Tag: Exchange 2010

Exchange & Patching!!!

Microsoft recommends adopting a software update strategy that ensures all software follows N to N-1 policy, where N is a service pack, update rollup, cumulative update, maintenance release, or whatever terminology is used by the software vendor. Microsoft strongly recommend that our customers also adopt a similar strategy with respect to hardware firmware and drivers ensuring that network cards, BIOS, and storage controllers/interfaces are kept up to date.

Software patching is not simply an issue for Microsoft software. You must also ensure that all inter-dependent solutions (e.g., Blackberry Enterprise Server, backup software, etc.) are kept up-to-date for a specific release as this ensures optimal reliability and compatibility.

Customers must also follow the software vendor’s Software Lifecycle and appropriately plan on upgrading to a supported version in the event that support for a specific version is about to expire or is already out of support.

For Exchange 2010, this means having all servers deployed with Service Pack 3 and either Rollup 7 or Rollup 8 (at the time of this writing). For Exchange 2013, this means having all servers deployed with Cumulative Update 6 or Cumulative Update 7 (at the time of this writing).

For environments that have a hybrid configuration with Office 365, the servers participating in the hybrid configuration must be running the latest version (e.g., Exchange 2010 SP3 RU8 or Exchange 2013 CU7) or the prior version (e.g., Exchange 2010 SP3 RU7 or Exchange 2013 CU6) in order to maintain and ensure compatibility with Office 365. There are some required dependencies for hybrid deployments, so it’s even more critical you keep your software up to date if you choose to go hybrid.

Updated: Update Rollup 8 v2 For Exchange 2010 SP3 (KB2986475) Released

An issue has been identified in the Exchange Server 2010 SP3 Update Rollup 8. The update has been recalled and is no longer available on the download center pending a new RU8 release. Customers should not proceed with deployments of this update until the new RU8 version is made available. Customers who have already started deployment of RU8 should rollback this update.

The issue impacts the ability of Outlook to connect to Exchange, thus we are taking the action to recall the RU8 to resolve this problem. We will deliver a revised RU8 package as soon as the issue can be isolated, corrected, and validated. We will publish further updates to this blog post regarding RU8.

This issue only impacts the Exchange Server 2010 SP3 RU8 update, the other updates remain valid and customers can continue with deployment of these packages.

Check: http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2014/12/09/exchange-releases-december-2014.aspx

Updated: Update Rollup 8 v2 For Exchange 2010 SP3 (KB2986475) has been released

Security update available for Exchange 2007, 2010 and 2013

Microsoft has released a fix for Outlook Web App in all supported versions of Exchange.
In all cases, it comes to security issues that have been designated as Important.

Four security updates are also those offered by Microsoft Update, but here are the manually download links:

Rollup 15 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 3
Rollup 8 for Exchange 2010 SP3
Security Update For Exchange Server 2013 SP1 (KB3011140)
Security Update For Exchange Server 2013 CU6 (KB3011140)
Cumulative Update 7 for Exchange Server 2013 (Provided not with Windows Update)

Versions that are not listed here are no longer supported or are not vulnerable. For more information read the security bulletin MS14-075: Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange Server Could Allow Elevation of Privilege (3,009,712)

Cumulative Update 7 for Exchange Server 2013

Today, Cumulative Update 7 for Exchange Server 2013 was released by the Exchange Team (KB2986485). This update raises Exchange 2013 version number to 15.0.1044.22.

Note: Customers that run backups of their Exchange databases are advised to upgrade to CU7 and perform a post-upgrade full backup. This is due to a race condition which could prevent proper restoration of pre-CU7 Exchange databases.

Notes:

  • When using Exchange hybrid deployments or Exchange Online Archiving (EOA), you are required to stay current.
  • CU7 adds support for hierarchies containing 250,000 modern public folders. Consult this article for co-existence scenarios.
  • Be advised of OAB architectural changes introduced with CU5 which are documented here. If you are affected, it is recommended to update CAS servers prior to Mailbox servers.
  • If you have installed the Interim Update to fix Hybrid Configuration Wizard, you can install the Cumulative Update over it – there is no need to uninstall the IU prior to installing CU6.

This Cumulative Update includes schema and AD changes, so make sure you run PrepareSchema / PrepareAD. After updating, the schema version will be 15965.

