Exchange Server

New KB articles at Microsoft in the week ending 12/19/08

2008-12-19T19:15:00Z

Here is a list of all KB articles released in the past week that apply to Exchange Server 2007 and/or Forefront Security for Exchange Server.

Exchange Server 2007

960975 The Exchange database online maintenance schedule, Information Store maintenance schedule, quota notification schedule, and OAB generation schedule are offset by one hour when DST changes occur

956536 The Microsoft Exchange File Distribution service uses lots of memory and processor time when Exchange Server 2007 processes many OABs

960963 An Exchange 2007 Hub server incorrectly sets the Sent time on an e-mail message

959957 You cannot include the default global address list in a new or existing Offline Address Book in Exchange Server 2007

959959 When you try to uninstall Exchange Server 2007, the uninstall operation stops responding when it runs the task to remove Exchange files

955443 Some free/busy messages are not replicated from Exchange 2007 to Exchange 2003 servers after some mailboxes are migrated from Exchange Server 2003 to Exchange Server 2007

Microsoft MVP TechChat

2008-12-01T22:58:00Z

Have pressing Microsoft Exchange questions?

Whether you are struggling with today's challenges or planning 5 years out, we would like to invite you to bring your questions and issues to our panel of Microsoft Exchange Server MVPs.

During a live chat session you will also be able to learn about issues your peers are having as you get helpful tips and information from Exchange product experts. Our MVPs are open to any Exchange issues you would like to discuss such as:

Preparing for an Exchange 2007 migration
Options for High Availability
Blocking end users from creating PST files
Enabling Outlook Anywhere
Do you need Edge Transport?
Certificate issues
Hub Transport management
How best to plan and manage large mailboxes
Virtualization of Exchange
and much more...

Register now to discuss your most pressing issues and questions!

Microsoft MVP TechChat

When: Wed. Dec. 17, 2008
Time: 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET
Duration: 1 Hour
Each attendee will receive a transcript of the entire chat.

Featured MVPs:
Martin Tuip
10-time Microsoft MVP

Jason Sherry
3-time Microsoft MVP

Pat Richard
3-time Microsoft MVP

Stephen Bryant
5-time Microsoft MVP

About the Experts

About Microsoft MVPs

New KB articles at Microsoft in the week ending 11/23/08

2008-11-30T16:30:00Z

Here is a list of all KB articles released in the past week that apply to Exchange Server 2007 and/or Forefront Security for Exchange Server.

Exchange Server 2007

949968 Unified Messaging does not handle the diversion header correctly in Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1

953467 Description of Update Rollup 5 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1

956319 The W3wp.exe process may crash on an Exchange 2007 CAS server after you use Entourage to send a message that is larger than 48 KB

956582 Exchange Server 2007 Update Rollup 3 does not update the Outlook Web Access Logon.aspx file after you modify the file

955429 A VSS backup application causes the Information Store service to crash repeatedly on an Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1-based server

956573 Event ID 1032 is not logged in the Application log when users send e-mail messages while they are logged on to Outlook Web Access as another user in Exchange 2007

951267 An exception occurs in Exchange Management Console when you preview AddressList in an Exchange Server 2007 environment

949895 Exchange Management Shell crashes (stops responding), and Event ID 1000 is logged when you perform a cross-forest migration from Exchange Server 2003 to Exchange Server 2007 SP1

949901 Exchange 2007 users cannot send e-mail messages to a mail-enabled public folder in a mixed Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2007 environment

956613 The W3wp.exe process intermittently stops responding and Event ID 1000 is logged in Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1

955599 Event ID 10 messages fill up the Application log on an Exchange 2007 CAS server if an Exchange Server 2003 mailbox owner makes an Exchange Web Service call

952097 Event ID 12800 is logged on an Exchange 2007-based server: "Message processing failed because there is not enough available memory (8007000E-82000387)"

955480 Meeting requests from external senders are displayed as Busy instead of Tentative in an Exchange 2007 environment

954810 An Exchange 2007 room mailbox stops processing requests after the resource booking assistant receives a delegated meeting request from an Exchange 2003 user

954197 Exchange 2007 CAS cannot copy the OAB from the OAB share on Windows Server 2008-based Exchange 2007 CCR clusters

951273 The received time and date of IMAP messages are changed to the time of migration after you migrate mailboxes to an Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1-based server

955460 The start time and the end time of a meeting request are incorrect when a delegate uses Exchange Web Service to send the request in an Exchange 2007 environment

954887 You cannot add a Mail User or a Mail Contact to the Safe Senders list in Exchange 2007 by using OWA Client

952583 Japanese DBCS characters are corrupted when you reply to a message or forward a message in an Exchange Server 2007 SP1 environment

957978 The OAB generation is unsuccessful and Event IDs 9328 and 9373 are logged in the Application log in a Windows Server 2008-based Exchange 2007 Single-Copy cluster environment

