Missing Autodiscover Service Connection Point
After turning on Outlook Anywhere, our test Outlook 2007 clients that are also using Office Communicator 2007 are experiencing a variety of problems, between having to input thier Username and Password when starting Outlook to getting Calendar synchronization errorsin Office Communicator 2007 and not being able to see eachother's Free/Busy information. I think it is all related to the Autodiscover Service Connection Point not existing. When I look for it using ADSI Edit, I am not finding an entry where it would be expected (under Configuration [server.site.org], CN=Configuration,DC=site,DC=org, CN=Services, CN=Microsoft Exchange ). I found this location using the Help file in the Autodiscover, overview section. There is a notation on how to create the Service Connection Point by adding the object using the following parameters: -------------------------------------------------------------- When you install the Client Access server role on a computer that is running Exchange 2007, a new virtual directory named Autodiscover is created under the default Web site in Internet Information Services (IIS). This virtual directory handles Autodiscover requests from Outlook 2007 clients and supported mobile devices and is accessed any time that a client initiates a new connection to the Client Access server. Additionally, a new Active Directory object named the service connection point (SCP) is created. Setup puts the Autodiscover SCP object in the following container: CN=Autodiscover,CN=Microsoft Exchange,CN=Services, [Configuration Naming Context] The SCP object contains the authoritative list of Autodiscover service URLs for the forest. If you are creating a new Autodiscover SCP object, create the object in the container that was specified earlier and set the serviceBindingInformation attribute to https://[Client Access server FQDN physical computer name]/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml. The following settings are used on the Autodiscover SCP object: objectCategory = Service-Connection-Point cn = [Client Access server FQDN physical computer name] serviceClassName = Exchange Autodiscover Keyword = {77378F46-2C66-4aa9-A6A6-3E7A48B19596} The value for the cn setting should be set to [Client Access server FQDN physical computer name] and can be either the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the Client Access server or a Network Load Balancing (NLB) array of Client Access servers. ------------------------------------------------ My question is, has anyone else done this to get the Autodiscover process working properly, os is there a programatic way (cmdlet, etc.) to approach this as opposed to ADSI Edit? Thanks in advance. Jim@Work
October 30th, 2007 11:04pm

Outlook does not use the FreeBusy folder if autodiscover is configured correct, it uses the Exchange Web Services, that is /ews directory in IIS, Communicator uses the FreeBusy information and therefore needs a Public folder store to be present. Do you have a Public Folder Store in your Exchange organization?
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October 31st, 2007 1:12am

Yes, we do have a Public Store within our Exchange organization. We are currently using Exchange 2003 for the vast majority of mailboxes, and have a few active mailboxes on Exchange 2007 to work out the kinks before moving users to the latest Exchange platform. We did create the Public Store database structure when Exchange 2007 was installed, although I don't think it has been set up for any replication as of yet. To make the Free/Busy available to Communicator 2007, is there a cmdlet to be run to change how/where the Free/Busy time for mailboxes housed on Exchange 2007 is published? Also, concerning the original question, with the Service Connection Point object not in place within Active Directory, isn't that going to hinder the ability to do Autodiscovery for the Outlook 2007 clients? I appreciate your help in this. Jim@Work
October 31st, 2007 8:10pm

for outlook to find the autodiscover service located on Exchange server, it first try to find the SCP in AD, you you dont have any SCP outlook then try to use the hardcoded URL of https://autodiscover.yoursmtpdomain/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml. if outlook dont find the autodiscover service it will not be able to configure a MAPI profile or to find the Exchange webservice directory on IIS (that is /EWS) or the OAB directory where the Offline address book is downloaded from.
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November 1st, 2007 9:27pm

Hi Lasse - I appreciate your patience in helping me get this resolved. The autodiscover service, from what I was able to gather, seems to also need a certificate in place to function correctly. I had our server certificate updated to include autodiscover.domain.local, but am having a problem. When I read the certificate documentation, it indicated to enable the new certificate before disabling the existing certificate. When I try to set the services for the original certificate to none, it doesn't seem to have any effect. Attempting to remove the certificate gives an error that: Remove-ExchangeCertificate : The default certificate cannot be removed. Now, that's pretty interesting. Any idea of how I can change the default certificate from the first installed certificate to the second? I have seemed to eliminate the Address Book errors, and basic calendar information is posting, although the Free/Busy time does not display porperly for invited users who are on Exchange 2007 (which you have explained is due to the location of the Free/Busy published information). I can't seem to figure out how to get the Free/Busy to publish out to the Public Folder structure for my Exchagne 2007 users. All in all, that's progress..... I guess. Thanks in advance. Jim@Work
November 7th, 2007 12:49am

you dont need to remove the original certificate, just enable your new certificate with enable-exchangecertificate ...
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November 8th, 2007 9:35pm

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