3. Message Tracking
Of
the auditing techniques available in Exchange, message tracking is by
far the least resource-intensive and will likely be the most commonly
used by administrators. Because this feature has proven so valuable in
previous versions of Exchange, Microsoft has enabled it by default in
Exchange 2007. Previously, message tracking was disabled by default,
and had to be enabled on a server-by-server basis.
Administrators
can use message tracking logs for message forensics, reporting, and
troubleshooting, as well as analyzing mail flow in an organization.
Message
tracking records the SMTP transport activity of all messages sent to or
from any Exchange 2007 Hub Transport, Edge Transport, or Mailbox server.
Message
tracking logs cannot be configured by using the Exchange Management
Console; all settings must be configured using the Exchange Management
Shell.
To perform these procedures on a
computer with the Hub Transport or Mailbox server role installed,
administrators must be logged on using an account that is a member of
the Exchange Administrators group. The account must also be a member of
the local Administrators group on that computer. For a computer with
the Edge Transport server role installed, administrators must be logged
on using an account that is a member of the local Administrators group
on that computer.
Enabling or Disabling Message Tracking
As
previously stated, by default, message tracking is enabled on all
Exchange 2007 computers that deal with message transport. This includes
Hub Transport, Edge Transport, and Mailbox servers. Message tracking
can prove to be extremely useful, and administrators should avoid
disabling the feature unless there are overwhelming reasons. All
commands must be run from the Exchange Management Shell.
As in other shell commands, the <Identity> argument is replaced by the server name. To enable the feature, use the $true argument, and to disable it use $false.
To enable or disable message tracking on a Hub Transport or Edge Transport server:
Set-TransportServer <Identity> -MessageTrackingLogEnabled:<$true or $false>
To enable or disable message tracking on a Mailbox server:
Set-MailboxServer <Identity> -MessageTrackingLogEnabled:<$true or $false>
Sample command: To disable message tracking on a Mailbox server named Server1, use the following command:
Set-MailboxServer Server1 –MessageTrackingLogEnabled:$false
Note
If a server has both the Mailbox server role and the Hub Transport server role installed, you can use either the Set-MailboxServer or Set-TransportServer cmdlet.
Changing the Location of Message Tracking Logs
Exchange
Server 2007 allows administrators to specify the location of the
message tracking logs. The new location becomes effective immediately
upon the completion of the command; however, any existing log files are
not copied to the new directory—they will remain in the old directory.
By default, these files are located in the C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\TransportRoles\Logs\MessageTracking directory.
When creating a new directory, the following permissions are required:
Administrator— Full Control
System— Full Control
Network Service— Read, Write, and Delete Subfolders and Files
To change the default location for these log files, use the following commands in the Exchange Management Shell:
Change message tracking log file location for a Hub Transport server or an Edge Transport server:
Set-TransportServer <Identity> -MessageTrackingLogPath <LocalFilePath>
Change message tracking log file location for a Mailbox server:
Set-MailboxServer <Identity> -MessageTrackingLogPath <LocalFilePath>
Sample command: To change the location of the message tracking log to D:\Message Tracking on an Exchange 2007 Hub Transport server named Server1, use the following command:
Set-TransportServer Server1 –MessageTrackingLogPath "D:\Message Tracking"
Configuring Message Tracking Log File and Log Directory Maximum Size
To
prevent log files from growing so large that they deplete all available
disk space, Exchange Server 2007 allows administrators to configure
maximum log file and directory sizes. This configuration setting is a
per-server setting and, by default, the maximum directory size is
250MB, whereas the maximum log file size is 10MB. When the maximum file
size is reached, Exchange opens a new log file. When the maximum
directory size is reached, Exchange overwrites the log files, starting
with the oldest logs first.
To configure
message tracking log directory and file sizes, use the following
commands in the Exchange Management Shell. Be aware, these commands
must be performed for each server you want to modify. The <DirectorySize> and <FileSize> arguments should be entered as a number followed by one of the following:
B (bytes)
KB (kilobytes)
MB (megabytes)
GB (gigabytes)
TB (terabytes)
Change maximum size for message tracking log directory on a Hub Transport or Edge Transport server:
Set-TransportServer <Identity> -MessageTrackingLogMaxDirectorySize <DirectorySize>
Change maximum size for message tracking log directory on a Mailbox server:
Set-MailboxServer <Identity> -MessageTrackingLogMaxDirectorySize <DirectorySize>
Change maximum size for individual message tracking log files on a Hub Transport or Edge Transport server:
Set-TransportServer <Identity> -MessageTrackingLogMaxFileSize <FileSize>
Change maximum size for individual message tracking log files on a Mailbox server:
Set-MailboxServer <Identity> -MessageTrackingLogMaxFileSize <FileSize>
Sample command:
To set the maximum size for the message tracking log directory on a Hub
Transport server named Server1 to 500MB, use the following command:
Set-TransportServer Server1 –MessageTrackingLogMaxDirectorySize 500MB
Configuring the Maximum Age for the Message Tracking Logs
In
addition to having the ability to configure the maximum file and
directory sizes for message tracking logs, administrators can also
configure a maximum age for each message tracking log file. The default age is set to 30 days, and any log files that exceed this age are deleted by Exchange.
To change the maximum age of message tracking log files, use the following commands in the Exchange Management Shell. The <Age> argument is entered in the following format: DD.HH:MM:SS, for Days, Hours, Minutes, Seconds.
Change maximum age for the message tracking log files on a Hub Transport or Edge Transport server:
Set-TransportServer <Identity> -MessageTrackingLogMaxAge <Age>
Change maximum age for the message tracking log files on a Mailbox server:
Set-MailboxServer <Identity> -MessageTrackingLogMaxAge <Age>
Sample command:
To set the maximum age of the message tracking log files on an Exchange
2007 Mailbox server named Server1 to 45 days, use the following command:
Set-MailboxServer Server1 –MessageTrackingLogMaxAge 45.00:00:00
