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"Delivery has failed" error When Scheduling a Resource

There are plenty of answers to the error message:

"Delivery has failed to these recipients or distribution lists:
 
Jane Doe
Your message wasn't delivered because of security policies..."

In our case, Jane Doe was no longer an employee and her account was disabled. The sender of the message was requesting a meeting with someone who had Jane as his admin, so he had her as a Delegate for his Calendar. Once we removed her from his Outlook's Delegate list, there were no more errors.

Pretty simple, but they've moved Delegate Access in Outlook 2010, now you go to File > Account Settings > Delegate Access

For Outlook 2007 and earlier, go to Tools > Options > Delegates tab.

Recurring meeting has been declined!

A recent Outlook user, trying to book a non-recurring meeting, received this error: "Giant Conference Room has declined your meeting because it is recurring. You must book each meeting separately with this resource." But, it was non-recurring!!!

This error comes about when multiple users have the same resource open, in this case a conference room, and make edits causing the Free/Busy information to become corrupt.

In order to fix the issue, just change one of the scheduling settings within Outlook > Options > Calendar > Resource Scheduling..., such as "Automatically decline recurring meeting requests," click OK, then change it back. It'll cause the Free/Busy data to rebuild and scheduling may once again take place.

List of Exchange Scripts

I started following Pat Richard's blog a few months ago and have since found his scripts to be quite useful. Even if I'm not using them directly, they've been useful as a reference when writing my own.

He recently created a list of scripts available on his site; stop by and take a look.

Exchange 2003 RPC over HTTPS - Easy

If you remember way back in September of 2003, (I don't, had to look up the date), a new version of Exchange Server was released with a new and really cool feature, RPC over HTTPS. This allowed for use of Outlook outside the company's network without the need for VPN. What a huge boon for traveling employees and IT staff alike.

With that came a convoluted configuration that probably resulted in more support calls to Microsoft than anything else involving the then-new Exchange Server 2003 product. And I always found it puzzling that Microsoft didn't create a wizard to automate this configuration, as they did for Small Business Server 2003, which included Exchange Server. (This was addressed in the later Exchange Server releases, 2007 and 2010.)

In any case it always seemed like a miracle was preformed when RPC over HTTPS finally did work. Fast-forward seven years and there are web pages and tutorials aplenty. In my recent search, the MSExchange article I found was the most straight-forward for a single system, Exchange Server 2003 deployment. One key element upon completion of the feature install and changes to the registry, is to make sure you reboot any Domain Controllers that were updated after the work is complete.

The reboot is necessary to complete the Global Catalog port mapping of 6004. In fact, you should be able to telnet to ports 6001 and 6002 on the Exchange Server, and 6004 on the Global Catalog server that was updated.

And as always, there is the über-useful Exchange Remote Connectivity Analyzer to aid with troubleshooting (that's how I found out the Global Catalog needed a reboot).

Exchange 2010 SP1

Get it while it's hot: Exchange 2010 SP1.

Here's the list of what's new and shiny.

Script Samples

There are times when I spent an inordinate amount of time looking for just the right syntax for a command or even the correct command to get the job done. Here are four I put to use in the last few months...

Change Printer Spooler Service Recovery options to Restart
sc failure spooler reset= 60 actions= restart/600/restart/600/restart/600

Backing up an MSDE Database
osql -E -Q "BACKUP DATABASE mdss TO DISK= 'C:\BB_DB_Backup\mdss.bak'"

Copy Database and then Appending with Date
copy t:\plandata.mdb C:\PlanDataBackup /Y

For /F "Tokens=1-8 Delims=.:/ " %%a In ('Echo %Date%') Do (Set All=%%d-%%b-%%c)
@For %%a in ("plandata.mdb") do rename %%a "%%~na-%All%.mdb"

Deleting Old OWA Logs
forfiles -p "C:\inetpub\logs\LogFiles\W3SVC1" -c "cmd /c echo del \"@FILE\" & del \"@FILE\"" -d -21

Free PowerShell Editor

Yesterday I began to really dive into a new user script (which uses Exchange Management Shell) to bring it up to date and include more fields and features. As the script complexity grew, Notepad was no longer cutting the mustard.

I thought I'd be using Notepad++ or TextPad, both fine in their own right, but instead found PowerGUI. This PowerShell editor which finds syntax errors, includes definitions and much more; all for the low, low price of free. This seems to be a community supported by Quest Software who has a bunch of fine (not so free) tools for SysAdmins.

