What does HRESULT 0x400E0002 (MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY) mean?

MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY

Why the exact HRESULT matters

MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY belongs to the Message Queuing HRESULT facility, but its useful meaning is narrower than a generic messaging failure. In this case the decisive subject is invalid property identifier reported as a warning. Map the failing aStatus element back to its aPropID; the remaining properties may still have been processed.

For MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY, MSMQ property structures can include an optional status array parallel to the property identifiers and values. When diagnosing MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY, A nonfatal top-level result therefore does not replace inspection of individual entries.

When diagnosing MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY, informational HRESULTs are especially easy to mishandle in wrappers that treat every nonzero value as an exception. In the MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY path, the caller must first determine whether the documented operation and its side effects already completed.

Subsystem context

When diagnosing MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY, unlike an error HRESULT, this informational value can accompany a completed operation. In the MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY path, it must still be handled because ignored or duplicate properties can change the stored result. For MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY, the code-specific boundary is invalid property identifier reported as a warning.

Minimum useful telemetry

• The matching apropid and mqpropvariant index; associate it explicitly with MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY.
• When diagnosing MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY, whether an output object or queue was nevertheless created; capture the value before cleanup or retry changes it.
• In the MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY path, the function result and every entry of the optional astatus array; compare it with a known-good call using the same account and queue type.
• For this MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY result, record the queue path or format name, local/remote placement, transactional flag, caller SID, process build, and UTC correlation ID when they apply.

For MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY, log certificate thumbprints, provider names, SIDs, GUIDs, lengths, and hashes where useful, but do not log private keys, symmetric keys, credentials, or confidential message bodies.

Step-by-step diagnosis

1. Record the unsigned HRESULT, MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY, and the native API or COM method before a framework replaces it with a generic exception.
2. When diagnosing MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY, capture the function result and every entry of the optional aStatus array.
3. Capture the matching aPropID and MQPROPVARIANT index.
4. Reproduce with the smallest queue/message/property set that still returns MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY; change one precondition at a time.
5. For MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY, verify the postcondition after the failed call: queue existence, message presence, directory object state, transaction outcome, or generated output may differ by result.
6. When diagnosing MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY, apply the code-specific recovery rule: Remove or replace only the unsupported identifier, then verify the postcondition already produced by the original call.

Retry and cleanup

Remove or replace only the unsupported identifier, then verify the postcondition already produced by the original call.

When diagnosing MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY, the retry decision must account for side effects that may already exist. In the MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY path, query queue, message, directory, or transaction state first whenever the result leaves completion uncertain.

Avoiding a false diagnosis

In the MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY path, do not treat a nonzero informational HRESULT as proof that the primary operation failed. For this MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY result, verify the completed effect and the individual property status. The specific focus for MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY remains invalid property identifier reported as a warning.

• In the MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY path, A successful test under an interactive administrator account does not prove that the production service account has the same profile, token, directory access, or key permissions.
• For this MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY result, restarting MSMQ before collecting evidence can invalidate handles and erase the first useful event; it is a containment action, not a root-cause diagnosis.

Example

A queue provisioning tool encounters MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY. For MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY, it records both the successful primary effect and the property warning, then corrects only the affected field. When diagnosing MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY, the acceptance test then changes only the decisive precondition and confirms both the HRESULT and the actual queue/message state.

Automated coverage should preserve the original arrays/identities, confirm that cleanup is safe after MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY, and test that a retry does not duplicate messages or directory objects.

References

• Microsoft: queue properties and MQQUEUEPROPS — source used for the MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY analysis.
• Microsoft: MSMQ message properties — source used for the MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY analysis.
• Microsoft: Message Queuing overview — source used for the MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY analysis.
• Microsoft: Message Queuing error and information codes — source used for the MQ_INFORMATION_ILLEGAL_PROPERTY analysis.

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