Exchange Server Pro » ActiveSync

How to Test ActiveSync without a Mobile Phone

Paul Cunningham — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 13:56:45 +0000

Here is a quick tip for one of the most under-utilized testing tools for Exchange Server 2010. If you ever find yourself needing to test ActiveSync for an Exchange 2010 environment, and you either don’t have an ActiveSync-capable smart phone handy or you’re trying to determine whether the phone you do have might be the problem, you can use the Microsoft Remote Connectivity Analyzer instead.

The Remove Connectivity Analyzer is a web page that lets you test multiple different connectivity types as though you were sitting outside of the network.

There are two tests you can perform:

Exchange ActiveSync – simulates all of the steps that a mobile device would use to connect to Exchange and sync mailbox items. You can perform this test using both Autodiscover and using manually configured server settings.
Exchange ActiveSync Autodiscover – tests just the Autodiscover process for automatically determining the server configuration settings.

Performing each test is as simple as filling out a web form.

The real value in this tool is how it reports on the results of the test. There is a lot that can go wrong with an ActiveSync deployment, such as DNS problems, incorrect firewall rules, misconfigured Exchange 2010 SSL certificates, and more. The Remote Connectivity Analyzer outputs a test report that breaks down each of the steps that it performed and gives you success/error details for each one, letting you know where you need to start any troubleshooting.

This tool has definitely saved me a lot of time and headaches in the past. So next time you’re troubleshooting an ActiveSync problem give the Remote Connectivity Analyzer a go.

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Will the EAS Logo Program Impact Your Smartphone Policies?

Paul Cunningham — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 01:30:43 +0000

When Microsoft announced the Exchange ActiveSync Logo program a few things immediately came to my mind.

If you missed the announcement the EAS Logo program “specifies features and management policies an OEM must include in its Exchange ActiveSync client to ensure an enterprise-ready experience for end users. These functional requirements can also help address the concerns of the IT professional, who must deal with an increasing number of consumer-purchased devices connecting to Exchange.”

The program stipulates the following features and management policies must be implemented to qualify.

Direct Push email, contacts & calendar
Accept, Decline & Tentatively Accept meetings
Rich formatted email (HTML)
Reply/Forward state on email
GAL Lookup
Autodiscover
ABQ strings (device type and device model) provided
Remote Wipe
Password Required
Minimum Password Length
Timeout without User Input
Number of Failed Attempts

One thing you might notice (as I did) is that the Android mobile operating system is missing from the list of devices qualified so far.

I imagine it is up to the handset OEMs to proactively seek qualification for their devices, but these are essentially the same companies that make the Windows Phone 7 devices so this program surely hasn’t come as a surprise to them. There may be some finer detail I’m missing but I can’t spot any differences between Windows Phone 7 and Android 2.2/2.3 in this comparison table as far as features required for EAS Logo go anyway.

It may simply be that since EAS Logo qualification isn’t a requirement of being an ActiveSync licensee (though arguably it should be) that they just aren’t in a rush to seek qualification.

Android is being predicted to own half of the smartphone market by 2012. And with ActiveSync a strong preference among Exchange administrators for mobile access, and the continuing trend towards user-owned smartphones for corporate email access rather than company-owned handsets, IT departments may be under pressure to support devices regardless of the EAS Logo program.

What about you, will the EAS Logo program impact how your company deals with smartphones? Let us know in the comments below.

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Poll: Which Exchange mobile access platform do you use?

Paul Cunningham — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 01:25:46 +0000

Businesses have a lot of choice these days for deploying mobile access for Exchange Server. Each is good in their own way, but I’m interested to know which ones you’re running in your network today. Please vote in the poll below and if you have a particular reason for your choice of platform why not leave a comment as well.

If you’re running or managing more than one you can choose more than one option.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

If you’re reading this in your RSS reader you may need to click through to the post to see the poll.

