Applies to: Exchange Server 2007 SP3, Exchange Server 2007 SP2, Exchange Server 2007 SP1
Topic Last Modified: 2007-07-26

Use the Toolbox node to view a list of Exchange management tools that help you analyze and troubleshoot your Exchange organization.

When you click the Toolbox node, the following tools are displayed in the result pane. You can open the tool by double-clicking the tool name or by clicking Open Tool from the action pane or from the right-click menu.

Configuration Management Tools

Best Practices Analyzer   

The Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer automatically examines an Exchange Server deployment and determines whether the configuration is in line with Microsoft best practices. We recommend running the Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer after you install a new Exchange server, upgrade an existing Exchange server, or make configuration changes.

For more information, see Microsoft Exchange Analyzers.

Details Templates Editor

The Details Templates Editor allows you to control the appearance of object properties that are accessed by using address lists in MAPI 32-bit client applications, such as Microsoft Outlook. For example, when a user opens an address list in Outlook, the properties of the recipients in that address list are presented as defined by the details template that exists in your Exchange organization.

For more information, see Managing Details Templates.

Public Folder Management Console

The Public Folder Management Console is a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) 3.0-based interface that provides Exchange administrators with a graphical user interface (GUI) in which they can create, configure, and maintain public folders.

For more information, see Using the Public Folder Management Console.

Disaster Recovery Tools

Database Recovery Management

The Database Recovery Management tool assists you in restoring service availability in disaster recovery scenarios.

For more information about the Database Recovery Management tool, see Database Recovery Management and Database Troubleshooter Tools.

Database Troubleshooter

The Database Troubleshooter tool analyzes Exchange Server databases and available transaction log files for issues that affect database recoverability. The tool reports missing or corrupted log files and recommends steps that you can take to bring the database to a clean, mountable state.

For more information about the Database Troubleshooter tool, see Database Recovery Management and Database Troubleshooter Tools.

Mail flow Tools

Mail Flow Troubleshooter

The Exchange Mail Flow Troubleshooter tool helps provide easy access to various data sources that are required to troubleshoot problems with mail flow, such as non-delivery reports, queue backups, and slow deliveries. The tool will then automatically diagnose the retrieved data and present an analysis of the possible root causes, and suggest corrective actions.

For more information about the Exchange Mail Flow Troubleshooter tool, see Overview: Microsoft Exchange Analyzers.

Message Tracking

The Message Tracking tool allows you to follow specific messages as they are routed through the Exchange environment. Message tracking is a detailed log of all message activity as messages are transferred to and from an Exchange 2007 server that has the Hub Transport server role, the Mailbox server role, or the Edge Transport server role installed. Exchange servers that have the Client Access server role or Unified Messaging server role do not have message tracking logs. Message tracking logs can be used for message forensics, mail flow analysis, reporting, and troubleshooting.

For more information about message tracking, see Managing Message Tracking.

Queue Viewer

Exchange Queue Viewer allows administrators to monitor mail flow and inspect queues and messages. You can also perform intrusive actions against the queuing databases, such as suspending or resuming a queue, or removing messages.

To perform administrative actions against the queuing database, you must connect to an Exchange 2007 server that has the Hub Transport or the Edge Transport server role installed.

To use Queue Viewer on a computer that has the Edge Transport server role installed, you must use an account that is a member of the Local Administrators group on that computer. To use Queue Viewer on a computer that has the Hub Transport server role installed, the account you use must also be a domain account that has the permissions assigned to the Exchange View-Only Administrators group.

For more information about Queue Viewer, see Using the Queue Viewer to Manage Queues.

Routing Log Viewer

Exchange Routing Log Viewer enables administrators to open a routing log file that contains information about what the routing topology looks like to the server. The administrator can also open a second routing log and compare it to the first log opened. The tool consists of a parser and a public user interface.

To use the Routing Log Viewer to view logs of routing table configuration changes, you must connect to an Exchange 2007 server that has the Hub Transport or the Edge Transport server role installed.

The account that you use must be delegated as Exchange View-Only Administrator.

For more information about Routing Log Viewer, see Using the Routing Log Viewer.

Performance Tools

Performance Monitor

Performance Monitor is a tool that you can configure to collect information about the performance of your messaging system. Specifically, you can use it to monitor, create graphs, and log performance metrics for core system functions. You can also use Performance Monitor to monitor Exchange-specific parameters, such as the number of inbound or outbound messages per hour or the number of directory lookups performed by Exchange.

Performance Monitor is commonly used to view key parameters while troubleshooting performance problems. It is also used to gather baseline performance data to perform historical trend analysis and measure the affect of changes to your Exchange environment.

When you open the tool, it automatically displays a live graph of the key performance indicators for the computer on which the tool is running. For more information, Click Help in the Exchange Server Performance Monitor.

Performance Troubleshooter

Performance Troubleshooter helps you locate and identify performance-related issues that could affect an Exchange server. You will diagnose a problem by selecting the symptoms observed. Based on the symptoms, the tool walks you through the correct troubleshooting path. Performance Troubleshooter identifies possible bottlenecks and suggests corrective actions.

For more information about the Performance Troubleshooter, see Overview: Microsoft Exchange Analyzers.

For More Information

For more information about the Toolbox node, see the following topics: