We are migrating!

By Gulab Prasad | Tuesday, January 17, 2017 Leave a comment

Hello All,
We are migrating to better hosting solution, we should be back soon!



Cheers,
Gulab Prasad

Sorry, we'are having server problems, so we can't add Office 365 SharePoint right now. Please try again later.

By Gulab Prasad | Tuesday, January 3, 2017 | Leave a comment

When configuring Outlook 2016 for Mac with Office 365 account I got this strange looking error.
"Sorry, we'are having server problems, so we can't add Office 365 SharePoint right now. Please try again later."

































User was trying to add another Office 365 Mailbox in same Outlook profile. Same thing worked fine on other Mac machine and Windows machine, also the same account could be configured in default Mail App on Mac.

Issue: Mac User Profile
Resolution: Create new Mac User Profile with Admin rights

Created the new Mac profile with admin rights and logged into Mac with new profile. Configured both the Office 365 Mailbox in same Outlook profile and it worked just fine.

































Note: The error message has nothing to do with SharePoint, its just confusing message. There is no other solution available @ this point of time from Microsoft.

Cheers,
-Gulab Prasad

Text messaging in Exchange Server 2013

By Gulab Prasad | Monday, January 2, 2017 | Leave a comment

Configure SMS Text Message Notification for various situation like Calendar notifications, Voice mail notifications, Email notifications if your user's Mailbox hosted in Exchange Server 2013.

By default Test Messaging feature is enabled on the server.





















Here is the command to enable or disable text messaging:

Get-OwaVirtualDirectory | Set-OwaVirtualDirectory –TextMessagingEnabled $true
Get-OwaVirtualDirectory | Set-OwaVirtualDirectory –TextMessagingEnabled $false

Note: This feature is only available in 3 countries at this time. US, Canada and Romania. Hope Microsoft will add lot more countries in the list soon.



















Login to your Outlook Web App and click on settings and click on options.














Click on Phone under options, click on Text Messaging and click on turn on notifications.
















After you click on turn on notifications you will get popup windows to select Country and Operator.
Click on Next and here enter your Mobile Number ###-###-####





























Once you click on next an text message will be sent to you from you operator which will have the 6 digit pass code.
Note: This text message will be chargeable to you





























Click on Finish and now your Mobile Phone is ready to receive Calendar notifications, Voice mail notifications, Email notifications.

Cheers,
Gulab Prasad

Exchange Server 2016 Cumulative Update 3 Released

By Gulab Prasad | Wednesday, September 21, 2016 | Leave a comment

Cumulative Update 3 for Exchange Server 2016 resolves issues that were found in Exchange Server 2016 since the software was released. This update roll-up is highly recommended for all Exchange Server 2016 customers. You can download Exchange Server 2016 CU3 from here...
Few BIG changes/support/features:

  • Windows Server 2016 Support
  • .Net 4.6.2 Support
  • High Availability Improvements
  • Refreshed People Experience in Outlook on the web
For detailed information on new features and supports refer to below article

Cheers,
-Gulab Prasad

Outlook for Mac and public folder access

By Gulab Prasad | Wednesday, August 3, 2016 | , Leave a comment

Microsoft released a fix for public folder access by Outlook for Mac for Exchange On Premises and Office 365.

Exchange Server 2013 introduced modern public folders and also shift in the way clients access the public folders. Ever since, the Outlook for Mac client had limited or no support for public folders.

This article provides an update on how Outlook 2016 for Mac clients can access public folders in various topologies.

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/exchange/2016/07/25/outlook-for-mac-and-public-folder-access/

Cheers,
-Gulab Prasad


Office 365 Mailbox Migration Script

By Gulab Prasad | Sunday, July 10, 2016 | Leave a comment

This Office 365 Mailbox Migration Script will help you migrate from Exchange 2010, 2013 and 2016 On Premises to Office 365. It has several script and primary script will call the other scripts to complete the process.
Once script is completed running, it will generate the logs too, in case of error you can review the logs to troubleshoot the issue.

You can download it from here...

This software (or sample code) is not supported under any Microsoft standard support program or service. The software is provided AS IS without warranty of any kind. Microsoft further disclaims all implied warranties including, without limitation, any implied warranties of merchantability or of fitness for a particular purpose. The entire risk arising out of the use or performance of the software and documentation remains with you. In no event shall Microsoft, its authors, or anyone else involved in the creation, production, or delivery of the software be liable for any damages whatsoever (including, without limitation, damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information, or other pecuniary loss) arising out of the use of or inability to use the software or documentation, even if Microsoft has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

Cheers,
Gulab Prasad

Conferencing modalities no longer function in Lync Server 2010, Lync Server 2013, or Skype for Business Server 2015 after you install Security Bulletin MS16-065

By Gulab Prasad | Monday, May 23, 2016 | , , Leave a comment

This problem occurs because an information disclosure vulnerability exists in the Transport Layer Security protocol and the Secure Sockets Layer protocol (TLS/SSL) as they are implemented in the encryption component of the Microsoft .NET Framework. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability can decrypt encrypted TLS/SSL traffic.

 Here is the resolutions...

 https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3165438 

 Cheers,
Gulab Prasad

Office 365 Analytics, Reporting and Operations with 4WARD365

By Gulab Prasad | Sunday, May 15, 2016 | , Leave a comment

So, you have been doing lot of successful Office 365 migration from On-Premises Exchange, Lync, and SharePoint Servers etc. and I am sure all of them end up in successful migration and you client is happy too.

