(Please go here for Part 1 of this series and here for Part 2)
Question 4 when troubleshooting the RUS - Which policies match the user?
If you got this far, then you know that the RUS queried for the changes, and the query returned the expected result. The next question is what happened when the RUS processed that user.
When the RUS picks up one of the objects queued for processing, you'll see this event:
Event Type: Information
Event Source: MSExchangeAL
Event Category: Address List Synchronization
Event ID: 8163
Description:
Thread #12b8: received next Address List Transaction. DC=bilong,DC=test
After that the RUS begins evaluating the object against each address list and policy. Each evaluation generates an event 8129:
Event Type: Information
Event Source: MSExchangeAL
Event Category: Address List Synchronization
Event ID: 8129
Description:
Evaluating directory object 'CN=e2kuser7,CN=Users,DC=bilong,DC=test' against address list 'CN=All Users,CN=All Address Lists,CN=Address Lists Container,CN=Microsoft,CN=Microsoft Exchange,CN=Services,CN=Configuration,DC=bilong,DC=test' rule '(& (mailnickname=*) (| (&(objectCategory=person)(objectClass=user)(!(homeMDB=*))(!(msExchHomeServerName=*)))(&(objectCategory=person)(objectClass=user)(|(homeMDB=*)(msExchHomeServerName=*))) ))'. DC=bilong,DC=test
If the address list or policy matches the object, you'll also get an 8130:
Event Type: Information
Event Source: MSExchangeAL
Event Category: Address List Synchronization
Event ID: 8130
Description:
'CN=All Users,CN=All Address Lists,CN=Address Lists Container,CN=Microsoft,CN=Microsoft Exchange,CN=Services,CN=Configuration,DC=bilong,DC=test' added to 'CN=e2kuser7,CN=Users,DC=bilong,DC=test'. DC=bilong,DC=test
By reading the 8129 and 8130 events, you can determine which policies and address lists the RUS determined match the user. Note that just because you see an 8130 for more than one recipient policy does not mean that multiple policies will be applied to the user. Out of all the matching policies, the policy with the highest priority is the only one that will affect this recipient. Address lists, on the other hand, are cumulative. All matching address lists will be added to the recipient.
You should see an 8129 event for every existing address list and policy. If you are not seeing an 8129 event for the address lists or recipient policies you're expecting, then the RUS does not see those objects. This is typically due to a permissions issue, especially in a hosting scenario where permissions on individual address lists have been modified. The same behavior could occur if those objects have not replicated to the DC the Exchange server has chosen as the config DC. Exchange will be reading the address lists and recipient policies from the config DC - not from the DC that the RUS points to. To see which DC has been chosen as the config DC, get properties on the Exchange server in question and look at the Directory Access tab in Exchange System Manager.
In some cases, the RUS will have to query the active directory to see if a policy applies. In that case you may see a series of events like this:
Event Type: Information
Event Source: MSExchangeAL
Event Category: Address List Synchronization
Event ID: 8129
Description:
Evaluating directory object 'CN=e2kuser7,CN=Users,DC=bilong,DC=test' against address list 'CN=NewPolicy,CN=Recipient Policies,CN=Microsoft,CN=Microsoft Exchange,CN=Services,CN=Configuration,DC=bilong,DC=test' rule '(&(extensionAttribute1=mySpecialValue))'. DC=bilong,DC=test
Event Type: Information
Event Source: MSExchangeAL
Event Category: LDAP Operations
Event ID: 8011
Description:
Searching directory bilongexch1.bilong.test at base '<GUID=F56238A9720BA14FBBD786F9CC847A45>' using filter '(&(extensionAttribute1=mySpecialValue))' and requesting attributes ObjectClass; ReplPropertyMetaData. DC=bilong,DC=test
Event Type: Information
Event Source: MSExchangeAL
Event Category: LDAP Operations
Event ID: 8012
Description:
Search of directory bilongexch1.bilong.test at base '<GUID=F56238A9720BA14FBBD786F9CC847A45>' returned 0 objects. DC=bilong,DC=test
In order to determine if this policy matched the user, the RUS issued a search against the DC using the objectGUID of the user as the base of the search and the filter from the policy as the filter. In this case the search returned 0 results, which tells the RUS that the policy does not match this user.
By reading the 8130 events, you can note all 8130 events that correspond to recipient policies. Then, out of each recipient policy shown in an 8130, you can identify the one among them that has a higher priority than all the others. That is the policy which the RUS should generate addresses for, assuming it's appropriate for the RUS to generate addresses for the given recipient. For more information on how the RUS decides to generate addresses, see KB:328738.
- Bill Long
