How to check exchange 2013 Email queue

Use Queue Viewer in the Exchange Toolbox to view the properties of a message

1. Click Start > All Programs > Microsoft Exchange 2013 > Exchange Toolbox.
   
2. In the Mail flow tools section, double-click Queue Viewer to open the tool in a new window.
   
3. In Queue Viewer, select the Messages tab to see the list of messages that are currently queued for delivery in your organization.
   
4. Right-click the message whose properties you want to view and then select Properties.
   
5. The General tab displays the following detailed information about the message:
   
   • Identity   This field shows the integer that represents a particular message. The message identity is assigned by the queuing database when the message is received for processing. You can include an optional server and queue identity to identify a unique instance of the message.
     
   • Subject   This field shows the subject of a message and is expressed as a text string. The value is taken from the Subject: header field.
     
   • Internet Message ID   This field shows the value of the MessageID: header field. The value of this property is expressed as a GUID followed by the SMTP address of the sending server, as in this example: 67D754D6103DC4FB3BA6BC7205DACABA61231@exchange.contoso.com
     
   • From Address   This field shows the SMTP address of the sender of the message. This value is taken from MAIL FROM: in the message envelope.
     
   • Status   This field shows the current message status. A message can have one of the following status values:
     
     • Active   If the message is in a delivery queue, the message is being delivered to its destination. If the message is in the Submission queue, the message is being processed by the categorizer.
       
     • Pending Remove   The message was deleted by the administrator but was already in delivery. The message will be deleted if the delivery ends in an error that causes the message to re-enter the queue. Otherwise, delivery will continue.
       
     • Pending Suspend   The message was suspended by the administrator but was already in delivery. The message will be suspended if the delivery ends in an error that causes the message to re-enter the queue. Otherwise, delivery will continue.
       
     • Ready   The message is waiting in the queue and is ready to be processed.
       
     • Retry   The last connection attempt failed for the queue in which this message is located. The message is waiting for the next queue retry.
       
     • Suspended   The message was suspended by the administrator.
       
   • Size (KB)   This field shows the size of the message rounded up to the nearest kilobyte (KB).
     
   • Message Source Name   This field shows the name of the component that submitted this message to the queue.
     
   • Source IP   This field shows the IP address of the external server that submitted the message to the Exchange organization.
     
   • SCL   This field shows the spam confidence Level (SCL) rating of the message. Valid SCL entries are integers 0 through 9 or -1. An empty SCL entry indicates that the message hasn't been processed by the Content Filter agent.
     
   • Date Received   This field shows the date-time when the message was received by the server that holds the queue in which the message is located.
     
   • Expiration Time   This field shows the date-time when the message will expire and will be deleted from the queue if the message can't be delivered.
     
   • Last Error   This field shows the last error that was recorded for a message.
     
   • Queue ID   This field shows the identity of the queue that holds the message. The queue identity is expressed in the form Server\destination, where destination is a delivery group, routing destination, persistent queue name, or the queue database identifier. The queue database identifier is represented as an integer and can be determined by viewing the message properties.
     
   • Recipients   This field shows the list of recipients to which the message is addressed.
     
   • Retry Count   This field shows the number of times that delivery of a message to a destination was tried.
     
6. The Recipient Information tab displays the following information about the message recipients:
   
   • Address   This field shows the SMTP address of the recipient of the message. This value is taken from RCPT TO: in the message envelope.
     
   • Status   This field shows the current message status. A message can have one of the following status values:
     
     • Active   If the message is in a delivery queue, the message is being delivered to its destination. If the message is in the Submission queue, the message is being processed by the categorizer.
       
     • Pending Remove   The message has been deleted by the administrator but was already in delivery. The message will be deleted if the delivery ends in an error that causes the message to re-enter the queue. Otherwise, delivery will continue.
       
     • Pending Suspend   The message has been suspended by the administrator but was already in delivery. The message will be suspended if the delivery ends in an error that causes the message to re-enter the queue. Otherwise, delivery will continue.
       
     • Ready   The message is waiting in the queue and is ready to be processed.
       
     • Retry   The last connection attempt failed for the queue in which this message is located. The message is waiting for the next queue retry.
       
     • Suspended   The message has been suspended by the administrator.
       
   • Last Error   This field shows the last error that was recorded for a message.
     

Use the Shell to view the properties of a message

You use the Get-Message cmdlet to view the properties of a message that is currently queued for delivery. The following example tabulates the sender address, recipients, subject, and received date information for all messages that are currently in retry state:

Get-Message -IncludeRecipientInfo -Filter {Status -eq "Retry"} | Format-Table FromAddress,Recipients,Subject,DateReceived

For detailed syntax and parameter information, see Get-Message.

