Tag Archives: Exchange 2016

Exchange 2013, Exchange 2016, Exchange 2019, Microsoft, Microsoft Exchange

Finding Exchange Database hidden mailboxes. ​

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Finding Exchange Database hidden mailboxes.

Story:

Maybe you have been in this situation before, trying to delete an Exchange database after moving all of its mailboxes, arbitration or archives to another server or database but it didn’t work and said that there is still something in the database? 

Now I am in a similar situation however I checked nothing in the database as you can see in the below screenshot. 

I have noticed that these issues could happen when an Exchange server gets broken or forcefully deleted from AD without properlty uninstalling it. some traces of system mailboxes might remain there with database attributes pointing to the database. 

Solution:

Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.Exchange.Management.PowerShell.Snapin
Function Get-HiddenMailbox
{
    [CmdletBinding()]
    Param(
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$True)][string]$Path,
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$True)][string]$Database
    )
<#Check for any remaining mailboxes in a database that you can’t delete.

 

[PS] C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V15\scripts>Remove-MailboxDatabase a-sb-com-udb1-v1
This mailbox database contains one or more mailboxes, mailbox plans, archive mailboxes, public folder mailboxes or
arbitration mailboxes, Audit mailboxes. To get a list of all mailboxes in this database, run the command Get-Mailbox
-Database <Database ID>. To get a list of all mailbox plans in this database, run the command Get-MailboxPlan. To get
a list of archive mailboxes in this database, run the command Get-Mailbox -Database <Database ID> -Archive. To get a
list of all public folder mailboxes in this database, run the command Get-Mailbox -Database <Database ID>
-PublicFolder. To get a list of all arbitration mailboxes in this database, run the command Get-Mailbox -Database
<Database ID> -Arbitration. To get a list of all Audit mailboxes in this database, run the command Get-Mailbox
-Database <Database ID> -AuditLog. To disable a non-arbitration mailbox so that you can delete the mailbox database,
run the command Disable-Mailbox <Mailbox ID>. To disable an archive mailbox so you can delete the mailbox database,
run the command Disable-Mailbox <Mailbox ID> -Archive. To disable a public folder mailbox so that you can delete the
mailbox database, run the command Disable-Mailbox <Mailbox ID> -PublicFolder. To disable a Audit mailbox so that you
can delete the mailbox database, run the command Get-Mailbox -AuditLog | Disable-Mailbox. Arbitration mailboxes should
be moved to another server; to do this, run the command New-MoveRequest <parameters>. If this is the last server in
the organization, run the command Disable-Mailbox <Mailbox ID> -Arbitration -DisableLastArbitrationMailboxAllowed to
disable the arbitration mailbox. Mailbox plans should be moved to another server; to do this, run the command
Set-MailboxPlan <MailboxPlan ID> -Database <Database ID>.
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidOperation: (a-sb-com-udb1-v1:DatabaseIdParameter) [Remove-MailboxDatabase], Assoc
   iatedUserMailboxExistException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : [Server=SBG-MX03,RequestId=480ce97d-8492-41a9-82fa-93ed30efe652,TimeStamp=6/28/2022 9:04
   :09 AM] [FailureCategory=Cmdlet-AssociatedUserMailboxExistException] 45D30D02,Microsoft.Exchange.Management.System
  ConfigurationTasks.RemoveMailboxDatabase
    + PSComputerName        : server.domain.local
#>

 

#Fist get DB’s HomeMDB value

 

#Write-host ‘Enter your Database Name’ -ForegroundColor Red -BackgroundColor Black

 

$DN = (Get-MailboxDatabase $Database).distinguishedName
$Date = (Get-date).ToString(“MM-dd-yyyy”)

 

$Mailboxes = Get-ADObject -filter {(HomeMDB -eq $DN)}

 

$QueryResult = $Mailboxes.count
$CurrentCount = 0

 

foreach ($Mailbox in $Mailboxes){

 

     try{
         $ObjectProps = [Ordered]@{ ‘DisplayName’ = $Null; ‘UserPrincipalName’ = $Null; ‘Database’ = $Null; ‘Mailbox’ = $Null; ‘Arbitration’ = $Null; ‘Archive’ = $Null; ‘Audit’ = $Null; ‘Monitoring’ = $Null; ‘ErrorResponse’ = $Null}
 
         $MBX = $Mailbox.name
         $CurrentCount ++

 

         Write-Progress -Activity “Checking Hidden Mailboxes in the database $DB $CurrentCount of $QueryResult “ -Status “Fetching $MBX“ -PercentComplete (($CurrentCount / $QueryResult) * 100)
 
