SMEX customers who applied Service Pack 1 (SP1) on Microsoft Exchange 2013 report that the Exchange transport service cannot start after the update. This also happens to customers running Worry-Free Business Security (WFBS) 9.0 with MSA on Exchange 2013 SP1.
Background and details
Microsoft released Microsoft Exchange 2013 SP1(build 15.00.0847.032) on February 25, 2014. Shortly thereafter, Trend Micro began to receive reports from SMEX 11 customers that the Exchange transport service would not start after applying the service pack.
Microsoft has determined that the issue occurs because the global assembly cache (GAC) policy files contain invalid XML code.
Affected product and version
This issue has been reported on SMEX 11 and WFBS 9.0 MSA with Microsoft Exchange 2013 SP1. It may also be used as reference for SMEX 12.
Managing potential impact
Microsoft has released a Powershell script that corrects a formatting error in the configuration files that govern the Transport Extensibility that is built into Exchange Server 2013.
A "Fix it for me" utility as well as the manual script and installation instructions can be found in Microsoft article Third-party transport agents cannot be loaded correctly in Exchange Server 2013.
Customers who are installing Exchange Server 2013 SP1 for the first time on a new server are advised to run this script immediately after the installation and before installing any third-party agents, including SMEX 11 and WFBS 9.0 MSA, to avoid any potential issue.
A permanent fix for this solution is scheduled to be delivered in the Exchange Server 2013 Cumulative Update 5 (CU5).
If this issue still persists, please refer to steps 2 to 4 of KB 1104668.
For further assistance
Trend Micro encourages customers who have questions or require further assistance to contact their authorized Trend Micro support representative.