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# 250 Hello

Random Musings on Security and Exchange

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## Posts

- [Setting Backend Exchange 2013 / 2016 Virtual Directory](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/06/15/setting-backend-exchange-2013-2016-virtual-directory/) - This is a tale of when a “quick” review of CAS namespaces quickly went off at a tangent. When working with the messaging administrator, let’s call him “Mike” to protect the innocent, he showed me the below for his Exchange 2013 server. He was quite happy with the config, but that bubble was about to
- [Quick Tip - Easily Start All Azure VMs In A Particular Resource Group](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2023/03/05/quick-tip-easily-start-all-azure-vms-in-a-particular-resource-group/) - Manually starting up lab VMs is painfully slow, and since many organisations will implement management policy to auutomatically shut them down to save costs you may find yourself powering them on a lot... While you can set up automated tasks to power them on, not all really need to be running every day. For example,
- [How To Use Nslookup To Check TLS Reporting Record (TLS-RPT)](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2025/10/16/how-to-use-nslookup-to-check-tls-reporting-record-tls-rpt/) - As we move to add newer email security standards such as MTA-STS (Mail Transfer Agent Strict Transport Security) and DANE (DNS-Based Authentication of Named Entities), the reporting aspect of these standards needs to also be implemented. Even though both MTA-STS & DANE enforce encryption, TLS Reporting (TLS-RPT) is what gives you visibility into whether that
- [Exchange Server SE Installation & Upgrade Screenshots](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2025/09/08/exchange-server-se-installation-upgrade-screenshots/) - In this post we’re capturing a point-in-time reference of the Exchange Server Subscription Edition installation process. As Microsoft continues to evolve Exchange with its subscription-based model, setup screens, prerequisites, and configuration options may change over time. The goal here isn’t to walk through the steps in detail, but simply to document what the installation experience
- [Performance Tools That Time Forgot - Perfmon](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/10/12/performance-tools-that-time-forgot/) - Well, OK. Time did not really forget about these poor, un-loved tools – it was us administrators! There are numerous little tools and utilities that are no longer commonly used by a lot of admins. This may be due to the fact that they are using a different tool, or it may just have faded
- [Commands to Publish Exchange Using WAP](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2024/04/18/commands-to-publish-exchange-using-wap/) - This post was created as I have to rebuild multiple test environments, some of which use AD FS and Web Application Proxy (WAP) to publish Exchange services to the Internet. WAP allows you to publish only the specific Exchange virtual directories required for external access, for example /owa & /ecp along with the others. This means that
- [QuickTip - ASR Generate Passphrase](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2024/04/14/__trashed-63/) - In the context of an Azure Migrate deployment, particularly when using the Azure Migrate Appliance, the files MobSvc.passphrase and config.json are key components used to register and securely connect the on-premises appliance with the Azure Migrate service. MobSvc.passphrase contains the registration passphrase that Azure Migrate generates when you set up a new appliance in the
- [Azure Communication Service Email - MX Record Required](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2025/10/14/azure-communication-service-email-mx-record-required/) - Azure Communication Services (ACS) can be used to send high volume outbound email to Internet recipients, represents an important shift in Microsoft’s messaging architecture. As organizations modernised their cloud communications to Exchange Online (EXO) many of them just kept doing what they were doing with Exchange on-premises, i.e. using that as a bulk mailer to
- [Windows Server 2025 DC Requires AD DS FFL 2016 Minimum](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2025/06/20/windows-server-2025-dc-requires-ad-ds-ffl-2016-minimum/) - This is an issue that can appear when trying to introduce a Windows Server 2025 domain controller into an existing Active Directory forest. You were planning a change, followed the change request process only for it to be torpedoed as the deployment failed. The installation was blocked because the forest functional level is still set
- [Initial Defender for Endpoint Setup](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/02/27/initial-defender-for-endpoint-setup/) - Endpoint security has always been a cornerstone of enterprise protection. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (MDE) is the enterprise offering from Microsoft in this space. MDE is a leading solution for advanced threat detection and response. MDE is not a new product, it has already been in market for several years. You would have recognised it