I have been doing lot of Office 365 migration since few years and its fun (especially when it’s Hybrid). Every time you migrate On-Premises users to Office 365 there will be request from the client for some kind of report on existing usage of Office 365, how many users are moved to Office 365, what time of users are they, delegations, what type of licenses users have been assigned etc. These questions are expected questions as you already know and you would have prepared yourself for these questions along with PowerShell Scripts.

Here are some of the scripts you prepared in advance as these will come as a question from the client.
  1. Report on License Per User.
  2. Report on License as per location.
  3. Report on License as which user is Using just Exchange Online and SharePoint.
  4. Report on Users using Office Online Pro and One Drive and Yammer.
  5. Report on Users Using Intune based on location.
The list can go on and on and on, now your customers wants these report to be emailed to the Admin and their managers too. Well which can be done just adding few lines in PowerShell.

But…

What if there a tool, a web based tool available which can do all of these and more, more as not just reporting but management of your Office 365 environment and takes care of your everyday operations too.


4WARD365 does exactly the same and it has almost all the stack covered which runs in Office 365, Azure and CRM Online.
I have been exploring this tool and I found it way more useful and super easy to use than any other tool available in the market.
Reporting:
























Reporting can be done at the granular level as granular as single license and user. 4WARD365 can report on every aspect of Office 365 features your organization is using. Here are some of the reports.
Mail Traffic Reports:













Yammer Reports:












Reports:













Management:
In terms of management I can’t write everything here as what all you can manage. Check out the screenshot.












Audit:
Audit can be done for Azure AD, Exchange, One Drive and SharePoint. Skype of Business is coming VERY SOON! Operation on Audit can be performed at numerous levels. Some of the examples below.














There are lot of other features are going to be added at the end of 2nd Q, those new features will be free and you don’t have to pay anything extra depending upon the subscription you are using.
4WARD365 can also be used to report and manage On Premises Active Directory and Exchange Servers.

Note: 4WARD365 supports SSO.

Cheers,
Gulab Prasad

Skype for Business Server 2015 now available for public download

By Gulab Prasad | Wednesday, July 1, 2015 | Leave a comment

Microsoft finally released Skype for Business Server 2015 for public download. You can download from here

Cheers,
Gulab Prasad

Active Directory Discovery Scripts

By Gulab Prasad | Wednesday, April 1, 2015 | Leave a comment

Active Directory Discovery Scripts will get you the report from your existing environment.
These scripts include list of below application/technologies.
























Requirements:
Windows PowerShell 2.0
Administrator Rights
Execution Policy Requirement: Remote Signed, run it from Windows Server 2008 for best result. 
Download from here

 Courtesy: Bill Sawyer, Scott Link and Burris Walker

Cheers,
Gulab Prasad

Lync Server 2010 and 2013 Migration to Skype for Business 2015

By Gulab Prasad | Wednesday, March 18, 2015 | , , Leave a comment

Lync Server 2010 and 2013 Migration to Skype for Business 2015. Download the Deployment and Upgrading to Skype for Business Server 2015 from here

Cheers,
-Gulab Prasad

Deploy and Configure Active Directory RMS 2012 for Exchange 2013 Part-1

By Gulab Prasad | Saturday, January 3, 2015 | , Leave a comment

Deploy Active Directory Rights Management Services 2012 R2

Installing Active Directory Right Management Services 2012 has some prerequisites like creating Service Account, Security Groups and DNS record.

Service Account: ADRMSSVC
Security Group: ADRMS_SuperUsers and Executives
DNS A record: adrms.exchangeranger.net

Open Active Directory Users and Computers and create Service Accounts "adrmssvc" and Host A record in DNS.














































Create Security Groups ADRMS_SuperUsers and Executives



























Create Host A record in DNS.




















Note: This host A record will point to certificate and url name as https://adrms.exchangeranger.net and IP address 192.168.1.109 is of adrms01 server.

Start the installation of Active Directory Right Management Services Role.



































Now click on Post deployment-configuration in Server Manager.




 Note: I am using Windows Internal Database for this article.






































Select Connection Type as SSL and before you click on next you will have to request and the certificate from Active Directory RMS server and complete the request. Open IIS Manager and select click on adrms server and click on Server Certificates under feature view. Click on Create Domain Certificate in the action pan.
































If you get the above error message than go to your Certificate Authority Server and restart the Certificate Service. After restarting the service click on finish and the request will complete.
Now click on next on Cluster Address window and continue the process.







Click on close and open Server Manager and click on Tools and click on Active Directory Rights Management Services.

































While opening the console if you get the below warning message that means you will have to install the certificate on adrms01 server.



















After you click on Yes it will give you the below error message. Reason for this message is because name (adrms) on the certificate is different as what the name of the server (adrms01).















You will have create 2 DWORDS on the server under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Lsa and create DWORD DisableLoopbackCheck and value 1. Second DWORD HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters create DWORD "DisableStrickNameChecking" and value 1. After making the changes restart the server and after that console will open without any error.





















This completes deployment of Active Directory Rights Management Services, in next part we will see how to configure ADRMS for Exchange Server 2013.

Cheers,
Gulab Prasad

EXCHANGE RANGER