Wednesday, September 22, 2004

WebRelease 1.1 tools on the web today (including EXBPA and others)

 

Today we see the release of the "Web Release 1.1" tool downloads at: http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/downloads/2003.asp

There are a bunch of great new tools and updates to existing tools.  The big release today, of course, is the Exchange "Best Practices Analyzer" tool which can be used to scan your Exchange organization for a bunch of different known-problems and best practice suggestions. The "All Tools" package has also been updated.

Here's the list of changes and brief explanations:

Tool Display Name: ExBPA 

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=DBAB201F-4BEE-4943-AC22-E2DDBD258DF3

 

Short Description
ExBPA is a tool that allows for getting a snapshot of an Exchange deployment and storing the data in an XML file for further study and analysis. Read JonAv's post about the ExBPA release over at the Exchange Team blog.

 

WR11 New/Update
New 

 

 

Tool Display Name: Jetstress 2004

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=94B9810B-670E-433A-B5EF-B47054595E9C&displaylang=en  

 

Short Description
Jetstress helps to evaluate the hardware storage by simulating the Exchange disk input/output (I/O) load. Specifically, Jetstress simulates the Exchange database and log file loads produced by a specified number of users.

Jetstress enables you to do two types of tests: the Jetstress Disk Performance Test and the Jetstress Disk Subsystem Stress Test. The Disk Performance Test runs for two hours and enables you to verify the performance and sizing of your storage solution. The Disk Subsystem Stress Test runs for 24 hours and enables you to test the server storage reliability over a longer time. Running both tests is the best way to verify the integrity and performance of your disk subsystem.

 

WR11 New/Update
New

 

Usage / Documentation
Launch JetStressUI.exe, select the tests to run, fill in the user profile information and the database and log drives path. Start running the test, and once the test is completed, the result will be displayed in the html format.

 

 

Tool Display Name: MSSearch Admin

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=46FD5644-BD0D-4CFA-95F8-64BA34BDE6A7&displaylang=en

 

Short Description
MSSearch Admin determines which Exchange Stores in the domain have Full-Text Indexes, provides status on indexes and supports administration via command line.

 

WR11 New/Update
New

 

Usage / Documentation
Command line VBS script with several options documented in the accompanying documentation.  Output is directed to an XML file if the Output option is used.  Output goes to the screen if no output file named.

 

  

Tool Display Name: SmtpDiag

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=BC1881C7-925D-4A29-BD42-71E8563C80A9&displaylang=en

 

Short Description
SmtpDiag is a troubleshooting tool designed to work directly on a Windows server with IIS/SMTP service enabled or with Exchange Server installed. It utilizes the same APIs as Windows and Exchange in order to diagnose configuration and connection issues involving SMTP and DNS. 

 

WR11 New/Update
New

 

Usage / Documentation
SMTPDIAG from rcpt [-d external dns] [/v] [/?]

 

from address  
Address of local mail box. Used for verifying "mail from" as well as checking inbound DNS.

 

rcpt address
Email Address of remote mail box you are attempting to send mail to.  Used to verify DNS as well as remote mail box availability.

 

-d external dns       
IP address of External DNS server used by Exchange to determine remote MX records.  This is not an option for IIS SMTP.

 

/?
Displays Help

 

  

Tool Display Name: Auto Accept Agent

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=3D0884E6-C603-491D-BF57-ACF03E046BFE&displaylang=en

 

Short Description

A store event sink that automatically processes meeting requests for resource mailboxes. The agent checks the availability of the resource mailbox based on the resource’s schedule (not free/busy), and accepts or declines new or updated meeting requests.

 

WR11 New/Update

Update

 

What’s Different?

  • Allows users to customize a response message
  • The "Events" perfmon counter was being counted once as the incoming item arrives, and again when we do a save before moving off to the Delete Items folder.
  • Addition of performance counter to help them monitor how long the agent is taking to process requests.
  • Optionally hide Response Type and Agent Version from responses
  • If domain name is missing from credentials provided during setup, use current user's domain.

