Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 ships with some useful tools for testing the health of the different server roles.

These tools come in the form of PowerShell cmdlets that can be executed from the Exchange Management Shell.

The tools are very handy both during implementation of new Exchange systems as well as when investigating faults.

General Tests

Test-ServiceHealth – tests the health of the Exchange services on the server and lets you know if any required services for the installed roles are not running.

Test-SystemHealth – this is the command line version of the Exchange Best Practices Analyzer, and will alert you to any error conditions or configurations that deviate from best practices.

Test-Path – this is not strictly an Exchange test.  Test-Path is useful when building scripts and is used to verify the existing of an element such as a file, folder, or registry key, returning a simple True/False answer.

Client Access Server

Several of the Client Access Server tests utilise a system-managed test mailbox which you must first create by running the new-TestCasConnectivityUser.ps1 script from C:Program FilesMicrosoftExchange ServerScripts.

Incorrect Client Access Server configuration can cause a wide range of problems within an Exchange Server 2007 organization so these tests are essential during any Exchange implementation.Test-ActiveSyncConnectivity – tests the Client Access Server by performing an ActiveSync synchronisation for a specified mailbox to verify that ActiveSync is configured and functioning correctly.

Test-ImapConnectivity – tests the IMAP service and IMAP connectivity for mailboxes in the organization.  IMAP is useful for non-Microsoft email clients and mobile devices that do not support ActiveSync.

Test-OutlookWebServices – tests the AutoDiscover service, which is the service that allows Outlook 2007 clients to automatically configure the Outlook profile for a user based on Active Directory information rather than needing manual configuration of user name and server name.

Test-OwaConnectivity – can be used to test Outlook Web Access connectivity for specific IIS virtual directories, mailbox users, or URLs.

Test-PopConnectivity – tests that the POP3 service is running and that POP3 connectivity is available.  POP3 is most commonly used in service provider scenarios where mail is not intended to be stored on the server once the client has downloaded it.

Test-WebServicesConnectivity – tests the basic functionality of Outlook Anywhere (formerly known as HTTP-over-RPC), which provides remote mailbox access for Outlook clients over SSL connections.

Hub Transport Server

Test-EdgeSynchronization – tests whether the subscribed Edge Transport servers are current and up to date.  This is only useful in environments that have deployed the Edge Transport server role, which is not a required role for Exchange Server 2007.

Test-IPAllowListProvider – tests the configuration of an IP Allow List provider for the Hub Transport server Connection Filter agent, which is a part of the Exchange Server 2007 anti-spam component.

Test-IPBlockListProvider – same as previous, but tests a configured IP Block List provider instead.

Test-SenderID – performs a SenderID (an anti-spam framework) lookup against a specified IP address to determine whether that IP is authorised to send mail for that domain.

Mailbox Server

Test-Mailflow – uses the System Mailbox on the Mailbox server to test that mail can be sent and received, as well as allow you to test whether mail can be sent between different Mailbox servers within an acceptable latency period.  Use this to verify end to end mail flow within your organization.

Test-MAPIConnectivity – uses the System Mailbox to test that the mailbox database is online and can be logged in to.

Test-ExchangeSearch – uses the System Mailbox to test that the Exchange search service is running and indexing email correctly.

Test-ReplicationHealth – only applicable to clustered Mailbox servers, and tests that all cluster elements (nodes, network, disks, resources etc) are functioning, and that data replication is healthy.

Unified Messaging

Test-UMConnectivity – tests the operation of the Unified Messaging role as well as connected telephony systems.  Only applicable to environments with Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging, which is not a required role.