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Archive for Exchange – Page 2

Changing Exchange Capitalization on Email Domain

by KW · Comments (0)
Feb 04 2014

I recently had a customer running SBS 2008 with Exchange 2007 ask me if they could have the domain name part of a user’s email address displayed with proper capitalization. As an example, instead of Joe@whitehouse.gov they wanted the email address to go out as Joe@WhiteHouse.gov.

This should be easy to do, I thought. So, I went into EMC and changed the spelling of the email to use capitalization, but it would never take hold. It turns out that simply changing the capitalization of the email address is NOT enough for EMC to recognize that a change has been made.

So here are the three steps required:

  1. Edit the email address for capitalization, but also make a change to the user (left side) part of the email address, then save
  2. Then re-edit the email address, fixing the left side of the email address
  3. Update the Offline Address Book (OAB)

So, let’s give it a try:

Step 1:

  • Go into EMC –> Recipient configuration –> Mailbox –> double click on the specific user –> click on the Email Addresses tab
  • Select the email address to be changed and click Edit
  • Change Joe@whitehouse.gov to JoeXX@WhiteHouse.gov and save

Step 2:

  • Select to edit the email address again
  • Change JoeXX@WhiteHouse.gov to Joe@WhiteHouse.gov and save

Step 3

  • From EMC, click Organization Configuration –> Mailbox –> Offline Address Book tab
  • Right click on ‘Default Offline Address Book’ and click Update
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  • Note: you call also do the OAB update using the following PowerShell command:
    update-offlin eaddressbook –identity “default offline address book
    image

These steps should be applicable to both Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2010.

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Categories : Email, Exchange, SBS, Servers
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Exchange 2007 Rollup 11 SBS 2008

by KW · Comments (0)
Sep 29 2013

I generally like to wait a month before installing Exchange rollups. If you’re running SBS 2008 and Exchange 2007, you may have noticed that Rollup 11 for Exchange 2007 was released on August 13, 2013.

As with all previous Exchange rollups, you can install it via WSUS, or you can install it manually – which is my preference. There is a small trick you need to know to install the rollup manually, so let’s jump in:

  1. Go ahead and download the latest rollup. Rollup 11 can be found here.
  2. You will be asked to select whether to download the 32-bit (x6) or 64-bit (x64). For SBS 2008, you want the x64 version.
  3. Download and save the file to your preferred folder on your server.
  4. Now, if you simply click on the downloaded file and try to install it, it’s not going to work! you will get the following error message “The Installer has insufficient privileges to modify this file: C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange server\RelNotes.htm”.
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  5. So you say to yourself, “Oh, I guess I need to right click on the file and ‘run as’ administrator”.
    Go ahead, and try it, and you will be in for a surprise – you won’t find a ‘run as’ option, because this is a .msp file.
    What are you going to do now?
  6. Kudos to my good friend and MVP buddy, Philip Elder, who discovered the following trick to get around this issue:

    Start up a command prompt window using the ‘run as’ administrator, and then within the command prompt window, navigate to the folder where the Rollup file was stored, and type in the full name of the file (including the .msp suffix)
    image

  7. You can now proceed to install the rollup. Be sure to reboot your computer after the installation is completed.
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Categories : Exchange, SBS, Servers, WSUS
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Adjusting Exchange 2010 Memory Usage

by KW · Comments (0)
Jul 25 2013

The folks at ThirdTier have a great article on the how’s and why’s of adjusting Exchange 2010’s memory usage. I suggest you read their blog post first. My intent here is to highlight and clarify the process, as there are some steps that were not clearly obvious to me.

As always, before starting – make sure you have a recent backup of your server. And be aware that you will need to restart Exchange at the end of this process!

  • Log into your Exchange 2010 server (I’m running SBS 2011 Standard and Exchange 2010)
  • Click on Start, type adsiedit.msc and press enter.
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  • In most cases, ADSIEdit will start with the Configuration node already selected. If not, KB 266768 explains what you need to do.
    image
  • Now, drill down the Container module as follows: Services –> Microsoft Exchange –> Your organization –> Administrative Groups –> Your administrative group –> Servers –> Server name –> Information Store
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  • Right click on the Information Store, then click Properties
  • Scroll Down and locate the two attributes: msExchESEParamCacheSizeMax and msExchESEParamCacheSizeMin
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  • You will want to double click on each of these two parameters, and enter your desired value.
    image   image
  • What value should you use? Thirdtier suggests using 10GB/5GB for your max/min values. Adjust accordingly.

Please note: the ThirdTier article incorrectly states a value of 326780 for 10GB. The correct value is 327680.
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  • Click OK when finished.
  • Restart your Exchange services for the changes to be implemented.
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Categories : Exchange, SBS, Servers, Windows
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Exchange 2010 Forms-Based Authentication Service Doesn’t Start

by KW · Comments (0)
Jul 16 2013

After installing or migrating to Exchange 2010, one of the first things I check out is Outlook Web Access (OWA). But more often than not, I’m unable to login to OWA.