957137 The reseed process is unsuccessful on the CCR passive node after you restore one full backup and two or more differential backups to the CCR active node

955946 A sender receives an NDR from the Exchange 2007 server when the sender submits a private message by using an SMTP server

949722 Event ID 800 does not include the user name of users who ran the Get-MessageTrackingLog command in an Exchange 2007 environment

956199 The last character of a user's Chinese display name is truncated in the Offline Address Book on an Exchange 2007 server

Rollup 5 for Exchange 2007 SP1 released

2008-11-21T02:12:00Z

Microsoft has released the following update rollup for Exchange Server 2007:

• Update Rollup 5 for Exchange Server 2007 SP1 (953467)

If you're running Exchange Server 2007 SP1, you need to apply Update Rollup 5 for Exchange 2007 SP1 to address the security issues listed below.

Remember, you only need to download the latest update for the version of Exchange that you're running. RTM updates can't be installed on SP1 and vice versa.

Rollup 4 for Exchange Server 2007 SP1 supersedes the following:

945684 Update Rollup 1 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1
948016 Update Rollup 2 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1
949870 Update Rollup 3 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1
952580 Update Rollup 4 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1

Note: If you haven't installed Exchange 2007 yet, you can use the info at Quicker Exchange installs complete with service packs and rollups to save you some time.

Here is a list of the fixes included in rollup 5:

925371 Domino users cannot find meeting request attachments that are sent from Exchange 2007 users
939037 By default, managed content settings apply to the root folder and all subfolders in an Exchange 2007 environment
949722 Event ID 800 does not include the user name of users who ran the Get-MessageTrackingLog command in an Exchange 2007 environment
949893 You cannot create a new mailbox or enable a mailbox in an Exchange Server 2007 environment on February 29, 2008
949895 Exchange Management Shell crashes (stops responding), and Event ID 1000 is logged when you perform a cross-forest migration from Exchange Server 2003 to Exchange Server 2007
949901 Exchange 2007 users cannot send e-mail messages to a mail-enabled public folder in a mixed Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2007 environment
949968 Unified Messaging does not handle the diversion header correctly in Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1
950272 The formatting of a plain text message is incorrect when you print the plain text message by using Outlook Web Access in an Exchange Server 2007 environment
951267 An exception occurs in Exchange Management Console when you preview AddressList in an Exchange Server 2007 environment
951273 The received date and the received time of IMAP messages are changed to the time of migration after you migrate mailboxes to an Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1-based server
951505 You may receive an error message when you run the Update-SafeList cmdlet in an Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2007 mixed environment
951564 Exchange 2007 Update Rollup 5 supports the addition of new items to context menus in Outlook Web Access 2007
951710 You receive error messages or warnings when you change an Active Directory schema so that the Company property supports more than 64 characters
952097 Update Rollup 5 for Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1 introduces events 12003 which can be used to clarify ambiguous Event messages
952583 Japanese DBCS characters are corrupt when you reply to a message or forward a message in an Exchange Server 2007 environment
953619 A public folder conflict message cannot be delivered, and event error 1016 is logged, when the public folder name contains DBCS characters in an Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 environment
953787 You receive an error message when you try to move Exchange 2000 mailboxes or Exchange 2003 mailboxes from one forest to an Exchange 2007 server that is located in another forest by using the Move-Mailbox command
953840 Event ID 5000 occurs, and the IMAP4 service may crash, on a server that is running Exchange Server 2007 with Service Pack 1 when you use a third-party application to migrate POP3 and IMAP4 users
954036 Hidden folders or files are listed when you view a UNC file server by using OWA in an Exchange 2007 environment
954195 The task originator is not notified of task changes and task progress in an Exchange Server 2007 environment
954197 Exchange 2007 CAS cannot copy the OAB from the OAB share on Windows Server 2008-based Exchange 2007 CCR clusters
954270 Message class changes during conversion when a digitally signed Message Disposition Notification is received by a server that is running Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1
954451 An appointment item cannot be opened by a CDOEX-based application if the item is saved by Exchange Web Service together with the Culture property in Exchange Server 2007
954684 You cannot use an Outlook 2007 client to display or download an attachment when you access a message that includes an inline attachment from Exchange Server 2007
954810 An Exchange 2007 room mailbox stops processing requests after the resource booking assistant receives a delegated meeting request from an Exchange 2003 user
954887 You cannot add a Mail User or a Mail Contact to the Safe Senders list in Exchange 2007 by using OWA Client
955001 Error message when you use the IMAP protocol to send a SEARCH command that has the CHARSET argument on an Exchange 2007 server: "BAD Command Argument Error"
955196 Log files are not copied to the target server in a standby continuous replication environment in Exchange Server 2007
955429 VSS backup application causes the Information Store service to crash repeatedly on an Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1-based server
955460 The start time and the end time of a meeting request are incorrect when a delegate uses Exchange Web Service to send the request in an Exchange 2007 environment
955480 Meeting requests from external senders are displayed as Busy instead of Tentative in an Exchange 2007 environment
955599 Event ID 10 messages fill up the Application log on an Exchange 2007 CAS server if an Exchange Server 2003 mailbox owner makes an Exchange Web Service call
955619 A user cannot access the mailbox by using a POP client or an IMAP client through Client Access Server in an Exchange 2007 environment
955741 A message stays in the Outbox, and the message is resent until it is deleted manually on Windows Mobile 6.1-based devices in an Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1 CAS proxying scenario
955946 If a private message is submitted by a SMTP sender, the sender receives an NDR message from the Exchange 2007 server
955989 The SPN registration of a cluster fails, and Error event IDs 1119 and 1034 are logged in an Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 environment
956199 The last character of a user’s Chinese display name is truncated in the Offline Address Book on an Exchange 2007 server
956319 The W3wp.exe process may crash on an Exchange 2007 CAS server after you use Entourage to send a message that is larger than 48 KB
956573 Event ID 1032 is not logged in the Application log when users send e-mail messages while they are logged on to Outlook Web Access as another user in Exchange 2007
956582 Exchange Server 2007 Update Rollup 3 does not update the Outlook Web Access Logon.aspx file after you modify the file
956613 The W3wp.exe process intermittently stops responding and Event ID 1000 is logged in Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1
956709 Some recurring meetings may be missing when you view the meetings using Outlook Web Access in Exchange Server 2007
957002 The Edgetransport.exe process may crash intermittently on a server that is running Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1
957137 The reseed process is unsuccessful on the CCR passive node after you restore one full backup and two or more differential backups to the CCR active node
957813 A Non-Delivery Report is generated when you try to send a high priority message that is larger than 250 KB in an Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 environment
957978 The OAB generation is unsuccessful and Event IDs 9328 and 9373 are logged in the Application log in a Windows Server 2008-based Exchange 2007 Single-Copy cluster environment
958855 The Edge Transport service crashes repeatedly, and an event error 1000 is logged repeatedly on a server that is running Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1
958856 Event ID: 7012 occurs when you search message tracking logs on an Exchange Server 2007-based server