 

Usage / Documentation

See deployment guide at: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=27921

  

  

Tool Display Name: Exchange Server Stress and Performance 2003

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=773AE7FD-860F-4755-B04D-1972E38FA4DB&displaylang=en

 

Short Description

Simulates large numbers of client sessions in a test environment, in order to test server performance. Includes modules that are used to simulate several protocols and loads. 

 

WR11 New/Update

Update

 

What’s Different

Fixed Crash in ESP.exe 6.5.7226.0 during combined DAV, IMAP, and SMTP module load. Crash occurred after about 4 days of activity without other errors.

 

Usage / Documentation

No changes

 

 

Tool Display Name: Load Simulator 2003

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=92EB2EDC-3433-47CA-A5F8-0483C7DDEA85&displaylang=en

 

Short Description

Simulates the performance load of MAPI clients, thereby enabling testing of how a server that is running Exchange Server 2003 responds to e-mail loads.

 

WR11 New/Update

Update

 

What’s Different

  • Documentation change to add the remote control feature and the command line interface.  
  • Loadsim didn’t report delivery time properly to lsperf.log. Previous version was miscalculating the time it took to deliver a message -- this only affected the output of lslog.exe.  Introduces new warning that will appear in the loadsim window, Invalid DeliveryTime (%d hours)” - Message was inserted by Initialization routine and will not be included in log file.  This warning will fire whenever Loadsim reads an ‘initialization’ message, of which there are about 1000/user.

 

Usage / Documentation

No changes

 

 

Tool Display Name: Badmail Deletion and Archiving

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=782AAF0F-6239-40AD-ADDA-97863D852FF7&displaylang=en  

 

Short Description
Automatically deletes or archives files in the badmail directory of specified SMTP virtual servers. Ensures that the size of the badmail directory does not exceed specific size limits and eliminates the administrative overhead of manually archiving or deleting these files.

 

WR11 New/Update
Update (documentation only)

 

What’s Different
Documentation of usage changed from showing running the tool from “C:\bamailadmin.wsf” to “C:\Windows\System32\Cscript.exe c:\badmailadmin.wsf”

 

Usage / Documentation
No Change

 

 

Tool Display Name: Domain Rename Fixup (XDR-Fixup)

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=24B47D4A-C4B9-4031-B491-29839148A28C&displaylang=en

 

Short Description
Fixes Exchange attributes in Active Directory after using the Microsoft® Windows Server™ 2003 domain rename tool.

 

WR11 New/Update
Update (documentation only)

 

What’s Different
Documentation change to say that domain rename with multiple routing groups and exchange server(s) with static dns name requires SMTPSVC and RESVC to be restarted on all servers that use the former as bridge-heads

 

Usage / Documentation
No Changes

 

 

Tool Display Name: Exchange Profile Update

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=56F45AC3-448F-4CCC-9BD5-B6B52C13B29C&displaylang=en  

 

Short Description
Updates Outlook profiles after moving mailboxes across Exchange organizations or administrative groups.

 

WR11 New/Update
Update (documentation only)

 

What’s Different
Documentation changed to reflect that the Exchange Profile Update tool is supported when run on the following operating systems and applications:

  • Windows 2000 (all editions)
  • Windows XP (all editions)
  • Windows 2003 (all editions)
  • Outlook 98 to Outlook 2003 

 

Tool Display Name: Importer for Lotus cc:Mail Archives

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=460FD995-588C-4F50-8A19-BD77EEC868A6&displaylang=en  

 

Short Description
Imports cc:Mail archive files to folders in an Exchange Server 2003 mailbox store or to one or more personal folder (.pst) files.

 

WR11 New/Update
Update (documentation only)

 

What’s Different
Removed several references to Exchange 2000 from CCMA Help files.

 

 

Tool Display Name: Inter-Organization Replication

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=E7A951D7-1559-4F8F-B400-488B0C52430E&displaylang=en  

 

Short Description
Replicates public folder and free/busy information between Exchange organizations.

 

WR11 New/Update
Update (documentation only)

 

What’s Different

Added ini settings to documentation.

 

 

Tool Display Name: Mailbox Merge Wizard (ExMerge)

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=429163EC-DCDF-47DC-96DA-1C12D67327D5&displaylang=en  

 

Short Description
Extracts data from mailboxes on one server running Exchange and merges that data into mailboxes on another server that is running Exchange.

