by Michael B. Smith, MCSE/Exchange MVP

The Exchange User Monitor was released in 2005 for Exchange Server 2003. This tool allows an administrator the capability to dive deeply into the guts of an Exchange Server and see what is going on with MAPI on that server. The tool regularly updates its display (by default, every 60 seconds), tracing the activity of each MAPI connection that is open to the Information Store. This includes connections that occur via Outlook Anywhere (RPC/HTTP).

Using ExMon it is possible to determine how much of the Information Store resource any specific user is consuming. It especially helps to determine any users that may be using too many system resources. And actually, if a user has multiple connections, each connection may be tracked separately. Resources that are tied to the information store include such things as: the number of RPC packets that are sent and received, the number of operations (like read, delete, move, etc.), how many bytes were sent and received between the server and client, how much CPU time it took to perform each one of the RPC operations, etc. There are also client specific sets of information that are displayed by ExMon, such as the client’s access token (i.e., their username), the version of the client connecting (i.e., the version of Outlook), and the IP address of the client computer.

You don’t have to look far to find an example of how ExMon can help. For example, the initial release of Google Desktop Search did not throttle its use of Exchange resources. It would open several MAPI connections to an Exchange server to download mailbox information and do so as fast as it could. Just a few copies of GDS running on a network against large mailboxes could bring an Exchange server to its knees due to performance issues. Because of this and other similar situations, ExMon acquired quite a following within the Customer Support and Services (CSS, which most people still call PSS) organization of Microsoft, as well as within various online communities. In fact, ExMon is part of the Exchange Performance Troubleshooter, which is part of the Exchange Management Console in Exchange 2007.

ExMon works by using a Windows technology known as ETW - Event Tracing for Windows. ETW was first introduced in Windows 2000 Server. ExMon requires two registry keys to be set, one of which enables RPC tracing within the Information Store and one of which enables WMI to return ETW information. A restart is not required for either key to take effect. Tracing is a technology originally developed to assist in low-level debugging of applications and the Windows operating system itself. Because of this, trace files are not compatible between applications. That is, ExMon for Exchange Server 2003 will not work with Exchange Server 2007.

When collecting samples, ExMon has very low impact on an Exchange server. However, depending on how busy a server is, or how many connections it has, the data analysis portion of each ExMon cycle can consume significant system resources. Also there are some situations that can cause ExMon’s trace files to become disconnected from the application itself. In this case, the trace files can grow to be very large (512 MB).

Because of these (and other) reasons, ExMon has not been released for Exchange Server 2007. If you run the Performance Troubleshooter, it will actually generate errors because ExMon is not available. In order to obtain ExMon, you will need to open a support case with CSS and request it. My contacts within Microsoft say that there is an ongoing dialog regarding the general release of ExMon, but so far, the decision has been “not to”.

"When it rain, it pours" often applies to questions about Outlook and Exchange. We'll see very few questions about a problem, then all of a sudden everyone seems to have the problem. This week its about users with Owner permission being unable to post to public folders.

The problem: "Two users have full owner rights to add/edit/delete entries in a public calendar. Currently neither of the two employees with full owner rights can add or edit or delete entries in the public calendar. They get a message saying "Your changes could not be saved because you don't have permission to modify some or all of the items in this folder. Do you want to save a copy of this item in the default folder for the items? " Any ideas about what is wrong?"

This is caused by an incorrect setting on the Public Folder. I know, you're thinking "Wow, what a revelation" . But seriously, it is an incorrect setting on the Administration tab of the folder's properties.

The default setting is "Drag/Drop posting is a: Move/Copy ". This allows anyone with the correct permissions to create or drag an item in the folder. When it's changed to Forward, the folder treats all items as forwarded items and the error occurs because the creator does not have permission to send mail on behalf of the folder.

So, there are two ways to fix the error. First is to set the Drag/Drop posting to Move/Copy. If you need to have it set to Forward, make sure the Owners have send on behalf permission for the folder and for the originator of the messages in the folder.

This begs the question: under what circumstances would you want it set to forward? When this is set to Move/Copy, items added to the folder show the original sender and this person remains the owner of the item, even if they don't have permission to post to the folder. The person who moved the item is not identified.

When its set to Forward, it identifies the item as from the person who moved the item and the original send may be listed in the header in the message body.

Although it seems like Forward should be the default, if only to prevent someone from maliciously posting as another person, unless a user has send as permission for another account, it will be posted as "On behalf of" when using Move/Copy, so while an employee could post a notice from the CEO making tomorrow a company paid holiday, it shouldn't fool anyone.

If the original sent or received date is important, you'll want to use Move/Copy. When the setting is Move/Copy the original sent and received dates are retained, but when using Froward, the sent and received dates are changed to the date it was added to the folder.

XCLN: Cannot Save Changes to a Public Folder Item
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/168540

XADM: One User Appears Able to Post to a Public Folder as Another User
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/251819

You can customize the Task view on the To-do bar to show only certain tasks. All of the filter options found in Views or Search folders are available in the task section of the To-do bar.

This example shows you how to limit the tasks shown to a specific period.

1. Right-click on the field names and select Custom. (Select one of the predefined views first, if desired)
2. Choose the Filter button.
3. On the Advanced tab, click the Field drop-down button, and choose from the Date/Time fields. Choose the Due date field.
4. As the Condition, choose "on or before".
5. In the Value field, type "3 weeks from now" (without the quotes) or even "now + 3 weeks". You can also use a formula such as NOW(3*WEEK(()), but many natural language phrases and simple formulas will work just as well and don't require even basic knowledge of SQL.
6. Add it to the list and Ok your way out of the dialog.

This won't display tasks with no due date. If you need to include tasks with no due date, add the Due date field again and choose Does not exist as the condition and Add to list. Now you'll see both tasks due on or before 3 weeks from now and those with no due date.

There is just one big drawback to creating a custom filter for tasks in the To-Do Bar - only one view is supported so you can't switch between views as you can in other folders. If you want to use different views you need to keep editing this filter or view the To-do list in the Task module, where you can create as many custom views as needed.

Always do the feedback questionnaire if an article on the Microsoft website is unclear or missing information. They do read these comments and while they may not edit an article on just one comment, they will attempt to make it easier to understand once they get a few negative comments. Don’t just write “this didn’t help” or “it’s wrong” explain why it was hard to understand or why it didn't address the issue you were searching for. For example, many of the Office Online articles about the Outlook Address Book and Contacts came about because the comments indicate that the address book and contacts are really confusing to many users. Anyone supporting users knew that, but sometimes it takes comments from real users to get the point across.

They also like praise when the article helps them (who doesn't) so if you have time, a positive comment is appreciated, but it’s very important that they know when the articles don't help. Complaining to your co-workers won't do a bit of good - complaining to Microsoft will make a difference for others.

While the same advice should apply to any website that has a feedback questionnaire on each page, I know the appropriate persons at Microsoft read these comments and will rework the article if it’s not helping their users.