Setup AutoDiscover DNS Record

 
By Joseph Piggee Sr.
Create the AutoDiscover DNS Record

1. Open the DNS Manager.
2. Expand Forward Lookup Zones then expand domain.com
3. Now right-click domain.com then select New Host(A).
4. Type autodiscover and the IP Address of theExchange 2010 server, then click Add.
5. Click OK to close the dialog box then click Done.
6. Close the DNS Manager. 

ActiveSync users cannot synchronize an EAS device for the first time in an Exchange Server 2010 or Exchange Server 2013 environment

By Joseph Piggee Sr.
You can work around this , just assign the Exchange Servers group the right to change permissions against msExchActiveSyncDevices objects.
To do this, follow these steps:
1. Start Active Directory Users and Computers.
2. Click View, and then click to enable Advanced Features.
3. Right-click the object where you want to change the Exchange Server permissions, and then click Properties.
4. On the Security tab, click Advanced.
5. Click Add, type Exchange Servers, and then click OK.
6. In the Apply to box, click Descendant msExchActiveSyncDevices objects.
7. Under Permissions, click to enable Modify Permissions.
8. Click OK three times.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2579075

The operation couldn’t be completed because a change occurred in the remote forest

 

By Joseph Piggee Sr.

Many tech ask me about this problem, and whenever I go into a new environment I get the error myself, so I decided to put this little reminder out. If you run into an error when opening the Exchange Management Console (EMC initialization failed and “the operation couldn’t be completed because a change occurred in the remote forest”.

You may also find that while EMC does not work, you are able to launch the Exchange Management Shell (EMS) without any issues.

This may occur when the server you are connecting to has been updated with a Service Pack or Roll Up Update (RU).

Now, there is a possibility that this error may not always indicate a version mismatch between the tools on the client and the RU level of the server, so how can you confirm this is actually the issue? As shown in this Exchange Team blog post, you can confirm the versions do not match by running the following command on both the client and the server from the shell:

Get-Command EXSetup | %{$_.FileVersionInfo}

Here’s the result from the above command on a Windows 7 box running the Exchange 2010 SP1 Management Tools:

This command is checking the file version information for the local instance of ExSetup.exe on both the client and the server installed by default in C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14\bin\

.

Once you get the version numbers you can compare it, using the the following link:

Exchange Server and Update Rollups Builds Numbers

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/exchange-server-and-update-rollups-builds-numbers.aspx

After confirming the version numbers, you know that you’ll need to update the tools on my client machine and install RU2 or other related Roll-up to resolve the issue. At the time of this posting the current Rollup is 8.

Incoming Mail Flow Stops

By Joe Piggee Sr.

Event Source: MSExchangeTransport

Event Category: Resource Manager

Event ID: 15007

Description: The Microsoft Exchange Transport service is rejecting message submissions because the service continues to consume more memory than the configured threshold. This may require that this service be restarted to continue normal operation.

Event Source: MSExchangeTransport

Event Category: Resource Manager

Event ID: 15004

Description:

Resource pressure increased from Previous Utilization Level to Current Utilization Level.

• Quick fix is to just restart your Transport service.
• Long term fix is to either disable Transport from monitoring or what I'd recommend is to give the Exchange server the necessary resources, and adjust the settings accordingly.

To Disable the Transport from Monitoring :
Modify the edgetransport.exe.config file using notepad. This can be found in c:\program files\microsoft\exchange server\v14\bin. Change the “EnableResourceMonitoring” from “True” to “False”, save and close the file, then restart the Microsoft Exchange Transport Service.

Forefront VirusBuster Retired

By Joe Piggee Sr.

10/09/2012

 

Microsoft announced that is retiring one of the engines that are used in Forefront Protection. Forefront Security for Exchange 2010 is generating event log entries:

 

EventID 2109  

Source : GetEngineFiles

Details:  

TheVBuster scan engine is no longer supported. Updates are no longer available for this engine, and therefore the update check for this engine has been disabled. Please review the scan engines chosen for your scan jobs and make another selection to ensure up-to-date protection.