 

WR11 New/Update
Update (documentation only)

 

What’s Different
Documented that Exmerge fails if the source mailbox is a Recovery Database and you're in a cross-forest scenario.

 

 

Tool Display Name: Application Analyzer 2003 for Lotus Notes Data Collector 

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=B6F78D8E-184F-49C4-BB1F-EE9A82B0893B&displaylang=en

 

Short Description
Learn about your Lotus Notes applications with this non-invasive analysis tool. This updated version supports currently available Microsoft product offerings as recommended targets (e.g. Microsoft® Office SharePoint ™ Portal Server 2003 and Microsoft® Office InfoPath(TM) 2003) and Lotus Notes releases up to and including version 6. The tool has two modules:

 

Data Collector.
Use this module to compile raw data about your Lotus Notes applications and to view an executive summary report. The Data Collector does not collect any actual data from within the databases or modify the data or databases in any way. It collects usage and structure information only. This collected information can be used by a Microsoft Certified Partner or Microsoft Consulting Services with the Data Processor to generate in-depth reports about your Notes applications and to help you develop a migration strategy.

 

Data Processor.
This separate module is only available as a service offering from either a Microsoft Certified Partner or through Microsoft Services.

 

WR11 New/Update

Update

 

What’s Different
Updated release to address globalization issues in displaying graphs in the Japanese version of the tool


[Evan's WebLog]

Tuesday, September 21, 2004

IMF Archive Manager Version 2 released

 

After 6 months of feedback and contributions by the folks over in the IMFAM workspace, the final release of the 2nd IMF Archive Manager is available.

 

IMFAM is a C# GUI tool released as shared source on GotDotNet that provides a view of the IMF archive directory and the eml files in it.  It also has a preview pane that displays decoded P2 mail message properties as well as the entire raw message.  There are 5 actions: Refresh, Delete, Resubmit, Copy to Clip, and Report.  Refresh reloads the view as well as the raw message.  Delete deletes the selected message.  Resubmit moves the message to the pickup directory where it is resubmitted to the MTA and delivered.  Copy to Clip copies the entire raw message to the clipboard in case you want to paste it in another window.  Report creates a new message, attaches the selected message as an attachment, and then sends it to the recipient listed in the report settings.  In addition it optionally strips P1 headers, x-SCL header, and deletes the message if so configured in the report settings.  The report feature is useful if you want to send the UCE to reporting organizations such as http://www.spamcop.net.

 

Version 2 adds support for 4 languages; French, German, Spanish (Mexico), and Traditional Chinese (Taiwan).  It also provides a new List View that allows the messages to be previewed similar to a mail client as well as supporting multi-select operations.  Head over to http://workspaces.gotdotnet.com/imfarchive for a full list of features and to download the tool.

- James Webster

Friday, September 17, 2004

SSL Diagnostics Tool

Here's a useful tool to add to your toolbox if you get involved with configuring SSL within your Exchange environment: SSLDiag. The installation also includes an SSL FAQ guide which is really useful if you wish to learn more about SSL.

Overview:
A common problem for administrators of IIS servers is configuring and troubleshooting SSL enabled websites. To assist in administrators efforts, Microsoft has designed a tool - SSL Diagnostics - to aid in quickly identifying configuration problems in the IIS metabase, certificates, or certificate stores.

This tool allows users to review configuration information in a easy to read view mode or to run the tool silently with only the creation of a log file. During use, administrators can simulate the SSL handshake to find errors. They can also quickly "hot swap" certificates for testing purposes.

These packages come in two forms: Express and Full. The express will only give the pertinent tools for administrators to use SSL Diagnostics while full install installs the same files with the appropriate documentation. Included in the full install is a SSL Frequently Asked Questions that can assist in the learning of SSL for administrators.

How to reset the default virtual directories for Outlook Web Access in Exchange Server 2003

MS has recently released a KB article on how to reset the default virtual directories  for OWA 2003. In OWA 2000, if they got damaged or accidentally deleted, the SA would automagically recreate them on restart, but with E2K3, this function does not work the same. 

