dugger2377
asked on
IMAP4 Process Hanging
I'm several days in on troubleshooting an issue that I could use some community help on. I've got a Windows Server 2008 SBS Edition (physical) running Exchange 2007SP1. About a week ago, I received reports that users could not access their mail through their outlook client, only through OWA. Initial diagnosis of problem showed that IMAP was not connecting. I checked the process, which was "Started", and attempted to "Restart" it. The restart failed at "Stopping". I went and manually killed the IMAP process tree, restarted the process and tested. All appeared well... for about 30 - 45 minutes. Then the process hung again with the same symptoms. Fast forward several days, and I have the same issue going on - My IMAP4 process hangs randomly after working for about 30 - 40 minutes with no problem.
I've since updated the software to Exchange 2007 SP3 with latest roll up, but am experiencing the same issue. I've turned on debug level logging, and get no error messages to work with. The only indication of the problem (other than user complaints) is through a "Test-IMAPConnectivity -ConnectionType Plaintext" cmdlet that returns the error "System.TimeoutException: Server did not respond within 30 seconds" (Note that this test does not error out when performed during the first 30 minutes after restarting the process). Additionally, netstat output shows a large number of CLOSE_WAIT sessions on port 143 (the plaintext and TLS port), indicating that the software is not releasing these connections for some reason. There have been no updates made to this system for ages (other than recent patches and service pack updates to try and resolve this problem).
I'm at a loss on this one, and could use some help. Currently running the server in place with a net stop / net start command script executing out of the scheduler every 15 minutes to keep the service "kinda" functioning.... any ideas out there????
I've since updated the software to Exchange 2007 SP3 with latest roll up, but am experiencing the same issue. I've turned on debug level logging, and get no error messages to work with. The only indication of the problem (other than user complaints) is through a "Test-IMAPConnectivity -ConnectionType Plaintext" cmdlet that returns the error "System.TimeoutException: Server did not respond within 30 seconds" (Note that this test does not error out when performed during the first 30 minutes after restarting the process). Additionally, netstat output shows a large number of CLOSE_WAIT sessions on port 143 (the plaintext and TLS port), indicating that the software is not releasing these connections for some reason. There have been no updates made to this system for ages (other than recent patches and service pack updates to try and resolve this problem).
I'm at a loss on this one, and could use some help. Currently running the server in place with a net stop / net start command script executing out of the scheduler every 15 minutes to keep the service "kinda" functioning.... any ideas out there????
Amit
If you are not using IMAP, just stop and disable it.
ASKER
Clearly, I still need IMAP working. Disabling is not a solution. Anyone have any technical assistance they can provide?
Outlook doesn't use IMAP by default. How come you are using IMAP for connectivity rather than Outlook Anywhere?
Simon.
Simon.
ASKER
I appreciate your response, Simon, but use or non-use of IMAP is not the question here. The failing IMAP service is. Can anyone offer technical assistance to fixing (or better identifying) the IMAP problem please?
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ASKER
Thanks for your feedback, SImon. I've already disabled all AV on the server to verify that was not causing, I've also turned on advanced process logging to see if IMAP was freezing on processing the same file every time. Unfortunately, this is not the case, it is very random where it stops processing. I've scanned the database for corruption as well, with no errors detected.
It seems that everyone would like to talk me out of using IMAP, so I guess I should state for everyone that this decision is out of my control. This solution (and problem) is on a customer of our's site and we have no influence or control over the decision of using IMAP or not. Therefore, I need to resolve the technical problem, not simply avoid it through re-engineering the process.
It seems that everyone would like to talk me out of using IMAP, so I guess I should state for everyone that this decision is out of my control. This solution (and problem) is on a customer of our's site and we have no influence or control over the decision of using IMAP or not. Therefore, I need to resolve the technical problem, not simply avoid it through re-engineering the process.