         $Result = New-Object -TypeName PSObject -Property $ObjectProps

 

         $MailboxResult = Get-mailbox -Identity $MBX -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
         if ($MailboxResult){Write-Host “User $MBX. is a Mailbox” -ForegroundColor Green  }
 
            $ArbResult = get-mailbox -Identity $MBX -Arbitration -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
            if($ArbResult){Write-host “User $MBX. is an Arbitration Mailbox” -ForegroundColor White }

 

                 $ArchiveResult = get-mailbox -Identity $MBX -Archive -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
                    if($ArchiveResult){Write-host “User $MBX. is a Archive” -ForegroundColor Red}
 
                                $AuditResult = get-mailbox -Identity $MBX -AuditLog -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
                                   if($AuditResult){Write-host “User $MBX. is a Audit Mailbox” -ForegroundColor DarkRed}
 
                                        $Monitoring =  get-mailbox -Identity $MBX -Monitoring -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
                                            if ($Monitoring){Write-host “User $MBX. is a monitoring Mailbox” -ForegroundColor Yellow }
 

 

 
            $Result.DisplayName = $MBX
            $Result.UserPrincipalName = (Get-ADUser -Identity $Mailbox.DistinguishedName).UserprincipalName
            $Result.Database = $DB
            $Result.Mailbox = $MailboxResult
            $Result.Arbitration = $ArbResult
            $Result.Archive = $ArchiveResult
            $Result.Audit = $AuditResult
            $Result.Monitoring = $Monitoring
            $Result.ErrorResponse = ‘#N/A’
            $NewPath = $path.Split(‘.’)[0] + ‘_’ + “$date“ + ‘.csv’

 

            $Result | export-csv -path $NewPath -Delimiter ‘;’ -NoTypeInformation -NoClobber -Append -Encoding utf8
 
 
            }
 
                Catch{
 
                Write-Warning $_.Exception.Message}

 

                $Result | export-csv -path $NewPath -Delimiter ‘;’ -NoTypeInformation -NoClobber -Append -Encoding utf8
 
       }
}

Prerequisites:

– You will have to run this script from Exchange Server.

– An account that can connect to Active Directory with at least read permission and Exchange admin read role. 

The script will utilize Active Directory and Exchange to get the Database’s distinguished name and scan any AD User Object that has this DB’s DN and post it to you as an output. 

Example:

Get-HiddenMailbox -Path ‘C:\example.csv’ -database ‘Affected Database’

As you can see in the below screenshot, I got mostly health mailboxes which should not really be a problme in case you’re deleting database, however I got one system mailbox that is still there and pointing to this Database however, I already have scanned the database for any arbitration mailboxes but Exchange CMDlet showed none. 

Now that I know which user it is, the solution for me to be able to remove/delete this database which I no longer need is to delete this AD user object since its no longer in use by Exchange. 

You won’t be able to get this mailbox through get-mailbox cmdlet because its not an active mailbox. however you will find it in AD. 

So I deleted the mailbox mentioned below and next I am going to try and delete the mailbox database in question. 

Result

Here’s the result after deleting the user in Question.

Exchange Online, Office 365, Powershell

550 relay not permitted distribution group contact

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550 relay not permitted distribution group contact

Symptoms

When trying to add an external contact inside a Distribution group. A failure delivery mail with the following NDR is returned.

Delivery has failed to these recipients or groups:

Externalcontact@domain.com

Your message couldn’t be delivered and there was no valid enhanced status code being issued by the remote mail system to determine the exact cause, status: ‘550 relay not permitted’.

The following organization rejected your message: mxserver

Header 

Diagnostic information for administrators:

Generating server: server
Externalcontact@domain.com

Remote Server returned '550 relay not permitted'

Original message headers:

