Showing posts with label Exchange 2010. Show all posts

I was deploying archiving solution for Exchange 2010 for more than 20K seats environment. And I have been asked by the vendor to find certain information for all the Mailboxes in exchange environment, like TotalItemSize, TotalDeletedItemSize, ItemCount and DeletedItemCount.

I came up with the below script which made the JOB easy. I ran the script per Exchange Server, but you can also run it per Mailbox Database, you just need to change the switch from -Server to -Database.


If you want to run it across your Exchange environment without using Server or Database switch, then just run Get-Mailbox only.
You can also add other attributes like SentItems, Attachment etc. to the script.
This script can be run on Exchange Server 2010 and 2013.

Cheers,

Update Rollup 6 for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 3. This updated fixes several important issues. You can download it from here...

Update Rollup 6 for Exchange Server 2010 SP3 resolves the issues: KB2936871

Cheers,

Yesterday Exchange Team updated the Exchange Server Deployment Assistant.

Updated the Deployment Assistant to include the following:

• Support for the Exchange 2013 Edge Transport server role in all on-premises and hybrid deployment scenarios
• Support for the new, automated process for requesting an Exchange 2013 or Exchange 2010 Hybrid Edition product key

Exchange Server Deployment Assistant

Also newly released, you can now use the new product key wizard to submit your request to Microsoft Support to obtain an Exchange 2013 or Exchange 2010 product key for use in hybrid deployments. The request process is quick and easy and you’ll have your product key in minutes!

You can request a Hybrid Edition product key if all the following conditions apply to you:

• You have an existing, non-trial, Office 365 Enterprise subscription
• You currently do not have a licensed Exchange 2013 or Exchange 2010 SP3 servers in your on-premises organization
• You will not host any on-premises mailboxes on the Exchange 2013 or Exchange 2010 SP3 server on which you apply the Hybrid Edition product key.

Cheers,

I ran into an issue where as Outlook client experiencing slowness when accessing Public Folder on Exchange Server 2010. I was facing 2 different issues at 2 different geographical location, users at Europe were experiencing slowness when trying to access Public Folder via Outlook and Users in US where getting credential prompt when it failed to connect to default Public Folder Database.

I was able to fix Outlook slowness issue while accessing the Public Folder by making the registry changes on Public Folder Server, as Outlook client were trying to connect to Public Folder Server which were in US.

I followed this article and applied Method 2 to fix the issue.

But, the issue at US location was Outlook client were prompting for credential when trying to connect Public Folder Database which was not a Default Public Folder Database on Mailbox Database. So to fix this issue I had to apply the same registry fixes but I also had to install Hot Fix on Public Folder Server. Hot Fix is part of Method 1, but this article doesn't have a link to download the Hot Fix.

I had to call Microsoft get this Hot Fix which you can download from here. Writing this article, so that you don’t have to call Microsoft to get this Hot Fix.

I hope it helps.

Cheers,

Microsoft Exchange Unified Messaging Service Failed to Start on one of Unified Messaging Server. When I tried to start the service it failed with error.

In the mix environment of Exchange Server 2007 and 2010, after doing cut over of Client Access Server and Hub Transport Server to Exchange Server 2010, everything was working fine, Mailflow, Outlook, OWA, FreeBusy, OOF, OAB, IMAP, POP (Internally) and Outlook, OWA, FreeBusy, OAB, IMAP, POP (Externally) except Out of Office.

I could access the FreeBusy and OAB information using Outlook Anywhere of the users on Exchange 2007 as well as 2010, but I couldn't access the OOF for any of the users when accessing it via Outlook Anywhere.
Now, to access the FreeBusy and OOF exchange uses EWS (Exchange Web Services), which was working fine, but when it comes to accessing or setting up OOF, it use to fail with the standard error. "Your Out of Office settings cannot be displayed, because the server is currently unavailable. Try again later"

We are using TMG Server 2010 to publish the exchange services like, OWA, Active Sync, Outlook Anywhere, POP and IMAP. TMG is running Active/Passive Cluster (I wouldn't do it like this). Cause you are not utilizing both the TMG server when running Active/Passive.