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Exchange Remote Connectivity Analyzer Updated

Paul Cunningham — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:08:29 +0000

Microsoft has released an update to the useful Exchange Remote Connectivity Analyzer. Announced by the MS Exchange Server Team today, the update includes:

New CAPTCHA interface
New tests for Exchange Web Services (useful for testing Entourage for Mac clients) and Outbound SMTP
Updates for Exchange 2010 Outlook Web Access
Password confirmation to reduce test failures from password typos
Removal of the “Beta” label

The tool also has a slick new interface. Check out the differences between the old site and the new site.

Old Exchange Remote Connectivity Test Interface

New Exchange Remote Connectivity Test Interface

Check out the Exchange Remote Connectivity Analyzer Tool.

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Configuring the Exchange Server 2007 Client Access Server

Paul Cunningham — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:04:16 +0000

Last week we looked at how to plan for an Exchange Server 2007 transition, how to prepare and install a new server to host Exchange Server 2007, and how to install the first Exchange Server 2007 server in the organization. This week we continue with configuring the new Exchange server roles, starting with the Client Access Server.

Open the Exchange Management Console and navigate to Server Configuration/Client Access.

Configure Outlook Web Access

Before Outlook Web Access is published to the internet you must enter the external URL. Open the properties of the owa (Default Web Site) and enter the external URL in the field shown here.

If you are publishing via ISA Server select the Authentication tab and choose Use one or more standard authentication methods, setting it to Integrated Authentication and Basic Authentication.

Click OK when complete. A warning will appear that the changes will not take effect until IIS is restarted.

Click OK but don’t worry about restarting IIS yet, we’ll be restarting it soon.

Configure ActiveSync

Similar to Outlook Web Access the ActiveSync external URL must be configured if it is being published to the internet. Choose the Exchange ActiveSync tab and then open the properties of Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync.

Enter the external URL in the field shown here.

Click OK when complete.

Configure Outlook Anywhere

In the Actions pane to the right of the Exchange Management Console click on Enable Outlook Anywhere.

Enter the external host name in the field shown here.

If you are publishing via an ISA Server on the same external IP address as Outlook Web Access then choose Basic Authentication. If you can dedicate an external IP address for publishing Outlook Anywhere then choose NTLM Authentication.

Click Enable when complete. You will receive a warning that Outlook Anywhere will not be available for up to 15 minutes. Click Finish to clear that warning.

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Test your Exchange Server remote connectivity

Paul Cunningham — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 23:18:54 +0000

When deploying or troubleshooting Exchange servers I regularly encounter the need to jump onto a host outside of the customer network to perform remote access testing. Over the years I’ve gotten into the habit of maintaining a host running 24/7 on my home internet connection that I can RDP to and perform these test. While this has been useful in the past it is also a massive pain (not to mention costs me electricity) to manage this host and keep it running so that it is always available when I need it.

A few days ago I learned about the Microsoft Exchange Server Remote Connectivity Analyzer, and this morning I had cause to give it a try for the first time.

The Microsoft Exchange Server Remote Connectivity Analyzer lets you perform useful tests such as ActiveSync, Autodiscover, Outlook Anywhere, and inbound SMTP. I ran through the ActiveSync test to verify for one of our remote staff that it was working properly.

The test required valid network credentials in order to perform its analysis. Though the site is owned and run by Microsoft and the credentials are transmitted via SSL if you had any security or privacy concerns you could simply create a temporary account for the tests and then change its password or delete it immediately afterwards.

In summary, a great tool and one that goes a long way to solving the headache of properly testing new Exchange Server deployments at customer networks.

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Exchange Server Pro » ActiveSync

How to Test ActiveSync without a Mobile Phone

Related posts:

Will the EAS Logo Program Impact Your Smartphone Policies?

Related posts:

Poll: Which Exchange mobile access platform do you use?

Related posts:

Exchange Remote Connectivity Analyzer Updated

Related posts:

Configuring the Exchange Server 2007 Client Access Server

Configure Outlook Web Access

Configure ActiveSync

Configure Outlook Anywhere

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Test your Exchange Server remote connectivity

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