Resent-From: <inboundemail@Exchangedomain.com>
Received: from 
with Microsoft SMTP Server (version=TLS1_2,
 cipher=TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384_P521) id 15.1.2375.17; Wed, 15
 Dec 2021 11:53:30 -0500
Received: from mail-ot1-f41.google.com (209.85.210.41) by
 with Microsoft SMTP Server (version=TLS1_2,
 cipher=TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA_P384) id 15.1.2375.17 via Frontend
 Transport; Wed, 15 Dec 2021 11:53:30 -0500
Received: by mail-ot1-f41.google.com with SMTP id a23-20020a9d4717000000b0056c15d6d0caso25610296otf.12
        for <inboundemail@Exchangedomain.com>; Wed, 15 Dec 2021 08:53:01 -0800 (PST)
DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed;
        d=gmail.com; s=20210112;
        h=mime-version:references:in-reply-to:from:date:message-id:subject:to;
        bh=rR2IMeF7H4JDA9rxaP9qe9SS4+k1fEFk6/Y7HUCR5us=;
        b=NV4VaI1l4JibchEYURu8Z0pAkxU2Km1s5xNxC3pE+vHL/7vd77ut2ri0zUvBqMRcLr
         kOSnRYnDeMnc7EAbsOJRP2oSx6afnHB1yN8WjMijDE/Va/0jOp7Ni4K0PTXIyz2X0W5i
         VPQuoTgOsyKkjN+HZqVpXgxHy8RyRNkiTnUsutwRIZZWevIoHC/p0cwad8yN6tIdCVif
         IMkACRMkA0HeAzBR/v0ctAChdUpkbcBXA+85hbuO2O8CQdXBCBCf4EzpjqiI97QK24yf
         oedS61hmS2qb2zFQ6f8qxmYBgxdK4lQWdI9TdurXmpnQHBKZFIqW56US0cMQ3jCpSF9q
         Se2A==
X-Google-DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed;
        d=1e100.net; s=20210112;
        h=x-gm-message-state:mime-version:references:in-reply-to:from:date
         :message-id:subject:to;
        bh=rR2IMeF7H4JDA9rxaP9qe9SS4+k1fEFk6/Y7HUCR5us=;
        b=qVj/PXzNyVqwff+McPc2WmcrhKnU1KzHFugZOqxTRB+v+IKASjxOXzq4oernUflv1P
         ApDShejS2jAO6czxgamOrV4i4E7MUlqM1ZOAORM1+ZZiicTPhLk4ybx88t6Ex6xWG8x1
         CayHD9LjorI/UGhs60fFXpfxREnRvz1mMXk4RQlUVGn7oQvlJZaApknskvs/KDaxB3K4
         l1HvunANu25x9/zmf6OuJEkNuhUQWPnh5TESf52pLknaUmeHBA9Ff4LhEFLoyuj2KwxX
         jDfyvQ3RRs8kN3S+IQntHrukyU6cIy4xskUiSzOUa4wb/b6SfSu7sVb5wy/3MzUcPfwQ
         NJuA==
X-Gm-Message-State: AOAM532yV7/oLUbulh/fnSKX/dvcwEJRrBUakKGRB2AAjJBFmHgQ1juk
	htSdNKTpkhrpu4K0SDKv8LbcseSolYSLvjbVKAFNgKmI1m/3Fg==
X-Google-Smtp-Source: ABdhPJyCyLPmOHEOsFfrUD36h6e5hI9mquwq0Sr3Q+d/MecZbT33ghjh5xXztarpHRBZm944nU8Zrrg/gk50FxN5cxk=
X-Received: by 2002:a9d:7b51:: with SMTP id f17mr9431931oto.88.1639587180247;
 Wed, 15 Dec 2021 08:53:00 -0800 (PST)
MIME-Version: 1.0
References: <cad49hozzrxa94krz4t+3pdqre=npiq+vv8svw3hbcnyzbca_dg@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <cad49hozzrxa94krz4t+3pdqre=npiq+vv8svw3hbcnyzbca_dg@mail.gmail.com>
From: External Sender <Sender@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2021 22:22:47 +0530
Message-ID: <cad49hoym7ryqqfrzm++=xse4yh-g6pzy10xfo_bqnpyffhc=9g@mail.gmail.com>
Subject: Fwd: test email to Exchange DG
To: <inboundemail@Exchangedomain.com>
Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="00000000000074fd9b05d33223fa"
Return-Path: Sender@gmail.com
X-Auto-Response-Suppress: DR, OOF, AutoReply

Cause:

By default, the ReportToManagerEnabled parameter is set to False and the ReportToOriginatorEnabled parameter is set to True when a distribution group is created in Exchange Online. When the parameters are both set to False, the Return-Path field in the header of the message is <> (blank). This means that the remote messaging system will not send delivery reports to the user who sent the message to the distribution group.

Additionally, if spam filtering is enabled on the remote messaging system, the message is dropped, and delivery reports are suppressed. This occurs because some anti-spam devices might flag messages whose Return-Path field is blank and not let the messages be delivered.

