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.
About Paul Cunningham
Hey Paul, do you happen to know why the FolderSync Test fails, I have tried this with Remote Connectivity Analyzer and with Test-ActiveSyncConnectivity
Sample
Scenario : FolderSync
ScenarioDescription : Issue a FolderSync command to retrieve the folder hierarchy.
PerformanceCounterName : DirectPush Latency
Result : Failure
Error : [System.Net.WebException]: The remote server returned an error: (403) Forbidden.
HTTP response headers:
MS-Server-ActiveSync: 14.1
Content-Length: 1233
Cache-Control: private
Content-Type: text/html
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2012 02:40:02 GMT
Server: Microsoft-IIS/7.5
X-AspNet-Version: 2.0.50727
X-Powered-By: ASP.NET
I just thought of something, would it be possible that this test fails because our ActiveSync police does not allow non-complaint devices?
Possibly. Try adding your test mailbox to a separate ActiveSync policy that doesn’t have that restriction.
My ExRCA tests have never failed with the default ActiveSync policy though.
Looks like my assumptions were spot on, changed the policy so it allowed for non-compliant devices and I was able to run the tests from both, ESM and Remote Connectivity Analyzer
Here are the results
CasServer LocalSite Scenario Result Latency(MS) Error
——— ——— ——– —— ———– —–
server01… SITE Options Success 109.20
server01… SITE FolderSync Success 280.80
server01… SITE First Sync Success 140.40
server01… SITE GetItemEstimate Success 187.20
server01… SITE Sync Data Success 390.00
server01… SITE Ping Success 2023.23
server01… SITE Sync Test Item Success 78.00
Thanks!!!
hi.
I would like test my exchange active sync but i use public ip and nat ports to exchange server private ip adress.
This tool not let use numeric public ip, on alfanumeric domain.
Could you help me for test my activesync since outnet?
The ExRCA only works with domain names, not IP addresses. If you want to test with an IP address I would really suggest you set up a DNS record for it and do it the right way.
Otherwise you’ll need to use a mobile device for your testing. If you don’t have any available you can try setting up virtual Android devices for it instead:
http://exchangeserverpro.com/exchange-activesync-virtual-android-device
This is great for hands-on “manual mode” testing, but what about an automated and scheduled test that can send alerts when an ActiveSync client cannot connect?
I use a service called Mailive that performs this kind of test for general mail service. It sends an email into a mail system to an autoresponder address which sends it back. Each email is tagged with a serial number and round-trip times are reported via a web page. If the round-trip time exceeds a configurable timeout an alert is sent to an admin’s email.
If such a service or PC-based application exists for ActiveSync I would be interested in it. Any thoughts?