Can't get OWA to work on Essentials 2012 R2 with Exchange 2013 on second server 2012 R2 std.

I have previously with success setup a working solution with server 2012 essentials, and a second server 2012 std. with exchange 2013, I did it following this guide: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj200172.aspx

Unfortunately I lost the server due to a cooling error which led to an un-repairable essentials 2012, since this was a new setup and also a test setup I didn't have any working backup solution setup at the time...tsk.tsk.

Since I had to make a complete do over I chose to try out the new R2 server editions, and set it up following the same guide, when it came to this part:

#

Download KB2732764 for ARR 2.5, and then install the update on the server that is running Windows Server 2012 Essentials.
  • Copy the SSL certificate file for Exchange Server to the server that is running Windows Server 2012 Essentials. The certificate file must contain the private key, and it must be in the PFX file format.

    Note
    If you are using a self-issued certificate, follow the instruction in the Exchange Server article Export an Exchange Certificate to export the certificate.

    Open a command window as an administrator, and then open the %ProgramFiles%\Windows Server\Bin directory.

  • Based on you installation scenario, follow one of these steps to configure ARR:

  • If you are performing a clean setup, run the following command:

    ARRConfig config cert path to the certificate file hostnames host names for Exchange Server

I noticed that the version of "Application request routing" had changed to version 3, so obviously I didn't need to dl the 2.5 update.. When I came to the part where I wa instructed to run arrconfig config etc. I noticed that the ARRconfig file no longer where placed where the setup guide indicated, I then went ahead and tried som manual configuration regarding certificates and such. In the end I have a working solution where Exchange and OWA is working locally but OWA isn't working outside my local domain, the link get's placed in the RWA and is indicating the correct link for the exchange server www.remote.clinten.dk I have a certificate which include to separate domain names aforementioned and remote.clinten.dk and I get no errors indicating certificate errors, when I try to connect to www.remote.clinten.dk/owa from outside I get a 404 error, and when I connect to www.remote.clinten.dk I get the RWA login screen for the essentials RWA. Obviously I need to set up something in ISS probably in the url rewrite section, but I can't seem to find the right setting.. Can someone help with this?

Btw. I have found the missing arrconfig file in c:\windows\system32\essentials" and tried to run the command as described in the guide "ARRConfig config cert path to the certificate file hostnames host names for Exchange Server" but it doesn't seem to work, it just prompts with a guide for using the arrconfig command and examples of correct use, I also tried removing the "" from the guide, like this "ARRConfig config cert path to the certificate file hostnames host names for Exchange Server", when I ran it without the "" It didn't prompt me with anything nor did It indicate any errors, it did not however make my OWA work either..

I am aware that exchange 2013 atm. isn't officially supported on the R2 server, but the exchange works fine inside my domain, and the pop3/smtp also works from outside, since this Is a test environment, using only my own private domain and not a company domain I figured it would be ok to run the risk.. ;)


  • Edited by JudgeFredd Thursday, November 21, 2013 7:27 PM
November 21st, 2013 7:26pm

Hi,

Thank you for posting your issue in the forum.

I am trying to involve someone familiar with this topic to further look at this issue. There might be some time delay. Appreciate your patience.

Thank you for your understanding and support.

Best Regards,

Justin Gu
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November 24th, 2013 3:58pm

Ill try and set this up in my lab tomorrow.
November 24th, 2013 5:01pm

HI,

From the information you provided, I find you have installed the exchange 2013 on windows server 2012 R2. In fact, this is not the supported system for exchange 2013. And many problem will occur. Therefore, we recommend to install the exchange 2013 server on other windows system version such as windows server 2008 R2 or windows server 2012. See more details in the following link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa996719(v=exchg.150).aspx. But as you mentioned, this is just a test environment, and everything is working well and  you want keep it.  Ok , we will keep it as it was.

Meanwhile, I know when using the url : www.remote.clinten.dk/owa to login OWA, the error 404  occurs. But when using the url: www.remote.clinten.dk/owa to login, everything is working well. After tested on my side, I find both the URLs can reach the OWA login page now .Here, I would like to confirm if both URLs are able to get the Login page now from your side after configuring ARR. If the URL www.remote.clinten.dk/ow is still failed to login, please try to login the url https://www.remote.clinten.dk/owa  and let me know the result.

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December 11th, 2013 8:44am

i tried this and it worked fine.

ArrConfig is now in, c:\windows\system32\essentials.

December 11th, 2013 5:39pm

Thanks for trying it out for me.

I'm somewhat surprised you got it working, just by following the guide I had used.

As Jason Mei indicates after having tried to connect, I have gotten OWA to work, but I needed to make additional configurations such as manually creating bindings and other things.

Only thing that still doesn't work is Autodiscovery on locally connected workstations.

I have created a support request in "MPSC" that describes the progress so far.

I'm currently working in some other things, so haven't had time to try much to fix the autodiscovery thing, but I've tried the last suggestion from Leon Sun, and that helped somewhat, now I only get the warning about wrong certificate one time, shortly after starting Outlook, and then sometimes it can pop up again after several ours..

If possible I would very much appreciate a "guide" to the needed bindings in IIS on both Exchange server, and Essential server, and also the correct settings in url rewrite module for Exchange reverse proxy website on Essentials server.

Here is a link to the case in MPSC: http://partnersupport.microsoft.com/thread/c4180a3c-6e57-45a1-9930-e7c6a6f1296c

Btw. when posting links I get the message that this is not possible until 'm verified, whats that about and how d I get verified? I'm logged in with my MS account..

Regards and thx again!