Note that Cumulative Updates can be installed directly, i.e. no need to install RTM or Service Packs prior to installing Cumulative Updates. Note that once installed, you can’t uninstall a Cumulative Update nor any of the installed Exchange server roles. The order of upgrading servers is irrelevant, unlike with previous generations of Exchange.

Finally, for any Hotfix, Rollup, Service Pack or Cumulative Update, I’d recommend to thoroughly test this in a test and acceptance environment first, prior to implementing it in production.

You can download Exchange 2013 Cumulative Update 7 here; UM Language Packs can be found here.

This update resolves security issues that are described in December 2014 security update for Exchange Server 2013 Service Pack 1 and Cumulative Update 6.
Additionally, this update also resolves the issues that are described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) articles:

  • 3004235 Exchange Server meetings in Russian time zones as well as names of time zones are incorrect after October 26, 2014

  • 3012655 New-MailboxImportRequest causes unreadable characters when you import an ANSI format .pst file of Russian language

  • 3012652 CalendarProcessing cmdlet does not generate delegate permissions to universal security groups in Exchange Server 2013

  • 3009631 Advanced Find against the Sent Items folder in Outlook returns no result in Exchange Server 2013

  • 3009612 Outlook Web App shows organization details on the contact card beyond the scope of user ABP in Exchange Server 2013

  • 3009291 Shared mailbox cannot be opened in Outlook in an Exchange Server 2013 environment that has multiple domains

  • 3008453 Cannot edit or delete forms from the organizational forms library in Exchange Server 2013

  • 3008438 User who is trying to Log on to Exchange Admin Console is logged in to OWA instead

  • 3006672 Move request fails if the IsExcludedFromProvisioning option is true in Exchange Server 2013

  • 3005391 Exchange Server 2013 Cumulative Update 5 breaks free|busy lookup from Exchange Online to Exchange Server 2007

  • 3003986 RejectMessageReasonText in transport rule appears in the user section of a DSN in Exchange Server 2013

  • 3001217 TLS 1.0 is hardcoded for SMTP traffic encryption in Exchange Server 2013

  • 3001037 Distribution group cannot send email messages to a mail enabled public folder in an Exchange Server 2013 environment

  • 2999031 A cross-forest mailbox move from Exchange Server 2007 to Exchange Server 2013 finishes with CompletedWithWarnings status

  • 2998144 New-MoveRequest cmdlet with RemoteLegacy parameter cannot perform a cross-forest mailbox move

  • 2988553 Add-ADPermission and Remove-ADPermission can be run outside the management scope in Exchange Server 2013

  • 2981538 Exchange Control Panel crashes when you proxy from Exchange 2013 to Exchange 2010

  • 3014051 Cannot migrate mailboxes in a multiple domains environment in Exchange Server 2013

  • 3012986 ContentIndexRetryQueueSize value for a passive node never drops to zero in Exchange Server 2013 Cumulative Update 6

  • 3004011 Sound alerts do not work in Outlook Web App when new email or calendar notification is received in Exchange Server 2013

  • 3003580 Event ID 4999 and 4401 when the Microsoft Exchange Replication service crashes in Exchange Server 2013

  • 3003518 “550 5.7.1” NDR when you send messages to external recipients in an Exchange Server 2013 hybrid environment

  • 3003068 Cannot see online archive mailbox after you upgrade to Exchange Server 2013 Cumulative Update 6

  • 3000944 Subfolders under the Deleted Items folder are not visible in Outlook in an Exchange Server 2013 environment

  • 2997847 You cannot route ActiveSync traffic to Exchange 2007 mailboxes after you upgrade to Exchange 2013 CU6

  • 2997355 Exchange Online mailboxes cannot be managed by using EAC after you deploy Exchange Server 2013 CU6

  • 2997209 Exchange Server 2013 databases unexpectedly fail over in a co-existence environment with Exchange Server 2007

  • 2995263 OAB cannot be rebuilt if the .flt file is larger than two GB in Exchange Server 2013

  • 2994216 PublicFolderMoveRequest deletes all read or unread state in target mailbox for each user in Exchange Server 2013

  • 2993871 Resource Booking Assistant crashes after you upgrade to Exchange Server 2013 Cumulative Update 5

  • 2983216 Category setting on an item in Outlook jumps the selection to the top of the list in an Exchange Server 2013 environment

