Showing posts with label Exchange and UC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Exchange and UC. Show all posts

Friday, June 25, 2010

Exchange 2007 SP3 expired password reset tool

we all suffered from that, users with expired password cannot login to OWA or change their passwords, this have neen changed in Exchange 2007 SP3, there is a new web module that enables users with expired password to change their passwords.
Now that this feature is disabled by default, to avail this Password Reset feature administrators need to enable this…..To enable the password reset feature
  1. Log on Client Access Server | Registry Editor
  2. Go to HLKM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchange OWA
  3. Create the following DWORD value if it does not already exist:
    Value name: 
    ChangeExpiredPasswordEnabledValue type: REG_DWORD
    Value data: 
    1

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Blackberry deployment notes for Windows 2008 Domain Controllers

if you have large number of BB devices you might get:
[40206] (12/22 08:58:11.625):{0x1A38} MailboxManager::SubsystemInitialize - Using MAPI profile 'BlackBerryServer'
[50000] (12/22 08:58:11.672):{0x394} Controller: This BES Agent is under control of BlackBerry Agent Controller
[20137] (12/22 08:58:11.719):{0x1A38} MailboxManager::SubsystemInitialize - g_pSession->OpenMsgStore (0x80040111)
[40000] (12/22 08:58:11.719):{0x1A38} Setting PR_PROFILE_CONNECT_FLAGS CONNECT_IGNORE_NO_PF true
[40206] (12/22 08:58:11.719):{0x1A38} MailboxManager::SubsystemInitialize - Using MAPI profile 'BlackBerryServer'
[20137] (12/22 08:58:11.797):{0x1A38} MailboxManager::SubsystemInitialize - g_pSession->OpenMsgStore (0x80040111)
[10277] (12/22 08:58:11.797):{0x1A38} BlackBerry Messaging Agent MERC74 Agent 1 failed to start. Error code 5305
[50106] (12/22 08:58:11.797):{0x1A38} Stopping BlackBerry Mailbox Agent 1 for Server

[40000] (12/22 09:44:49.654):{0x4EC} CDO initializing failure in CDO helper 1046a930 (2)
[30001] (12/22 09:44:49.764):{0x4EC} CDOCalendar::Initialize - Code = 800406f9, WCode = 04f9, Code meaning = IDispatch error #1273,
[30002] (12/22 09:44:49.764):{0x4EC} Server = mercmbx11, Mailbox = Description = The information store could not be opened. [MAPI 1.0 - [MAPI_E_LOGON_FAILED(80040111)]]
[30180] (12/22 09:44:49.764):{0x4EC} {saskit} CDOCalendar::Initialize - Error in call m_spCalendarFolder = m_spCDOSession->GetDefaultFolder
[40000] (12/22 09:44:49.764):{0x4EC} CDO initializing failure in CDO helper 1046a930 (4)

[30181] (12/22 15:04:32.463):{0x1A38} Performing system health check (BlackBerry Mailbox Agent 1 - BESX Version 4.1.6.11)
[30038] (12/22 15:04:32.463):{0x1A38} Worker Thread: *** No Response *** Thread Id=0x1350, Handle=0x7B0, WaitCount=6, WorkingTime=68 min, LastActivity=68 min, Event: NEW_MB_PCKT_RESCAN, User: , Server: , Activity: MAPISendertoRIMSender - RIM_HrGWResolveProxy
[30038] (12/22 15:04:32.463):{0x1A38} Worker Thread: *** No Response *** Thread Id=0x1564, Handle=0x1664, WaitCount=6, WorkingTime=68 min, LastActivity=68 min, Event: NEW_MB_PCKT_RESCAN, User: , Server: , Activity: MAPISendertoRIMSender - RIM_HrGWResolveProxy
[50020] (12/22 15:04:32.463):{0x1A38} Some worker threads have been blocked for 6 health checks

