Exchange Server 2013 User Mailbox troubleshooting steps

Exchange Server 2013 User Mailbox troubleshooting steps

The below list of powershell command can be used for any user mailbox troubleshooting which provide more detail on how to move forward to resolve the issue:

1. Verify the Exchange user mailbox legacyexchangeDN
Get-Mailbox rajisubramanian| FL legacyExchangeDN

2. Verify the Outlook web services connecitivity -
Test-OutlookWebServices -Identity "raji.subramanian@test.com" |fl

3. Verify the calendar permission  -
Get-MailboxFolderPermission -Identity raji.subramanian@test.com:\calendar | fl

4. Verify the mapi connecitivity of user mailbox  -
Test-MAPIConnectivity -Identity "raji.subramanian@test.com"

5. Verify the email flow connecivity -
Test-Mailflow -TargetEmailAddress raji.subramanian@test.com

6. Verify the activesync connecitivity -
Test-ActiveSyncConnectivity -ClientAccessServer test\CAS01 -URL "http://mail.test.com/owa" -MailboxCredential "RajiS"

7. Verify the Outlook connecitivity -
Test-OutlookConnectivity -ProbeIdentity "OutlookRpcCTPProbe" -MailboxID raji.subramanian@test.com

Failover Primary Active Manager in Exchange Server 2013 DAG

Failover Primary Active Manager in Exchange Server 2013 DAG

1. Verify the cluster group
Command: cluster group

2. Move the cluster to the another DAG node
Command: cluster.exe Group "Cluster Group" /MoveTo:

3. Verifying Replication health check
Command: Test-ReplicationHealth

4. Verifying Primary Active Manager:

Command: Get-DatabaseAvailabilityGroup -Identity -Status | fl name,primaryactivemanager
 

Step by Step installation Exchange server 2013 Cumulative Update 3

Step by Step installation Exchange server 2013 Cumulative Update 3

Although the installation of Exchange server 2013 CU3 is simple few steps needs to be consider while deploying.

• Restart the exchange server before deploying the patch – This will let’s the other user’s session will be dropped and also if there is any pending restart will get cleared off

• There are several places a restart flag could be squirreled.  This is not an exhaustive list:
• Look at HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager
• PendingFileRenameOperations
• Use Sysinternals Pendmoves.exe to see if there are pending operations
• HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Component Based Servicing
• RebootPending

• When you are installing using command prompt don’t use exchange management PowerShell instead use the windows PowerShell. Open the windows PowerShell using “Run As” and type the username and credential that holds admin privilege

• In Exchange 2013 it is mandatory to accept the license agreement - /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms

• After Exchange 2013 Cumulative Update 3 installation we will not able to revert back

Exchange 2013 Quarantine Mailbox

Exchange 2013 Quarantine Mailbox

To find the quarantine mailbox -  Get-mailbox administrator | fl *isq*

The following registry path is created used to store the keys:

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\\Private-{db guid}\QuarantinedMailboxes\{mailbox guid}

In this path the following keys will be created:

    CrashCount: the amount of crashes detected
    LastCrashTime: the timestamp of the last occurance of a crash
    QuarantineState: is a mailbox quarantined or not
    QuarantineTime: the time the mailbox is placed in quarantine

If the issue doesn’t occur again in two hours the registry key used to store the counter is deleted. The 2 hours is a value which can’t be changed. But there are two other interesting keys:

    MailboxQuarantineCrashThreshold: how many issue may occur before a mailbox is put in quarantine
    MailboxQuarantineDurationInSeconds: how long is the mailbox placed in quarantine

When mailbox put in quarantine it doesn't passes to OPEN_AS_ADMIN flag

Solution:

To manually release the mailbox you will first need to know the GUID of the mailbox. You can lookup the GUID by using the get-mailboxstatistics cmdlet just like this:

Get-Mailbox support |select name, GUID
Once you have found the GUID you will need to find the corresponding registry path. As discussed earlier each poisoned mailbox has the key MailboxQuarantineDurationInSeconds modify the value to for example 0 or 1. After you’ve made the registry key change perform one of the following tasks:

•     Dismount/mount the database
•     Restart the Information Store
•     Reboot your server

Exchange Server 2013 Outlook Anywhere SSLOffloading

Exchange Server 2013 Outlook Anywhere SSLOffloading

The product team made Exchange 2013 Outlook Anywhere SSLOffloading the default value as true which is not in the Exchange 2007/2010. Not sure is there any specific reason but it should be enabled for SSL offloading. The documentation is not much clear as we have in Exchange 2010 and 2007 other than just note on Exchange 2013 powershell command to configure Outlook anywhere: -

Exchange 2013 Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb123545%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

Exchange 2007 -  Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb123889%28v=exchg.80%29.aspx

Do not use this option unless you are sure that you have an SSL accelerator that can handle SSL offloading. If you do not have an SSL accelerator that can handle SSL offloading, and you select this option, Outlook Anywhere will not function correctly.