- [Unable To Access OWA Externally Via WAP 2025 - Still Working On It](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2025/10/06/unable-to-access-owa-externally-via-wap-2025-still-working-on-it/) - After upgrading Web Application Proxy (WAP) to Windows Server 2025 you may run into an issue with certain applications that are published via WAP to the Internet. This issue will also happen if you build a net new environment for both WAP 2019 and newer. This post discusses WAP 2025, but the same is more
- [Lab–Move Exchange Server To New Tenant](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2025/02/10/__trashed-63__trashed/) - Moving a deployed Exchange hybrid environment to a brand new tenant is not something that is typically done. In all of the years that I've worked with customers on hybrid, a second hand is not needed to count those instances. The biggest reason for customers doing it was they did not like the tenant name,
- [AzureArcSetup.exe Crashes On Windows Server 2025](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2025/04/20/azurearcsetup-exe-crashes-on-windows-server-2025/) - This was an issue encountered during the setup of Azure Arc where the onboarding process unexpectedly crashed. Azure Arc is designed to extend Azure management and governance to on-premises and multi-cloud servers, so installation reliability is critical. When a setup program setup crashes, it often points to problems with agent dependencies, connectivity to Azure endpoints,
- [Installing Microsoft Defender For Identity - February 2021](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/03/10/installing-microsoft-defender-for-identity-february-2021/) - Microsoft Defender for Identity (MDI) is a critical component in the Defender security stack, designed to protect on-premises Active Directory (AD) environments from advanced attacks such as credential theft, lateral movement, and domain dominance. Before it carried the Defender name, this product had a long and interesting evolution. One that mirrors Microsoft’s broader journey into
- [MDI–Assign & Verify Permissions To Deleted Objects Container](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2023/11/30/mdi-assign-verify-permissions-to-deleted-objects-container/) - In Active Directory, the Deleted Objects container is a hidden location where objects reside temporarily after they have been deleted, before they are fully removed by the tombstone or recycle bin process. This container plays a critical role in object recovery and directory hygiene. By default, permissions on it are limited and the container itself
- [Exchange Autodiscover Publishing Blocked By L7 Load Balancer](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/02/22/exchange-autodiscover-publishing-blocked-by-l7-load-balancer/) - When deploying an Exchange Hybrid configuration, one of the most critical components to publish externally is the Autodiscover service. Autodiscover enables seamless client connectivity and hybrid functionality between on-premises Exchange and Exchange Online, including mailbox moves, free/busy lookups, and Outlook profile configuration. However, publishing Autodiscover to the Internet can become a complex challenge when requests
- [MDI Readiness Test Script](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2023/11/30/mdi-readiness-test-script/) - Before deploying Microsoft Defender for Identity (MDI), administrators traditionally have relied on the MDI Test Readiness script to validate domain controller prerequisites. The script is intended to catch configuration issues early, such as missing directory permissions or insufficient system resources, before sensor installation begins. However, a recent update has caused a question to be raised
- [QuickTip - Capture Network Without Installing Wireshark](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2025/08/08/quicktip-capture-network-without-installing-wireshark/) - Wireshark is the industry tool for packet inspection, but you don’t always want, or are able, to install this onto production systems without a change request. Whether you’re troubleshooting or investigating an issues, there are alternative ways to capture meaningful network traffic without installing Wireshark. Ultimately we want to produce PCAPs easily without having to
- [HealthChecker Script & Schannel TLS Registry Issues](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/04/08/healthchecker-script-schannel-tls-registry-issues/) - 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
- [Migrating to New Entra ID Authentication Methods](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2025/06/06/migrating-to-new-entra-id-authentication-methods/) - On September 30th, 2025, the legacy multifactor authentication (MFA) and self-service password reset policies will be removed and you'll manage all authentication methods here in the authentication methods policy. Use this control to manage your migration from the legacy policies to the new unified policy. Learn more Traditional Azure Multi-Factor Authentication has served organizations well
