Exchange 2013 OWA Comparison: RTM to CU1

We are happy to report that after walking through all of the troubleshooting steps we needed to that Exchange 2013 CU1 installed successfully on one of our Exchange 2013 RTM greenfield deploys.

Note that there were 18 steps to the whole process _after_ completing the AD prep steps and installing the required components on Server 2012.

This is a shot of Exchange 2013 RTM OWA:

This is a shot of Exchange 2013 CU1 OWA:

We now have the SPAMfighter folder listed.

One thing we noticed is that OWA loaded a _lot_ faster on the new platform than it used to on RTM.

As always, _test_ updates in a lab setting before wondering out and running them on production systems.

We had a System State and a full ShadowProtect backup of this particular setup before we jumped in as a just-in-case.

Given that some of the RTM bugs were critical at this site we jumped into CU1 right away on a production system.

So far, we can report that things are back to normal. So far . . .

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

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Windows 8 Mail Error: You can’t connect this account to any more devices.

The exact error is this:

• You can’t connect this account to any more devices. Remove another device first with help from your system admin or Internet service provider.

Okay, so what exactly does that mean?

Well, it turns out that an e-mail showed up in the corresponding Inbox to explain things a bit further:

• Microsoft Outlook:
• Error with your new cell phone partnership.
• You have 10 phone partnerships out of the allowed maximum 10 partnerships. Once you reach the maximum, no more partnerships may be created until you delete partnerships from your account. To do so, please log into your Outlook Web Application account cell options and remove unused partnerships.

And, sure enough, under Options –> See All Options –> Phone the following was found:

Oops. It looks like we will need to be mindful of our client’s ongoing device connectivity habits especially if they change devices on a frequent basis.

For those that have not looked into Exchange 2013 yet this situation and the BYOD question are addressed quite nicely via the new Exchange Admin Center (EAC).

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Windows Live Writer

SBS 2011 Exchange 2010 SP1 – Outlook Web Access HTTP 500 Error

This is a strange situation in that everything was working fine. Because we are in the middle of a migration from SBS v7 to SBS 2011 on our network there are a lot of changes going on because of the migration.

So, it is tough to pinpoint exactly when OWA on SBS 2011 stopped working.

When we hit our SBS 2011 OWA to log on we get the following:

Punch in a username and password and we are greeted with:

There are very few results in our search attempts but it turned out that the second item in our Bing search did the trick:

• Microsoft Exchange Forms-Based Authentication service: Not Running.

The Recovery tab for the service shows “Restart the Service” for all three options. Yet, the service is not running.

So, we go ahead and start the service:

Sure enough, we were able to get in:

Hat tip: Henrik Walther Blog on MSExchange.org: Exchange 2010 SP1 – Experiencing an OWA HTTP 500 Error?

As Henrik indicates, the cause of the no-start situation with the FBA service is unknown at this point. We will be keeping an eye on this one for our SBS 2011 installs post reboot.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

A Glimpse At Exchange 2010 OWA And SharePoint Foundation

OWN has had their hosted Exchange and SharePoint systems on Exchange 2010 and SharePoint Foundation 2010 for a while now.

We just finished provisioning a client’s e-mail infrastructure and collaboration around OWN’s 2010 hosted Exchange and SharePoint products.

Since we have been so busy with other tasks, this is the first time we have had the time to take a bit of a dive into the new Microsoft offerings.

Outlook Web Access

Exchange 2010’s Outlook Web App (OWA):

Microsoft’s continued development of Outlook Web Access on Exchange has certainly been excellent. With each successive version we have seen vast improvements with each new release.

The changes from 2007 to 2010 however, are not quite as dramatic.

Outlook Web Access on Exchange 2007 Service Pack 2:

OWA 2010 does have a few key features out of the box that OWA 2007 did not though.

1. Mail: Inclusion of the Favorites section which is identical to the Office Outlook client.
2. Mail: Search Folders actually has the Unread Mail folder set up by default.
3. Mail: Recover Deleted Items is now a right click option in 2010 as opposed to digging through Options in 2007.

From there, the OWA Options management page is a lot more intuitive to use on 2010 than it was on 2007. Users will be able to find the items they want to use with a bit more ease.

