Quote of the Month

Don’t see difficulty in every opportunity. See opportunities in every difficulty.

The Exchange Server 2007 installation fails during the PrepareSchema

The operation could not be performed because the object ‘Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Directory.SystemConfiguration.ResourceBookingConfig’ could not be found <Domain_Controller_Name>.

This problem occurs because the Resource Schema object under Global Settings in Active Directory directory service is missing.

To solve this problem you have to manually create it.

1- Click Start, click Run, type adsiedit.msc, and then press ENTER.

2- Locate the following location:

DC=<Domain>, DC=<suffix>

CN=Global Settings, CN=<Organization Name>, CN=Microsoft Exchange, CN=Services, CN=Configuration,

3- Right-click CN=Global Settings, click New Object and then click Next.

4- Click msExchResourcesChema, and then click Next.

5- In the Value field, type Resource Schema.

6- Right-click the Resource Schema object, click Properties, and then click msExchVersion.

7- Set the value of the msExchVersion attribute to 4535486012416.

8- Retry Setup /prepareSchema It should work fine

The Information Store does not start and MSExchangeIS Event ID 5000

The Microsoft Exchange Information Store Service may not start automatically when the computer starts. If you try to manually start the Microsoft Exchange Information Store Service, you may receive the following error message:

Event 5000

Event Type: Error
Event Source: MSExchangeIS Event
Category: General
Event ID: 5000
Date: 14/4/2008
Time: 5:04:22 PM
User: N/A
Computer: EXFE01
Description: Unable to initialize the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service. Error 0×80040154.

This error happen if you have problem with SMTP component in IIS either missing or corrupted.

To solve this problem you have to Reinstall IIS and exchange 2003..It is easy one just follow MS KB326305

and everything will be fine.

Announced: System Center Remote Operations Manager

Source : Technet Blog

“System Center Remote Operations Manager (ROM) 2007. ROM, scheduled to RTM later this month, is a new product from the Microsoft System Center family that enables solution providers to more effectively and proactively monitor, control, update, and manage their mid-market customers’ distributed infrastructures from a secure remote console.

Specifically, Remote Operations Manager with System Center Essentials at the customer end-point:

Creates a business advantage for IT service providers by enabling them to customize monitoring policies, configure and patch customer IT environments without interrupting users or network service, and providing access to expert knowledge for managing Windows platforms, applications and workloads.

Provides increased security and reliability by establishing a single aggregate view of customer health status and quickly resolve issues when an alert is raised.

Enables the customer to transition from reactive in-house troubleshooting to proactive outsourced management; takes the burden of constant monitoring and availability off of internal IT staff, freeing them to focus on innovation and development.

Additional ROM advisory services also will be available to Certified and Registered partners. These services will provide best practice recommendations, 1:1 consultative workshops, consultative discussions with partner technical consultants, deployment and architectural design guidance and remote access to Microsoft labs

Check This Out :-)

Exchange 2007: Delivery has failed to these recipients or distribution lists

Two weeks ago client called me and was screaming that he has clients facing problem with their mail.

The error when we sent mail to them was:

Subject: Undeliverable: Subject

Delivery has failed to these recipients or distribution lists:

‘<User>’
This recipient e-mail address was not found in the recipient e-mail system. Microsoft Exchange will not try to redeliver this message for you. Please check the recipient e-mail address and try resending this message, or provide the following diagnostic text to your system administrator.

Sent by Microsoft Exchange Server 2007

Diagnostic information for administrators:

Generating server: Servername.domainname.com IMCEAEX_O=FIRST+20ORGANIZATION_OU=FIRST+20ADMINISTRATIVE+20GROUP

_CN=RECIPIENTS_CN=user@domainname.com
#550 5.1.1 RESOLVER.ADR.ExRecipNotFound; not found ##

Original message headers:

Received: from Servername.domainname.com ([192.168.3.20]) by Servername.domainname.com([192.168.0.1]) with mapi; Fri, 11 April 2008 06:24:22 -0400
Content-Type: application/ms-tnef; name=”winmail.dat”
Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary
From: User2 Displayname <user2@domainname.com>
To: ‘User Displayname’
<IMCEAEX_O=FIRST+20ORGANIZATION_OU=FIRST+20ADMINISTRATIVE+20GROUP

_CN=RECIPIENTS_CN=USER@domainname.com>

The users have valid mailboxs and all the rest are alright.

After some times I discovered that the system admin disconnect those clients before and recreate their mailboxs instate of reconnect them.

so I made small test .. open my OWA and send those users mail… so guess what happen??? yes.. they got it.

the problem is that the rest of users are caching the old accounts and is using autocomplete in Outlook, which is resolving to the old e-mail address
because their cache has that old address, The OWA do not cache names so I can send via it to users new mailbox.

