SCOM 2007 Exchange 2003 management pack: Exchange server cannot be detected as “back-end” server

Source: Microsoft Support

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When the Exchange Server is installed on cluster virtual servers, the Exchange server cannot be detected as a “back-end” server. So the back-end clustered Exchange server will not be displayed in the Exchange back-end server view.

Additionally, if this issue occurs, the MAPI logon verification will also fail on a clustered Exchange server as the MAPI logon verification script is targeted to the Exchange back-end server.

This is a known behavior in SCOM 2007 Exchange 2003 management pack when executing the DiscoverMicrosoftExchangeServerRole2003.js script on a clustered exchange server.

There are two available workarounds for this issue.

Method 1:
Enable the "Exchange 2003 Topology Discovery" rule to discover the Exchange 2003 server role on Clustered Exchange Virtual Servers. By default, this rule is disabled. Use the following steps to enable it:

1. In MOM operations Console, open Authoring -> Management Pack Objects -> Objects Discoveries.
2. Search for the discovery rule "Exchange 2003 Topology Discovery".
3. In the properties window of this rule, go to Overrides. Set overrides on all Exchange 2003 role type objects. Check override on the parameter name "Enable".
4. Save the override setting.
5. When the "Exchange 2003 Topology Discovery" is working, the back-end server role will be discovered.

Method 2:
Update the computer parameters of the Clustered Exchange Virtual Servers in MOM database directly to let the DiscoverMicrosoftExchangeServerRole2003.JS script work well. The DNSName and NetBIOSDomainName cannot be NULL for the Clustered Exchange Virtual Servers in SQL table: MT_Computer.

If you want to use method 2 to work around this issue, please collect the following SQL query result:

- Open SQL Management Studio and create a new query.
- Connect to the MOM operations database (default name is OperationsManager).
- Run query: select * from MT_Computer.
- Save the query result as a CSV file. We can then check on which computer the parameter is missing for Clustered Exchange Virtual Servers.

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