Exchange 2010 - Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb123542%28v=exchg.141%29.aspx

Don't use this option unless you're sure that you have an SSL accelerator that can handle SSL offloading. If you don't have an SSL accelerator that can handle SSL offloading, and you select this option, Outlook Anywhere won't function correctly.

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/1267.how-to-configure-ssl-offloading-in-exchange-2010.aspx

Exchange Server 2013 Message Tracking

Exchange 2013 Message Tracking

Message Tracking is enabled default in Exchange 2013 mailbox server. To configure message tracking

Syntax

Set-TransportService -MessageTrackingLogEnabled <$true | $false> -MessageTrackingLogMaxAge

-MessageTrackingLogMaxDirectorySize -MessageTrackingLogMaxFileSize -MessageTrackingLogPath -MessageTrackingLogSubjectLoggingEnabled <$true|$false>

The default limits are

Individual message tracking log files is 10 MB.
Maximum size for the directory that contains the message tracking log files is 1000 MB.
Maximum age for the message tracking log files is 30 days.

To track the emails in Exchange 2013

Get-MessageTrackingLog -Start “Feb 25 2013” | Out-GridView

Get-messagetrackinglog -Start “Feb 25 2013” -ResultSize Unlimited | select-object eventid,timestamp,messageid,sender,recipients,messagesubject | out-gridview

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124375%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx#Structure

Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 3 Rollup Update 3

Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 3 Update Rollup 3

Most of the Exchange 2010 CAS issue got fixed in Rollup 3.

Find the detail as follows

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2891587/en-us?sd=rss

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=41173

Issues that the update rollup resolves

Update Rollup 3 for Exchange Server 2010 SP3 contains the fix for the security issue that is described in Security Bulletin MS13-061 and resolves the issues that are described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) articles:

• 2715761 "550 5.6.0" NDR when you send a yearly recurring meeting request in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
• 2839533 RPC Client Access service freezes in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
• 2840454 "The rules on this computer do not match the rules on Microsoft Exchange" error when you manage rules by using Outlook 2013 in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
• 2874070 Public folders are exposed although the user does not have rights to see the parent folders in an Exchange Server 2010 SP3 environment
• 2878175 Client Access server crashes when you use Outlook with a Riverbed WAN optimizer in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
• 2879320 Retention action setting is not updated in FAI items by running the Set-RetentionPolicyTag cmdlet in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
• 2879736 Office 365 users cannot retrieve an on-premises user’s free/busy data in an Exchange Server 2010-based hybrid deployment
• 2880153 RPC Client Access Service crashes if Outlook is in online mode in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
• 2880290 RPC Client Access service crashes when you use Outlook in ANSI online mode in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
• 2882467 RPC Client Access service stops if Outlook is in online mode in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
• 2882677 BlackBerry device is not redirected in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
• 2886469 EAS client receives status code 8 during synchronization in an on-premises Exchange Server 2010 environment
• 2886567 "Objects added to a BindingSource's list must all be of the same type" error message when you add an additional domain name in Exchange Server 2010 SP3
• 2887574 RPC Client Access service freezes when your mailbox reaches the quota limit in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
• 2888406 Mailbox Replication service crashes when you try to move mailboxes in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
• 2888906 Events 1000, 4999, and 9775 are logged when Store.exe crashes on an Exchange Server 2010 SP3 Mailbox server
• 2888911 W3wp.exe crashes when you decline a meeting request by using Outlook Web App or an EWS application in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
• 2890650 Items in the Drafts folder are not stamped with the retention policy tag in an Exchange Server 2010 or 2013 environment
• 2891194 Exchange ActiveSync devices are marked as "Blocked" in EMS and EMC when the devices are synchronizing with the Exchange Server 2010 server
• 2892337 Outlook client freezes when you try to sort email folders by columns in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
• 2893437 Delegate can read your AD RMS protected messages by using Outlook Web App in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
• 2896304 Background image is displayed incorrectly in an email message when a disclaimer rule is enabled in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
• 2899146 You cannot drag email messages to other folders by using Outlook Web App in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

Exchange Server 2013 Cumulative Update 3

Exchange Server 2013  Cumulative Update 3 got released which fix most of the issue Exchange 2013 issues...