Resolution:

Set-DistributionGroup -ReportToManagerEnabled $true -ReportToOriginatorEnabled $false -Identity distributiongroup@domain.com

REF:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-US/exchange/troubleshoot/email-delivery/external-recipients-not-receiving-distribution-group-emails

Communication, Exchange 2016, Exchange 2019, Skype for Business

Skype for Business IM integration with Exchange 2016 OWA–Part 2

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This article is a completion of Part 1, Click here to go to Part 1

Configuration Steps – Part 2

7. On Exchange: Enable OWA VD Instant Messaging
8. On Exchange: Enable Messaging on OWA Policy
9. On Exchange: Create Enterprise Application for Skype Pool.
10. On Exchange: Create new SettingOverride for Skype for Business.
11- Generate a new Certificate for Exchange IM
12. Assign the newly imported certificate to IIS Exchange Back End site
13. On Exchange: Restart the WebAppPool
14. Log out and sign back in to OWA to Check
15. Troubleshooting methods

    7- On Exchange Server: Enable OWA VD Instant Messaging

    Part of enabling IM integration between Exchange and SfB is to enable OWA Virtual Directory to allow this. The below cmdlet does the job for you on all your Exchange Servers

    From Exchange, Launch Exchange Management and run the following cmdlet

    Get-OwaVirtualDirectory | Set-OwaVirtualDirectory -InstantMessagingEnabled $true -InstantMessagingType Ocs

    clip_image001[6]_thumb

    8- On Exchange: Enable Messaging on OWA Policy

    Run the following to enable Messaging for Owa Policy

    Get-OwaMailboxPolicy | Set-OwaMailboxPolicy -InstantMessagingEnabled $true -InstantMessagingType Ocs

    clip_image001[6]_thumb[1]

    9- On Exchange: Create Enterprise Application for Skype Pool.

      From Exchange Management shell Run the following cmdlet

      Cd $exscripts

      .\Configure-EnterprisePartnerApplication.ps1 -AuthMetadataUrl “https://sbg-pool01.domain.com/metadata/json/1” -ApplicationType Lync

      The AuthMetadataUrl is going to be your local Skype for Business Pool URL. This URL should work in your Exchange server without any Certificate error. Meaning that the certificate assigned to your Skype for Business pool should already be imported to Exchange Servers to trust this URL.

      image_thumb[14]

        If your previous configuration is correct then you should see the “The Configuration has Succeeded” Message.

          10- On Exchange: Create new SettingOverride for Skype for Business.

          Notes:

          • To configure the same settings on all Exchange 2016 and Exchange 2019 servers in the Active Directory forest, don’t use the Server parameter.

          New-SettingOverride -Name “<UniqueOverrideName>” -Component OwaServer -Section IMSettings -Parameters @(“IMServerName=<Skype server/pool  name>”,”IMCertificateThumbprint=<Certificate Thumbprint>”) -Reason “<DescriptiveReason>” [-Server <ServerName>]

          The Thumbprint you use here will define if whether IM will work or not as this what secures the communication between Exchange and Skype. If you use the wrong certificate your Integration will fail and users wont be able to login to IM through OWA.

          11- Generate a new Certificate for Exchange IM

          IMPORTANT NOTE:

          In order for IM in OWA to work the certificate you will generate must have its common name set as mail.domain.com to match the configuration.

          Using Digicert tool on Exchange Server I will generate the CSR of the new certificate

          Click on Create CSR

          image_thumb[15]

          Choose SSL certificate type and make sure you choose Mail.domain.com as CN

          In the SANs type all of the involved servers (Skype for Business Frontends, Mailbox servers in FQDN and in Hostnames as in the screenshot below). and click on Generate

          image_thumb[16]

          • Go to your CA Server’s CertSRV URL and copy the CSR code there to generate the new certificate.
          • Import the new certificate to the current server, then export it in PFX format and import it to all the Exchange Servers you’re planning to use.

          image_thumb[18]

          • After importing the certificate I will verify that I can see the private key

          image_thumb[19]

          Click on the Details and copy the Thumbprint or from MMC right click the certificate > Properties give it a friendly name e.g. (IM) and then from Exchange Management shell you can copy the Thumbprint directly.

          Get-ExchangeCertificate | select thumbprint,friendlyName

          image_thumb[20]

          Now use the previous script to create the setting Override for OwaServer.

          Things you can change are in bold “Name, IM Servername Value, and the Thumbprint value”.

          New-SettingOverride -Name “IM Override” -Component OwaServer -Section IMSettings -Parameters @(“IMServerName=SBG-Pool01.domain.com“,”IMCertificateThumbprint= 28E4B1BA0F2FCB1535AF199F02A64EFC78367F2D“) -Reason “Configure IM”

          image_thumb[21]

          If you enter the server parameter to use a single server you can change that by using. Note that you must not use FQDN but rather only the server’s hostname.