  • 2931223 MAPI virtual directory is missing from Default Web Site node

Rollup 8 v2 for Exchange Server 2010 SP3

Exchange Team released Rollup 8 for Exchange Server 2010 SP3

Update Rollup 8 for Exchange Server 2010 SP3 resolves security issues that are described in December 2014 security update for Exchange Server 2007 and Exchange Server 2010.
Additionally, this update resolves the issues that are described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) articles:

  • 3004235 Exchange Server meetings in Russian time zones as well as names of time zones are incorrect after October 26, 2014

  • 3009132 Hybrid mailbox moves to on-premises environment but finishes with CompletedWithWarnings status

  • 3008999 IRM restrictions are applied to incorrectly formatted .docx, .pptx, or .xlsx files in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

  • 3008370 Group members are not sorted by display name when HAB is used with OAB in Exchange Server 2010

  • 3008308 Public folder database migration issue in a mixed Exchange Server environment

  • 3007794 Hub Transport server cannot deliver messages when a database fails over to a cross-site DAG in Exchange Server 2010

  • 3004521 An Exchange server loses its connection to domain controllers if a public folder server is down in Exchange Server 2010

  • 2999016 Unreadable characters when you import ANSI .pst files of Russian language by using the New-MailboxImportRequest cmdlet

  • 2995148 Changing distribution group takes a long time in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

  • 2992692 Retention policy is not applied to Information Rights Management protected voice mail messages in Exchange Server 2010

  • 2987982 Issues caused by ANSI mode in Exchange Server 2010

  • 2987104 Email message is sent by using the “Send As” instead of “Send on Behalf” permission in Exchange Server 2010

  • 2982017 Incorrect voice mail message duration in Exchange Server 2013 and Exchange Server 2010

  • 2977279 You cannot disable journaling for protected voice mail in Exchange Server 2013 and Exchange Server 2010

Download: Rollup 8 v2 for Exchange Server 2010 SP3 (KB2986475)

Block iOS devices with Block-IOS-Devices.ps1 Script

Microsoft keeps a list of problems: Current issues with Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and third-party devices

After some problems at a customer i looked deeper at these problems.
Most problems come’s with iOS devices (iPhone and iPad)

Sow I made a list of al iOS versions (6,7 and 8) and there problems.

To keep this simple i created a powershell script: Block-IOS-Devices.ps1 or you can download it from the Technet Script Libary: Block iOS devices with Block-IOS-Devices.ps1 Script

image

Rapid growth in transaction logs, CPU use, and memory consumption in Exchange Server 2010, Exchange 2013 and Office 365 when a user syncs a mailbox by using an iOS 6.1-based or iOS 6.1.1-based device

Yesterday i was at customer who had problem dat transaction logs Rapid growl.
It was on a Exchange 2013 Server with CU5.

For Exchange 2010 there was released a KB http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2814847

This is still a issue for Exchange 2010, Exchange 2013 and Office 365.

Microsoft has al ready blocked IOS 6.1 – 6.1.1 devices at Office 365.

Server was OK…. But When i run Get-EASDeviceReport.ps1 i saw some IOS 6.1 devices. Sow we going to block this IOS versions.

Powershell:
New-ActiveSyncDeviceAccessRule -querystring “iOS 6.1 10B141” -characteristic DeviceOS -accesslevel block
New-ActiveSyncDeviceAccessRule -querystring “iOS 6.1 10B142” -characteristic DeviceOS -accesslevel block
New-ActiveSyncDeviceAccessRule -querystring “iOS 6.1 10B143” -characteristic DeviceOS -accesslevel block
New-ActiveSyncDeviceAccessRule -querystring “iOS 6.1 10B144” -characteristic DeviceOS -accesslevel block
New-ActiveSyncDeviceAccessRule -querystring “iOS 6.1.1 10B145” -characteristic DeviceOS -accesslevel block

Exchange 2010 SP3 Rollup 7

The Exchange Team released Rollup 7 for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 3 (KB2961522). This update raises Exchange 2010 version number to 14.3.210.2.