I'm now able to work on, and run, the script off network (read: at home). It's a helluva deal for the price, try PowerGUI for your next PowerShell outing.

Exchange 2010 is Now Available

Good thing we had that free eBook to learn Exchange 2010, because the announcement on the official Microsoft Exchange Team Blog says it is out the door and available worldwide.

You can grab the 120 day trial here. And this time there is no 32-bit version, as with the Exchange 2007 trial.

And if you are a TechNet or MSDN subscriber, the full (non-expiring) version is available for download as well.

Free Exchange 2010 eBook

I nabbed this news item from Bink.nu, a very worthy site for the latest in Microsoft news.

You can head on over to Red Gate Software's site for a free eBook on Exchange 2010. I guess I should start reading, it'll be here sooner than later.

Not sure how long this will last, so get'em while they're hot.

TechNet Subscription

Any Windows IT guy/gal worth their salt should have a TechNet subscription. The download-only version (the one to get) at $349 for the first year and $249 for annual renewal, is an incredible bargain.

As a subscriber you get a huge array of non-expiring Microsoft software covering all their operating systems (including DOS), applications, server software and early access to beta, release candidate and RTM software (I'm actually writing this on the full release version of Windows 7).

In addition there is access to free training, managed newsgroups and two FREE Support Incidents (this is worth the price of the subscription alone at $259 each).

I'm not trying to line the pockets of the Redmond empire, I just believe this is a great value for anyone working with/or training on Microsoft software; the benefits well outweigh the price.

Recovering Deleted Mail in Outlook

Disclaimer: This is only for those using Exchange (and always backup your registry before editing).

So you've hit Shift-Delete on a mail item or perhaps even setup a POP account on a system that totally drains all of your messages from your Inbox. Don't fret, highlight the folder in question, go to Tools > Recover Deleted Items... and bring your messages back from the brink of death.

What's that you say? You don't have Outlook 2007 with item recovery enabled on every folder. Well here's the fix for those with older versions of Outlook:

1. Fire up Regedit (Start > Run... Regedit, OK)
2. Locate and then click the following key in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Exchange\Client\Options
3. On the Edit menu, click New > DWORD Value, and then add the following registry value:
         Value name: DumpsterAlwaysOn
         Value: 1
4. Close Regedit

You're done. Now you can retrieve items at will.

Assigning Certificates in Exchange 2007

I've wasted too much time in the past looking this information up and still have to dig around for the right command. I don't imagine I'm the only one, so here's what I've gathered together...

When manipulating the certificates at the command line (this article assumes you're running all your commands within an Exchange Management Shell), it's helpful to look up the Thumbprints for the available certificates.

Get-ExchangeCertificate will display those certificates available for use in the local certificate store and to what services they are currently assigned.

Copy the thumbprint string of the certificate you wish to use and paste it into the following command...

Enable-ExchangeCertificate -Thumbprint 9E101F27C9B07BEE021ECB88ED6B78DD17F6E702-Services IIS, Pop, Imap, Smtp assigns the certificate to all the available services. Mix and match as you need.

Availability Error

This error kept creeping up on our front-end Exchange 2007 server:
Event ID: 4011
Process 6168[w3wp.exe:/LM/W3SVC/1/ROOT/EWS-1-128806932311406509]: Configuration for forest corp1.contoso.com was not found in Active Directory. Run the Add-AvailabilityAddressSpace command in the Exchange Management Shell for an Exchange Server 2003 Active Directory forest.Luckily the answer was on theTechNet site, I just ran this using the EMS...

Add-AvailabilityAddressSpace -ForestName Contoso.com -AccessMethod PublicFolder

Soon we'll be without a mixed 2003/2007 environment, I look forward to that day.

Hub Transport Warning during Exchange 2007 Install

This is sort of a bogus warning, but it comes up when installing Exchange 2007 integrated with Service Pack 1.

"Setup cannot detect an SMTP or Send connector with an address space of '*'."

A quick search came up with a Microsoft KB article stating you need to add an SMTP Send Connector after setup. This task always needs to be done if you won't be using an Edge Transport role. I imagine when the Exchange installer comes integrated with Service Pack 2 this message will either be gone or at least more explanatory.