After spending sometime on TMG Server I found something which was kind of hard to believe. This is how you are going to fix this issue.
Open TMG Console, go to Firewall Policy, look for Outlook Anywhere Rule.









Double click on Outlook Anywhere Policy and click on Paths TAB.



























Make sure that you have Internal Path for EWS is set as /ews/*
Initially this path was missing from OA Rule, after making this entry, apply the changes. Now you can set your Out of Office and it will work like a charm from Outlook Anywhere.


This is my last article and also on the last day of year 2013. I hope everyone had great 2013 year. Wishing you all Happy and Prosperous New Year 2014.

Cheers,

Environment:
Root Domain: domain.local
Domain Controllers: 3
Child Domain: abc.domian.local
Domain Controllers: 3
2 Exchange 2003 running in child domain
6 Exchange 2010 running in child domain

When trying to register/activate the license key for exchange server 2010, I was getting this error.

























Now, I was able to register/activate other server without any issue in the same domain, but this one was failing. I tried Exchange Management Shell and it failed too.
This error message clearly talks about the permission issue, hence I checked the Inheritance blocked on the user account and found that it was unchecked.






















Checked the check box.






















Tried registering/activating the server but failed again with the same error message. I found the event ID 2080 and it has some issue with SACL rights on few domain controllers on the site.




















Ran Setup.com /PrepareAD to fix the SACL right's and checked the event, no changes in the event result. Waited for the replication to complete. After 20 minutes, tried to register/activate the server, not it's failing on different domain controller not the domain controller for which it was failing.

Now, I had one server activated successfully without any issue. So I went on to the server and activated all the 3 servers without any issues.
But, it's a workaround and not a resolution, cause I will get the same error when I start the migration process when moving the mailboxes from 2003 to 2010.
To check if the issue still exist, I created a Test Mailbox on 2003 and tried to move it on to 2010 server, and as expected, it failed with the same error message.

























I checked the Exchange Trusted Sub System Group and Exchange Server Group and found that only one exchange server is a member of these groups not all of them.







































Added all the remaining servers in both the groups.





















Restarted the domain controller on which the move was failing. Moved the mailbox and it moved successfully.
As per my experience, the straight forward resolution is, Inheritance blocked should be checked. But in this case, check box was getting unchecked by itself. And I also ran the /PrepareDomain switch too, But it didn't helped.

It was the issue with AD replication and the permission issue on the user account.
Note: Still monitoring the issue, will move few mailboxes again and check the issue. Will update the post.

Cheers,

While doing regular check on the exchange server environment I found the error Mailbox Role "is not configured" on server "EXCH01.domain.com". Please run the setup again. I had the same issue error for Client Access Server role too. Environment was running DAG with 2 member server.








I checked the store.exe version on both the servers and found that it was a mismatch.




















Now to fix the issue, I ran the setup again on exch01 server and it completed successfully.
Note: exch01 server had Rollup Update 4 installed before running the SP2 setup on the server.
On other server, I had upgraded Rollup Update 6, hence I had to install the same on this server too. Started installing Rollup Update 6 for SP2 on exchange01 and it failed with the error "Setup Wizard for Update Rollup 6 for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 2 (KB2746164) ended prematurely".
















To fix this issue, what I had to do was, to run the this file as "Run as Administrator". Hence, opened Command Prompt with "Run as Administrator" and copied the path and pasted in it and pressed the Enter Key. Setup took time but it failed again with Rolling Back message and finally the above error message.

Disabled the UAC on the server and restarted the server, ran the setup again and it failed with the same error.
Checked the ExecutionPolicy on PowerShell and it was restricted. Set the ExecutionPolicy as Unrestricted and ran the setup again, but it failed again.
Added the Administrator account in security on PowerShell key in registry "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PowerShell. Restarted the server and ran the setup still No Go. Checked the setup but didn't find anything, nothing in Event viewer.
I had seen this issue before but those resolutions weren't working here.

Uninstalled the entire exchange server and reinstalled it, tried to install Update Rollup 6, still it failed.

Unbelievable resolution in my case was "Disable the Windows Firewall on the server" run the setup and it completed successfully.

Weird as I didn't had to do it before to install the Update Rollup and on other Active Server, it got installed successfully without making any changes.

