OAB problem...
I cannot access http://exchange.mydomain.com/oab. I get a 500 error. I have noticed that C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14\ClientAccess\OAB is empty however I do have a GUID folder in C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14\ExchangeOAB. In EMC I have already done "Server Configuration", "Offline Address Book Distribution", "Reset Virtual Directory" and it didn't work. I've also tried the commands here: http://exchangegeek.wordpress.com/2010/02/13/manually-generating-oab-exchange-2007-2010/. My Outlook client just sits there with "Updating address book." Any ideas?
November 20th, 2010 4:22pm

Hi, I've once seen this issue is there any file located within the directory, it should only contain a GUID folder and nothing else. In my case a web.config was placed in it which was causing the issue. Besides this please perform the following steps and post the results here: ctrl click the Outlook icon in the system tray choose the option auto e-mail config fill in the fields uncheck both smart options perform the test Regards, JohanExchange-blog: www.johanveldhuis.nl
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November 20th, 2010 4:25pm

Alright, I was able to get the folder in "C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14\ClientAccess\OAB" by checking the box "Enable Web-based distribution" in "Organization Configuration", "Offline Address Book". Then, like you said, I took web.config out of that directory and voila, I no longer have the 500 error. I'm presented with a user/pass dialog when browsing to http://exchange.mydomain.com/oab. I should also add that after I enter my credentials I'm redirected to the login of OWA. I followed the instructions here: http://briandesmond.com/blog/redirecting-owa-urls-in-exchange-2010/ a while back and it told me to uncheck the redirect for the OAB directory. Well, I uncheck that box and then refresh the folder and the checkbox is checked again?!!?!?! I'm guessing this has something to do with my problem. Now, I tried your test and it looks like everything is normal with the OAB. It shows the OAB URL as http://exchange.mydomain.com/OAB/GUID (before it showed "Public Folders" for the OAB) but I still cannot download the OAB when I do "send/receive address book" in Outlook. But this time I get an error (it doesn't just hang). The error is: "Task 'me@mydomain.com' reported error (0x8004010F): 'The operation failed. An object cannot be found.'" Does the redirect have anything to do with my problem? What keeps checking the box?!?!
November 20th, 2010 5:09pm

Ok, I was able to figure out the redirect problem. If the web.config file is taken out of that directory the checkbox is automagically checked even if you uncheck it. So, I left the web.config in there which brought back the 500 error. I saw in procmon ACCESS DENIED so I gave permissions to that directory to the DefaultAppPool. Now I can get to http://exchange.mydomain.com/oab/b32df13e-23bf-49d3-8cb0-100eea3c081f/oab.xml with IE after entering my user/pass which matches the AutoConfig test. In "Server Configuration", "Client Access" I have "http://exchange.mydomain.com/OAB" setup as my internal/external URLs. Any other ideas as to why my Outlook is still throwing that error?
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November 20th, 2010 5:38pm

Get-Mailbox "user" returns nothing for "OfflineAddressBook". How should that be populated?
November 20th, 2010 5:45pm

Since I'm moving away from public folders I unchecked the "enable public folder distribution". I don't even have public folders on my new 2010 server so this makes sense. Since I've done that I don't get an error when I "send/receive" the OAB from Outlook. What an incredible PITA that was. Step 13 here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff805032.aspx isn't as easy as it looks. Johan, does that mean 'Get-Mailbox "user" | select offlineaddressbook' is ok being empty?
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November 20th, 2010 6:08pm

Check the following two items: 1) in your Database properties, go to the Client Settings tab and make sure the default Offline Address Book is pointing to the correct OAB 2) Run Get-OABVirtualDirectory | fl and post the results. I have a hunch that the RequireSSL parameter will be set to true, but your URL list above is http://, not https://. If it is RequireSSL = true in the command, then I would change the URLs to reflect that.Tim Harrington - Catapult Systems - http://HowDoUC.blogspot.com
November 20th, 2010 7:50pm

Yeah, I already considered a mismatch between protocols. Hopefully this is enough info. I didn't want to have to doctor all that output: [PS] C:\Windows\system32>Get-OabVirtualDirectory | fl Identity,RequireSSL Identity : OLDSERVER\OAB (Default Web Site) RequireSSL : False Identity : NEWSERVER\OAB (Default Web Site) RequireSSL : False And I made sure in "Server Configuration", "Client Access" the OAB Distribution is set to "http". The virtual directory in IIS doesn't have that checkbox either. So, even after the OAB move the old 2007 server is still showing one. I tried to remove it but it wouldn't let me: [PS] C:\Windows\System32>remove-oabvirtualdirectory -identity "OLDSERVER\OAB (De fault Web Site)" Confirm Are you sure you want to perform this action? Removing offline address book virtual directory "OLDSERVER\OAB (Default Web Site)". [Y] Yes [A] Yes to All [N] No [L] No to All [S] Suspend [?] Help (default is "Y"): Remove-OabVirtualDirectory : Deleting virtual directory 'IIS://OLDSERVER.mydom ain.com/W3SVC/1/ROOT/OAB' on 'OLDSERVER' failed. At line:1 char:27 + remove-oabvirtualdirectory <<<< -identity "OLDSERVER\OAB (Default Web Site)" Can I just set the OfflineAddressBook for each mailbox or refresh it somehow? I'm not getting any errors when using Outlook it's just that "get-mailbox | select offlineaddressbook" shows nothing. Here's something else. When I run 'update-offlineaddressbook' I get this warning in the eventvwr: "OABGen cannot find group metrics files for the offline address book with legacy DN '/o=First Organization/cn=addrlists/cn=oabs/cn=Default Offline Address Book'. This is normal if the group metrics files have not been generated yet. "
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November 20th, 2010 8:08pm

