Journal Reports getting stuck in the submission queue
We get lots of calls about Journal reports getting stuck in the submission queue. Generally when this happens it’s because of a configuration problem somewhere. If this is happening to you, start thinking about what tweaking you have done that weren’t suggested when reading the TechNet articles on journaling. Here are a few specifics that I have seen.
Scenario: You have both Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2007 mailboxes. Your journal mailbox is on Exchange 2007.
Answer: In a mixed mode environment, you need to have your journal mailbox on Exchange 2003.
Scenario: You are forwarding a copy of the journal report to an external smtp address.
Answer: This is fine to do, but please do it correctly. What is correct? Create an AD contact for the external smtp address and add this to the journal mailbox. (For an exchange 2007 mailbox: View properties of the mailbox, Mail Flow Settings Tab, Delivery Options Properties.) I have had customers do this with Outlook rules, or by modifying properties in AD with adsiedit. Both of these scenarios will result in messages sticking in the submission queue.
For general information on Journaling with Exchange 2007 see:
White Paper: Exchange 2007 Transport Journaling
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb738122.aspx
More Powerful Journaling in Exchange 2007
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2006.12.journaling.aspx
Overview of journaling in Exchange 2007
https://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/06/22/444296.aspx
Understanding Journaling in a Mixed Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2007 Environment