Cheers,

The following is a list of top three KEMP LoadMaster options and things to be aware of when configuring these options on the LoadMaster appliance (virtual or hardware) in a network infrastructure. In particular, the options that will be discussed in detail are: Transparency, High Availability, and Bonding. The goal of this document is to educate an end user with the best approach for when configuring these options as to avoid any possible first time setup/deployment issues with the LoadMaster.

1. Transparency
2. High Availability
3. Bonding/VLAN’s

Microsoft has released Update Rollup 1 for Exchange Server 2010 SP3. You can download it from here
Below are the some of the fixes included in Update Rollup.

1. Mailbox storage limit error when a delegate uses the manager's mailbox to send an email message in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
2. You cannot open a mailbox that is located in a different site by using Outlook Anywhere in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
3. Mailbox synchronization fails on an Exchange ActiveSync device in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
4. Rapid growth in transaction logs, CPU use, and memory consumption in Exchange Server 2010 when a user syncs a mailbox by using an iOS 6.1 or 6.1.1-based device
5. Unable to soft delete some messages after installing Exchange 2010 SP2 RU6 or SP3

Exchange 2010 includes a feature called Datacenter Activation Coordination (DAC) mode that is designed to prevent split brain at the database level during switchback procedures that are being performed after a datacenter switchover has occurred. One of the side benefits of enabling DAC mode is that it enables you to use the built-in recovery cmdlets to perform the datacenter switchover and switchback.

You can download it from here
Note: It's not exactly a tool but a power point guide to help you perform the switchover correctly with all the cmdlets.

Cheers,

Introducing Exchange Reports
You can download it from here
This application requires .Net 4.0, Powershell 2.0 and Remote Powershell access to Exchange Server. It is tested on Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 2008 R2.

Yet, it's still in beta. I tested in my LAB and it's pretty good. List of reports you can get from this tool:
Group Report
Single Group Information
Mailbox Report
Single Mailbox information
Message Tracking
Admin Audit Log (coming soon)
Mailbox Audit Log (Coming soon)
Environment Report (Coming soon)

Here is how Mailbox report looks like.







































Update: 06|03|2013
Email notification feature will also be included in coming update.

Cheers,

Not much has changed when you install exchange server 2010 SP3 on windows server 2012. You need to make sure that .Net Framework 4.5 update is installed and windows is up to date.
And if you don't installed the updates, prerequisites will failed with error, few components can't be installed or missing.























Prerequisites for windows server 2012 hasn't changed much.
Note: You don’t need to run “Import-Module ServerManager” as windows server 2012 loads the modules automatically. If you don't have internet connection to you lab machine, then run the prerequisites script with -Source D:\sources\sxs at the end of the script and make sure you have windows server 2012 media in the DVD drive.

Add-WindowsFeature NET-Framework-Core,RSAT-ADDS,Web-Server,Web-Basic-Auth,Web-Windows-Auth,Web-Metabase,Web-Net-Ext,Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console,WAS-Process-Model,Web-Mgmt-Tools,Web-ISAPI-Ext,Web-Digest-Auth,Web-Dyn-Compression,NET-HTTP-Activation,Web-Asp-Net,Web-Client-Auth,Web-Dir-Browsing,Web-Http-Errors,Web-Http-Logging,Web-Http-Redirect,Web-Http-Tracing,Web-ISAPI-Filter,Web-Request-Monitor,Web-Static-Content,Web-WMI,RPC-Over-HTTP-Proxy -Restart













Once it's installed. You are all set to install exchange server 2010 SP3


























































I must say exchange 2010 SP3 is faster, smarter and better on windows server 2012 :)

Cheers,

Microsoft has released Service Pack 3 for Exchange Server 2010 and Update RollUp 10 for Exchange Server 2007 SP3 today.

These updates will make your existing Exchange 2010 and 2007 environment to coexist with Exchange Server 2013.
Exchange Server 2010:
Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 3
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=36768

Issues that the service pack resolves
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2808208

Exchange Server 2007:
Update Rollup 10 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 3
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=36708

Issue that the update rollup resolves
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2788321

Note: Microsoft also released Update Rollup 6 for Exchange Server 2010 SP2.
Update Rollup 6 for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 2
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=36716

Issue that the update rollup resolves
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=2746164

I would strongly suggest not to install SP3 for Exchange 2010 right now, instead play around with RU6 in the LAB first and then install it in the production. Do the same for SP3 as well.
Install the SP3 after enough testing in the LAB.