If you have been working with Exchange 2010 this may be nothing new. But, I am seeing a last minute flurry of activity with installing or migrating to SBS 2011, and thought that a quick post might be beneficial.

The key is to check that all Exchange services that are set to Automatic have in fact started. Quite often you will find that on a reboot of the server that Microsoft Exchange Forms-Based Authentication Service is not running.

Having to remember to start it manually each time you reboot the server is not acceptable!

The solution to this issue is very simple:
Change the startup type for this service from Automatic to Automatic (Delayed Start).
Next time you reboot your server, you will find that this service is running.

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Categories : Exchange, SBS
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Install Exchange 2010 SP3 on SBS 2011

by KW · Comments (1)
May 26 2013

Carl Gray (“Oxford SBS Guy”) has a very good, step by step blog on installing Exchange 2010 SP3 on SBS2011, including screen shots. So, there’s no need for me to replicate what he has already posted.

However, there are two critical steps he did not include:

    1. Before you start the SP3 upgrade, please go into Services and stop the Windows SBS Manager service.
    2. Please make sure that you DO NOT have Windows Management Framework (WMF) 3.0 installed on the server. Look for KB2506143. You will need to uninstall this patch and then reboot the server before you install the SP3 upgrade.

Susan Bradley has previously posted on both of these issues (see Stop SBS Manager and Uninstall WMF 3.0)

I also offer some additional advice to add to his process, which you may find helpful:

  1. When downloading the Exchange2010-SP3-x64.exe file, put it into an empty temp folder (say ..\Downloads\E2010SP3temp). Then when you double click on the .exe to extract all the files, it will extract the files to this same temp folder. Once the SP3 upgrade is completed, all you need to do for cleanup is to delete this one temp folder.
  2. I highly recommend that you make sure that you have a full, recent backup of your server before you start.
  3. I also recommend that you reboot the server BEFORE starting the upgrade process.
  4. If you are installing SP3 remotely (using RWA), be aware that you will lose your remote connection during this process. DO NOT PANIC. The SP3 upgrade will stop the RDP/Gateway service. Just be patient. Give the upgrade about 30-40 minutes to complete. Eventually you will be able to connect back in via RWA, and when you do, you should find that the upgrade has completed.
  5. If SP3 has been installed successfully, I would suggest rebooting the server again. It doesn’t hurt, and in some cases, it may help!
  6. Finally, Carl says to check that the version of Exchange is correct. Here is how I perform that step:
    1. Open up Exchange Management Shell
    2. Type the following: get-exchangeserver | fl name,edition,admindisplayversion
      image
    3. The build number for Exchange 2010 SP3 is: 14.3.123.4
Comments (1)
Categories : Exchange, SBS, Servers
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Installing Exchange 2007 Rollups for SBS 2008

by KW · Comments (0)
Feb 28 2013

There are things that I do in managing my computer systems that I would classify under the category of “trusted habits”. For example, whenever I am updating a server, I always reboot it before installing updates. Or, I generally install any .Net updates separate from other Windows security patches.

Another trusted habit of mine is to install Exchange related rollups or service packs on their own, manually. That is, I don’t use WSUS or WU/MU to automatically install Exchange updates.

As an example, let’s take a quick look at applying Update Rollup 10 for Exchange 2007 SP3, which  was released in February 2013 (see KB2788321).

image

Before proceeding, make sure you do my three essential pre-requisites:

  1. Backup your server
  2. Reboot Your Server
  3. Disable any anti-virus software running on your server

Even though WSUS/MU properly informs me that Update Rollup 10 is available, I won’t use WSUS/MU to install it.

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Instead, go to KB2788321 this link, and download and save the 64 bit version of RU10 to your desktop or Download folder.

Right click on the downloaded file, click Apply, then click Open, and wait a few minutes while it computes space requirements.

image

Please note: If you get an error message about insufficient permissions or privileges, DON’T PANIC.
Just open up an elevated command prompt, and locate/run the download file from there.

Click Next, when prompted, to begin the installation, and accept the License Terms. Wait while it generates the required .Net files, then click Next. The installation will proceed, and may take 30-40 minutes to complete.

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Once the rollup has been installed, go ahead and reboot your server, and then check and verify that all of the appropriate Exchange services have started, and delete the rollup file you downloaded.

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Categories : Exchange, SBS, Servers
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Display Exchange 2010 version

by KW · Comments (0)
Jan 01 2013

Working with Exchange 2010 and SBS 2011, you should expect to become familiar with PowerShell. Here’s a quick easy solution for displaying the version of Exchange 2010 installed on a server:

image

  1. Start the Exchange Management Shell (EMS). Give it a few seconds to start up.
  2. From the PowerShell [PS] prompt, type: get-exchangeserver | format-table name, *version*
    Note: the above PS command is NOT case sensitive
  3. Compare your result to the following table (see this Microsoft Technet page):
  • Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 – Build 14.0.639.21 – Date 11/9/2009
  • Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 SP1 – Build 14.1.218.15 – Date 8/24/2010
  • Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 SP2 – Build 14.2.247.5 – Date 12/4/2011

In my case (see screenshot above), I have Version 14.2 (Build 247.5) which indicates that I have Exchange 2010 SP2 installed.