Exchange 2007 PurportedSearch Error

This "PurportedSearch" error was a hard one to track down. I was installing the Mailbox role, for the Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2007 migration, and during the perquisites stage it would error out because there was an invalid character present in a custom Recipient Policy, as listed below:

Mailbox Role Prerequisites
Failed

Error:
An unexpected '(' character is found in the 'purportedSearch' attribute of the Recipient Policy 'firstdotlast', it will cause setup to fail. Please remove it and rerun setup. Current value: (&(&(& (mailnickname=*) (| (&(objectCategory=person)(objectClass=user)(!(homeMDB=*))(!(msExchHomeServerName=*)))(&(objectCategory=person)(objectClass=user)(|(homeMDB=*)(msExchHomeServerName=*)))(&(objectCategory=person)(objectClass=contact))(objectCategory=group)(objectCategory=publicFolder)(objectCategory=msExchDynamicDistributionList) )))).

I did numerous searches on the web and I found nothing conclusive; that's when I decided to burn one of the two Support Incidents I get with my TechNet subscription. The Microsoft tech knew right away what the issue was and how to get around it. It seems the old recipient policy in LDAP form needs to be converted to OPATH during an Exchange 2003 to 2007 migration and I hadn't done that...really, who knew? I hadn't read this in any of my numerous Exchange 2007 books or saw it on any website, but maybe I missed it.

The workaround was to open the ADSI editor(adsiedit.msc) and browse over to the recipient policy in question, copy and save the contents to a text file, then clear the value.
Here's the path for the ADSI editor: Configuration -> CN=Configuration,DC=company,DC=com -> CN=Services -> CN=Microsoft Exchange -> CN=Company -> CN=Recipient Policies -> CN=custom policy

Once that was done, I re-ran the Exchange 2007 Mailbox role installation and it went perfectly. Next was to reopen the ADSI editor and take the data from the text file and repopulate the purportedSearch value.

The Microsoft tech was very helpful and pointed me to a TechNet article regarding the conversion from LDAP to OPATH Recipient Policies. Now why wasn't this addressed in the Exchange 2007 installer? It would have been a simple script to do this in the background, or at the very least how about a real clue from the installer stating the actual problem. In any case, it is all working now.

OWA 2007 E-mail Display Issue when a Plus Sign is in the Subject

This was a particularly odd issue, e-mails wouldn't display in the web browser when a plus sign was present in the subject line. This manifested on a Windows Server 2008 system with Exchange 2007.

The answer was actually on a TechNet blog dedicated to Entourage, thanks to Amir for the answer. It makes sense that it would affect Entourage and most likely Evolution as well, because both use OWA to manage data, rather than RPC.

Here's the fix...

1. Open Notepad

2. Go to File > Open, then type (or copy and paste) %windir%\System32\inetsrv\config\applicationHost.config in the File name: field and click Open

3. Locate the section titled (use Ctrl-F): <location path="Default Web Site/Exchange">

4. Under that section locate the </authentication> tag

5. Create a new line, indented the same, and add: <requestFiltering allowDoubleEscaping="true" />

6. Save and Exit Notepad

You don't have to restart the server or any services, it'll just work.

Exchange 2007 Logging, Part Deux

I covered setting the logging level for IMAP with the Exchange Management Shell a few weeks ago, but I keep coming up with more items to track. The expected syntax is below.

Set-EventLogLevel “MSExchange ActiveSync\Requests” -Level High

To find the available processes for logging (you put them between the quotes if spaces are present) enter Get-EventLogLevel in the Exchange Shell and you will be presented with an impressive list.

And again, the available levels are Lowest, Low, Medium, High and Expert.

Exchange Remote Connectivity Analyzer

This has been covered a number of places before, but this is really cool and bares repeating. This free testing site, with it's amble result data, can be invaluable when rolling out Exchange services. Whether it's ActiveSync, Inbound SMTP, RPC/HTTPS, plus more, this Microsoft troubleshooting website is great. (And the SMTP test works with more than just Microsoft mail servers.)

Try it out here: Exchange Remote Connectivity Analyzer

Turn Up IMAP Logging in Exchange 2007

This one took me a little while to find, but there are two ways to modify IMAP logging in Exchange 2007. (BTW, I'm trying to get cross-site connectivity with IMAP to work.)

Open Regedit, go to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchange IMAP\Diagnostics and change the General value to something useful for you: 0 (Lowest), 1 (Low), 3 (Medium), 5 (High), and 7 (Expert).

You can also makes this happen via the EMS by using:
Set-EventLogLevel “MSExchange IMAP4\General” -Level High