How to reset IIS with the IIS Reset command

You may need to restart Internet Information Services (IIS) before certain configuration changes take effect, or when applications become unavailable. IIS is the web server on your GearHost CloudServer. Often, the first step in troubleshooting issues with your website is to restart IIS. Follow the instructions below to restart IIS.

 

1. From the Start menu, click Run.

 

2. In the Open box, type cmd, and click OK.

 

3. At the command prompt, type iisreset /stop. IIS will attempt to stop all services and will return confirmation once all services have been stopped.

4. At the command prompt, type iisreset /start. 

5. That’s it! IIS has been restarted.

Tips

• Typing iisreset directly from the run command window will reset IIS.
• iisreset /status will show the current status of IIS
• iisreset /noforce will prevent the server from forcing close applications and process. This can cause IIS to reset slower but is more graceful.

1. C:\>iisreset /stop
2.  
3. Attempting stop...
4. Internet services successfully stopped

VSS Troubleshooting Guide – Failed VSS Writers

• Title

  VSS Troubleshooting Guide – Failed VSS Writers

• Description

  AppAssure 5 uses VSS as part of the recovery point creation process.
  If the VSS subsystem isn’t functioning properly, AppAssure will not be able to complete the backups.
  The following sections are designed to help remedy specific VSS issues that may occur within your system.
  Please note additional VSS troubleshooting details can be found in Microsoft’s TechNet article “Troubleshooting the Volume Shadow Copy Service.” Microsoft’s document provides additional troubleshooting steps that go beyond the scope of this article.
  

• Resolution

  Before moving on to the steps below, ensure that all service packs, hotfixes and and updates have been applied to the system.
  Should the problem still persist after applying all available service packs, hotfixes and and updates, please complete the following steps.
  

  1. Reboot your agent server. Servers that have not been rebooted in a while may cause VSS to malfunction. You should reboot your server regularly as a preventive and cleanup measure for your system.
     
     
  2. Reset the writers to a stable state.
     • Open vssadmin from the command line (run cmd prompt as administrator). Run the following command:
       • vssadmin list writers
     • If any writer is noted as failed or has an error, or any writers’ states are not listed as stable, run the following:
       • For Replay4: C:\Program Files (x86)\AppAssure Software\Replay Agent\Utils64 > vshadow <drive letter:>
       • For AppAssure 5, open a command prompt from the following location: C:\Program Files\apprecovery\agent
         • Run vShadow <drive letter:>
     • List the writers again to check their stability: vssadmin list writers
     • If there are still any writers that are listed as failed or have an error, please continue to the next step.
       
       
  3. Clear any existing shadows.
     • VSS has a limit on the number of snapshots that can be kept on the system; furthermore, these snapshots take up space on the drive that is needed to take these snapshots. The following will clear this space.
       
       
       • Open vssadmin from the command line (run cmd as administrator).
       • Enter vssadmin delete shadows /all
       • This will clean up the VSS snapshots. 
       • Some defective systems accumulate VSS snapshots that persist in the system.
       • Enter vssadmin list writers and check for errors.
       • If there are still any writers that are listed as Failed or have an error, or any writers’ states are not listed as Stable, please continue to the next step.
         
       • If you have recieved the following error:
         "Error: Snapshots were found, but they were outside of your allowed context. Try removing them with the backup application which created them."
         
         
         • Return to the elevated cmd prompt
         • Enter wmic
         • Enter shadowcopy delete
         • For each shadow copy it lists, enter Y
           
           
  4. Restart the services.
     • Open Services.msc and restart the following services:
       
       
       • COM+ Event System.
       • COM+ System Application Service. This may not be started (if not, start it).
       • Distributed Transaction Coordinator Service.
       • Volume Shadow Copy Service.
       • If possible please also restart the affected VSS writer service, for example Virtual Server 2005 VSS writer or the Hyper-V VM manager Service to the Hyper-V VSS writer.
         
         
     • Check the Event Viewer for any additional error information logged by that VSS writer.
     • Run vssadmin list writerst once more.
     • If there are any writers that are listed as failed or have an error, please continue to the next step.
       