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Categories : Exchange, SBS, Servers
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Update Rollup 9 for Exchange Server 2007

by KW · Comments (0)
Dec 17 2012

SBS 2008 runs Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. On December 11, 2012 Microsoft released Update Rollup 9 (UR9/KB 2746157) for the Exchange Server 2007 running Service Pack 3. It’s important to keep your Exchange server up-to-date with service packs and update rollups.

image

Before installing this (or any) update, it is strongly suggested that you make sure that you have a recent full backup of your SBS server, and that you plan to reboot your server BEFORE installing this update, as well as AFTER installing it. You want to ensure that you have a properly running server before installing updates.

UR9 can take up to 15 minutes to install. But as there are no intermediate prompts, go ahead and kick it off, and then do something else other than stare at the progress bar!

image  image

After installing the update successfully, reboot your server, open up Services (services.msc) and  verify that all Exchange services that are set to start automatically are indeed running.

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Categories : Exchange, SBS
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Install Exchange 2010 SP2 Update Rollup 4-v2

by KW · Comments (0)
Oct 24 2012

Some things never make sense to me, and one of them is the way one finds out the build number of Exchange that is installed on a server – the method is different depending on which version is installed!

First, here is the link to a list of all the build numbers for the various versions of Exchange:

Exchange Server and Update Rollups Build Numbers

I’m running SBS 2011 Standard in my office, with Exchange 2010 SP2, and I’m preparing to install Update Rollup 4-v2 for Exchange 2010 SP2. I will presume that you have a recent backup of your server!

Step 1: Let’s find out what version of Exchange 2010 I am running.

You do this by opening up the Exchange Management Shell, and then entering this command:

GCM exsetup |%{$_.Fileversioninfo}

Here’s the result on my server:

image

Step 2: Install UR4-v2 from the SBS/WSUS console

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Step 3: Reboot your server and confirm version of Exchange

Surprisingly, the UR4-v2 did not require a reboot of the server, but I certainly would suggest doing so!

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Finally, open up Services (services.msc) and do a quick check and verify that all the Exchange-related services that have a startup type-Automatic are indeed running.

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Categories : Exchange, SBS
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SBS 2011 MaxMessageSize Warnings in BPA

by KW · Comments (0)
Sep 27 2012

If you run the Best Practices analyzer (BPA) on your SBS 2011 server, two warning messages about a conflict in the MaxMessageSize between the Exchange Transport and the Exchange Send/Receive Connectors. Here’s what the BPA warnings look like:

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And if you click on each of them, you will see a detail view:

image  image

Since they are only warnings, you could simply ignore it by clicking on the “Exclude the Result” button for each. But, fixing these warnings is a fairly simple process. More importantly, fixing them will get you better acquainted with Exchange PowerShell. Oh, and one final note: these same commands will work on an SBS 2008 server.

So, let’s get going!

Step 1: Start up Exchange PowerShell

Click Start –> Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 –> Exchange Management Shell

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Give it a few moments to initialize. Once done you will have a black window with a command prompt.
Looks pretty much like the DOS Command Prompt window, doesn’t it?

image

Step 2: View current settings

Now we need to type in three PowerShell commands in order to view the current MaxMessageSize values:

  • get-receiveconnector | ft name, maxmessagesize
  • get-sendconnector | ft name, maxmessagesize
  • get-transportconfig | ft maxsendsize, maxreceivesize

Note: the symbol before ft is commonly called the pipeline (|) symbol.
It’s located on the backslash (\) key on most keyboards.

Here’s the result of those three commands on my server:

image

In my case, my Receive and send connectors were all set to 10MB maxmessagesize, but my transport maxmessagesize was configured as unlimited. So, I had to ask myself: what do I want to change?

Step 3: Change MaxMessageSize settings

I decided that I wanted to change everything to to a 30MB maxmessage size. So, here are the commands to do that:

  • set-transportconfig –maxreceivesize 30MB –maxsendsize 30MB
  • set-sendconnector “Windows SBS Internet Send SBS1” –maxmessagesize 30MB
  • set-receiveconnector –identity “Windows SBS Internet Receive SBS1” –maxmessagesize 30MB
  • set-receiveconnector –identity “Windows SBS Fax Sharepoint Receive SBS1” –maxmessagesize 30MB
  • set-receiveconnector –identity “Default SBS1” –maxmessagesize 30MB

Here’s a screenshot of entering those commands on my server:

image

Step 4: Verify Changes

Rerun the three commands from Step 2 and verify that all maxmessagesize values match!

image

Now, rerun BPA and those two warnings should be gone!

Finally, for more information, you may wish to refer to the Microsoft blog post on this same topic.

Comments (0)
Categories : Exchange, SBS, Servers
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