SharePoint Foundation 2010

Once the services are provisioned by OWN, we need to log on as the SharePoint site admin to set a template.

When the template has been set up, we then need to create our contributor group and add our client’s users to that group. Any needed Sites and/or special permissions groups would be created from there.

This is the new SharePoint Foundation 2010 site:

The changes between Windows SharePoint Services v3 and SharePoint Foundation 2010 are quite substantial.

Note the layout and navigation changes. There are a lot of changes made in the SharePoint product. As a result, be prepared to either contract someone like Robert Crane who can customize the site quite quickly and efficiently or delve into the bits and bolts to figure it out.

Own Web Now and the Cloud

We have mentioned this before, but it bears mentioning again since developing alternate revenue streams for our business is absolutely critical to our growth and longevity.

1. We partner with OWN for our hosted Exchange/SharePoint needs because _we_ are the face of the hosted products to our client.
• We set the value and pricing for each OWN service we resell.
• We invoice our clients for those services ahead of time the same way our cell phone provider invoices us for next month’s services plus last month’s overages.
• Once the services are set up, we have that monthly residual that totally _kills_ any residuals we might get through other Cloud services vendors.
2. We partner with OWN because we get to work with _real_ and _knowledgeable_ people if we need support.
• Benjamin and Matt have been our primary support contacts and they have always come through for us.
• The OWN support team when called upon have been second to none.

While the Cloud and its impact have certainly been on the top of our minds lately, picking the right Cloud vendors is absolutely critical to the life of our business.

Even with the mainframe style of Cloud services, the client/customer will _always_ be in need of experts to facilitate their IT solutions and infrastructure. That’s another reason why we always need to be growing our expertise.

Those Cloud Solutions Experts need to be _US_! :)

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

SBS 2008 Remote Web Workplace Plus Its URL DNS Requirements

Perhaps one of the more common questions seen on various forums are around the Remote Web Workplace or accessing the SBS server domain via some sort of remote access method.

The simplest out of the box way to access the SBS Domain is via the Remote Web Workplace.

The portal was put in place for SBS 2003 and was and is the Killer App for SBS and small business.

When the user first hits the SBS 2008 RWW site, they will see the following:

A username and password request with the requisite visual cues indicating that the site is as secure as their banking site (third party trusted certificate installed).

As a side note, there is no reason to run with the SBS self-issued certificate anymore. The administration grief involved with maintaining remote connectivity via Windows Mobile, Windows desktop OSs and Outlook is too costly in the long run. A GoDaddy certificate is absolutely inexpensive to purchase and install.

Sean Daniel even has a great blog post on how to install that GD certificate:

• SeanDaniel.com: Installing a GoDaddy Standard SSL Certificate on SBS 2008.

So, we have our brand new SBS 2008 (setup checklist post) or migrated SBS 2008 (Our Migration Guide) ready to fly into production.

One of the most critical steps to complete before any new or migrated server is put into production is the following:

1. The client’s Web domain registrar is sourced and the logon information for managing that domain is acquired.
2. The client’s Web domain host is sourced and the logon information for their Control Panel or other such domain details management is discovered.
3. The URL for the Remote Web Workplace on SBS 2008 is settled on with the client.
4. The DNS A record pointing to the SBS 2008’s gateway ISP IP is set in place in the domain hosting DNS management console or Control Panel.

Out of the box, SBS 2008 sets the following domain during the Internet Address Wizard (using one of our domains as an example):

• remote.sbshosting.ca

However, during the Internet Address Wizard we can click on the Advanced link and change the prefix “remote” to whatever we need such as “mail” or “smtp” if the DNS A already exists for the client’s external IP address.