          Get-SettingOverride | Set-SettingOverride -Server sbg-mx01,sbg-mx02

          image_thumb[22]

          This should generate an event ID 112 on Exchange servers involved in the deployment.

          clip_image001[9]_thumb

            12. Assign the newly imported certificate to IIS Exchange Back End site

            Once the certificate is in the server store, You will be able to easily find in from IIS and bind it to the Exchange Back End site.

            This is the most crucial step to get IM to work in OWA. Don’t worry about breaking up Exchange Sites or Powershell. If you have added Exchange Servers Hostnames and FQDNs in this certificate then you should be good.

            • Now Launch IIS
            • Click on Exchange Back End
            • Select Binding
            • Click on the 444 port and edit
            • Select the newly generated certificate that has the mail.domain.com as CN. (This certificate must also have all Exchange Servers hostnames and FQDNs set as SANs)

            image_thumb[23]

            image_thumb[24]

            Make sure you change the backend cert to the new on all the involved Exchange Servers.

            13. On Exchange: Restart the WebAppPool

            Restart-WebAppPool MSExchangeOWAAppPool

            image_thumb[25]

              14. Log out and sign back in to OWA to Check

              Log out of OWA and back in and check if you are able to Login to IM . It should normally sign you in automatically but in case of an error then you should see it.

              image_thumb[29]

              In case of an error you should see the following.

              image_thumb[27]

              If it works then you should see the presence

              image_thumb[28]

              15. Troubleshooting Methods

              If you follow the above steps correctly then it should work especially when applying the right certificate for your Exchange Back End IIS part however if you face an error then you should do the following steps to troubleshoot the error

              • Set the Eventlog for Instant Messaging on Exchange from Low to High

              Set-EventLogLevel -Identity “sbg-mx01\MSExchange OWA\InstantMessage” -Level High

              image_thumb[30]

              • Look in the following path for errors

              C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V15\Logging\OWA\InstantMessaging

              • Check the Healthset of the OWA Instant Messaging.

              Get-ServerHealth -HealthSet OWA.Protocol.Dep -Server sbg-mx01 | Format-Table Name, AlertValue –Auto

              image_thumb[31]

              Get-MonitoringItemIdentity -Server sbg-mx01 -Identity OWA.Protocol.Dep | Format-Table Identity,ItemType,Name -Auto

                image_thumb[32]

                Ref

                https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/plan-and-deploy/post-installation-tasks/configure-im-integration-with-owa?view=exchserver-2019

                https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/high-availability/managed-availability/health-sets?view=exchserver-2019

                Communication, Exchange 2016, Exchange 2019, Skype for Business

                Skype for Business IM integration with Exchange 2016 OWA–Part 1

                1 Comment

                The Story

                A good and detailed documentation is everything we need to implement any kind of project especially if it’s an integration between two different servers that perform different roles.

                And with PKI involved the complications multiply thus a good article write up is what we need.

                Previously I have tried a test lab with Skype for Business 2015/2019 IM Integration with Exchange 2016/2019 and the result was a complete failure and endless search for what’s missing to get IM to work from OWA?

                image

                ERROR

                Upon completion of the steps mentioned in Microsoft’s Official documentation and after restarting Exchange IIS or OWAAppPool you will see this when you try to login to OWA with your user

                There’s a problem with instant messaging. Please try again later.

                image

                MS Official Documentation

                In their Official documentation Microsoft says that the certificate in question must be trusted by all the servers involved meaning Skype for Business Frontend and Mailbox Servers.

                Meanwhile this is true, it still would not get the IM to login/work although it might drop the initialize event ID 112 in the event log.

                clip_image001

                Here is what MS says about the certificate.

                Exchange and Skype for Business integration requires server certificates that are trusted by all of the servers involved. The procedures in this topic assume that you already have the required certificates. For more information, see Plan to integrate Skype for Business Server 2015 and Exchange. The required IM certificate thumbprint refers to the Exchange Server certificate assigned to the IIS service.

                REF URL: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/plan-and-deploy/post-installation-tasks/configure-im-integration-with-owa?view=exchserver-2019#what-do-you-need-to-know-before-you-begin

                image

                Step by Step Deployment

                To do things the way that should get this to work, I will detail steps one by one so we can be sure to get the positive results we are all waiting for when dealing with Exchange and Skype for Business.

                Exchange IM URL 1: mail.domain.com

                Skype for Business Pool FQDN: SBG-Pool01.domain.com

                Autodiscover URL : Autodiscover.Domain.com

                Prerequisites

                1. For Default and Web Service Internal, Your Skype for Business Frontend Server/Pool must use a certificate that is generated from an internal CA which you can use later to generate Exchange’s IM Certificate.
                2. UCMA must be installed (Doesn’t matter if version 4 or 5) both are supposed to work with Exchange 2016.
                3. Local Certification Authority must already be deployed in the domain.