So what is the solution?? It can be done by two ways:

1- Delete current mailboxs and create users accounts and reconnect them .

2- Outlook maintains a “nickname” list that is used by both the automatic name checking and the AutoCompletion features. The nickname list is automatically compiled as you address email messages. If the nickname cache becomes corrupt, Outlook may not be able to identify recipients, may offer incorrect recipients, may send to an incorrect or old email address, or may send the message to the wrong person.

If you are having problems with a single recipient, you can easily delete the one cached entry as shown in the following section, “Delete a single cached entry”. Otherwise, proceed to the section titled “To delete your Nickname Cache file” further below.

To delete a single cached entry

1. Open Outlook
2. Open a new message window; go to the File menu and choose New – Mail Message.
3. Type one or more letters of the recipient name or address; this will show memorized (cached) entries in a drop-down list. Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to select the entry to be deleted. With the entry highlighted, press the DEL or DELETE key or your keyboard.

This removes the entry from your autocompletion cache.

To delete your Nickname Cache file.

Use the following steps that are appropriate for your version of Microsoft Windows to reset the Outlook nickname cache. After you restart Outlook, Outlook generates a new nickname cache.

Microsoft Windows XP

1. Exit Outlook.
2. Start Microsoft Windows Explorer.
3. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options, and then click the View tab.
4. Under Advanced Settings, select the Show hidden files and folders check box.
5. Click OK.
6. Click Start, point to Search, and then click All files or folders.
7. In the Search Companion box, type *.NK2 in the All or part of the file name box.
8. In the Look in box, select your local hard disk drive.
9. Click Search.
10. Right-click the .NK2 file with the name of the profile that you want to reset, and then click Rename.
11. Rename the file to profile name.bak, and then press ENTER.
12. Exit Windows Explorer.
13. Restart Outlook.

1. Microsoft Windows Vista

Exit Outlook
Click the Start Menu
Click Search
Click Advanced Search
Check the box for ‘Include non-indexed, hidden, and system files (might be slow)
Search for *.NK2 in the ‘Name’ field

Edgesync Credentials Not Found For Edge Transport

I have an Edge Server deployed in a DMZ. I generated and imported the edge subscription w/o errors. But when i run test-EdgeSynchronization on the Hub transport server i get “No Edgesync credentials were found for edge transport server…” I also receive error 1032 MSExchange EdgeSync “no credentials for edge server” in the Hub transport servers app log.

After some investigation I found out what was the cause of this problem and fixed it. It was a certifacte mismatch between the Hub Transport server and the Edge Server. Actually exchange 2007 see mismatch credential in case that Exchange self signed certificate is missing (corrupted
or deleted by mistake).

Steps to check the certificate problem:

1. Verify that Hub is able to communicate with Edge on port 50636.
2. Run “Get-ExchangeCertificate” cmdlet on Hub and see if there are any
certificates.
3. If there are no certificates found,then regenerated Exchange self signed certificate.
4. In the Exchange Management Shell, run the “New-ExchangeCertificate”
cmdlet.
5. It throws a warning and creates a new Exchange Server Certificate.
6. Restart the Transport Service on the Hub.
7. Verify that the thumbprint of the new certificate now matches with the
version stored in AD .
8. Remove the present Edge Subscription from the Hub and restart Transport Service.
9. Run “Remove-EdgeSubscription” on the Edge and restart Transport Service.
10. Create a new Edge Subscription on the Edge using “New EdgeSubscription” cmdlet and import the xml file to Hub.
11. Re-subscribe the Edge using the new Subscription file.
12. Initiate synchronization using “Start-EdgeSynchronization” CMDlet.

Now the EdgeSync shall work fine.

Why should you move to System Center Data Protection Manager 2007?

Here are the ten most valuable benefits that System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM) 2007 can provide to your business. It can be found on Microsoft web Site.

Unmatched Exchange, SQL, and SharePoint Functionality DPM 2007 offers integrated support for advanced Exchange and SQL cluster configurations, shorter SQL backup windows w/o the need for compression, as well as advanced SharePoint data protection options.

Zero data loss Restores for Applications DPM 2007 enables lossless recovery of Exchange, SQL, and SharePoint servers without the need for constant replication or synchronization by seamlessly integrating a point in time database restore with the existing application logs.

Host Based Virtual Server Backups DPM 2007 includes support for host based backup of Windows Virtual Server guests. Using a single host based DPM agent to provide application consistent backups of any and all guests residing on a host. DPM can protect any operating system or application via this mechanism as long as they are running on a Windows host server.

Recover files in minutes instead of hours A typical file recovery from tape takes hours and can be costly. The typical medium data center may have 10 to 20 or more recoveries per month. DPM enables the same recoveries in minutes, saving money for the business and time for IT administrators. Additionally, faster recovery keeps information workers productive because they spend less downtime waiting for their files to be recovered.

