid! :)

Regards.
~coolsport00