In addition, it is likely that if this article applies, the BlackBerry Manager will return an error when opened regarding

here is a guide for deployment of BB servers in 2008 Domain controllers environment
http://www.blackberry.com/btsc/viewContent.do?externalId=KB17325&sliceId=1

MUST READ

Friday, May 21, 2010

'Group is too large to display. communicator can not be used for groups with more than 100 members

you might receive this message in OCS 2007 Client when you try to expand a group in OC.
first you have to know that OCS client is hard coded with a maximum of 150 members to display, if you want users to display more than the default 100 limit then create the following client side policy and restart the OCS Client:
Open Registry:
go to
HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Communicator.\
Create a Key: MaxDLExpansion (DWORD)
and type 150 as the value.
More KBs:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/945542
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/ocsaddressbook/thread/09a20c42-0e04-4f64-9aa7-dc3f1f4a1cd4
Thanks to Jeff for that great hint

Monday, May 17, 2010

Unable to moun Exchange 2010 DB, replication service stops.

you might get this error:
Microsoft.Exchange.Configuration.MonadDataProvider.CommandExecutionException: Unexpected error [0x79596503] while executing command 'mount-database'. ---> System.InvalidCastException: Specified cast is not valid.

how to solve this:
to solve this issue delete the EnableVSSWriter from the registry and restart the server.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Exchange 2010/2007 Virtual Directory Default Permissions

We see that a lot on forums users asking for the default permissions on virtual directories, also in some troubleshooting we found that
wrong NTFS permissions or in-correct IIS authentication might affect autodiscover, EWS, OAB or OWA/ECP, so for reference here they are:
virtual
Directory
Authentication
Configured
NTFS permissions
Autodiscover
Anonymous
Authentication Users
(read, Read and Execute)
Basic Auth.
System (Full Control)
Windows Auth.
Administrators (Full Control)



ECP
Anonymous
Authentication Users (read)
Basic Auth.
System (Full Control)

Administrators (Full Control)



EWS
Anonymous
Authentication Users (read)
Windows Auth.
System (Full Control)

Administrators (Full Control)



EAS
Basic Auth.
Authentication Users (read)

System (Full Control)

Administrators (Full Control)



OAB
Windows Auth.
System (Full Control)

Organization Management
 (Traverse, Read & Execute,
Read Attribute, Read Extended Attribute)

View only organizations Managenet
(Traverse, Read & Execute
, Read Attribute, Read Extended Attribute)

Administrators (Full Control)

IIS_IUSR (Traverse, Read &
Execute, Read Attribute,
 Read Extended Attribute)



OWA
Basic Auth.
Authentication Users (read)

System (Full Control)

Administrators (Full Control)



PowerShell
Anonymous
Authentication Users (read)

System (Full Control)

Administrators (Full Control)



RPC
Basic Auth


Windows Auth.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

error when you try to reconnect a disconnected user in Exchange 2007

Summary: 1 item(s). 0 succeeded, 1 failed.
Elapsed time: 00:00:00


User name
Failed

Error:
Property ManagedFolderMailboxPolicy can't be set on this object because it requires the object to have version 0.1 (8.0.535.0) or later. The object's current version is 0.0 (6.5.6500.0).

to solve this issue run the following cmdlet:
Set-Mailbox user -applymandatoryproperties
and try again

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Exchange 2007/2010 webservices and autodiscover ultimate torubleshotting guide

Hi, during my online activities I can see that Exchange 2007/2010 web services are causing a lot of issues to people, and lots are suffering from it.

I decided to put this ultimate guide to spare the hustle and allow smoother and nicer web services experience.

Well, let us first list the directories that are used in the Exchange web service:

-          EWS is used for OOF, Scheduling assistance and free+busy Lookup.

-          OAB provides offline address book download services for client.

-          Autodiscover is used to provide users with autodiscover service.

-          EAS provides ActiveSync services to Windows Mobile based devices.

-          OWA provides outlook web access for users.

-          ECP provides Exchange control panel feature for Exchange 2010 users only.

