Error when using GFI MailArchiver: “Plugin Enveloping plugin reports exception - ERROR.ADA.DirectoryFailed.”

The information in this article applies to:

  • GFI MailArchiver for Exchange 5

Article ID: KBID003283

Query keywords: error, Event logs

Issue Encountered:

The following error is reported in the Microsoft Application Event logs on the machine where GFI MailArchiver is installed: 

Event Type: Warning
Event Source: MAR5Core2
Event Category: None
Event ID: 7105
Date:  13-12-2007
Time:  13:23:39
User:  N/A
Computer: SRV01
Description:
Plugin Enveloping plugin reports exception.
 
ERROR.ADA.DirectoryFailed.
 
Additional info: Unknown error (0x80005000)

When this error is reported, some emails may remain in the journaling mailbox.
 

More Information:

This issue occurs when Active Directory has an Organizational Unit or Group containing one of the following reserved characters:

  • ‘ ‘ - space or ‘#’ character at the beginning of a string
  • ‘ ‘ - space character at the end of a string
  • ‘,’ - comma
  • ‘+’ - plus sign
  • ‘"’ - double quotes
  • ‘\’ - backslash
  • ‘<’ - left angle bracket
  • ‘>’ - right angle bracket
  • ’;’ - semicolon
  • ‘=’ - equals sign
  • ‘/’ - forward slash
  • LF - line feed
  • CR - carriage return 

In the following example, the issue will occur since the DN contains a front slash:
"CN=Sales Users,OU=Internet / Mail,OU=Groups,OU=example,DC=domain,DC=com"

This is because the forward slash is a reserved character. The forward slash  in the name of the Organizational Unit (OU) causes the LDAP query to fail and the Event Log error shown above is reported.

Solution:

There are two solutions to this issue. Only one of these solutions needs to be implemented:

  • To solve this problem, you would need to rename the affected Organisational Unit or Group. In our example, the Organizational Unit can be renamed as follows to solve the problem: "CN=Sales Users,OU=Internet Mail,OU=Groups,OU=example,DC=domain,DC=com"
  • This issue can also be solved by applying patch MARC5_PATCH_20080619_01.zip if you are running GFI MailArchiver 5 build 20080430. This patch can be downloaded from: http://ftp.gfisoftware.com/patches/MARC5/20080430/MARC5_PATCH_20080619_01.zip

Notes:

  • To confirm the build you are running, open the MailArchiver configuration --> Configuration --> Version Information. If you are running an earlier build and want to upgrade to build 20080430 please visit: http://kbase.gfi.com/showarticle.asp?id=KBID003336
  • A fix for this issue is included from the first release of GFI MailArchiver 6.