       
  5. As noted above, VSS has a limit to the amount of space that is set to keep and take snapshots on occasion the default value 5% of the total size of the volume is not large enough. Please run the following command to set the size to have no limit.
     • vssadmin Resize ShadowStorage /For=<drive letter:> /On=<drive letter:> /MaxSize=UNBOUNDED
       Example:  vssadmin Resize ShadowStorage /For=C: /On=C: /MaxSize=UNBOUNDED
       
       
  6. On systems running a desktop operating system, the above command is the only way to set the size of the VSS Snapshot save location. On Windows Server Operating systems, the GUI can be used.
     • Open Disk Management: Click Start , click Run , type diskmgmt.msc and then click OK.
     • Right Click on the First Volume
     • Select Properties
     • Select the Shadow Copies Tab
     • Select The First Disk in the List
     • Select Settings
     • Select No Limit
     • Click OK
       
       
  7. If you don’t get any VSS writer errors when using vssadmin list writers, but the system isn’t able to create a new VSS snapshot (and you have deleted all existing snapshots), please continue to the next step.
     
     
  8. Uninstall all backup software on your computer, including Windows Backup if it is installed. You don’t need to uninstall Replay, because Replay doesn’t contain or install any VSS writers; however, we have seen VSS writers of other backup software manufacturers cause system instability and errors.
     
     
  9. After all other backup tools have been uninstalled, open the Registry Editor (regedit) as an administrator and check the following branch:
     
     HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\VSS\Providers
     
     
  10. After all other backup tools have been uninstalled, open Regedit as an administrator and check the following branch:
      
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\VSS\Providers
      
      
  11. Underneath that key you should only find Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider. If you do find another, it may be a residual registry entry from a previous backup software installation. You can save the entry by exporting the entire registry to a file (right click and select Export) and then it’s safe to delete the entire branch entry underneath.
      
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\VSS\Providers
      
      
  12. Reboot and run vssadmin list writers to confirm the problem has been resolved.
      
      WARNING:  Before making any changes to the registry, please export a copy of the registry to a memorable location so you can re-import it if necessary
      
      
  13. If the PC or server you are using is a virtual machine host, you need to install the latest VMware Tools (for VMware), Virtual Machine Additions (Virtual Server), and integration tools (Hyper-V) on each virtual machine.
      
      
  14. If you have completed all the above noted steps and you are still getting either VSS errors or unable to complete a snapshot, we recommend that you contact Microsoft Technical Support, as the issue is related to a malfunction within VSS or the Windows operating system.

How to manually restart all VSS writers when in a failed state without rebooting

• Title

  How to manually restart all VSS writers when in a failed state without rebooting

• Description

  There are instances when snapshots are failing due to an agent's VSS writers being in a failed state but it is impossible or not desirable to restart the server until at least after business hours.

• Cause

  The VSS writers may be in a failed state for many different reasons. Once they are in a failed state, it is usually necessary to restart the server.

• Resolution

  An alternative solution other than restarting the server is to restart each of the associated services for each of the VSS writers showing up in a failed state by following the steps below:
  

  • Find each of the VSS writers in a failed state by issuing this command in an elevated command prompt - vssadmin list writers.
  • Make a list of all the failed VSS writers or take a screenshot.
  • Find the VSS writer's associated Service Display Name in the table below and restart the service.
  • Issue the command again to confirm the status has changed Stable with no Error - vssadmin list writers.
  • Attempt to perform another snapshot.
  • If the VSS writers fail again, it will be necessary to restart the server.

  VSS Writer	Service Name	Service Display Name
  ASR Writer	VSS	Volume Shadow Copy
  BITS Writer	BITS	Background Intelligent Transfer Service
  COM+ REGDB Writer	VSS	Volume Shadow Copy
  DFS Replication service writer	DFSR	DFS Replication
  DHCP Jet Writer	DHCPServer	DHCP Server
  FRS Writer	NtFrs	File Replication
  FSRM writer	srmsvc	File Server Resource Manager
  IIS Config Writer	AppHostSvc	Application Host Helper Service
  IIS Metabase Writer	IISADMIN	IIS Admin Service
  Microsoft Exchange Writer	MSExchangeIS	Microsoft Exchange Information Store
  Microsoft Hyper-V VSS Writer	vmms	Hyper-V Virtual Machine Management
  NTDS	NTDS	Active Directory Domain Services
  OSearch VSS Writer	OSearch	Office SharePoint Server Search
  OSearch14 VSS Writer	OSearch14	SharePoint Server Search 14
  Registry Writer	VSS	Volume Shadow Copy
  Shadow Copy Optimization Writer	VSS	Volume Shadow Copy
  SPSearch VSS Writer	SPSearch	Windows SharePoint Services Search
  SPSearch4 VSS Writer	SPSearch4	SharePoint Foundation Search V4
  SqlServerWriter	SQLWriter	SQL Server VSS Writer
  System Writer	CryptSvc	Cryptographic Services
  TermServLicensing	TermServLicensing	Remote Desktop Licensing
  WINS Jet Writer	WINS	Windows Internet Name Service (WINS)
  WMI Writer	Winmgmt	Windows Management Instrumentation