INTRODUCTION

Sometimes you must re-create the Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) virtual directories when you experience problems with Microsoft Outlook Web Access on your Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 computer. By default, Exchange Server 2003 creates the following six IIS virtual directories: Exadmin, Exchange, ExchWeb, Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync, OMA, and Public.

However, if you delete the IIS virtual directories that are used by Outlook Web Access, the virtual directories are not automatically re-created when you restart the Exchange System Attendant service. This article describes two methods that you can use to delete and to re-create the virtual directories that are used by Outlook Web Access.

Note In Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server, after you delete the virtual directories for Outlook Web Access, the virtual directories are re-created when you restart the Exchange System Attendant service.

For additional information about the virtual directories for Outlook Web Access in Exchange Server 2003, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

821898 Virtual Internet Information Services (IIS) directories that are used by Outlook Web Access in Exchange Server 2003

MORE INFORMATION

To delete and to re-create the virtual directories for Outlook Web Access, use one of the following methods.

Method 1: Use Metabase Explorer from the IIS 6.0 Resource Kit Tools

  1. Install the IIS 6.0 Resource Kit Tools. To obtain the IIS 6.0 Resource Kit Tools, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

    http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=56FC92EE-A71A-4C73-B628-ADE629C89499&displaylang=en

    Note If you do not want to install all the IIS tools on your computer, you can install only the Metabase Explorer 1.6 component. To do this, follow these steps:
    1. Double-click iis60rkt.exe, and then follow the instructions that are on your screen until you reach the Setup Type page of the IIS 6.0 Resource Kit Tools Setup Wizard.
    2. On the Setup Type page, click Custom, and the click Next.
    3. Click to clear all the IIS Resource Kit Tools and components check boxes except the Metabase Explorer 1.6 check box.
    4. Click Next, and then click Finish.
  2. Back up your IIS metabase. To do this, follow these steps:
    1. Start IIS Manager.
    2. Right-click Default Web Site, point to All Tasks, and then click Save Configuration to a File.
    3. In the Save Configuration to a File dialog box, type a configuration name in the File name input box, and then click OK.
  3. Delete the virtual directories for Outlook Web Access. To do this, expand the Default Web Site in the left pane of IIS Manager, right-click Exadmin, and then click Delete. Click Yes when you are prompted with the question of whether you want to delete this item.

    Repeat this step for the following virtual directories:
    • Exchange
    • ExchWeb
    • Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync
    • OMA
    • Public
  4. Quit IIS Manager.
  5. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to IIS Resources, point to Metabase Explorer, and then click Metabase Explorer.
  6. Expand LM, right-click DS2MB, and then click Delete. Click Yes when you are prompted with the question of whether you want to delete this key and all subkeys.
  7. Quit IIS Metabase Explorer.
  8. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Services.
  9. Right-click Microsoft Exchange System Attendant, and then click Restart. Click Yes when you are prompted with the question of whether you want to restart these services. The Microsoft Exchange Information Store service will probably be listed as one of the services that restarts.

    The virtual directories are re-created. To verify that the virtual directories are re-created, start IIS Manager, and then view the Default Web site folder.

    Important If the virtual directories are not re-created after 15 minutes, restart your computer.
  10. Reset the access permissions to Anonymous. To do this, follow these steps:
    1. Start IIS Manager, right-click ExchWeb, click Properties, and then click the Directory Security tab.
    2. Under Authentication and access control click Edit, and then verify that the Enable anonymous access check box is turned on.
    3. Click to select the Integrated Windows authentication check box, click OK, and then click Apply.
    4. If you an Inheritance Overrides dialog box appears, click Select All, and then click OK.
    5. Under Authentication and access control, click Edit, and then click to clear the Integrated Windows authentication check box.
    6. Click OK two times, and then quit IIS Manager.
Use your Web browser to verify that you can connect to your Outlook Web Access server.

Method 2: Use Adsutil.exe

  1. Back up your IIS Metabase. To do this, follow these steps:
    1. Start IIS Manager.
    2. Right-click Default Web Site, point to All Tasks, and then click Save Configuration to a File.
  2. Delete the virtual directories for Outlook Web Access. To do this, right-click Exadmin in the left pane of IIS Manager, and then click Delete. Click Yes when you are prompted with the question of whether you want to delete this item.