Fixes:

  • 2983261 “HTTP 400 – Bad Request” error when you open a shared mailbox in Outlook Web App in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2982873 Outlook Web App logon times out in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2980300 Event 4999 is logged when the World Wide Web publishing service crashes after you install Exchange Server 2010 SP3
  • 2979253 Email messages that contain invalid control characters cannot be retrieved by an EWS-based application
  • 2978645 S/MIME option disappears when you use Outlook Web App in Internet Explorer 11 in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2977410 Email attachments are not visible in Outlook or other MAPI clients in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2976887 eDiscovery search fails if an on-premises Exchange Server 2010 mailbox has an Exchange Online archive mailbox
  • 2976322 Assistant stops processing new requests when Events in Queue value exceeds 500 in Exchange Server 2010
  • 2975988 S/MIME certificates with EKU Any Purpose (2.5.29.37.0) are not included in OAB in Exchange Server 2010
  • 2966923 Domain controller is overloaded after you change Active Directory configurations in Exchange Server 2010

Download Exchange 2010 SP3 Rollup 7 here.

Manage Exchange 2010 Database Log Growth by Using the Troubleshoot-DatabaseSpace.ps1 Script in the Shell

The Troubleshoot-DatabaseSpace.ps1 script is used by Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 to detect and correct any excess log growth or Microsoft Exchange database (.edb) file growth that, if unchecked, may cause database downtime. By default, System Center Operations Manager 2007 runs the script every 15 minutes. However, you can use Task Scheduler to configure and run this script to monitor database log and file growth.

The Troubleshoot-DatabaseSpace.ps1 script performs the following actions:

  1. Keeps track of log generation rate for the highest log generators per database. This helps determine which users are logging too heavily and potentially causing space issues.
  2. Keeps track of the available disk space for both the database and the log files. If either of these is within a configurable threshold of being full, further action must be taken.
  3. Keeps track of the log generation rate. If it appears that the disk is going to run out of space within the value specified by the HourThreshold parameter (based on the log generation rate), further action must be taken.

    noteNote:

    To avoid critical issues, make sure the value for the HourThreshold parameter is large enough to give you time to react during normal business hours while enough free space is available. If drives are filling up faster than the value specified, immediate action must be taken to protect the disk.

  4. If all of the preceding conditions are fulfilled, the script determines the list of top 25 users who accessed the database during the last one-hour period. The script then quarantines the top high-usage mailboxes for which the sum of the log generation rate is greater than the difference between the current generation rate and the sustainable generation rate that would allow tiding over the configurable time threshold. These users are quarantined for six hours, during which they won’t have access to e-mail.
  5. If the troubleshooter is unsuccessful at dropping the log generation rate to below the threshold level, it will write out events that translate into health model alerts. At this point, the script removes the database from provisioning by running the Set-MailboxDatabase cmdlet with the ExcludeFromProvisioning parameter set to $true against the specified database. You may need to move mailboxes to a new server to rebalance space.
  6. If the troubleshooter quarantines more than 10 users, this indicates a systemic issue, which you need to follow up on. The health model will trigger an urgent alert from this condition.

The default settings used in the Troubleshoot-DatabaseSpace.ps1 script are defined in the StoreTSConstants.ps1 script.

Command: .\Troubleshoot-databasespace.ps1 -server MBX01 -PercentLogFreeSpace 10 -PercentEDBFreeSpace 10 -HourThreshold 5 -Quarantine

Taskscheduler: powershell.exe -PSConsoleFile “C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14\bin\exshell.psc1” -command “. ‘C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14\Scripts\Troubleshoot-databasespace.ps1’ –server EX01 -PercentLogFreeSpace 10 -PercentEDBFreeSpace 10 -HourThreshold 1 -Quarantine”

Exchange Tools

Here I’ll share some free tools that can help simplify Microsoft Exchange deployment, troubleshooting, and administration. Some of the tools are simple—but still convenient—whereas others provide some powerful functionality.

There are some tools you can use during deployment to ease the process and reduce issues in the future, tools you can use for troubleshooting to reduce down-times, and tools you can use during day-to-day administration to monitor server health and perform tasks.

Microsoft Exchange Server Deployment Assistant

Microsoft’s Exchange Server Deployment Assistant is an online tool that produces a custom step-by-step checklist you can utilize during a server installation or upgrade. It first asks you questions about your current and desired deployment environment, such as the deployment type (on-premise, cloud, or hybrid), migration questions, desired features/functionality, and other miscellaneous caveats that impact the installation or upgrade.