Issues that might be resolved using the troubleshooting steps here:

-          You cannot set the OOF using outlook client, you receive the server not available error.

-          You cannot view free/busy information for other users.

-          You cannot use scheduling assistance, also you might receive not free/busy information data retrieved.

-          You cannot download Offline Address book errors.

-          You cannot use autodiscover externally.

-          Certificate mismatch error in autodiscover, users prompted to trust certificate in outlook 2007/2010.

I will update this post to include all of the errors that I face and solve in my work or on EE to help experts all over EE to quickly solve their issues.

First let us start by the configuration required post Exchange 2007/2010 installation for the above to work correctly:

-          Configure External and Internal URLs for OWS, ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb691323(EXCHG.80).aspx

o   You have to configure the internal URL to be the server name in case you have multiple servers in NLB.

o   External URL will be the URL used by users to access webmail e.g. https://mail.domain.com/owa

o   Mail.domain.com in multiple CAS servers will be the NLB FQDN.

-          Configure External and Internal URLs for OAB, ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb123710.aspx

o   This will point if multiple CAS servers are used then this will point to NLB FQDN.

o   If single server used this will point to the internal server FQDN in the internal URL, and the mail.domain.com which is used by webmail users.

-          Configure the autodiscover internal URL:

o   You will use the powershell cmdlet : Set-ClientAccessServer –Identity <CAS Server Name> -AutoDiscoverServiceInternalUri: <Internal URL>, this FQDN must match the URL included in the certificate.

o   If you cannot use autodiscover.domain.com internally (you have a domain name of domain.local and you must use it), you will get a certificate miss match error, you will have to include the internal name in the certificate if you purchase an external certificate.

o   If you have multiple CAS in NLB this will be the NLB FQDN.

o   You cannot set autodiscover external URL since outlook will try to access https://autodiscover.domain.com/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml, this behavior is by design and cannot be changed.

o   Autodiscover.domain.com must be included in the certificate that you assign to IIS if you purchasing a certificate externally from 3rd party provider.

-          Configure EAS internal and External URLs, ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb629533(EXCHG.80).aspx

o   This URL will point to the NLB FQDN internally

o   This IRL will point to NLB FQDN Externally.

-          Configure the EWS (which provides availability, OOF) internal and external URLs

o   You can set the internal FQDN and External FQDN using: get-webservicesvirtualdirectory | Set-WebServicesVirtualDirectory  –InternalUrl: https://url.domain.local/EWS/Exchange.asmx –ExternalURl: https://url.domain.com/EWS/Exchange.asmx

after all of the above settings you have to take into considerations the following note:

-          All of the above uses https connection, so SSL certificate must be configured and assigned to IIS on the CAS servers.

-          Since all of the above uses https, if you have a proxy traffic might be affected.

-          Make sure that clients can access the URL internally and externally, you can do that by going to the above URL using IE or Firefox and validate that you can access them.

-          For some people after doing the above configuration you still receive some errors so make sure of the following:

o   IIS is started.

o   OWA application pool, OAB application pool and EWS application pool are running and started with no errors

o   If you receive authentication error, error 500 service not available, error 400 login time out, or unspecified error you will need to rebuild your virtual directories. You can do that as following:

§  For OWA:

·         Get-owavirtualdirectory | remove-owavirtualdirectory

·         New-owavirtualdirectory.

·         You can repeat this step for EWS (webservicesdirectory), OAB (OABvirtualdirectory) and autodiscover(autodiscovervirtualdirectory)

·         You will have to note that you will need to re-configure any customizations you made to OWA after removing and deleting it, also you will have to redo any internal and external URL configuration you have did in the past

Hope that I helped you in this post, the post will be updated to include all of the issues we solve to give you the smoothest Exchange experience.