We all have been waiting for these release since few months and finally Microsoft has delivered it. Now, this is were the FUN begins.

Update: 15-02-2013
We still can't coexist exchange server 2010 SP3 with Exchange Server 2013 entirely. Cumulative update (CU) is required for Exchange 2013 for coexistence between Exchange 2010 SP3 and Exchange 2013. The change to the cumulative update model, from the past rollup update model, was just announced last Friday.

We should expect the CU for Exchange Server 2013 in the month of April or late March. Let's keep the finger cross.

In first article we learned how to install GFI MailArchiver for Exchange Server 2010. Now we will configure the MailArchiver (default configuration).

Click on Configure button after installing the MailArchiver.

































Next, enter the product key which you received, either for evaluation or full license and click Next.

































































Next step is configure the archive store settings.

































































Note: At this step we have several options to choose the storage, I am going to choose the last one, GFI MailArchiver Database. Because at this time I don't have SQL Server installed in the environment. I will configure the MailArchiver with Microsoft SQL Server in different articles.


































Enter Admin Login name and Password and click Next. Click next and next on coming 2 steps.

































































































Now it's time to configure Archiving method, there are 2 type of methods available. 1: Manual Archiving and 2: Auto-Archiving (Journalling). Journalling has 2 sub options, A: All email and B: Role Based Archiving.

I am going to demonstrate second option, Auto Archiving in this article and Manual Archiving in coming articles.



































































First option will be selected by default "Let GFI MailArchiver create new journalling user for you to associate the mailboxes to.


































Enter the admin credential and click on next, next and finish.
































































We have configured GFI MailArchiver successfully with default settings. Next article we will see how MailArchiver works and restore the email from the MailArchiver.


Cheers,

Let me start with this, I was never a BIG fan of GFI products. Honestly I actually avoided any product from GFI. But recently I came across with one of their product GFI MailArchiver and I must say, I was impressed with the performance, feature, easy going and off course pricing and support. Hence thought of writing a small series of article on it. Lets get started.

Installing GFI MailArchiver for exchange server 2010.
This small application has few prerequisites before you start the installation of it.
1: .Net Framework 4
2: Microsoft ASP.Net MVC 4
3: MAPI CDO
4: Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Runtime*
* If you don't have this prerequisite already installed on the server, you can install it at the time of installing GFI MailArchiver.

LAB Environment:
A: 2 Windows 2008 Domain Controllers
B: 5 Exchange Server 2010 SP2 RU5 V2
DAG with 2 Mailbox Server
CAS Array with 2 CAS/HT Role
1 Exchange Server with HT and UM Role
C: 1 Lync Server 2010

Note: I am installing GFI MailArchiver on Exchange 2010 HT/UM Server.

Lets start the process by installing prerequisites for GFI MailArchiver. First install .Net Framework 4
Run .Net Framework 4 file As Administrator





















































Click Finish to complete the installation.
Now install Microsoft ASP.Net MVC 4. Agree to license agreement.












































Click Close.
Install MAPI CDO which should take around a minute or 2 to complete.
Note: Make sure you don't have outlook installed on the machine/server where you are installing MAPI CDO, else the installation will fail.

Now we will start the GFI MailArchive installation.










Select the language and click OK and follow the instructions.

























































We don't have Microsoft Visual C++ installed on the server, we can install this component by clicking on Install Components.































































Keep the default setting "Do not check for new build" we can update it later after installation.






























































If you have created your own website than click on the drop down in Website and select appropriate one. Else leave it the default one.











































Let the Launch GFI MailArchiver check box checked to launch the console.
































Authenticating user, user should be domain admin.














GFI MailArchiver is completed successfully.
This completes the first part of 3 part article of Install and Configure GFI MailArchiver for Exchange Server 2010. In second part we will configure different options of GFI MailArchiver for exchange server 2010 to archive emails.

Cheers,