Lync Server 2013 RTM

You will be pleased to know that the RTM version of Lync Server 2013 is now available for a free 180-Day evaluation!

 

Download the Latest Version

Exchange 2013 DAG CreateCluster() Failed Error

So far I have encountered the following problem in two completely separate Exchange 2013 Preview environments when creating a Database Availability Group [DAG].

Started by creating a simple DAG without any problems, only specifying its IP address and letting Exchange decide which server to use as the Witness Server. However, whenever I tried to add any of the mailbox servers to this DAG, I would get the following error:

 

Note the "CreateCluster() failed with 0x5. Error: Access is denied" part of the error message.

If we look at the dagtask log mentioned in the error above, we will see all the tasks Exchange performs when adding a server to the DAG and where it failed:

[2012-10-26T18:23:18] ClusterSetupProgressCallback( eSetupPhase = ClusterSetupPhaseConfigureClusterAccount, ePhaseType = ClusterSetupPhaseStart, ePhaseSeverity = ClusterSetupPhaseInformational, dwPercentComplete = 94, szObjectName = DAG1 in organizational unit CN=Computers,DC=letsexchange,DC=com, dwStatus = 0x0 )

[2012-10-26T18:23:18] ClusterSetupProgressCallback( eSetupPhase = ClusterSetupPhaseConfigureClusterAccount, ePhaseType = ClusterSetupPhaseEnd, ePhaseSeverity = ClusterSetupPhaseFatal, dwPercentComplete = 94, szObjectName = DAG1 in organizational unit CN=Computers,DC=letsexchange,DC=com, dwStatus = 0x5 )

When dwStatus is 0x0, it means “success” but 0x5 means “access denied” just like the error we received in the Shell.

After some troubleshooting, I found out that the DAG’s Cluster Name Object [CNO] wasn’t created properly! There were two problems with the CNO:

1. The Exchange Trusted Subsystem universal security group didn’t have Full Access permissions to it;

2. The CNO was enabled in Active Directory:

After assigning full control to DAG1 AD object to the Exchange Trusted Subsystem and then disabling it, everything worked just fine:

 
For more information: Pre-stage the Cluster Network Object for a Database Availability Group

Hope this helps!

Wiped Mobile Devices Can Still Access Mailbox

When you wipe a mobile device that has a partnership with your Exchange environment, it might still be able to re-establish a connection and access the mailbox it had configured for 24 hours. This is the same as what happens with Outlook Web App and similar to when you disable an Active Directory account and the user can still use Outlook to access his/hers mailbox for up to 2 hours.

The solution to immediately prevent access to the mailbox after issuing a wipe is to:

1. Disable the mailbox;

2. Set a Send Prohibit Quota of 0KB;

3. Move the mailbox to another database.

If this is a mailbox in Office 365, then disable the protocols using the Set-CASMailbox cmdlet!

Exchange 2013 Beta Exams

Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 MCSE Beta Exams are now open for registration for Microsoft Learning Subject Matter Experts (SMEs):

• Beta exam – 71-341: Core Solutions of Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 Customer Preview
• Beta exam – 71-342: Advanced Solutions of Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 Customer Preview

The beta exam period will run from October 19th to November 8th 2012 and is based on Exchange 2013 Customer Preview. The live exams testing Exchange 2013 RTM will be released around January 2013.

For more details on the upcoming Exchange 2013 certifications: 70-341 and 70-342

Exchange 2013 RTM

Today the Exchange engineering team signed off the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) build of the new Exchange 2013. This means the coding and testing phase of the project is complete and they are now focused on releasing the new Exchange via multiple distribution channels. General availability is planned for the first quarter of 2013.

In addition to Exchange, the new Office, SharePoint, and Lync have also reached RTM.

Source: EHLO

iOS 6 Issues with Exchange

There have been some reports that iOS 6 is not working properly for many Exchange users... Apparently there are two issues:

Push E-mail

Push delivery of e-mail does not work, meaning users have to manually check for e-mails. It seems that this issue is not carrier or device specific and rebooting or reconfiguring the Exchange accounts only “fixes” the issue temporarily.

Meetings

This second issue happens when users decline a meeting invitation from an iOS 6 device. Instead of simply sending a notification to the meeting organizer, iOS 6 sends meeting cancellation notices to the entire group of attendees, cancelling the invitation for everyone!

In the environment where I work, we don’t seem to be experiencing any of these issues. Initially I asked colleagues if they were having any problems with push e-mail and they were all working fine (I believe our ServiceDesk has not received any calls regarding this yet – we have 651 devices on iOS 6 so far).

As to the second issue, I tested it three times with different users and with the new iPad, iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 and couldn’t replicate the issue...

However, this seems to be affecting many, many Exchange 2007/2010 organizations out there, so please be aware of this and test it!

UPDATE: The Exchange Team has just published a post on this: iOS6 devices erroneously take ownership of meetings!

UPDATE 2: looks like Apple has released an update for iOS 6 (available via iTunes and wirelessly) which supposedly fixes the issues of this OS with Microsoft Exchange meetings! More information here.

List Litigation Hold Users and Size

A feature introduced in Exchange 2010 RTM and that is being used more and more it Litigation Hold. It is used during a lawsuit, investigation or similar events to preserve mailbox items from inadvertent or purposeful modification or deletion by the user (or someone with access to the mailbox) and from automated deletion by retention policies. Until the hold is removed, deleted items are not purged from the mailbox database and if a mailbox item is modified, a copy of the original item is also retained. These are returned in Discovery searches performed when the mailbox is on Litigation Hold. Any retention policies applicable to the mailbox don't need to be suspended. Because messages continue to be deleted as expected (except from the Recoverable Items\Purges folder!), users may not notice they're on Litigation Hold.

 

To check if there are any users in your organization currently enabled for Litigation Hold, simply run the following cmdlet:

Get-Mailbox -ResultSize Unlimited -Filter {LitigationHoldEnabled -eq $True}

If you want to check the Recoverable Items folder size for all mailboxes on Litigation Hold, i.e. how many data is being held by Litigation Hold, use the following cmdlet:

Get-Mailbox -ResultSize Unlimited -Filter {LitigationHoldEnabled -eq $True} | Get-MailboxFolderStatistics –FolderScope RecoverableItems | FT Identity, FolderAndSubfolderSize

 

Or if you simply want to check a single mailbox:

Get-MailboxFolderStatistics <user> -FolderScope RecoverableItems | Select Identity, FolderAndSubfolderSize

Hope this helps!