- [Time To Stop Using The Legacy Azure MFA & SSPR Portal](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2023/11/30/time-to-stop-using-the-legacy-azure-mfa-sspr-portal/) - In today's threat landscape, passwords alone are no longer sufficient to protect access to cloud systems. Enter Multifactor Authentication (MFA): a security mechanism that requires users to present two or more independent validation factors—typically something you know (e.g. password), something you have (e.g. a mobile authenticator or hardware key), or something you are (e.g. biometric
- [Quick Tip - Manually Removing WAP Server](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/08/07/quick-tip-manually-removing-wap-server/) - Installing a Web Application Proxy (WAP) server consists of two distinct actions. The first is installing the Remote Access role, and the second is to then configure the role. The act of configuring Remote Access enables WAP to function as an AD FS proxy, and optionally enables you to also publish other applications. Over time
- [TLS Musings](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/03/07/tls-musings/) - Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) are protocols that provide secure communications. Today several versions of these protocols exist, and not all of them are considered secure by Microsoft or other security companies. Schannel is a Security Support Provider (SSP) that implements the SSL, TLS and Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) Internet
- [QuickTip - PowerShell Unable To Run MSIEXEC Command Line](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2024/08/28/quicktip-powershell-unable-to-run-msiexec-command-line/) - In this case there was an issue uninstalling the Azure Migrate Mobility Service, but the same principal will apply to running MSIEXEC commands in PowerShell that are not correctly formatted. The Azure Migrate Mobility Service is a key component used during server replication to Azure. The Mobility Service agent is installed on machines to capture
- [ASA OOPS - What Happens When It Is Overlooked](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/02/10/asa-oops-what-happens-when-it-is-overlooked/) - When deploying or migrating Microsoft Exchange Server, one critical yet often overlooked component is the Alternate Service Account (ASA). The ASA is used by Exchange to support Kerberos authentication for services such as Outlook Anywhere and MAPI over HTTP, providing a secure and efficient alternative to NTLM. Without a properly configured ASA, Exchange falls back
- [Azure Communication Service - Enable DKIM Signing](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2025/02/28/azure-communication-service-enable-dkim-signing/) - When sending email through Azure Communication Services (ACS), proper sender authentication is essential to ensure that your messages are trusted and successfully delivered. DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) is one of the key technologies that provides this assurance by digitally signing each outgoing message. This allows recipient mail systems to verify that the email was not
- [What Happens When AD FS Is Unavailable](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/05/01/what-happens-when-ad-fs-is-unavailable/) - When using Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) as the authentication solution for Office 365, you need to understat what that means from service impact perspective should AD FS become unavailable for any reason. While Microsoft does provide a SLA for Office 365, the SLA will not cover outages caused by AD FS going offline
- [QuickTip - PowerShell Error Due Missing Hyphen](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2024/08/29/quicktip-powershell-error-due-missing-hyphen/) - When working with PowerShell, even small formatting issues can cause big problems. A common culprit is the use of “smart quotes,” which look correct but aren’t expected the ASCII character that PowerShell requires. This leads to frustrating command failures. In many cases his is because blogging software replaces the standard quote with a "smart quote"
- [Unable To Access OWA Externally Via WAP 2019](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2023/09/09/unable-to-access-owa-externally-via-wap-2019/) - After upgrading Web Application Proxy (WAP) to Windows Server 2019 you may run into an issue with certain applications that are published via WAP to the Internet. In the below example the AD FS upgrade went well with no issues. The AD FS farm and WAP servers were upgraded to Windows Server 2019 and all
- [Arbitration Mailboxes – Lay of The Land](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/03/19/arbitration-mailboxes-lay-of-the-land/) - At this point in time, most Exchange administrators will have seen and worked with arbitration mailboxes. Chances are that the first encounter was somewhat unexpected and revolved around an issue with Exchange 2013 health mailboxes or being unable to delete the default mailbox database in Exchange 2010. To illustrate where the different arbitration mailboxes were