                Configuration Steps – Part 1

                1. On SfB: Set CsAuthConfiguration Autodiscover URL for Skype server to find Exchange Autodiscover
                2. On SfB: Get-CsSite to see what is the current site ID.
                3. On Exchange: Check AutodiscoverServiceInternalURI
                4. On SfB: Create new Partner
                5. On SfB: Create new Trusted Application Pool
                6. On SfB: Create new Trusted Application ID

                Configuration Steps – Part 2

                7. On Exchange: Enable OWA VD Instant Messaging
                8. On Exchange: Enable Messaging on OWA Policy
                9. On Exchange: Create Enterprise Application for Skype Pool.
                10. On Exchange: Create new SettingOverride for Skype for Business.
                11- Generate a new Certificate for Exchange IM
                12. Assign the newly imported certificate to IIS Exchange Back End site
                13. On Exchange: Restart the WebAppPool
                14. Log out and sign back in to OWA to Check
                15. Troubleshooting methods

                Prerequisites

                1- Update or Create Server Default and Web Service Internal Certificate for SfB Pool servers

                The certificate installed on the Skype for Business Pool Frontend servers must be generated from a local Certification Authority which can be trusted by Exchange Server services.

                The Certificate generated for Skype for Business pool as in the below screenshot is generated from my CA and includes the names of the servers:

                • Skype for Business Pool
                • Skype for Business Frontend FQDNs
                • Exchange Servers
                • Autodiscover FQDN
                • Lyncdiscover.domains.com
                • Lyncdiscoverinternal.domains.com
                • sip.domains.com
                • meet.domains.com
                • dialin.domain.com
                • External.domain.com

                image

                image

                2- UCMA must be installed

                On both Exchange and Skype for Business servers I already have UCMA 4.0 version installed, but if you don’t have it or have an older version then you can’t continue without it.

                image

                3- Make sure you have a Local Certification Authority deployed in your domain.

                Configuration Steps – Part 1

                1- On SfB: Set CsAuthConfiguration Autodiscover URL for Skype server to find Exchange Autodiscover

                For Skype for Business Server to find Exchange Autodiscover Service point and to be able to authenticate servers we’ll be using the below cmdlet

                This enables both servers to authenticate and share information when needed and without user’s interference.

                Set-CsOauthConfiguration -ExchangeAutodiscoverUrl https://autodiscover.domain.com/autodiscover/autodiscover.svc

                image

                image

                Ref:

                https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/skype/set-csoauthconfiguration?view=skype-ps

                2- On SfB: Get-CsSite to see what is the current site ID.

                Getting a site ID will be useful for later use to setup the Trusted Application Pool.

                On Skype for Business Management shell. Type the following

                Get-CsSite

                So the Site ID is 1. I will keep this for later use

                image

                3- On Exchange: Check AutodiscoverServiceInternalURI

                Specify the AutodiscoverServiceInternalURI for internal Autodiscover service. Make sure it points to your public URL and certificate not the internal one otherwise your users will get a certificate error through Outlook and might cause IM chat not to work.

                The Cmdlet would be

                Get-ClientAccessService | Set-ClientAccessService –AutoDiscoverServiceInternalUri https://autodiscover.domain.com/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml

                image

                4- On SfB: Create new Partner Application

                On Skype for Business Server, Launch Management Shell and use this cmdlet to add Exchange as a trusted Application to the SfB topology.

                New-CsPartnerApplication -Identity Exchange -ApplicationTrustLevel Full -MetadataUrl “https://autodiscover.domain.com/autodiscover/metadata/json/1“

                image

                5- On SfB: Create new Trusted Application Pool

                New-CsTrustedApplicationPool -Identity mail.domain.com -Registrar sbg-pool01.domain.com -Site 1 -RequiresReplication $false

                image

                6- On SfB: Create new Trusted Application ID

                From SfB Management Shell run the following cmdlet .

                New-CsTrustedApplication -ApplicationId OutlookWebAccess -TrustedApplicationPoolFqdn mail.domain.com -Port 5199

                image

                Finally

                clip_image001[4]

                Click on the link below for Part 2

                Skype for Business IM integration with Exchange 2016 OWA–Part 2

                ADMT, CrossForest Migration, Exchange 2010, Exchange 2016

                an Exchange mailbox was mistakenly migrated over another user’s object used by another user

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                The Story

                If you ever used Prepare moverequest command to migrate a user and forgot to use ADMT to rewrite user’s properties with the old attributes. You might have used ADMT again to rewrite the properties.

