Exchange Server

Pat Allen · Guest

We have a simple 5.5 environment: a single forest with a single domain. Our
5.5 Exchange organization consists of approximately 265 mailboxes spread over
3 servers.

We just finished our migration to AD in September. Our production AD domain,
as an example, is work.mbari.org. We've set up a test lab isolated from the
production environment where we can test deployments (including Exchange
2003). The name of that AD zone is test.mbari.org.

Again, for illustration, let's assume that one of our Echange server names
is exchange.work.mbari.org. I've built an identical server named "exchange"
in the test lab (exchange.test.mbari.org) using Microsoft's KB article
155216. The directory service starts and the information store starts. But
when I go to a client in the test.mbari.org AD domain and try to configure an
Outlook profile, I enter exchange.test.mbari.org as the exchange server name
and the the mailbox name. When I click on the "Check Name" button, the server
name changes to "exchange.work.mbari.org".

Somewhere, the directory knows the FQDN of the original production Exchange
server. Can that be changed so that I can continue this test? Or do I need
to rebuild by test environment from scratch using work.mbari.org as the AD
domain name of the test domain? That would cause tremendous problems since
the test lab is used for other things as well.

Thanks for any help!
Pat

--
Pat Allen
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)

Pat Allen · Guest

Hi Martin -

Thanks for the reply. I had already considered DNS as a potential problem
but went through your checklist anyway.

1. The test network is isolated from the rest of the world except for web
traffic so that we can get to Windows Update and other update sites.
2. The client is pointing to the correct DNS server.
3. We don't use the hosts files. The only entry is for localhost.
4. The correct DNS records exist. (I don't have any MX records in DNS for
the test network but I don't intend to do any mail transfer.)

Now here's the kicker. Yesterday, after posting the problem, I shutdown the
server so that I could image it. I booted it this morning and made sure that
all the Exchange services were running. I went to the client and deleted the
Outlook profile. I then added a new profile and it worked OK - it accepted
the name of the server on the test network. I was able to start Outlook and
send / receive mail.

Now, the only thing that is different today rather than yesterday is that
today all of the Exchange services are running whereas yesterday only the
System Attendant, Directory, and Information Store services were running per
KB article 155216. Would the addition of the Event Service or the Message
Transfer Agent Service have ANY posssible impact on this?

Thanks for any light you could possibly shed on this!

Pat
--
Pat Allen
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)

"Martin Qiu [MSFT]" wrote:

Martin Qiu [MSFT] · Guest

Hello Pat,

Thank you for posting here!

Based on my knowledge, your plan sounds good and we usually do not need to
rebuild the test environment to connect to the test Exchange Server from
Outlook. However, this issue seems to be a DNS question. Please perform the
steps below to narrow down the problem.

1. Firstly, please double confirm whether the test environment and the
product environment is totally separated in network.

2. On the problematic client, please run "ipconfig /all" command at the
command prompt to verify that the preferred DNS is pointing to your
internal DNS server in the test environment. In the meantime, under the DNS
tab in the Advanced TCP/IP Settings, click to select the "Append primary
and connections specific DNS suffixes" option.

3. Double check whether the incorrect entries are added in the HOST file in
the problematic client. The following is the example of these two entries:

192.168.200.2 Exchange
192.168.200.2 exchange.work.mbari.org

The hosts file is located in one of the following directory:

C:\winnt\system32\drivers\etc
C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc

4. Double check whether the correct reverse lookup zone PTR records are
created on the DNS server in the test environment to be responsible for the
test Exchange server's email domain.. For more information about DNS and
about reverse lookup zones, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/en/server/help/default.asp?url=/windows
2000/en/server/help/sag_DNS_und_ReverseLookup.htm

Please don't hesitate to let me know in case you have any further updates.
Have a nice day!

Regards,

Martin Qiu
Microsoft Online Partner Support

Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from your issue.
=====================================================
Business-Critical Phone Support (BCPS) provides you with technical phone
support at no charge during critical LAN outages or "business down"
situations. This benefit is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to all
Microsoft technology partners in the United States and Canada.

This and other support options are available here:

BCPS:
https://partner.microsoft.com/US/technicalsupport/supportoverview/40010469
Others: https://partner.microsoft.com/US/technicalsupport/supportoverview/

If you are outside the United States, please visit our International
Support page:
http://support.microsoft.com/common/international.aspx
=====================================================

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Martin Qiu [MSFT] · Guest

Hi Pat,

Thank you for your reply and the detailed additional feedback on how you
were successful in resolving this issue. This information has been added to
Microsoft's database. Your solution will benefit many other users, and we
really value having you as a Microsoft customer.

Based on my knowledge, this issue is most likely related to some Exchange
Information Store cache mechanism, such as DSAccess cache, that does not
update the latest information in AD. Then, when you check name for the
specific user account in Outlook, the original Exchange Server which you
copied from is still pointed.

If you have any other questions or concerns in the future, please do not
hesitate to contact us. It is always our pleasure to be of assistance.

Regards,

Martin Qiu
Microsoft Online Partner Support

Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from your issue.
=====================================================
Business-Critical Phone Support (BCPS) provides you with technical phone
support at no charge during critical LAN outages or "business down"
situations. This benefit is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to all
Microsoft technology partners in the United States and Canada.

This and other support options are available here:

BCPS:
https://partner.microsoft.com/US/technicalsupport/supportoverview/40010469
Others: https://partner.microsoft.com/US/technicalsupport/supportoverview/

If you are outside the United States, please visit our International
Support page:
http://support.microsoft.com/common/international.aspx
=====================================================

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

	Exchange Server Forum Index -> Exchange General	All times are GMT
Page 1 of 1