- [EOP Connectors - Old and New](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/10/31/eop-connectors-old-and-new/) - This post is a reference for the future. It shows the older EOP connectors that were created by the Exchange Hybrid Configuration Wizard (HCW) and then the format of the newer connectors. Note that the names etc. will likely be changed again at some point in the future - change is inevitable. This is how
- [Generating New Exchange Self Signed Certificate Using PowerShell's Pipeline](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/10/30/generating-new-exchange-self-signed-certificate-using-powershells-pipeline/) - Exchange server 2007 onwards will generate a self signed certificate as part of the installation process and bind that to multiple services. Those certificates have a 5 year validity, and the process to generate a replacement is pretty straight forward using New-ExchangeCertificate cmdlet. One spin on this, was that some customers would do a pipe
- [MDI Sizing Tool](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2023/11/25/mdi-sizing-tool/) - Deploying Microsoft Defender for Identity (MDI) requires more than just installing the sensor on a domain controller. MDI demands careful capacity planning to ensure reliable performance and accurate threat detection. Each MDI sensor analyses authentication traffic, monitors Active Directory activity, and reports telemetry to the MDI cloud service. If the underlying domain controller is undersized,
- [Azure AD Connect Sync Options](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/12/20/azure-ad-connect-sync-options/) - Active Directory synchronization was designed not just to move objects from on-premises AD to Azure AD, but to give administrators precise control over how identities were matched, transformed, and filtered. This is not a new thing. It dates back to very early days of Microsoft cloud hosted email, both commercial and educational orientated. Azure AD
- [Wildcard Certificate ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/01/19/wildcard-certificate-err_cert_common_name_invalid/) - The below is a reproduction of a customer situation where they moved from a SAN certificate to a wildcard cert thinking that it would be “easy”. The certificate in question was issued from their internal Windows CA and was installed onto Exchange. No issues were noted until they tried to then bind the certificate to
- [Microsoft Teams Voicemail Headers–April 2022](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/04/10/microsoft-teams-voicemail-headers-april-2022/) - Working with a customer’s security team, it was noted that some messages were set to SCL –1 and this was not initially expected. We were paying particular attention to the SCL value as work was being done to clean up old EOP configuration that was bypassing protection. Two examples are shown below EXO mailbox to
- [Ghost In The (Power)Shell](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/11/28/ghost-in-the-powershell/) - After taking an existing Exchange PowerShell script, and running on a newer version of Exchange, the output was not as expected. This is a pretty simple script that just iterates through all of the Exchange virtual directories and writes the output to the screen. Yes it uses Write-Host and some consider that to be evil.
- [SSPR Screenshots - December 2022](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/12/20/sspr-screenshots-december-2022/) - Self Service Password Reset (SSPR) in Microsoft Entra ID is one of those features that often goes unnoticed until it is urgently needed. It gives end users the ability to securely reset or unlock their account without calling the helpdesk, while administrators benefit from reduced support costs and improved security posture. Ideally users will have
- [Why Can’t I Search For Content In TechNet and MSDN Blogs?](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/10/03/why-cant-i-search-for-content-in-technet-and-msdn-blogs/) - There was a time when every obscure error code, undocumented quirk, and tricky deployment scenario in the Microsoft ecosystem had an answer, and more often than not you would find it on the MSDN or TechNet blogs. Written by Microsoft engineers, product teams, and MVPs who lived and breathed the technology, these posts were not
- [SPF Record Fun](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2025/10/03/spf-record-fun/) - Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is a fundamental component of modern e-mail authentication, designed to reduce the risk of spoofing and phishing attacks. By publishing a DNS record that specifies which mail servers are authorised to send messages on behalf of a domain, SPF allows receiving systems to validate whether an incoming message genuinely originates from