                If you use ADMT you will need to exclude all Exchange Attributes from the source since its already copied using Prepare-move request script however, in some cases some people do make mistakes and you might have came through the same mistake my colleague  have done during one of these extremely complicated Cross forest Migrations where you’d prepare a CSV files through PowerShell and names wouldn’t match Sam accounts.

                Don’t Panic

                If however, you forgot again to exclude the Exchange attributes while using ADMT then you most likely wont see the user in the Target forest which will cause to panic thinking the user is gone .. But no the user is not gone don’t panic.

                When you look for the user’s mailbox on the target forest after the move request is completed you’ll get an error reporting the user can’t be found

                image

                Solution

                To fix the problem you’ll need to change to attributes only for this migrated user. (In the target forest after user mailbox move is completed).

                The attributes are

                msExchRecipientDisplayType    1073741824
                msExchRecipientTypeDetails    128

                The wrong Attributes are as following.

                image

                You will need to fix them to look like the following

                image

                Once you apply the change you’ll need to wait for a minute or few depending on your AD replication speed.
                The problem will be then solved

                image

                Exchange 2010, Exchange 2013, Exchange 2016, Exchange 2019, Microsoft Exchange, Security

                Microsoft Exchange Vulnerability affects all Exchange versions

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                image

                CVE-2020-0688 | Microsoft Exchange Validation Key Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

                Security Vulnerability

                Date of Publishing: February/11/2020

                Microsoft has announced a vulnerability has been found in all Exchange Server 2010 through 2019 versions, The vulnerability allows an attack to send a specially crafted request to the affected server in order to exploit it.

                When could this happen?

                A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Microsoft Exchange Server when the server fails to properly create unique keys at install time.

                Knowledge of a the validation key allows an authenticated user with a mailbox to pass arbitrary objects to be deserialized by the web application, which runs as SYSTEM.

                The security update addresses the vulnerability by correcting how Microsoft Exchange creates the keys during install.

                Affected Versions:

                • Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 3 Update Rollup 30
                • Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 Cumulative Update 23   
                • Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 Cumulative Update 14   
                • Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 Cumulative Update 15   
                • Microsoft Exchange Server 2019 Cumulative Update 3   
                • Microsoft Exchange Server 2019 Cumulative Update 4

                image

                Solution:

                Until now Microsoft has not provided any solution or work around to cover this vulnerability.

                Mitigations

                Microsoft has not identified any mitigating factors for this vulnerability.

                Workarounds

                Microsoft has not identified any workarounds for this vulnerability.

                NOTE:

                Keep an eye on the below link for any change

                https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2020-0688

                Exchange 2016, Exchange 2019, Microsoft Exchange, Powershell

                Move Request on Exchange 2019 (During failover) will warn you that it postponed due the move of DB

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                The Issue:

                So while working on a new Exchange Migration project, I have encountered a weird issue where I could see users migration batch status complaining about being stalled due to (Big Funnel).

                The error is showing as in the below screenshot and it doesn’t occur instantly after you start the migration of the user but right after it starts.

                StalledDueToTarget_BigFunnel 68.47 MB (71,795,512 bytes) 20

                User StalledDueToTarget_BigFunnel 37.2 MB (39,003,538 bytes) 20

                User2 StalledDueToTarget_BigFunnel 14.71 MB (15,421,154 bytes) 20

                User3 StalledDueToTarget_BigFunnel 44.2 MB (46,345,009 bytes) 20

                User4 StalledDueToTarget_BigFunnel 4.647 MB (4,872,404 bytes) 20

                User5 StalledDueToTarget_BigFunnel 14.47 MB (15,169,768 bytes) 20

                User6  StalledDueToTarget_BigFunnel 171 MB (179,280,335 bytes) 20

                User7 StalledDueToTarget_BigFunnel 753.4 MB (789,980,880 bytes) 20

                User8 StalledDueToTarget_BigFunnel 18.35 MB (19,236,680 bytes) 20

                User9 StalledDueToTarget_BigFunnel 205.9 MB (215,951,208 bytes) 20

                User10 StalledDueToTarget_BigFunnel 166.2 MB (174,243,238 bytes) 20

                User11 StalledDueToTarget_BigFunnel 13.81 MB (14,481,739 bytes) 20

                User12 StalledDueToTarget_BigFunnel

                image

                Error Message

                Request ‘domain.com/CompanyUSER/Region1/User1’ (b5dbf3ff-21a1-4ec1-a29c-15b794a17386) failed.

