If you migrated to SBS 2011 from an earlier version of SBS, you may encounter an issue where users are unable to send mail to mail-enabled public folders. If you run the SBS 2011 Best Practices Analyzer, it will report he following warning:
There are empty Servers containers
This issue is easily resolved by using ADSI Edit to remove the empty Servers container. The BPA warning does not give you the specifics on how to do this, so I’ve included some instructions and screen snapshots of the process.
Warning: Using ADSI Edit incorrectly can cause issues with your server. Similar to warnings that you see when using Registry Edit, it is recommended that you have a backup of your server before proceeding.
Step 1: Start up ADSI Edit and access the Configuration connection
- Start the ADSI Edit utility by clicking Start –> then type: adsiedit.msc and click OK
- When the ADSI Edit window displays, in the left frame under ADSI Edit, you may only see an entry for “Default naming context [server.domain.local]”.
- If so, right click on “Default naming context”, and then click Settings. Under the section “Select a well known Naming Context”, click on the drop down box, select Containers and then click OK.
- Your left frame should now look something like this:
Step 2: Drill down Configuration to CN=Servers
- Drill down Configuration –> CN=Configuration,DC=domain,DC=local –> CN=Services
- Continue drilling down CN=Microsoft Exchange –> CN=domain –> CN=Administrative Groups –> CN=first administrative group
- Expand CN=Servers and verify that there are no server objects listed
- Right click on the empty CN=Servers container and click Delete
Rerun BPA and the warning message should no longer display!
For more details on this issue and its resolution, please check out Microsoft’s Windows Server Essentials and Small Business Server Blog site.