Eliminate the backup window of your production servers Massive growth in storage capabilities has increased the time needed to back up file servers. At the same time, businesses face the requirement for 24×7 uptime and the fact that there is no good time to perform a backup. Because DPM moves only the byte-level changes of the file servers it backs up, it effectively eliminates the downtime required to back up your file servers. Customers never have to plan for such “backup windows” again.

Enable users to perform their own recoveries Recovery and backup processes generally involve multiple administrators, each having unique expertise, adding to the data management total cost of ownership. Corporations collectively spend billions of dollars annually on recovering lost data. DPM solves these problems by enabling self-service user recovery, which lets users access and retrieve files directly within Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Office XP applications without administrator intervention, thereby lowering administrator costs and increasing productivity.

Seamless Media Integration DPM 2007 features seamless integration between disk and tape media, including an intelligent UI that abstracts the operator from the need to separately manage disk and tape media, an integrated restore experience for both disk and tape, and rich media management functionality.

Advanced Data De-Duplication Technology Patented filter technology reduces the volume of full backups by as much as 90 percent in typical organizations, saving disk space and reducing full backup time from hours to minutes. VSS point in time snapshots further reduce the disk volume required, while Express full backup images increase number of available restore points which can be captured.

Remove tapes from branch offices and centralize backups at the data center Today, the primary way to protect remote servers is for branch office staff to back up data to expensive removable media, such as data tape cartridges, and then manually transport the media to an offsite storage facility. Tape restores within this configuration can be expensive and slow. DPM deploys agents on the remote file servers to send the data back to the central data center where it can be more securely backed up by one IT administrator.

Use advanced functionality at low cost Because DPM is part of the Windows Server System, it contains tools that are already in your server software, such as Microsoft Management Console (MMC) and Windows Explorer. IT administrators are already familiar with these tools, which reduces training costs. Along with the comprehensive report functionality included with the product, DPM can also upload all of its reports and alerts to the Microsoft Operations Manager console.

Cannot send or receive e-mail messages behind a Cisco PIX firewall

I face problem with Exchange server mail flow.

My client has PIX firewall facing the Internet and ISA 2006 behind it.

I placed my edge server in the DMZ zone and 2 HUB and 2 CAS and SCC mailbox in the internal domain. Suddenly all mail flow stopped and stuck in the Queue in the HUB and the Edge servers.

On the hub server, the get-queue | fl command give the following output

Identity : HUBCAS01\4
DeliveryType : SmtpRelayWithinAdSiteToEdge
NextHopDomain : edgesync – so1-moi to internet
NextHopConnector : 1758a6af-6ef1-4b74-a978-494f28088105
Status : Retry
MessageCount : 1
LastError : 451 4.4.0 Primary target IP address responded with: “451 5.7.3 Cannot achieve Exchange Server authentication.” Attempted
failover to alternate host, but that did not succeed. Eithe
r there are no alternate hosts, or delivery failed to all al
ternate hosts.
LastRetryTime : 4/7/2008 1:18:59 PM
NextRetryTime : 4/7/2008 1:23:59 PM
IsValid : True
ObjectState : Unchanged

Identity : HUBCAS01\Submission
DeliveryType : Undefined
NextHopDomain : Submission
NextHopConnector : 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
Status : Ready
MessageCount : 0
LastError :
LastRetryTime :
NextRetryTime :
IsValid : True
ObjectState : Unchanged

You can make these changes to work around a specific problem.

1.Establish a Telnet session to log on to the Cisco PIX firewall. Alternatively, use the console to log on to the Cisco PIX firewall.

2.Type enable, and then press ENTER.

3.When you are prompted for your password, type your password, and then press ENTER.

4.Type configure terminal, and then press ENTER.

5.Type no fixup protocol smtp 25, and then press ENTER.

6.Type write memory, and then press ENTER.

7.Reload the Cisco PIX firewall.

The PIX Software Mailguard feature filters SMTP traffic. This feature was also referred to as Mailhost in earlier versions. In PIX Software versions 4.0 and 4.1, you use the mailhost command to configure Mailguard. In PIX Software version 4.2 and in later versions, you use the fixup protocol smtp 25 command. Mailguard allows connections to an e-mail host only through Transport Control Protocol (TCP) port 25. It logs all SMTP activity. Additionally, it allows only the minimum SMTP server commands found in Request for Comments (RFC) 821, Section 4.5.1.These SMTP server commands are the following seven commands:

•HELO

•MAIL

•RCPT

•DATA

•RSET

•NOOP

•QUIT

Note In addition to the Cisco PIX firewall, there are several firewall products that have SMTP Proxy capabilities that may produce the issues that are described earlier in this article.

Generl Strike on 6th of April