Download the rollup here. It is scheduled to be available via Windows Update on December 9th.

New KB articles at Microsoft in the week ending 11/12/2008

2008-11-13T02:23:00Z

Here is a list of all KB articles released in the past week that apply to Exchange Server 2007 and/or Forefront Security for Exchange Server.

Exchange Server 2007

958934 Outlook 2007 crashes after you install a package that contains the .NET Framework 3.5 with SP1 and the .NET Framework 2.0 with SP2 on an Exchange 2007 Client Access server

951710 You receive error messages or warnings when you change an Active Directory schema so that the Company property supports more than 64 characters

New KB articles at Microsoft in the week ending 10/27/2008

2008-10-28T04:38:00Z

Here is a list of all KB articles released in the past week that apply to Exchange Server 2007 and/or Forefront Security for Exchange Server.

Exchange Server 2007

959065 Wrong database name is added to Recovery Storage Group when more than one database exists in a Storage Group

New KB articles at Microsoft in the week ending 10/20/2008

2008-10-20T18:12:00Z

Here is a list of all KB articles released in the past week that apply to Exchange Server 2007 and/or Forefront Security for Exchange Server.

Exchange Server 2007

957718 A third-party MAPI client may stop responding when a Global Catalog server goes offline and the referral service is disabled on the Exchange server

New KB articles at Microsoft in the week ending 10/13/2008

2008-10-13T18:30:00Z

Here is a list of all KB articles released in the past week that apply to Exchange Server 2007 and/or Forefront Security for Exchange Server.

Exchange Server 2007

948896 Certificates that contain wildcard characters may not work correctly on an Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1-based server

949858 The provisioning process is unsuccessful when you use Identity Lifecycle Manager (ILM) 2007 to provision user objects to an Exchange Server 2007 resource forest

949512 An embedded message is removed from the attachment list on Exchange Server 2007 if the embedded message subject ends with .com, .exe, or any other blocked extension

954058 You can change the method for transfer encoding after you apply Update Rollup 4 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1

955208 Event ID 5000 occurs when the Exchange IMAP4 worker process crashes intermittently in Exchange Server 2007

944831 You cannot configure Exchange Server 2007 so that the simple display name appears in outgoing messages

950076 After you move a mailbox from Exchange Server 2003 to Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1, you cannot edit rules in Outlook Web Access

952682 Log file drives on the SCR target may eventually fill up and cause replication failure in Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1

945870 TAB symbols may be converted incorrectly to spaces in Exchange Server 2007

950976 Event ID 115 may be logged intermittently on a computer that is running Exchange Server 2007 with Service Pack 1

952924 Error message when Exchange users try to access public folders that are hosted on Exchange Server 2003 by using Outlook Web Access for Exchange Server 2007: "Outlook Web Access is unable to open public folders"