Okay, so we have our client’s domain hosting all figured out, the next step is to take note of the various URLs used to access the various SBS server services using one of our own domains as an example:

• Remote Web Workplace Portal
• https://remote.sbshosting.ca/remote
• Logon: Username and Pass Phrase.
• Outlook Web Access (Exchange)
• https://remote.sbshosting.ca/owa
• Logon: Username and Pass Phrase.
• Outlook Anywhere (Outlook to Exchange RPC/HTTPS)
• https://remote.sbshosting.ca
• Wildcard certificate setting: msstd:*.sbshosting.ca
• Logon: SBSDomain\Username and Pass Phrase.
• Outlook Mobile Access
• remote.sbshosting.ca
• Logon: Username and Pass Phrase.
• Terminal Services Gateway in RDC 6.x+
• remote.sbshosting.ca
• Logon: SBSDomain\Username and Pass Phrase.
• Companyweb direct access
• https://remote.sbshosting.ca:987/
• Logon: \Username and Pass Phrase (previous blog post)
• SharePoint configured site collections:
• https://remote.sbshosting.ca:987/SiteName/
• Logon: \Username and Pass Phrase (previous blog post)

The RWW portal once logged in looks like:

For most users, the simplest way to gain access to their remotely accessible resources is to start in one spot. That is the RWW.

• Outlook Web Access
• Remote Desktop connection with the list of computers restricted to the user presented. No computers allowed? Then no list at all.
• Companyweb SharePoint site link.
• The ability to manage the additional links listed under the three standard RWW buttons.
• The user can change their pass phrase in RWW or Outlook Web Access.

For those that are a bit more advanced in their abilities to get around SBS remote access they can bookmark or save shortcuts for the various needs.

From there, we can explore the Office 2007 and SharePoint integration then get really into some of the efficiencies presented with both plus Windows 7 (previous blog post).

In our experience, once the business owner has seen the Remote Web Workplace and all of its remote access goodness in action SBS 2008 becomes a very easy sell.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

SBS 2003 – Enable Password Changing in OWA

One of the new features in SBS 2008 is the integration of the user’s password state into both the Remote Web Workplace (RWW) and Outlook Web Access (OWA.

A user would be prompted by RWW to change their password when it was approaching its expiry date. We set our SBS domains to warn users at 14 days.

Within RWW and OWA themselves the user can fine a link to initiate a password change.

With SBS 2003, we would be prompted to change our password after it had expired, but that was as far as it goes when it came to managing passwords.

There is a tweak that can be done on the Exchange and IIS side to enable users to change their password from with OWA:

• Microsoft Knowledgebase: KB297121: Implementing the Change Password feature with Outlook Web Access

Note that the implementation will take a number of steps and are quite invasive. Make sure to take a proper backup just prior to making any changes.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

RWW and OWA Idle Time-Out Bug Filed - Please Feedback

We previously mentioned the situation here: SBS 2008 - RWW and OWA Idle-Time Caveat or Hiccup?

Essentially, if you pass through the Remote Web Workplace into Outlook Web Access and leave the RWW window/tab open but idle, it will time-out after 30 minutes.

The problem is, the active OWA window/tab will hit an OWA logon page once the RWW has timed out too. Even though OWA was being used right up to the moment RWW timed out.

A bug has been filed on the Connect site: OWA Time-Out Behaviour when Remote Web Workplace idle time-out is reached. If this issue is important to you, please take a moment to rate the bug. It has already been validated by the SBS Team.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

SBS 2008 - A couple of neat OWA features

The new Outlook Web Access (OWA) based on Exchange 2007 SP1 that we get with SBS 2008 is such a huge improvement over OWA in SBS 2003.

There are so many new client-side features that greatly improve a user's e-mail communication efficiency as well as their overall experience using Outlook Web Access.

One:

Deleted Items Recovery

Having the Deleted Items Recovery tool in the Outlook application when Exchange integrated is an administrator's life saver! Once a user has been shown that they can recover their deleted items, they take full advantage of it.

Now they can do so via OWA. They no longer need to establish a connection to a dedicated Remote Desktop to recover an e-mail, wait until they get back to the office to do so, or call us to help them out.

Two:

Remote Device Wipe

The time between a Windows Mobile device has been discovered missing and its being wiped by an administrator via Exchange 2003 can be absolutely critical ... and long.

With Exchange 2007, the user has control over the device. If the user's mobile device is somehow lost or stolen, they can remote wipe their own device quickly via OWA.

There is added security for Windows Mobile 6.x devices as the users would have turned on encryption for their add-in storage cards. So, barring any possible signal blocks or a dead battery, the device will wipe itself and any data on the card would be "lost" too.

These two features make SBS 2008 along with Windows Mobile device integration that much more attractive for clients with highly mobile workers.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.