Just can't get enough of IT

When you run the following cmdlet to prepare Active Directory for the installation of an Exchange Server Cumulative Update (in this case CU17) you might encounter a System.UnauthorizedAccessException. 

D:\tmp\Cu17>setup.exe /PrepareAD /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms

Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 Cumulative Update 17 Unattended Setup


Unhandled Exception: System.UnauthorizedAccessException: Access to the path 'C:\
Windows\Temp\ExchangeSetup\ExSetup.exe' is denied.
   at System.IO.__Error.WinIOError(Int32 errorCode, String maybeFullPath)
   at System.IO.File.SetAttributes(String path, FileAttributes fileAttributes)
   at Microsoft.Exchange.Setup.CommonBase.SetupHelper.DeleteDirectory(String pat
h)
   at Microsoft.Exchange.Bootstrapper.Setup.BootstrapperBase.CopySetupBootstrapp
erFiles()
   at Microsoft.Exchange.Bootstrapper.Setup.Setup.Run()
   at Microsoft.Exchange.Bootstrapper.Setup.BootstrapperBase.MainCore[T](String[
] args)
   at Microsoft.Exchange.Bootstrapper.Setup.Setup.Main(String[] args)

There is a simple reason for the the System.UnauthorizedAccessException:

• .NET Framework Optimization Service 

The required .NET Framework 4.6.2 had been installed just minutes before executing setup.exe. Preparation of the Active Directory schema ran without any issues. But when the /PrepareSchema call finished, the temporary folder in C:\Windows\Temp\ExchangeSetup could not be fully cleaned up, as mscorsvw.exe had an open file handle on ExSetup.exe.

Additionally, when you run Setup.exe and the folder C:\Windows\Temp\ExchangeSetup exists, the setup will not try to copy required installation files. Regardless if the folder files exists in the folder or not.

Solution

• End both mscorsw.exe processes or wait until both process have finished optimizing your .NET Framework applications
• Manully delete the folder C:\Windows\Temp\ExchangeSetup
• Run the required Exchange setup step again

D:\tmp\Cu17>setup.exe /PrepareAD /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms

Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 Cumulative Update 17 Unattended Setup

Copying Files...
File copy complete. Setup will now collect additional information needed for
installation.

Performing Microsoft Exchange Server Prerequisite Check

    Prerequisite Analysis                                     COMPLETED

Configuring Microsoft Exchange Server

    Organization Preparation                                  COMPLETED

The Exchange Server setup operation completed successfully.

Enjoy Exchange!

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This is a quick post on how to obtain the license key for your on-premises Exchange Hybrid Server.

Even though that there is no such role like a Hybrid Server, you can get a dedicated license key to license your Exchange server used for Office 365 hybrid connectivity.

While using your Office 365 Global Administrator login, you can access your hybrid product key using the follow link:

• http://aka.ms/hybridkey

The web site will check if your Office 365 tenant is eligible for an hybrid key first. Then you have to select the approriate Exchange Server version.

Links

• Exchange Server Hybrid Deployments, https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj200581(v=exchg.150).aspx
• Exchange Hybrid Key, http://aka.ms/hybridkey

Enjoy your Exchange hybrid setup wth Office 365.

Last Updated: 2018-07-06

Description

This scripts creates a new room mailbox and security two groups for full mailbox access and and for send-as delegation. The security groups are created using a configurable naming convention. If required by your Active Directory team, you can add group prefixes or department abbreviations as well.

The script uses a Xml configuration file to simplify changes for variables unique for your environment.

High level steps executes by the script:

1. Create a new room mailbox
2. Create a new mail enabled security group for full access delegation
3. Assign full access security group for full access to the room mailbox
4. Create a new mail enabled security group for send-as delegation
5. Assign send-as permissions to send-as security group
6. Create a new mail enabled security group for allowed user to book the new room mailbox
7. Set calendar processing to AutoAccept, if required
8. Set resource capacity, if rewuired

Examples

Xml settings file

Note

The calendar booking security group feature is currently not available. But will be available in an upcoming release.

The following example creates a room mailbox for an Conference Room with empty security groups.