957133 Description of improvements in functionality that occur in Exchange Web Services operations after you install Update Rollup 4 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1

951251 A MAPI application does not work correctly if Exchange 2007 is installed on a Windows Server 2008 server

951864 Some users must enter their credentials when they access rights-protected messages even though you have deployed the Rights Management Services (RMS) prelicensing agent on an Exchange Server 2007 SP1-based server

953312 The "Open Message In Conflict" button is not available in the conflict notification message for Exchange Server 2007 users

950081 Error message when users use an SMTP client to send e-mail messages in Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1: "454 4.7.0 Temporary authentication failure"

942649 Description of the commands that support the UseRusServer option that is imported in Update Rollup 4 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1

954205 Event ID 1113 is logged in the Application log on a Unified Messaging (UM) server when users contact the UM server by using secured connections

951594 The W3svc log reports the incorrect number of attachments on an Exchange Server 2007 server that has deployed Exchange ActiveSync Service (EAS)

948923 Users do not receive information in DSN messages in Exchange Server 2007 with Service Pack 1

951067 Event ID 7034 may be logged in the Application log in Exchange Server 2007 when an MAPI application tries to access a mailbox in a certain way

949782 An In-Policy request that is forwarded to delegate seems to be an Out-Of-Policy request if a user submits an In-Policy meeting request against a room mailbox of Exchange Server 2007

950622 Messages are converted to a very small font size in Outlook Web Access and in Outlook 2003 when you use Exchange Server 2007

949926 Error when you use an IMAP4 client or a POP3 client to log on to a delegate mailbox of Exchange Server 2007: "800cccd1"

951747 An error occurs when you use the Export-mailbox or Restore-mailbox command to migrate certain mailboxes on Exchange Server 2007: "error code -1056749164"

Forefront Security for Exchange Server

958381 Description of support information for managing servers that are not in the same domain or forest by using the FSSMC

958383 Description of the Microsoft support policy for Forefront Security for Exchange Server installations that are running with Exchange Server on a third-party cluster service

958384 Information about the command-line option for installing Forefront Security for Exchange to an undiscovered drive

Rollup 4 for Exchange 2007 SP1 released

2008-10-07T20:27:00Z

Microsoft has released the following update rollup for Exchange Server 2007:

• Update Rollup 4 for Exchange Server 2007 SP1 (952580)

If you're running Exchange Server 2007 SP1, you need to apply Update Rollup 4 for Exchange 2007 SP1 to address the security issues listed below.

Remember, you only need to download the latest update for the version of Exchange that you're running. RTM updates can't be installed on SP1 and vice versa.

Rollup 4 for Exchange Server 2007 SP1 supersedes the following:

945684 Update Rollup 1 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1
948016 Update Rollup 2 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1
949870 Update Rollup 3 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1

Note: If you haven't installed Exchange 2007 yet, you can use the info at Quicker Exchange installs complete with service packs and rollups to save you some time.

Here is a list of the fixes included in rollup 4:

942649 Description of the commands that support the UseRusServer option that is imported in Update Rollup 4 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1
944831 You cannot configure Exchange Server 2007 so that the simple display name appears in outgoing messages
945854 A meeting reminder is still active when you configure Outlook to send no reminders to an Exchange Server 2007 user
945870 TAB symbols may be converted incorrectly to spaces in Exchange Server 2007
948896 Certificates that contain wildcard characters may not work correctly on an Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1-based server
948897 An attachment incorrectly appears as the body of the e-mail message in an Exchange Server 2007 environment
948923 Users do not receive information in DSN messages in Exchange Server 2007 with Service Pack 1
949512 An embedded message is removed from the attachment list on Exchange Server 2007 if the embedded message subject ends with .com, .exe, or any other blocked extension
949782 An In-Policy request that is forwarded to delegate appears as an Out-Of-Policy request if a user submits an In-Policy meeting request against a room mailbox of Exchange Server 2007
949858 The provisioning process is unsuccessful when you use Identity Lifecycle Manager (ILM) 2007 to provision user objects to an Exchange Server 2007 resource forest
949926 Error when you use an IMAP4 client or a POP3 client to log on to a delegate mailbox of Exchange Server 2007: "800cccd1"
950076 After you move a mailbox from Exchange Server 2003 to Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1, you cannot edit rules in Outlook Web Access
950081 Error message when users use an SMTP client to send e-mail messages in Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1: "454 4.7.0 Temporary authentication failure"
950138 You are prompted for your credentials three times and you receive an error message when you use the Outlook Anywhere feature to connect to an Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1–based server that is running Windows Server 2008
950198 You can enable AfterConversion snapshot for all messages if pipeline tracing and Content Conversion Tracing are enabled
950235 The IMAP4 or POP3 worker process may stop responding on an Exchange 2007 CAS role when you use an IMAP4 client or a POP3 client to connect the Exchange 2007 CAS role to your mailbox
950409 The reminder is triggered earlier than expected when an Exchange Server 2007 server receives an iCalendar meeting request message over an SMTP server
950622 Messages are converted to a very small font size in Outlook Web Access and in Outlook 2003 when you use Exchange Server 2007
950976 Event ID 115 may be logged intermittently on a computer that is running Exchange Server 2007 with Service Pack 1
951067 Event ID 7034 may be logged in the Application log in Exchange Server 2007 when an MAPI application tries to access a mailbox in a certain way
951156 The message body of appointments is garbled after you use a mobile device to synchronize appointments that were created in Outlook Web Access on Exchange 2007
951251 A MAPI application does not work correctly if Exchange 2007 is installed on a Windows Server 2008 server
951594 The W3svc log reports the incorrect number of attachments on an Exchange Server 2007 server that has deployed Exchange ActiveSync Service (EAS)
951747 An error occurs when you use the Export-mailbox or Restore-mailbox command to migrate certain mailboxes on Exchange Server 2007: "error code -1056749164"
951864 Some users must enter their credentials when they access rights-protected messages even though you have deployed the Rights Management Services (RMS) prelicensing agent on an Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1-based server
952152 The Autodiscover service for ActiveSync in an Exchange 2007 environment does not work for users in sites that do not have the ExternalURL property set
952250 You encounter a long delay for each mailbox when you run the "Move-Mailbox" or "Set-Mailbox" command on an Exchange Server 2007 computer
952682 Log file drives on the SCR target may eventually fill up and cause replication failure in Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1
952924 Error message when Exchange users try to access public folders that are hosted on Exchange Server 2003 by using Outlook Web Access for Exchange Server 2007: "Outlook Web Access is unable to open public folders"
953312 The "Open Message In Conflict" button is not available in the conflict notification message for Exchange Server 2007 users
954058 You can change the method for transfer encoding after you apply Update Rollup 5 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1
954205 Event ID 1113 is logged in the Application log on a Unified Messaging (UM) server when users contact the UM server by using secured connections
954237 The IMAP service crashes intermittently on Exchange 2007, and Event ID 5000 is logged
955208 Event ID 5000 occurs when the Exchange IMAP4 worker process crashes intermittently in Exchange Server 2007
956775 CopyItem and MoveItem Operations in Exchange Web Services can return the Item ID after you install Update Rollup 4 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1
957133 Description of improvements in functionality that occur in Exchange Web Services operations after you install Update Rollup 4 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1

Download the rollup here.

PowerShell script to set all AutoDiscover related virtual directories to use a single domain name

2008-10-02T02:43:00Z

I've updated the Set-AllVDirs.ps1 script that streamlines the process of setting the virtual directory paths for various web services including Offline Address Book, AutoDiscover, Unified Messaging, and Exchange Web Services. If you're using a single name certificate in place of a Subject Alternative Name certificate, this script walks you through the process of changing each of the URLs.

See the script at The Exchange 2007 Wiki page here.

Microsoft releases support statement for virtualizing Exchange

2008-08-19T19:10:00Z

True to their word of releasing their official support statement within 60 days of the RTM of Hyper-V, Microsoft released their official statement and a press release.

Microsoft says they'll support Exchange on virtualization platforms that have been validated through their Microsoft Server Virtualization Validation Program (SVVP). Shortly after this release, some noticed that the other big player, VMWare, was not in the program. But shortly after, Microsoft said VMware has now signed on to the SVVP program. Microsoft is certainly excited to add VMware to the program, recognizing the value this provides to Microsoft customers.

This announcement has been long awaited. Many companies have either gone ahead and virtualized Exchange (generally on VMWare), or held off while waiting for the statement from Microsoft.

I suspect now that we'll see a large transition to 2007, now that this barrier has been dealt with.

Cluster administration from PowerShell and the infamous back tick

2008-07-18T12:46:00Z

Of course we all know by now how powerful PowerShell is. "It slices, it dices, it makes julienne fries, whatever those are!" to quote Ron Popeil

One of the cool things with PowerShell is that you can call some external programs. While waiting for some hardware to arrive on a project, I was scripting the setup of a two node Single Copy Cluster (SCC) install of Exchange 2007. One thing you want to do with an Exchange SCC cluster in 2007 is assign dependencies for resources. Say you have a mailbox database called "First Storage Group/Mailbox Database", and it resides on the cluster resource called "Disk S:". Well, when the cluster starts up, it should wait for "Disk S:" to be online before trying to bring the "First Storage Group/Mailbox Database" resource online. It only makes sense, right?