    Repeat this step for the following virtual directories:
    • Exchange
    • ExchWeb
    • Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync
    • OMA
    • Public
  3. Quit IIS Manager.
  4. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then press ENTER.
  5. Change to the following folder. In this example, Drive is the hard disk drive where Windows is installed:

    Drive:\inetpub\adminscripts

  6. Type adsutil, and then press ENTER.

    Important By default, CScript is not the default scripting host for Windows Server 2003. To run the adsutil command, CScript must be configured as the default scripting host. To do this, click Yes if you are prompted to register CScript as you default host for VBscript, and then click OK.

    Note If you receive a list of adsutil command options, CScript is already configured as the default scripting host for VBscript.
  7. Type adsutil delete ds2mb, and then press ENTER.

    Note To set the default scripting host to WScript, type WScript //H:WScript at the command prompt, press ENTER, and then click OK.
  8. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Services.
  9. Right-click Microsoft Exchange System Attendant, and then click Restart. Click Yes if you are prompted with the question of whether you want to the restart other services. The Microsoft Exchange Information Store service will probably be listed as one of the services that restarts.
  10. Reset the access permissions to Anonymous. To do this, follow these steps:
    1. Start IIS Manager, right-click ExchWeb, click Properties, and then click the Directory Security tab.
    2. Under Authentication and access control click Edit, and then verify that the Enable anonymous access check box is turned on.
    3. Click to select the Integrated Windows authentication check box, click OK, and then click Apply.
    4. If an Inheritance Overrides dialog box appears, click Select All, and then click OK.
    5. Under Authentication and access control, click Edit, and then click to clear the Integrated Windows authentication check box.
    6. Click OK two times, and then quit IIS Manager.
Use your Web browser to verify that you can connect to your Outlook Web Access server.

Tuesday, September 14, 2004

IMF on machines with 15 character names

 

If you're running Intelligent Message Filter (IMF) on an Exchange server with a 15 character servername (for instance, if your gateway with IMF installed is called ABCDEFGHIJKLMNO), you may have noticed that IMF doesn't process the inbound messages. This is because IMF does not bind properly to a server where the NetBIOS name is 15 characters in length.

There is now a hotfix available for this issue. Please see KB.873434 for more information on this problem and how to get the hotfix from Microsoft PSS.

Thursday, September 09, 2004

MS Whitepaper released on Optimizing Storage for E2K3

As Chris mentioned on his blog - Microsoft has a new paper out that talks about Optimizing Storage for Exchange Server 2003.

Definitely a good read that talks about where Exchange generates most IO, what the best practices are for placing Exchange files on different types of storage and, very importantly, how storage capacity and performance efficiency do not always have to go hand in hand. Seeing that Exchange is very IO intensive, this is a very important point that can cause a lot of performance problems for Exchange clients.

Great read, please go here to get it.

Wednesday, September 08, 2004

TechNet Virtual Labs


Looking for something to do during your lunch hour? Why not take a look at the Technet Virtual Labs? Each module is allocated a 60 min block of time...


Step into the Exchange Server 2003 Virtual Lab for Free

It's simple—no complex setup or installation is required to try out Exchange Server 2003 running in the full-featured TechNet Virtual Lab. As part of the TechNet Virtual Lab, you will have access full access to Exchange Server 2003 through seven modules:


  • Configuring Microsoft Windows Server 2003 RPC Proxy
  • Controlling Junk e-mail with Exchange 2003 and the Intelligent Message Filter
  • Disaster Recovery with Exchange Server 2003
  • Managing Exchange and Active Directory with MOM 2005
  • Migrating from Exchange Server 5.5 Windows NT 4 Server to Exchange Server 2003 Windows Server 2003 Part 1
  • Migrating from Exchange Server 5.5 Windows NT 4 Server to Exchange Server 2003 Windows Server 2003 Part 2
  • Patching Exchange with SMS 2003

There are also Virtual Labs for ISA, MOM, SMS, Security and Windows Server 2003