Hi, The value can be set per database (as TW Harrington mentioned) or per user my advice is to do this at the highest level possible so in this case the database(s). But can you confirm you can download the OAB using Outlook without issues now since you mentioned this in one of your reponses. Regards, JohanExchange-blog: www.johanveldhuis.nl
November 20th, 2010 10:56pm

Well, geez. Now I can't. I get the 500 error again and procmon shows ACCESS DENIED for C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14\ClientAccess\OAB\web.config. The permissions magically changed!! Great! What in the world is going on here?!?! Could this be related to the public folders on my old 2007 server? I know Microsoft is trying to get away from them so I was going to do the same during this upgrade. I don't have anything under "Default Public Folders" but I have some important looking stuff under "System Public Folders". Are those allowed to go away also when upgrading to 2010? I'm asking about PF's because I also see "OFFLINE ADDRESS BOOK" in there. I'd also like to mention that I don't have a \\NEWSERVER\GroupMetrics share. It says, "By default, group metrics are generated on any server that generates an OAB; if you do not use OABs, then you will need to explicitly specify where you want group metrics to be generated with this cmdlet..." So, how can I see the oab.xml when I fix the permissions on the OAB virtual directory but it doesn't create the share? This thing is completely messed up. This silly OAB stuff is the only thing between me and a 2010 Exchange environment. :(
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November 20th, 2010 11:10pm

Well as earlier mentioned you should not have a web.config there I compared it with several Exchange servers and none if them had one. But which server is responsible for the OAB generation and are any error/warning events generated on this server? JohanExchange-blog: www.johanveldhuis.nl
November 20th, 2010 11:36pm

Can you verify if the OAB VD in IIS Manager is supposed to be redirected? I followed this: http://briandesmond.com/blog/redirecting-owa-urls-in-exchange-2010/. It told me to remove the redirect on the OAB VD because it would inherit it from the top level. Now, I have tried to take web.config out but it's regenerated as soon as I remove the HTTP Redirect from that virtual directory in IIS Manager. So, here's the scenario. I have C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14\ClientAccess\OAB with no web.config file. Then I go to browse http://exchange.mydomain.com/oab and I get redirected to https://exchange.mydomain.com/owa because that's what I set on the top level in IIS manager. So, I go to IIS Manager, click OAB then HTTP Redirect and clear the redirect checkbox. As soon as I click apply the web.config file is recreated. The contents are: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <configuration> <system.webServer> <httpRedirect enabled="false" /> </system.webServer> </configuration> Ok, now this gives me a 500 error when I browse to http://exchange.mydomain.com/oab and procmon says ACCESS DENIED on the web.config file that IIS just regenerated. At this point I tried two things: 1. I have given permissions to DefaultAppPool on web.config and everything works "for a little while". I can browse to /oab, Outlook works, etc... But a couple hours later it no longer works. The permissions I granted for DefaultAppPool have disappeared. 2. Remove the web.config file (as you said to do). This doesn't work because then the checkbox in IIS Manager for HTTP Redirect is re-enabled!! So, now I'm back to the point where browsing to /oab will redirect me to /owa!! Do you see my frustration now?!?! This sure does seem like a bug or 2...
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November 21st, 2010 12:07am

And to answer your questions. I want NEWSERVER (Exchange 2010) to be responsible for OAB generation. That's why I moved it following step 13 here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff805032.aspx. But I'm not so sure OLDSERVER (Exchange 2007) isn't still generating the OAB or if they both are. Here is a little evidence that might suggest NEWSERVER isn't generating the OAB. I have a warning when I restart the "File Distribution" service: "Process MSExchangeFDS.exe (PID=7452). Could not find directory \\NEWSERVER\GroupMetrics. This is normal if it has never been generated. Otherwise, make sure this directory and share has read permission for "Exchange Servers" group." Sure enough, I don't have a share \\NEWSERVER\GroupMetrics. So, I read here: http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2010/01/06/453696.aspx the share is automagically created when the server generates OABs - "By default, group metrics are generated on any server that generates an OAB". So, does that imply NEWSERVER isn't even generating OABs?!?! I have OABs here: C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14\ClientAccess\OAB.
November 21st, 2010 12:21am