                Error code: -2146233088

                Connection to the Content Transformation Service has failed.

                Context:

                ——–

                Operation: IMapiFxProxy.ProcessRequest

                OpCode: TransferBuffer

                DataLength: 31680

                ——–

                Operation: IMapiFxProxy.ProcessRequest

                Operation: IMapiFxProxy.ProcessRequest

                OperationSide: Target

                b5dbf3ff-21a1-4ec1-a29c-15b794a17386 (Primary)

                OpCode: TransferBuffer

                DataLength: 31680

                ——–

                Operation: IMailbox.ExportMessages

                Operation: IMailbox.ExportMessages

                OperationSide: Source

                b5dbf3ff-21a1-4ec1-a29c-15b794a17386 (Primary)

                Flags: SkipItemValidation

                PropTags: (null)

                ——–

                >>>> Scheduled WorkItems: EnumerateFolderMessages(P:29792,R:0,S:0,C:14); EnumerateFolderMessages(P:29807,R:0,S:0,C:24,Cnt=3); WriteFolderMessages(P:0,R:0,S:0,C:686); EnumerateFolderMessages(P:30554,R:0,S:2,C:55); EnumerateFolderMessages(P:30612,R:0,S:0,C:36,Cnt=2); WriteFolderMessages(P:3,R:0,S:0,C:301); EnumerateFolderMessages(P:30975,R:0,S:1,C:21); WriteFolderMessages(P:2,R:0,S:0,C:97); EnumerateFolderMessages(P:31094,R:0,S:0,C:18,Cnt=6); EnumerateFolderMessages(P:31279,R:0,S:0,C:19)

                ————–

                The Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Replication service was unable to save changes to request.

                Request: ‘9a444721-80e2-4cf8-8c81-8a3afe3dc775’ (bbc2c66e-857e-4ba6-8462-9d66da73d400)

                Database: DB01

                Error:

                The request has been temporarily postponed because a database has failed over. The Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Replication service will attempt to continue processing the request when capacity becomes available on the new server hosting the database.

                image

                Looking at the event ID number 1114 it mentions there seems to be an issue with the request seems there might be an issue with the mailbox being moved.

                To dig deeper I am going to search some of the users reporting the same error by using their GUID

                image

                The property “DisplayName” with value “User LastName” is invalid. The value can’t contain leading or trailing whitespace.

                Solution: (For a single user)

                To resolve the problem, I am going to remove the trailing space in the end of the display name. You can safely use the below Powershell script to solve this problem however, if you don’t trust yourself or you’re not familiar much with Powershell, You can try it on a lab or a single test user for instance.

                Get-Mailbox -Identity USER | Foreach { Set-Mailbox -Identity $_.Identity -DisplayName $_.DisplayName.Trim() }

                image

                Solution: (For all users)

                Get-Mailbox | Foreach { Set-Mailbox -Identity $_.Identity -DisplayName $_.DisplayName.Trim() }

                clip_image001

                Some relevant errors you might encounter as you’re moving users to Exchange 2019

                Error code: -2146233088

                Connection to the Content Transformation Service has failed.

                Context:

                ——–

                Operation: IMapiFxProxy.ProcessRequest

                OpCode: TransferBuffer

                DataLength: 31680

                ——–

                Operation: IMapiFxProxy.ProcessRequest

                Operation: IMapiFxProxy.ProcessRequest

                OperationSide: Target

                eecb073e-e694-4bbc-8652-54dc05a351ea (Primary)

                OpCode: TransferBuffer

                DataLength: 31680

                ——–

                Operation: IMailbox.ExportMessages

                Operation: IMailbox.ExportMessages

                OperationSide: Source

                eecb073e-e694-4bbc-8652-54dc05a351ea (Primary)

                Flags: SkipItemValidation

                PropTags: (null)

                ——–

                >>>> Scheduled WorkItems: EnumerateFolderMessages(P:14014,R:0,S:0,C:13); EnumerateFolderMessages(P:14029,R:0,S:0,C:15,Cnt=2); WriteFolderMessages(P:1,R:0,S:0,C:132); EnumerateFolderMessages(P:14192,R:0,S:0,C:17); WriteFolderMessages(P:1,R:0,S:0,C:48); EnumerateFolderMessages(P:14259,R:0,S:0,C:12,Cnt=4); EnumerateFolderMessages(P:14320,R:0,S:1,C:15); EnumerateFolderMessages(P:14337,R:0,S:0,C:20); WriteFolderMessages(P:2,R:0,S:0,C:126); EnumerateFolderMessages(P:14485,R:0,S:0,C:30)