 

You can disable this engine by following the instructions on Microsoft's Site @  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2758276

1. Open Forefront Console
2. Click Policy Management
3. Global Settings
4. Select Advanced Options
5. Scroll down to Engine Management
6. Change management to Manual
7. Select VirusBuster AntiVirus Scan Engine, change the Transport to Disabled
8. Click Save

Determine Domain Functional Level

 

By Joseph Piggee

Here are some simple steps to determine the Functional Level of your Windows Domain/Forest:

1. Open up the Active Directory Domains and Trusts MMC found in your Administrative Tools folder. (Also found in the Control Panel or in the Start Menu).
2. To check the domain functional level, right click on the current domain and select Properties, this will show you the current Domain and Forest Functional Level.

ESX-to-ESXi Migration Tool The ESX System Analyzer

 

If you plan your migration from ESX to ESXi, learn about the ESX System Analyzer, a tool from VMware that helps you gather information about your ESX environment. 

What wil the tool do for you?:

• Evaluates the hardware that ESX is installed on and determines if it is compatible with ESXi.
• Spots dependencies or modifications made to the Service Console.
• Analyzes VM datastore locations.

It analyzes your Virtual Machine, and gives you:

• VMware Tools version
• Virtual machine Virtual Hardware version.

You can download it from VMWare here.

Error: 530 5.7.1 Client Was Not Authenticated

By Joseph Piggee Sr.

 

The is a common error Admins get, especially after a new install. After Server 2003, Microsoft has decided it will now secure everything by default. Thus the email server requires authentication.

The easiest way to handle this is to open your EMC (Exchange Management Console) and follow these steps.

1. Click Server Configuration.
2. Hub Transport.
3. Select the Default Receive Connector in the bottom pane.
4. Click the Permission Groups Tab
5. Place a checkmark next to ‘Anonymous users’
6. Click OK. You’re all set

Unable to Mount Database

By Joseph Piggee Sr.
Symptom:
MapiExceptionCallFailed: Unable to mount database
First check the status of your database and if necessary do a soft recovery using eseutil:
1. Open your EMS
2. Type eseutil /mh "C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14\Mailbox\Mailbox Database\[b]Mailbox Database.edb[/b]" (Change the edb to the name of your database)
3. Look for State: Dirty Shutdown
If you do have State: Dirty Shutdown
1. You will need to repair the database by typing the following command:
eseutil /p "C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14\Mailbox\Mailbox Database\Mailbox Database.edb" (Change Mailbox Database.edb to the name of your database)
2. Re-run the database check:
Type eseutil /mh "C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14\Mailbox\Mailbox Database\Mailbox Database.edb"
3. Check for State: Clean Shutdown
4. If clean, try to mount your database, and you should be good.

Another way to fix:

Check and Repair the database
1. Check the database:
eseutil /mh "C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14\Mailbox\Mailbox Database\Mailbox Database.edb"
Look for the following in the output: State: Dirty Shutdown
1.a Since the database has not been properly shut down, it needs to be repaired.
Make sure you make a backup of the database before attemting any kind of repairs
To repair, run the following:
eseutil /p "C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14\Mailbox\Mailbox Database\Mailbox Database.edb"
1.b Re-run the database check from 1.a and if all goes well, you should see this somewhere in the output: State: Clean Shutdown

You can try mounting the database. If it mounts, you are good to go, if it doesn't you have to check the logs:
Check and Repair the database logs
2. Check the exchange logs (don't forget to specify E00 - the starting sequence for the logs)
eseutil /ml "C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14\Mailbox\Mailbox Database\E00"
2.a There will be a list of logs and depending on their state, you may get an error. (They should all say OK, if the logs are clean) Errors vary, but most likely it is a file corruption and needs a chkdsk to run.
As a sidenote, if the database state is Clean Shutdown you can safely remove the logs.

How to Force Synchronization with the Edge Transport Server

 

Symptoms:

Mailbox can receive internal email, but not external.

*Note: Make sure to remove the check from "Require that all senders are authenticated"

Sounds like your changes for this DL hasn't replicated to your Edgetransport server yet.
Complete the following steps.

Description:
The synchronization is initiated from the Hub Transport server Joleyhubtransport01.
Edge Transport servers will be synchronized.
Only the changes since the last replication will be synchronized.
You can't use the EMC to force EdgeSync, so you'll need to use EMS instead.