Mahmoud

 

Saturday, March 6, 2010

DNS and Certificate Calculator for Exhcange 2007/2010 and OCS 2007 R2

this is the Updated Calculator, fixed some points and added Exchange support to it
you can use this calculator to create a single certificate tat can be used by Exchange and OCS, including Edge, FE, CWA and CAS servers.

You can get it from here:
http://www.ipility.com/OCS-DNS-Certificate-calculator-V1.4.xlsx

Sunday, February 21, 2010

you receive microsoft exchange is unavailable

this is an old trick but I thought it might worth to mention, if you open your outlook that has an Exchange server profile and get the error: microsoft exchange is unavailable

this is caused because no gateway has been configured in the tcp ip properties in the NIC, add any gateway and your outlook should work.

Friday, February 5, 2010

OCS DNS and certificate Calculator

Hello,
Have you ever wondered what is the DNS records that should be created for OCS on internal DNS servers and External DNS servers, to what they should point and what are their configuration.

Have you wondered how you can use a single certificate to support OCS deployment for CWA, FE,Edge and use single certificate.

you can use the attached excel sheet, the input is the follwowing:
- Internal DNS name.
- External DNS name.
- Servers names and External Host records for individual services like (the host records name that will be used for web conferencing..etc).

the output is in 2 sheets, 1 sheet incldues all of the external and internal DNS names, where they should be created and what is their configration.

the other is the list of the certificates, either they should be internal or external and what is their common name an SANs.

if you have any feedback please send it to ocscalc@ipility.com
http://www.ipility.com/OCS-DNS-Certificate-calculator.xlsx

Mahmoud

Monday, August 31, 2009

Friday, August 28, 2009

The first OCS 2007 ignite in Egypt is running

Well it is not the first, it has been done before, but this is the first time that I see this event outside the walls of Microsoft, in Egypt and in the Middle east region in an Arabic country.

Next Sunday I will start the first OCS 2007 ignite session at IPility training center; I am so excited about the experience and the special group of IT pros who chose IPility for this special event.

I always wanted to deliver the Ignite workshops (Exchange and OCS) but I didn't have the chance now it is the time to kick it off and start delivering those very special training events.

What is special about the ignite, well the ignites are by themselves are unique in their technical level, depth and the amount of time this event is delivered, it is unique and different than any type of Microsoft official curriculum by concentrating on the Technical depth as well as the labs and implementation within the training course as well

@ the ignites we deliver level 300 to 400 technical depth in a very condensed time, I usually call this type of training "the special forces training" you might feel that delivering such a deep level in 5 days is very short, But the material is structured to server this purpose and allow the trainee to gain the maximum benefit from it.

Looking forward for next Sunday, I will let you know about how the group felt the heat after the training.

Mahmoud

Monday, August 24, 2009

Unified Communications workshop

This is an Advanced customized training course explaining MS unified communication architecture, Design and implementation

Course Content:
Module 1: Welcome and Overview
Module 2: Architecture (Exchange 2007, OCS 2007, Cisco Call manager)
Module 3: IM and Rich PresenceModule 4: Conferencing
Module 5: Management and Troubleshooting
Module 6: Voice Architecture (Voice concept, IP telephony architecture, call routing, Translation rules, Dial peers, voice ports)
Module 7: Voice Capabilities
Module 8: Unified Messaging
Module 9: Compliance

Credited Hours: 32 hour
Price: 3500 LE
Start Date: 17/10/2009

to register send us an email at info@ipility.com or call 0020166615175.

Monday, April 13, 2009

helping OCS not to drop words, applying Voice QoS for OCS on WAN traffic

Long time I haven’t blogged, I was so busy in some new projects that burned my time.

 

I will blog about a topic I wanted to blog about it long time ago, applying the correct QoS for OCS 2007 traffic over the WAN, this has been a hot topic (at least for me) as I believe that all of voice traffic requires over WAN links.

 

I will introduce some QoS terminology in this post, and later will tell you how to apply QoS for OCS traffic.