Back to my project. So I'm able to script the creation of the storage groups using something like

New-StorageGroup SG1 -SystemFolderPath G:\SG1 -LogFolderPath K:\SG1

from there, I create a new database

New-MailboxDatabase -Name DB1 -StorageGroup SG1 -EdbFilePath G:\SG1

I set some configuration on the new database

get-mailbox | set-mailboxdatabase -DeletedItemRetention 14.00:00:00 -MailboxRetention 30.00:00:00 -IssueWarningQuota unlimited -ProhibitSendQuota unlimited -ProhibitSendReceiveQuota unlimited -PublicFolderDatabase "Second Storage Group\Public Folders" -RetainDeletedItemsUntilBackup:$true -MountAtStartup$true

Life is good. Now, I need to assign the cluster dependencies for the new database resource. But first, the database needs to be unmounted to assign the dependency. So, we precede the cluster command with

get-mailboxdatabase | dismount-database

Then we can do the dependencies. From a command prompt,

Cluster cluster1 res "SG1/DB1 (MbxCluster1)" /AddDep:"Disk S:"

would work beautifully. It would assign the "Disk S:" cluster resource as a dependency for the new database. But PowerShell wouldn't accept that syntax, telling me

"Too many command line parameters have been specified for this operation…"

Seems PowerShell doesn't like the special characters there, and they need to be escaped with a back tick (on an English keyboard, that's the key to the left of the "1"). After some noodling around, and the help of Ross and Scott, this seems to work:

Cluster cluster1 res ` "SG2`/DB3 `(MbxCluster1`) `" `/adddep: `"Disk S: `"

Not the cleanest of lines, but I'm able to keep everything within a single PowerShell script. Normally, I would have given up and just manually done the dependency configuration, except that this project will involve dozens of databases, and, like many engineers, I'm lazy. Plus, I should know this limitation for the future, as it streamlines the setup of the cluster.

We can now mount the databases with

get-mailboxdatabase | mount-database

I use those broad commands to essentially handle all of the databases, since the script sets them all up at the same time.

Note: I know, we should not have databases with no quota limits on them. But this is a GroupWise to Exchange 2007 migration. So I leave them unlimited till the migration is complete (to avoid migration problems), and then I'll clamp them down for safety.

As you can see, we can essentially setup all of the SGs and DBs, and assign the cluster config all from within PowerShell. If you're looking for a great book on PowerShell for Exchange 2007, check out Professional Windows PowerShell for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 @ Amazon.com. It's an easy read, but quite informative.

Aqadmcli syntax and help clarification

2008-07-14T17:25:00Z

Following up on a newsgroup post that piqued my curiosity, I found some tricky bits to the help text (the help text is included in full at the end) for the syntax of the nifty aqadmcli tool, which can be downloaded from
ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/pss/Tools/Exchange%20Support%20Tools/Aqadmcli/

One of the most common uses of the tool is to empty out a massively polluted queue. It's rather brute force, but when you've just been subjected to several hundred thousand messages due to an open relay (oops!) or due to spoofed spam/virus/worm bounces or due to a brute force attack creating massive NDRs from your postmaster, this is the tool. The command sequence is:

setserver
delmsg flags=all
quit

There are also situations that require a bit more selectivity. You might, for example, want to delete all the messages from a particular sender. The command for this is:

delmsg flags=SENDER,sender=foo@bar.com

The first trick here is that the specification for “flt“ is “token,token,...“, but the first token /must/ be the “flags“ token. After that, you can specify a list of the other tokens all comma separated. The second thing is that the flags token value stands alone from the next token=value pair. So, as above, you get “SENDER,sender“.

A more selective scenario might be to delete all messages from a particular user in a particular queue. The command for this is:

delmsg baz.com, flags=SENDER,sender=foo@bar.com

The trick here is that /if/ you specify a queue name, it /must/ be followed by a comma prior to the filter. This is noted in the help ([qn,qn,...,]), but that trailing comma gets a bit lost in the ellipsis.

Another way to accomplish the same thing is using the linkaction command:

linkaction ln=baz.com,la=MSGACTION,ma=DEL_S,flags=SENDER,sender=foo@bar.com

Not a huge trick here, but hopefully it helps to have a sample of a command line with all the parameters. Where the commas need to go and which elements are key=value pairs vs lists are the bits of syntax to pay attention to.

There's some functional duplication in aqadmcli too. The freezelink, meltlink and kicklink commands are shortcuts to things you can do with linkaction.

It's not clear from the help, but aqadmcli can take the command string from the command line in addition to taking it at the “>“ prompt in the interactive mode. For example the first task can be performed in a single step from the command line or from within a batch file or script with:

aqadmcli.exe “delmsg flags=SENDER,sender=foo@bar.com“

The ability to script the input and capture the output for further processing creates a very powerful tool. It is also possible to combine the Exchange WMI objects (Exchange 2003 WMI reference, Exchange 2000 WMI reference) for querying queue, link, and message information with aqadmcli for taking actions on those messages if you want a more structured dataset to work with rather than a dump of text to parse. With Exchange 2003 changes to WMI , some of the actions can be taken as well using, for example, the Exchange_QueuedSMTPMessage class.