Microsoft Remote Connectivity Analyzer

Microsoft’s Remote Connectivity Analyzer is a website with many tools to help test and troubleshoot connectively of Exchange servers, Outlook, Lync, OCS, Office 365, and POP, IMAP, and STMP email. Plus it offers downloadable Connectivity Analyzer Tools for local testing and a message header analyzer.

PFDAVAdmin and ExFolders
These are tools that enable you to perform tasks on Exchange public folders and mailboxes, such as checking or changing permissions. It can also connect to mailboxes, check the contents, and generate reports. PFDAVAdmin is for Exchange 2000, 2003, and 2007 and ExFolders is the updated version for Exchange 2007 and 2010 SP1 and later.

Jetstress

The Jetstress tool simulates disk I/O load on your server, allowing you to specify the amount of simulated Exchange users and profiles. This can help you verify the performance and stability of your server before installing Exchange and putting it into production-use.

Exchange Server Role Requirements Calculators

These are calculator tools that give sizing recommendations for your particular Exchange server roles for both client access and mailbox. The 2010 version is focused on mailbox calculations while the 2013 version includes recommendations on sizing Client Access servers too.

Exchange Environment Report

This Exchange Environment Report tool is from Steve Goodman and is a PowerShell script that generates an automatic overview of your Exchange environment. It supports Exchange 2003, 2007, 2010 and 2013 servers and database availability groups. It reports the number of and details about the servers, mailboxes, roles, and versions. It also gives you useful status on the Database Availability Groups (DAG) and non-DAG databases.

Exchange Reports

Exchange Reports offers reports on overall information about your Exchange Environment, supporting Exchange 2010 & Exchange 2013. You can keep an eye on configuration changes and status with Group Reports, Single Group Information, Mailbox Report, Single Mailbox Information, Message Tracking, and Environment Report.

The program doesn’t require any installation, but requires .Net 4.0, Powershell 2.0, and Remote Powershell access to the Exchange Server. Reports can be saved in history and also exported to Excel.

Microsoft Exchange Server MAPI Editor (MFCMAPI)

Microsoft’s Microsoft Exchange Server MAPI Editor (MFCMAPI) tool provides access to MAPI stores, useful when troubleshooting Exchange and Outlook issues, which can serve as a replacement to the old Microsoft Exchange Server Information Store Viewer. You can open and navigate through the message stores that are exposed through MAPI.

Free Exchange Monitor

The Free Exchange Monitor from SolarWinds supports Microsoft Exchange Server 2000 and 2003. It keeps tabs on the Exchange server stats, services, mail queue sizes, and host server health. In addition to notifying you of outages it can be useful in troubleshooting Exchange server problems and even help with pro-active monitoring, for instance detecting growing mail queues that can indicate bigger issues like transport failures, Internet connection failures, and virus activity.

Free Exchange Monitoring

This is another monitoring application, but from ManageEngine and supports Exchange Server 2003, 2007, 2010, and 2013. It gives stats on server health and Exchange services. It also provides details on the client access server, transport, Active Sync counters, and delivery aspects. You can generate real-time performance reports to be downloaded or emailed in PDF format.

Exclaimer Outlook Photos

Exclaimer Outlook Photos can help you import staff photos into the Active Directory so they’ll show up in the Outlook People Pane, SharePoint profile, and on Microsoft Lync. It can auto-match pictures from a batch to names or other data in Active Directory, and even automatically crop and center the photos as well.

Certificate Manager for Exchange 2007

Exchange 2007 enables SSL within IIS by default, but creating and managing SSL certificates via PowerShell commands can be confusing. However, the Certificate Manager for Exchange 2007 from U-BTech eases the process with a GUI.

You can generate an Exchange 2007 Certificate Signing Request and process the Certificate Authority and enable certificates for Exchange 2007 Services (POP, IMAP, SMTP, IIS, UM). Plus you can include additional subject names in a single certificate. It supports import and exporting as well.

Exchange PST Capture

Exchange PST Capture from Microsoft will search your network for PST files and then import those files to mailboxes in your organization. It supports both on-premises Exchange Server 2010 and 2013 and Exchange Online. This tool can help, for instance, during the initial deployment of an Exchange Server, to move local Outlook data files into the Exchange Server.

LINK

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