You can download them from - http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=41175

Issues that the cumulative update resolves

Cumulative Update 3 for Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 contains the fix for the security issue that is described in Security Bulletin MS13-061 and resolves the issues that are described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) articles:

• 2874216 Security issue that is described in Security Bulletin MS13-061 is resolved by an Exchange Server update
• 2865161 "Errors: Failed exporting item id: from source id" when you try to copy search results in an Exchange Server 2013 environment
• 2871980 Child domains are not displayed for selection when you create a mailbox by using EAC in an Exchange Server 2013 environment
• 2878160 "The Active Directory user wasn't found" error when you create or update an In-Place eDiscovery search in an Exchange Server 2013 environment
• 2882608 Exchange Server 2013 does not share the inproxy.dll file
• 2886115 Retention policies are not applied to Exchange Server 2013 mailboxes when user accounts are on different domains
• 2888274 WebClientReadFormQueryString string and WebClientEditFormQueryString string return incorrect URLs in an Exchange Server 2013 environment
• 2888315 Event 2112 or 2180 is logged when you try to back up a database in an Exchange Server 2013 environment
• 2888612 Retention policy does not work after you run a cmdlet in an Exchange Server 2013 environment
• 2889786 Sign-in format for Outlook Web App on mobile devices is not adjusted according to the Set-OwaVirtualDerictory cmdlet in an Exchange Server 2013 environment
• 2890650 Items in the Drafts folder are not stamped with the retention policy tag in an Exchange Server 2010 or 2013 environment
• 2895487 "Copy Search Results" option does not work in an Exchange server 2013 environment
• 2895500 DBCS characters appear garbled when you run some PowerShell scripts in EMS in an Exchange Server 2013 environment
• 2895678 "Nombre de usuario\dominio" is displayed unexpectedly on the Spanish version of the OWA and EAC logon pages in an Exchange Server 2013 environment
• 2902929 You cannot forward an external meeting request in an Exchange Server 2013 environment
• 2902929 You cannot forward an external meeting request in an Exchange Server 2013 environment
• 2902933 "Generate incident report" does not display the "Bcc" field in an Exchange Server 2013 environment
• 2902934 Korean language localization issue in Exchange 2013 OWA user interface
• 2902936 You cannot change SMTP addresses for distribution groups by using EAC in an Exchange Server 2013 environment
• 2902938 You cannot preview Office documents in shared folders by using Outlook Web App in an Exchange Server 2013 environment
• 2902939 EMS connection error when you separately install an Exchange Server 2013 Mailbox server and a Client Access server
• 2883203 Exchange Server 2013 restarts frequently after Cumulative Update 2 is installed
• 2890814 No redirection to the Outlook Web App URL for Exchange Online users in an Exchange hybrid deployment

Exchange 2013 Autodiscover Features

• Autodiscover wont't works when the email addresss is hidden from Exchagne address list
• The email clients supports Autodiscover are Outlook 2007/2010/2013, Outlook 2011 for Mac OS X support Autodiscover and the built-in mail clients for Windows Phone and Apple iOS.
• Autodiscover provides - Availability service, the out of office (OOF) service, the OAB download endpoint, the Unified Messaging service, Exchange Administration Center (EAC), public folder mailboxes, shared mailboxes, and site mailboxes

Exchange Server Installation Failure - WaterMarks

Exchange 2013 Cumulative Update 3

Today on viewing the KB article for Backup restore failure found they have launched Exchange 2013 Cumulative Update 3 which is the know cause for backup restoration failure...

This is a known issue in versions of Exchange Server 2013 that are earlier than Cumulative Update 3. This issue occurs because the LOG_SIGNATURE_ID and LOG_SIGNATURE_TIMESTAMP elements in the Backup Components Document have a value of 0 in the backup stage. However, the Exchange VSS writer prohibits restoring data in this state.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2903768/en-us?sd=rss&spid=730 


But the good news is that they have still not launched Exchange 2013 Cumulative Update 3. Microsoft is so fast in publishing the KB before they launch the product in public.. :)

Bug in Exchange 2013 Cumulative Update 2

Unable to increase the exchange database to 100 after upgrading to Exchange 2013 Cumulative Update 2 Enterprise Edition from RTM

Log Name:      Application
Source:        MSExchangeIS
Event ID:      40003
Task Category: High Availability
Level:         Error
Keywords:      Classic
User:          N/A
Computer:      Test-MBX-0.exchange.msft
Description:
Exceeded the max number of 50 databases on this server.

Solution:

Type your Enterprise Edition product key on the server again and restart the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service. This will fix the issue

New features in Exchange 2013 Client Access Server

• In Exchange 2010 CAS a client connects to provides an encrypted cookie after the client is authenticated.Passing that cookie to a different CAS means that the receiving CAS can’t read it, so it has to ask the client to authenticate again.
• In Exchange 2013, the CAS authentication cookie is encrypted with the public key of the certificate assigned to the CAS, so any server that has the corresponding private key can decrypt the cookie.
• The Exchange 2013 CAS role server includes a new proxy engine, httpproxy.dll. This replaces the role of the oldrpcproxy.dll, and Exchange 2013 CAS thus cannot proxy RPC traffic directly. When it receives HTTPS encapsulated RPC traffic, it cannot de-encapsulate it directly; instead, it must proxy it to another CAS server that still has rpcproxy.dll. For this proxy operation to succeed, the Exchange 2013 mailbox server or the downlevel CAS servers must have rpcproxy.dll installed (it’s installed by default on the Exchange 2013 mailbox role), and they must be enabled for Outlook Anywhere.