This is far from an authoritative treatise on everything you can do with the aqadmcli tool, but hopefully having pointed out some of the inconsistencies in the syntax will help you. Perhaps next time I'll throw together a sample script.

Cheers,
Andy

aqadmcli.exe - Queue Admin Utility (version 5.0.2082.1)

Commands:
====================
setserver [sn] [,vs=VSnumber] - sets the server to administer. Default is
                                localhost,first virtual server
linkinfo [ln,ln,...]          - prints link information for specified links or
                                for all links (no arguments)
queueinfo [ln,ln,...]         - prints queue information for specified links
                                or for all links (no arguments)
msginfo [qn,qn,...,] eflt     - prints message information for specified
                                queues or for all queues (no 'qn' arguments)
delmsg [qn,qn,...,] flt       - deletes messages from specified queues or
                                from all queues (no 'qn' arguments)
msgaction mac, flt            - applies msg. action to specified messages
linkaction ln [,ln,...], lac - applies link action to specified links
[, mac, flt]                  if action is "MSGACTION", must specify mac
                               and flt
queueaction qn [,qn,...], qac - applies queue action to specified queues
[, mac, flt]                  if action is "MSGACTION", must specify mac
                                and flt
stopalllinks                  - stops all the links
startalllinks                 - starts all the links
checklinks                    - checks the global status of the links
freezelink ln [,ln,...]       - freezes the specified links
meltlink ln [,ln,...]         - un-freezes the specified links
kicklink ln [,ln,...]         - kicks (forces a connect) for the specified
                               links

useMTA                        - uses the MTA AQ administrator
useSMTP                       - uses the SMTP AQ administrator
?, help                       - this help
quit                          - exits the program
!cmd                          - executes shell command 'cmd'

where

ln = link name
qn = queue name
sn = server name
mac = "ma=" message action. Actions are:
      "DEL"|"DEL_S"|"FREEZE"|"THAW"|"COUNT"
lac = "la=" link action. Actions:
      "KICK"|"FREEZE"|"THAW"|"MSGACTION"
qac = "qa=" queue action. Actions:
      "MSGACTION"
eflt = "token,token,..." msg. enum. filter. Following tokens are suported:
"ft="
Flags are:
"FIRST_N"|"OLDER"|"OLDEST"|"LARGER"|"LARGEST"|"NOT"|"SENDER"|"RCPT"|"ALL"
  (filter type. Flags can be or'ed)
"mn=" (number of messages)
"ms=" (message size)
"md=" (message date mm/dd/yy hh:mm:ss:mil [UTC])
"sk=" (skip messages)
"msndr=" (message sender)
"mrcpt=" (message recipient)
flt = "token,token,..." msg. filter. Following tokens are suported:
"flags="
Flags are:
    "MSGID"|"SENDER"|"RCPT"|"SIZE"|"TIME"|"FROZEN"|"NOT"|"ALL"
(filter flags. Flags can be or'ed)
"id=" (message id as shown by msginfo)
"sender=" (the sender of the message)
"rcpt=" (the recipient of the message)
"size=" (the minimum message size)
"date=" (oldest message date mm/dd/yy hh:mm:ss:mil [UTC])

New rollups for Exchange 2007 released

2008-07-08T17:23:00Z

Microsoft has released the following update rollups for Exchange Server 2007:

• Update Rollup 3 for Exchange Server 2007 SP1 (KB 949870)

• Update Rollup 7 for Exchange Server 2007 RTM (KB 953469)

The above update rollups will also be released to Microsoft update, but there is no ETA at this time.

Fixes for security issue

A security issue has been identified in Exchange Server 2007 as documented in http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS08-039.mspx.

If you're running Exchange Server 2007 RTM, you need to apply Update Rollup 7 for Exchange 2007 RTM to address the security issue.

If you're running Exchange Server 2007 SP1, you need to apply Update Rollup 3 for Exchange 2007 SP1 to address the security issue.

Remember, you only need to download the latest update for the version of Exchange that you're running. RTM updates can't be installed on SP1 and vice versa.

Note: If you haven't installed Exchange 2007 yet, you can use the info at Quicker Exchange installs complete with service packs and rollups to save you some time.

