250 Hello - Messaging

13

Should I Overwrite The Default Exchange SMTP Certificate?

Posted on 26th April 2021 by Rhoderick Milne [MSFT]

Exchange Prompt To Overwrite Default SMTP Certificate

When adding a TLS certificate on an Exchange server, the inevitable prompt will appear to enquire if you wish to overwrite the default SMTP certificate binding. While the UI in the current versions of Exchange is slightly different, it was basically the same prompt in Exchange 2010 & Exchange 2007.

While the prompt language was the same in Exchange 2007 and newer versions, the way that transpo… Read the rest “Should I Overwrite The Default Exchange SMTP Certificate?”

0

Can You Fix This? Exchange 2013 Setup – Server-Gui-Mgmt-Infra Isn’t Installed

Posted on 14th April 2021 by Rhoderick Milne [MSFT]

There was a request to fix the issue below when installing Exchange 2013 CU23. When running setup the error received was "Installing Exchange Error - Server-Gui-Mgmt-Infra isn't installed".

If you look closely at the image below, you might be able to state the answer in advance…

Alternative Reality

As a side note. If you are installing Exchange 2016 onto Windows Server 2016 and receive this error, … Read the rest “Can You Fix This? Exchange 2013 Setup – Server-Gui-Mgmt-Infra Isn’t Installed”

1

April 2021 Exchange Security Updates

Posted on 13th April 2021 by Rhoderick Milne [MSFT]

Today is patch Tuesday for April 2021 and there are critical Exchange server security updates in the release. You can review all of the affected products on the MSRC blog or on the Security Update Guide (SUG).

Updates have been released for supported versions of Exchange 2013, 2016 and 2019. Details can be found in KB 5001779.

Update 5-5-2021. Two articles with known issues relating to this securit… Read the rest “April 2021 Exchange Security Updates”

0

Exchange & TCP/IP Port Range

Posted on 12th April 2021 by Rhoderick Milne [MSFT]

The below is an interesting result after installing Exchange. The act of installing Exchange will change how TCP/IP operates on the server with respect to ephemeral connections.

This may manifest itself in a few ways.

For example:

Security or Network are "surprised" with different network behaviour on an Exchange server when reviewing captures
Network team sets a very restrictive firewall ACL which is

… Read the rest

2

Exchange Setup Fails – Error 3221685616

Posted on 9th April 2021 by Rhoderick Milne [MSFT]

The saying goes that nothing monitors AD better than Exchange. While the symptom is an Exchange issue, the underlying root cause is typically something else. Though as an added "feature" Exchange can also monitor additional elements of your infrastructure and indicate they are also unhealthy...

This is one of those such cases, where an Exchange CU was not installing. In the screenshot below, yo… Read the rest “Exchange Setup Fails – Error 3221685616”

0

HealthChecker Script & Schannel TLS Registry Issues

Posted on 8th April 2021 by Rhoderick Milne [MSFT]

Health Checker Issue With TLS Registry Keys

Unfortunately issues can arise when third-party tools are used to modify TLS settings on a Windows Server. While these utilities are often intended to simplify the process of hardening or tuning protocols, they can introduce serious side effects. Especially in environments running applications like Exchange Server, IIS or other components that depend on schannel. Misapplied registry changes, unsu… Read the rest “HealthChecker Script & Schannel TLS Registry Issues”

0

Quick Tip – Query Block Mode

Posted on 8th April 2021 by Rhoderick Milne [MSFT]

Exchange 2010 SP1 introduced the concept of block mode or granular replication. This minimised the time taken for transactions on the active node to be replicated to passive nodes. Since the feature is enabled by default and is self-managing, there is a good chance that you are benefiting from it without being fully aware of it.

If you d… Read the rest “Quick Tip – Query Block Mode”

0

Stages of AD Changes When Installing and Uninstalling Exchange

Posted on 3rd April 2021 by Rhoderick Milne [MSFT]

This is a post to capture the stages of change in Active Directory when the first Exchange server is installed, and opposingly when the last Exchange server is uninstalled. We will not get into any specific details about the individual changes made to AD, rather this is a 20,000 foot view.

Starting Configuration

A brand new lab was created using Windows Server 2016 for the DCs and Exchange servers.… Read the rest “Stages of AD Changes When Installing and Uninstalling Exchange”

1

Exchange 2019 CU9 Released

Posted on 16th March 2021 by Rhoderick Milne [MSFT]

Exchange 2019 CU9 has been released to the Microsoft Volume Licensing Center! Exchange 2019 has a different servicing strategy than Exchange 2007/2010 and utilises Cumulative Updates (CUs) rather than the Rollup Updates (RU/UR) which were used previously. CUs are a complete installation of Exchange 2019 and can be used to install a fresh server or to update a previously installed one. Exchange… Read the rest “Exchange 2019 CU9 Released”

6

Exchange 2016 CU20 Released

Posted on 16th March 2021 by Rhoderick Milne [MSFT]

Exchange 2016 CU20 has been released to the Microsoft download centre! Exchange 2016 has a different servicing strategy than Exchange 2007/2010 and utilises Cumulative Updates (CUs) rather than the Rollup Updates (RU/UR) which were used previously. CUs are a complete installation of Exchange 2016 and can be used to install a fresh server or to update a previously installed one. Exchange 2013 h… Read the rest “Exchange 2016 CU20 Released”