Starting, Stopping, or Pausing SMTP Virtual Servers

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1

The Default SMTP Virtual Server starts upon installation of the SMTP service. You can pause, stop, and start it in IIS Manager.

You can also start, stop, and pause the entire SMTP service. However, if you have more than one virtual server, stopping the service affects all of the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) virtual servers running on your computer. When the SMTP service is stopped, you cannot use IIS in Microsoft Management Console (MMC) to perform administrative functions on any SMTP virtual server.

Important

Make sure only trusted administrators in your organization have the necessary permissions to start or stop an SMTP virtual server. For more information, see Setting Operator Permissions.

You can stop and start the SMTP service manually. However, while it is operating, you must be careful when stopping, pausing, or restarting the service to minimize the impact on users.

If the default startup setting is Manual, you can use IIS in Microsoft Management Console (MMC) to start a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) virtual server.

Important

You must be a member of the Administrators group on the local computer to perform the following procedure or procedures. As a security best practice, log on to your computer by using an account that is not in the Administrators group, and then use the runas command to run IIS Manager as an administrator. At a command prompt, type runas /User:Administrative_AccountName "mmc %systemroot%\system32\inetsrv\iis.msc".

Procedures

To start an SMTP virtual server

  • In IIS Manager, expand the local computer, right-click the SMTP virtual server, and click Start.

You can stop a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) virtual server for configuration changes and maintenance.

To stop an SMTP virtual server

  • In IIS Manager, expand the local computer, right-click the SMTP virtual server, and click Stop.

You can pause a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) virtual server for configuration changes and maintenance. Pausing prevents new client connections, but it enables the virtual server to continue processing existing client connections and delivering queued messages.

To pause an SMTP virtual server

  • In IIS Manager, expand the local computer, right-click the SMTP virtual server, and click Pause.