Error: '...The server is not responding...' appears on console every minute

The following error message appears on the Lotus Domino® server console every minute:

"Error connecting to server SERVER/SRV/XYZ: The server is not responding. The server may be down or you may be experiencing network problems. Contact your system administrator if this problem persists."

The Server Document is corrupt.

The console error message can occur for many different reasons.

Troubleshooting:

1. Check the Server field in the Server Document. If this entry is incorrect, the error returned i typically, "Server not responding." This can occur if the server name was changed and the entry in the Mail Server field (Server Document --> Basics panel --> Server Location Information section) has not been updated to match the modified server name. The entry should match the server's abbreviated hierarchical name.

2. This may be a server configuration or TCP/IP issue. For example, if the Network Address field (Server Document --> Ports panel --> Notes Network Ports) for a TCP/IP port contains either an incorrect host name or an IP address, the errors occur. If the DNS is not working correctly, the errors occur.

To verify that a server can connect to itself via its Network Address entry, use the Trace command. Launch the Domino Administrator, open a server console window, and issue the following command: Trace <network address>. It should report that it connected to the server.

3. Use the PING executable to verify IP-level connectivity. If the server can be resolved by the IP address but is not resolved by the fully qualified host name (FQHN) even though the IP address may be listed properly in the Net Address field of the Server document, the DNS servers may need updating the FQHN to the correct server.

Ping the server from the server itself by its DNS fully qualified domain name (FQDN) to verify that it was added to the network correctly, Then ping the server from the workstation by the FQDN.

4. The Domino server may not be listed in its own host table. Update the host file of the server with the FQHN pointing to its own IP or local host address.

Ping the server by DNS alias name from the server itself to verify it was added to the network correctly. Then ping the server from the workstation. Ideally, the server host alias names all should be the same as the Domino server names. Sometimes the server's FQDN may differ from the Domino server and this is when the alias name is used since it's the same as the Domino server name.

5. The Server Document has become corrupt. Recreate the Server document.

6. From the server's Notes client, attempt to open a database on the server. Indicate the server using the actual server name instead of using "Local". If this produces an error, then the TCP/IP port setting's Network Address entry in the Server Document should be checked for accuracy against the Hosts file or DNS. The correct syntax to use in the Network Address field is the FQDN, as in Mail01.widgets.com.

The workaround was to recreate the Server Document.