.\New-RoomMailbox.ps1 
  -RoomMailboxName "MB - Conference Room" 
  -RoomMailboxDisplayName "Board Conference Room" 
  -RoomMailboxAlias "MB-ConferenceRoom" 
  -RoomMailboxSmtpAddress "ConferenceRoom@mcsmemail.de" 
  -DepartmentPrefix "C"

You can simplify the use of the script by using a paramterized helper script named Run-NewRoomMailbox.ps1.

The following Run-NewRoomMailbox.ps1 script simplifies the process of creating a team mailbox even more.

$roomMailboxName = 'MB-Conference Room'
$roomMailboxDisplayName = 'Board Conference Room'
$roomMailboxAlias = 'MB-ConferenceRoom'
$roomMailboxSmtpAddress = 'ConferenceRoom@mcsmemail.de'
$departmentPrefix = 'C'
$groupFullAccessMembers = @('JohnDoe','JaneDoe')  # Empty = @()
$groupSendAsMembers = @()
$groupCalendarBookingMembers = @()
$RoomCapacity = 0
$RoomList = 'AllRoomsHQ'
$Language = 'en-GB'


.\New-RoomMailbox.ps1 
  -RoomMailboxName $roomMailboxName 
  -RoomMailboxDisplayName $roomMailboxDisplayName 
  -RoomMailboxAlias $roomMailboxAlias 
  -RoomMailboxSmtpAddress $roomMailboxSmtpAddress 
  -DepartmentPrefix $departmentPrefix 
  -GroupFullAccessMembers $groupFullAccessMembers 
  -GroupSendAsMembers $groupSendAsMembers
  -RoomCapacity $RoomCapacity 
  -AutoAccept 
  -RoomList $RoomList
  -Language $Language

Version History

• 1.0, Initial community release
• 1.1, Some PowerShell hygiene, issue #2 closed
• 1.2, CalenderBooking, Language added

Links

• Download and follow at Github: https://github.com/Apoc70/New-RoomMailbox​
• Download and like at TechNet Gallery: https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/Create-a-new-Room-Mailbox-99a4e477

Follow

• Twitter @stensitzki
• LinkedIn
• Xing

There are quite a lot of good step-by-step manuals available describing how to enable Kerberos authentication for Exchange Server 2013/2016.

The following issue has been seen in an Exchange 2013 infrastructure (8 server DAG) where Outlook clients use OutlookAnyhwere to connect to Exchange Server. MAPI over Http is disabled on an organizational level due to a compatibility issue with another client software.

Problem

Even if you follow the detailed descriptions you might end up in a situation where your Outlook clients still won't connect to Exchange Server using Kerberos. The Outlook connection status overview (Ctrl + Right Click on the Outlook icon in System Tray) still shows Ntlm as the used authentication provider:

Reason

You are supposed to use the following PowerShell cmdlets to configure OutlookAnywhere to use Kerberos:

Get-OutlookAnywhere -Server CASSERVER | Set-OutlookAnywhere -InternalClientAuthenticationMethod  Negotiate

All eight Exchange 2013 servers where still not offering Nego as an authentication provider even after some period of time. Verifying the OutlookAnywhere configurations using PowerShell showed the correct configuration values. So what to do?

A quick check at the IIS authentication settings of the \Rpc virtual directory of the Front End web site (Default Web Site) showed that this virtual directory was still configured to use Ntlm only.

Solution

Use the IIS management consolte to add the Negotiate authentication provider to the list of available providers and reorder the list to use Nego first.

Now Outlook clients will pick up the configuration change an will connect to OutlookAnywhere using Kerberos.

Note

You should not use the IIS management console to change any settings of the Exchange Server virtual directories during normal operations. Using the IIS management console should only be used for troubleshooting fancy situations that you encounter in your Exchange Server infrastructure. 

The preferred method to change Exchange Server vDir settings is PowerShell.

Links

• Configuring Kerberos authentication for load-balanced Client Access services (Exchange 2016), https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff808312(v=exchg.160).aspx
• Configuring Kerberos authentication for load-balanced Client Access servers (Exchange 2013), https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff808312(v=exchg.150).aspx

Enjoy Exchange Server