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Emails bouncing back to sender due to Email Size but we do not have limit set
Emails bouncing back to sender due to Email Size but we do not have limit set
- We are on exchange 2003 & outlook 2003...senders are complaining that their mails are bouncing back due to
"Message size exceeds fixed maximum message size"
The only limit we have set is an attachment limit of 20mbs...some senders are just sending a jpg or pdf with maybe a line of text and they get this failure messge....What can we check next?
All Replies
- Is the bounce back coming from your Exchange Server or is it coming from the destination? I would double check the Global message delivery as well as the SMTP Virtual Server size limits. Also can you verify that PDF is under 20 MB?
Mark Morowczynski|MCT| MCSE 2003:Messaging, Security|MCITP:ES, SA,EA|MCTS:Windows Mobile Admin|Security+|http://almostdailytech.com - Like Mark mentioned, check the message size limits you have set at each possible spot:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322679
How to set size limits for messages in Exchange Server
Does this affect all messages, or only ones sent to certain domains?
What is the actual size of the messages that are bouncing?
Be aware that you need to add 30-40% to your max message size for those messages destined for the Internet to account for MIME encoding. - hi the problem is only for us receiving mail in so would assume the message going back to the sender is coming from our server?..i've checked the Global Delivery and we have Message Size sending and receiving set to 20,000kb and there is no size limit in the SMTP settings.
I've just tried to test now by sending couple of test mails from my Gmail account into my work account.
1) had an attachment of 132kb - it came through fine (into junkmail folder but still came through anyway)
2) had an attachment of 3755kb - it failed due to size.
so both less than our 20mb cut off point...
Message in failure email is: Technical details of permanent failure:
Google tried to deliver your message, but it was rejected by the recipient domain. We recommend contacting the other email provider for further information about the cause of this error. The error that the other server returned was: Message size exceeds fixed maximum message size (state 18).
any suggestions? - Check the message size limit on your inbound SMTP gateway. What is it set to? (Do you accept mail directly to Exchange or via another SMTP gateway?)
- Hi the SMTP settings are set that all mail are "accepted" and there are no size limits set.
thanks - No size limits? That would be kinda crazy.
So you accept mail from the Internet directly to this Exchange Server?
If you telnet on port 25 to the server that accepts mail for your domain, issue an EHLO command, what is listed for 250-SIZE? - there is nothing listed beside 250-SIZE??
- And this is the server that accepts mail for your domain? It accepts messages directly from the internet?
If so, then check message tracking and enable SMTP protocol logging, then send a test message. If your Exchange Server is bouncing those messages, it will be in the logs.
However, it would be rather unusual to have the gateway that accepts mail for your domain to have an unlimited message size. Are you sure that is the server that accepts mail for your org?
If you enter your domain here:
http://www.mxtoolbox.com/ you will list the ip address of the server(s) that accept mail for your domain.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/265139
How to enable SMTP protocol logging in Exchange 2000 Server and in Exchange Server 2003
- thanks i will test in morning, am clocking off now!
- Are you sure it's Exchange 2003. That error message "Message size exceeds fixed maximum message size" is definitely an Exchange 2007 error message.
Here is how to lift that limit in the Exchange 2007 receive connector: http://www.christensen-software.com/support/articles/exchange2007sizelimit.htm (with screenshots) - thanks for reply but i am def on 2003..
hi andy, i've enabled the logging and done a test mail and yes its appearing in this log you mention...can you remind me what am i looking for in this log?
- Can you post exactly what is listed?