1. Click Start-> All Programs->Microsoft Exchange Server 2010->Exchange Management Shell
2. At the prompt, type the following:
3. Start-EdgeSynchronization -Server "Your Hubtransport Server"
4. Press enter.

How to Mount Mailbox Database

By Joseph Piggee Sr.

1. In the console tree, expand Server Configuration, and then click Mailbox.

2. In the result pane, select the server on which the database is located.

3. In the work pane, select the mailbox or public folder database that you want to mount.

4. In the action pane, click Mount Database.

5. Verify that the status indicated in the Status column has changed from Dismounted to Mounted.

Unable to Install Exchange 2007 Admin Tools

By Joseph Piggee Sr.

When attempting to install Exchange 2007 Admin tools on Windows 7 a common error is encountered, that points to Admin Tools.

Error msg:

The following error was generated when "$error.Clear();
if($RoleInstallWindowsComponents){# Install any Windows Roles or Features required for the Management Tools role Install-WindowsComponent -shortNameForRole "AdminTools" -ADToolsNeeded $RoleADToolsNeeded}" was run: "The system cannot find the file specified".

1. Open Control Panel, and then select Programs.
2. Click Turn Windows features on or off.
3. Select Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5.1.
4. Navigate to Internet Information Services > Web Management Tools > IIS 6 Management Compatibility.
5. Select the check box for IIS 6 Management Console, and then click OK.
6. Restart you PC
7. Install Exchange admin tools

Your Mailbox Appears to be unavailable. Try to access it again in 10 seconds.

 

This is a VERY common error, due to various reasons. Bottom-line, either your database isn't mounted or you have a service issue.

By Joe Piggee Sr.

1. Open services applet, by click start-> run.

2. Type Services.msc

3. Scroll down to Microsoft Exchange Information Store"

4. If it is started, restart it. If is isn't started, Right click and select start.

5. Take a look at the other related Exchange services. All that are configured to start automatically, make sure they are all, started.

Disable IPv6

 

By Joseph Piggee Sr.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929852

IPv6 can be disabled either through the DisabledComponents registry value or through the check box for the Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6) component in the list of items on the Networking tab for the properties of connections in the Network Connections folder. The following figure shows an example.

The DisabledComponents registry key affects all interfaces on the host. However, the check box on the Networking tab affects only the specific interface. The DisabledComponents registry value does not affect the state of the check box. Therefore, even if the DisabledComponents registry key is set to disable IPv6, the check box in the Networking tab for each interface can still be checked. This is expected behavior.

Note Unchecking the checkbox on a network adapter will not disable IPv6 on the host. It will unbind IPv6 from this adapter. To disable IPv6 on the host, follow the steps below.

To use the DisabledComponents registry value to check whether IPv6 was disabled, run the following command at a Windows command prompt:
reg query HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6\Parameters /v DisabledComponents

You may receive the following error message:
ERROR: The system was unable to find the specified registry key or value.
If you receive this error message, the DisabledComponents registry value is not set. If the DisabledComponents value is set, it overrides the settings in the connection properties.

To enable or to disable IPv6 or to selectively enable or disable components of IPv6 automatically, click the Fix this problem link. Then, click Run in the File Download dialog box, and follow the steps in this wizard.

End Users using Windows 7 Professional, Keeps losing their Network Drives

 

*Note: Before proceeding, make sure you have updated drivers for your adapter.

1. Open a command-line, Start\Run, and type cmd. Press enter
2. In the console enter the following commands to change the MTU:
   Type into command window "netsh interface ipv4 show interfaces" without the quotes. Take note of the id number of the wireless interface.
   Then to change to mtu 1500 use the following command.
   "netsh interface ipv4 set subinterface id mtu=1500 store=persistent"

Windows Activation Error - 0x80072EE2 & 0x8007EFE

By Joe Piggee

Error x80072EE2 & 0x8007EFE

This error normally indicates a connection issue. Very vague, but true. To fix this try the following:

• Turn off the firewall, and retry activation
• Check Date & time settings. If you needed to change anything on the date or time, restart the server before retrying the activation
• Finally, make sure you aren't using a KMS key without a KMS server.
• And verify the key code is correct.