 

Quality of Service Models

There are 3 service models:

·         Best Effort · No QoS policies are implemented

·         Integrated Services (IntServ) · Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP) is used to reserve bandwidth per flow across all nodes in a path, uses the Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP) to reserve network resources in advance of the data actually traveling across the network. Once the end-to-end bandwidth reservation is in place, the data is transmitted.

·         Differentiated Services (DiffServ) · Packets are individually classified and marked; policy decisions are made independently at each node in a path, DiffServ doesn't use RSVP, but instead uses hop by hop Behavior or per hop behavior (PHB) to allow each router/hop across the network to examine the packet and decide what service level it should receive.

IP QoS Markings

We currently use 2 QoS marking methods:

·         Precedence · The first three bits of the IP TOS field are evaluated; compatible with Ethernet CoS and MPLS EXP values

·         DSCP · The first six bits of the IP TOS are evaluated to provide more granular classification; backward-compatible with IP Precedence

The following table contains the Precedence Values

 

Binary

Application

7

111

Reserved

6

110

Routing

5

101

Voice

4

100

Streaming Video

3

11

Call Signaling

2

10

Transactional

1

1

Bulk Data

 

The following table lists the DSCP marking values:

Likely to be dropped

AF Class

Drop Probability

DSCP Value

Low

AF Class 1

AF11 (low)

001 01 0

AF12 (medium)

001 10 0

AF13 (high)

001 11 0

Medium

AF Class 2

AF21 (low)

010 01 0

AF22 (medium)

010 10 0

AF23 (high)

010 11 0

High

AF Class 3

AF31 (low)

011 01 0

AF32 (medium)

011 10 0

AF33 (high)

011 11 0

Very High

AF Class 4

AF41 (low)

100 01 0

AF42 (medium)

100 10 0

AF43 (high)

      100 11 0

 

How to reserve the Bandwidth:

You can use any of the following methods:

·         Policing · Creates an artificial ceiling on the amount of bandwidth that may be consumed; traffic exceeding the cap and be remarked or dropped

·         Shaping · Similar to policing but buffers excess traffic for delayed transmission; makes more efficient use of bandwidth but introduces a delay

 

Mahmoud



“The information contained in this communication is intended solely for the use of the individual or entity it is addressed and others authorized to receive it. It may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient you are hereby notified that any form of reproduction, dissemination, copying, disclosure, modification, distribution and/or publication of this e-mail message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message by mistake please notify the sender immediately by e-mail, destroy it and delete it from your system. The sender is neither liable for the proper and complete transmission of the information contained in this communication nor for any special, incidental or consequential damages of any nature whatsoever resulting from receipt or use of this communication”

Monday, December 29, 2008

blogpost: New OCS/OC KBs


Communicator 2005


949280   Description of the Communicator 2005 hotfix rollup package: December 19, 2008

960244   After you install Live Meeting 2007 console or Live Meeting 2007 add-in, two new menu options that do not work are added to Office Communicator 2005 Action menu

960255   After you upgrade Live Meeting Service Conference center to Live Meeting 2007, you can no longer use the Meet Now button in Office Communicator 2005

960252   Office Communicator 2005 crashes when you try to accept an inbound phone call

 


Communicator 2007


957465   Description of the Communicator 2007 hotfix rollup package: December 19, 2008

960423   Office Communicator 2007 cannot display Chinese characters in URLs when the EnableURL registry value is enabled

960424   You cannot prevent Office Communicator 2007 from controlling the call forwarding settings

 



“The information contained in this communication is intended solely for the use of the individual or entity it is addressed and others authorized to receive it. It may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient you are hereby notified that any form of reproduction, dissemination, copying, disclosure, modification, distribution and/or publication of this e-mail message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message by mistake please notify the sender immediately by e-mail, destroy it and delete it from your system. The sender is neither liable for the proper and complete transmission of the information contained in this communication nor for any special, incidental or consequential damages of any nature whatsoever resulting from receipt or use of this communication”