Search for a Message

Before you view the tracking history of an e-mail message, you must specify the message that you want to track. If you want to select a message to track directly, use the Message ID . If you are tracking an e-mail message, you can specify certain search parameters to get a list of matching messages. From this list, you can select one of the messages to view its history. Messages are found only if they exist in the message tracking logs that are stored in Exchsrvr\servername.log; servername is the name of your server.

Tip   To search for a message, you must identify a server. You can use the name of any server that has processed the message while it was in transit between the sender's server and the recipient's server; however, if you want a complete history of the message flow and want to reduce the time you spend searching message tracking logs, you should use the name of the sender's server.

To search for a message:

1. Start System Manager
   On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. In the console tree, double-click Tools, and then click Message Tracking Center.
3. In Server, type the name of the server to which the message was sent or delivered. If you don't know the server, click the Server tab and use the options in Select the server(s) to search for this message to select the server.

   Tip   To search for a message, you are only required to identify the server to which the message was sent or delivered. Use any combination of the optional parameters to create a list of all messages you are interested in viewing. For example, if you want to see all messages a user sent on a certain date, identify the sender's server, the sender's alias, and the date. If you want to see all messages sent during a period of time to determine message traffic loads, identify a server, and then search by date and time.

4. (Optional) To search for a message sent by a specific user, in Sender, type the sender's alias or e-mail address. If you don't know the alias or e-mail address, click Sender, and then select the user from the list of users in Active Directory.
5. (Optional) To search for a message sent to a specific user, in Recipients, type the recipient's alias or e-mail address. If you don't know the user's alias or e-mail address, click Recipients, and then select the user from the list of users in Active Directory.
6. (Optional) To search for messages sent through the server during a specific period of time, on the Logged Between tab, click the drop-down arrow, use the calendar to select a starting date, and then select a starting time. In And, use the calendar to select an ending date, and then select an ending time.
7. (Optional) To search for a specific message by ID, in Message ID, type the complete message ID, including the domain.
8. To begin the search, click Find Now.