Update: Here is a list of the fixes included in rollup 3:

937436 Error message when an Exchange 2007-based user sends a meeting request to a resource that is located in a Lotus Domino resource reservation database: "Error autoprocessing message"
941770 How to disable the "Sent by Microsoft Exchange Server 2007" branding sentence in an Exchange Server 2007 DSN message
945453 You cannot log on to Outlook Web Access in an Exchange Server 2007 environment, and you receive an error message: "HTTP Error 403.4"
947573 It takes a long time for the Exchange Management Console to load in an Exchange Server 2007 organization that was deployed in a multiple-domain environment
949206 The e-mail address of a contact does not appear in the Outlook Address Book after you use Exchange Web Services to edit the contact in Exchange Server 2007 with Service Pack 1
949549 Error message when you import a .pst file by running the Import-Mailbox cmdlet in Exchange Server 2007: "Unable to make connection to the server"
949778 The icons that represent TIFF attachments may not be shown correctly if the e-mail message is viewed by using Outlook Web Access 2007 in an Exchange Server 2007 environment
950153 A storage group may not mount after you move the resources from the active node to the passive node while the backup is in progress in Exchange Server 2007
950674 Web services sends meeting request information that has an incorrect time if a delegate modifies an appointment in an Exchange Server 2007 environment
951263 The heading of the "State" column is translated incorrectly in the German version of the Exchange Management Console in Exchange Server 2007
951293 Error message when you enter logon credentials after an Outlook Web Access session times out in Exchange Server 2007: "Server Error in '/ExchWeb/bin' Application"
953539 The W3wp.exe process may intermittently stop responding, and event ID 1000 is logged in Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1
950120 You cannot control the behavior of attachments on mobile devices by using the ActiveSync policy in Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1
951094 You cannot run the New-X400AuthoritativeDomain cmdlet successfully in an Exchange Server 2007 environment if an X.400 address contains a space character
953747 MS08-039: Vulnerabilities in Outlook Web Access for Exchange Server could allow elevation of privilege
950930 You cannot resolve a sender name or a recipient name when the name belongs to an alternative domain tree in Exchange Server 2007
950758 OVA announces "Unrecognized caller" in an Exchange Server 2007 environment even though Outlook and Outlook Web Access correctly resolve the caller address
951563 External e-mail message senders receive an NDR when you select the Turkish language setting on a computer that is running Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1

Also, several people have had problems installing rollup 3. Make sure when you install it, you use an account with appropriate rights. It's a good idea to use the account used when Exchange was installed. In some instances, if the account you're using doesn't have sufficient rights, the rollup might still say it installed completely, and the logs may even verify this. But it might not be the case. updateowa.ps1 needs local admin rights and at least the rights to read the AD down to the Exchange Object level. servicecontrol.ps1 needs to query the AD to discover the roles installed on the server. Reinstalling this rollup with the correct account generally resolved the problem. Thanks to Scott Schnoll for notifying us of this.

Quicker, easier Exchange installs, complete with service packs and rollups!

2008-07-04T00:00:00Z

One of the very slick features built into the setup routines of Exchange Server 2007 is the ability to install Exchange with service packs and rollups already applied. Microsoft has previously provided this feature in operating system installations via it's slipstreaming process, but the Exchange 2007 method is even easier.

The Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 download is a full install, so you can install Exchange directly from that download, instead of having to install Exchange first, then the service pack. This alone will save you some time. But we can shorten this up further by incorporating the latest Rollup package into the install as well.

When you look at the file structure of an Exchange 2007 RTM DVD, you see something like:

\Forefront
\Scripts
\Setup
\UM
\Updates
autorun.inf
EXCHANGESERVER.msi
relnotes.htm
Setup.com
Setup.EXE

But when you download the SP1 file and expand it, you'll notice that the \UM and \Forefront folders don't exist. That's because those components are not part of the SP1 download. The SP1 Unified Messaging language packs are available as a separate download. Due to their size, I can certainly understand why Microsoft provides them as separate downloads. You can also download an updated version of Forefront including the latest service pack via a separate download. The rest of the file is a full, complete set of Exchange installation
files.

The clue here is the \Updates folder. The latest rollup, which, as of this time is Service Pack 1 Rollup 2, can be installed at the same time by placing the rollup .msp file in the \Updates folder of your installation point. By doing that, the setup routine will automatically apply the rollup as it installs Exchange.

If you're doing unattended installations, you can also specify the directory containing updates using the /UpdatesDir switch. For more information on unattended installs, see How to Install Exchange 2007 in Unattended Mode

If you do a lot of Exchange installs, you might want to put together a full DVD by downloading the SP1 file, the rollup file, Forefront, and the UM language packs and tossing them onto a DVD or thumbdrive, recreating the original folder structure. An interesting note in that the Exchange autoplay program checks for the existence of the Forefront folder to determine if the install option should be displayed on the menu.

I also include the 32bit SP1 download so I can install the management tools on workstations, as well as the 32 and 64 bit versions of the prerequisites, .Net Framework 2.0 Service Pack 1 (32 bit)(64 bit), Management Console 3.0 (32 bit), and PowerShell. This gives me a full set of everything needed to install Exchange server, right on a thumbdrive, without having to resort to lengthy downloads.

As we can see, we don't need to sit and watch the blue bars go by as we wait for files to download. We can speed up the time it takes to deploy Exchange.