Frede R Jensen

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December 11th, 2013 6:07pm

BTW. I think there's a possibility that some (or all) my problems may be related to the fact that my regional and keyboard settings are set to Danish.

The reason I suspect this is that I read something somewhere, about and update or installation regarding exchange, essentials or RRAS could or would fail if the regional settings on the server was not set to English..

December 11th, 2013 6:33pm

Hi,

I am glad to hear that the URL https://www.remote.clinten.dk/owa can be accessed successfully. For the binding setting, if the url starts with http returns when entering the url www.remote.clinten.dk/owa, we can set the redirection according the following link: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/975341.  In addition, for the reverse proxy, I find an article related to this. Hope it can be helpful to you. See the article as below: http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2013/07/19/reverse-proxy-for-exchange-server-2013-using-iis-arr-part-1.aspx

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December 12th, 2013 9:03am

Is this the command you used?

ARRConfig config cert path to the certificate file hostnames host names for Exchange Server

Because you are missing a switch from the end.

ARRConfig config cert path to the certificate file hostnames host names for Exchange Servertargetserver server name of Exchange Server

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj200172.aspx

December 12th, 2013 12:11pm

I'm pretty sure i included the "-targetserver" switch, because i basicly copied the entire command including swithes from the answer i got from the MS partner forum.

After running the command there was a new "site" in IIS on the Essential server called "Exchange Reverse Proxy Web Site" and in the URL rewrite for that site there was a correct entry for rewriting to the name of my Exchange server, i don't suppose that would have been made, if i had not included the -targetserver switch.

The missing bindings was in IIS on the Exchange server.

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December 12th, 2013 12:49pm

Hi,

From your description, it seems the steps in the following link http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj200172.aspx has already been tried. But it is still not working. Here, I would like to know which applications are still not working? Is theres any error code existing.

December 20th, 2013 10:07am

I thank everyone for the support for this case, unfortunately no one answer is correct for helping me with the actual problem, there were several things along the way that needed to be fixed.

But in the end the answer lies in IIS bindings on both servers (the Essential, and the Exchange server), for some reason the correct bindings did not get applied for me when i run the various steps in the guide for setting up the essentials/exchange combo.

I might have made some errors along the way, as for instance i was not aware that the arrconfig file had been moved to c:\windows\system32\essentials allthoug i had made that discovery allready when i made the first post.

Secondly, allthough it may sound strange i wouldt disregard the possibillity that the setup was incorrectly configured because i was using danish "regional settings" on the servers where the configuration was made, this assumption is based on the fact that Robert Pearman could make the same configuration without errors.

There where various other obstacles along the way for me, among others my account for some reason malfunctioned meaning that i could connect to exchange from my android smartphone, but would'nt receive any mails...

I'm aware that not every one who reads posts in this forum is MS partners, but there is a lengthy thread available which describes the problems i've encountered along the way, and to some extend the steps necessary to fix them.

If you're an MS partner, the thread can be found here:

http://partnersupport.microsoft.com/en-us/mpndataplat/forum/mpncatwinsvr-mpnws2012/configure-routing-and-remote-access-on-server/c4180a3c-6e57-45a1-9930-e7c6a6f1296c
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  • Marked as answer by JudgeFredd Thursday, January 09, 2014 1:37 PM
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January 9th, 2014 1:31pm

This drove me insane during my 2012R2 setup. I think I finally figured it out. It's unable to parse the path for some reason. Make sure you have already integrated your Exchange server via the dashboard.

Note this is for Server 2012R2 Essentials and ARR 3.0. Exchange 2013 SP1

The issue is related to the path. I strongly suggest you temporarily copy your cert into the C:\Windows\System32\Essentials folder.

Run the commands:

>cd C:\Windows\System32\Essentials
>ARRConfig config -cert yourcertname.pfx -hostnames mail.yourdomain.com

Enter your password.

Notice how I have no path after -cert. Try this and let me know. I will cross post this on other threads with the same issue.

  • Proposed as answer by traknest 8 hours 16 minutes ago
  • Unproposed as answer by traknest 8 hours 16 minutes ago
December 11th, 2014 8:33am

Hi

found this on

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/1f099068-b3ed-44f3-a8c4-c22d760a8621/arr-broken-or-bad-syntax-exchange-2013-essentials-2012-r2?forum=winserveressentials

"Ok just an update for anyone else how has this issue.

The problem has been solved by Microsoft and I have included their findings below, but basically it comes down to a typo!

I often use notepad to have all the commands I need on hand, and I must have copied the command direct from the TechNet article or other website and customised the required fields. The issue with this is one of the characters did not convert - for want of a better word. I should have retyped the whole command from scratch and it would have been right!

Thanks for everyones input and for Microsoft for getting to the bottom of it.

From Microsoft:

We have tested on your environment and here is the investigation result from our senior engineer:

================================================================

Basically the command fails due to invalid parameter, the invalid one is the -. I think the one customer used is copied from the online document sample which translate to the unicode is 0x8211 means en dash, it cant be input by normal keyboard, so I pretty sure it is from web (mostly HTML document).

The one we check (compare) is - which has the code 0x45.

So it always failed to compare the parameter and ARRconfig.exe thought it is invalid parameter.

The solution is quite simple, just using keyboard to retype the command, using normal - and I have tried the password prompt shows

Best Regards,

Johnny Chen

Microsoft Partner Support Community Technical Support Engineer
Microsoft Global Partner Services"

  • Proposed as answer by traknest 8 hours 12 minutes ago
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April 3rd, 2015 6:51pm

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