Hi, No it shouldn't redirect the OAB redirectory since this will cause issues. The blog of Brian is correct and will only redirect users to the /owa vdir so users will not have to enter https://mail.domain.com/owa to access OWA and will redirect http to https. This last one might cause the issue since by default the internal OAB url is HTTP. But a simple check: remove the redirect as in the blog and check if everything works correctly, is so add the redirection again and check if everything works. So to summarize: 1) this might be an Exchange process which will reset it this because you won't need to change these settings 2) disable redirect on the root level and try again From what I know it are no bugs but just some misconfiguration issues. Regards, JohanExchange-blog: www.johanveldhuis.nl
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November 21st, 2010 4:32pm

Check the contents of the OAB directory it should contain files which have been created in the last 24 hours. This since the OAB will be generated every 24 hours vy default. Regards, JohanExchange-blog: www.johanveldhuis.nl
November 21st, 2010 4:37pm

I don't think I will touch anything. Currently the OAB vdir has HTTP redirect enabled. My Outlook client can download the OAB, mailflow is normal, OWA redirects properly when I go to http://exchange.mydomain.com, I have new files in the OAB directory on the server and even my phone is working as it should! Another thing is I now have \\NEWSERVER\GroupMetrics. So, I guess it doesn't matter if the OAB vdir is redirected. This would make sense because the "Test E-mail AutoConfiguration" displays http://exchange.mydomain.com/oab/some-long-guid/ rather than just http://exchange.mydomain.com/oab/. So, I guess the client isn't subject to being redirected. It also looks like the share \\NEWSERVER\GroupMetrics is in fact generated on the mailbox server responsible for generating the OAB. But reading here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd298170.aspx tells me, "The Mailbox server generates full group metrics data for all distribution groups and dynamic distribution groups every Sunday". Wow! Simply wow! I also read more about public folders and found that Entourage will break without them :( I guess the last step is to move the public folders and I can finally get rid of the old ____ 2007 box running in VMWare (ugh!). Hyper-V/2008R2/Exchange2010 is soooo much nicer.
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November 21st, 2010 6:27pm

Hi, Ok then it is logical it did create it today. About the guid when performing the auto config, this is expected when you will have a look inside the oab dir you will find a folder with the same name. But what did you do to fix the issue? Remove the web.config?Exchange-blog: www.johanveldhuis.nl
November 21st, 2010 9:05pm

No, the web.config file is generated when the HTTP redirect is disabled. I have the HTTP redirect enabled for the OAB vdir.
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November 22nd, 2010 4:43pm

ok strange but good to hear it's solvedExchange-blog: www.johanveldhuis.nl
November 22nd, 2010 7:20pm

To help resolve your issue I have found threads stating to give "Authenticated Users" access to the "web.config" file inside the OAB vdir. For some reason this is the only vdir that does not get that permission automatically assigned when you change SSL and HTTP Redirect settings when attempting to simplify the URL for OWA HTTPS redirection.
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November 30th, 2010 1:04am

I don't have the web.config file. Evidently I don't need to disable redirection. The only thing it "breaks" is when I browse to https://exchange.mydomain.com/oab it redirects me. But that doesn't matter, there is no need to browse there. The important thing is that I can browse to http://exchange.mydomain.com/oab/some-long-guid/ without being redirected. This is the URL that Outlook uses, not just /oab. Everything works the way it should right now. I'm not so sure the Authenticated Users trick will work for very long. When I gave DefaultAppPool permissions to that directory, it fixed the problem temporarily but the permissions were removed after a few hours.
November 30th, 2010 8:21am

I hate to be tardy to the party, but I too was having this problem. I did a search for web.config "OAB" and your post came up, as did this one: http://blogs.msexchange.org/walther/2010/03/22/oab-issues-after-simplifying-the-owa-2010-url/ Turns out the web.config simply has the wrong rights. I tested it out and it seems to work okay for me; you may want to give it a shot, too.
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June 8th, 2011 10:18pm

Thanks but Kitchen_Support already pointed that out. As I replied to him I don't have a web.config file and it's been running flawlessly since Nov. 22 2010.
June 8th, 2011 10:30pm

Dur...I missed that. sorry Kitchen_Support! Yeah, I noticed that too. Today I deleted the web.config file and things were working without issue, unless I remove the redirect which recreates the web.config file. Peculiar system! Ah well. I went ahead and made the change to my system. If anything goofy happens I'll share it with ya. Glad to hear she's running well!
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June 8th, 2011 10:33pm

Yep, I noticed that in this thread as well. It's recreated to accomplish the redirect. Check the file: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <configuration> <system.webServer> <httpRedirect enabled="false" /> </system.webServer> </configuration>
June 8th, 2011 10:37pm

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