- [Exchange .NET Framework Upgrade – The Unsupported Kangaroo In The Room](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/04/27/exchange-net-framework-upgrade-the-unsupported-kangaroo-in-the-room/) - It is critical Exchange installations are properly maintained in all regards. In order to stay current with Exchange Cumulative Updates (CUs), it is necessary to read the release notes for a given CU to determine if an update is required for the .NET Framework. Staying current on updates is required to receive full support from
- [Renewing AD FS Certificates – Updated Guidance](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/03/15/renewing-ad-fs-certificates-updated-guidance/) - TLS certificates come and go. By their nature they have a set life span and then they must be renewed. While this is nothing new, I’ve being doing this since the 1990s, the process may become a little more frequent for some customers as the industry is eliminating three year certificates see 3-Year Certificates to
- [Block Incoming OnMicrosoft.com Domains Due To Spam](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2024/02/29/block-incoming-onmicrosoft-com-domains-due-to-spam/) - Unfortunately waves of spam from various onmicrosoft.com domains are a thing. The volume waxes and wanes over time, but this was an annoyance many years ago and remains so even today. Given that any meaningful organisation on the Internet will have their own brand and identity, it is highly unlikey that legitimate email from customers
- [TLS Web Services Support On Exchange Server 2019 CU14 vs CU15](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2025/04/28/tls-web-services-support-on-exchange-server-2019-cu14-vs-cu15/) - Transport Layer Security (TLS) has always been a critical component of securing communications in Microsoft Exchange Server, ensuring confidentiality and integrity of email traffic both internally and externally. With Exchange Server 2019, Microsoft has steadily evolved TLS support to align with modern security standards and deprecate older, weaker protocols. A notable shift came between Cumulative
- [QuickTip - Use WIM File As DISM Repair Source](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2025/09/02/quicktip-use-wim-file-as-dism-repair-source/) - The Windows servicing stack relies heavily on the WinSxS (Windows Side-by-Side) component store, which houses all the system files, manifests, and metadata required to service, patch, and maintain the operating system. Corruption within this store can manifest as persistent update failures, integrity check errors, or an inability to apply new servicing operations. Traditional file-level repair
- [Entra SSPR Failing–Unexpected Error During A Set Password Operation](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2025/10/02/entra-sspr-failing-unexpected-error-during-a-set-password-operation/) - On-premises users were unable to use Entra SSPR to reset their passwords. This needs to use the Password Writeback feature, and in this case Entra Connect was used. Nowadays there is also Entra Cloud Sync, but that was not an option for this customer. Users were able to access the SSPR page at https://aka.ms/SSPR and
- [Quick Tip - How Do I View The Deleted Objects Container](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2023/12/01/quick-tip-how-do-i-view-the-deleted-objects-container/) - Windows Server 2008 R2 Active Directory added the AD Recycle Bin feature. This allowed for an easier way to recover from an “oops” moment when a small number of objects were mistakenly deleted. The option to perform an authoritative restored remains to recover from mass deletion events. The AD Recycle Bin can be enabled via
- [Save The Date 14th October 2025](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2024/10/14/save-the-date-14th-october-2025/) - The 14th of October 2025 marks another pivotal moment in Microsoft’s product lifecycle, as a large spectrum of very popular and widely deployed software reaches end-of-support. This includes Windows 10 and Windows 11 22H2. On the productivity front, the extended support for Office 2016 and 2019, along with Visio 2016/2019, Project 2016/2019, and server-side tools
- [End of Exchange 2013 Support](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2023/04/11/end-of-exchange-2013-support/) - Today Exchange 2013 reaches the end of the road and it will transition out of extended support. Hopefully everyone has migrated to a newer version and/or Office 365. But experience tells me that will not be the case. Hopefully no one will have Exchange 2013 published to the Internet either, but again experience says otherwise…
- [Unable to Install Windows Updates or Windows Components](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/02/10/unable-to-install-windows-updates-or-windows-components/) - The below post initially stemmed from an Exchange Risk Assessment which noted that all of the customer's Exchange servers were missing critical Windows updates. The customer's security team were slightly upset as they believed (mistakenly) that all assets were properly updated. This was not the case. When we looked into the details, the monthly Windows
- [Using ADPropertiesOnly With Exchange Virtual Directory Cmdlet Shows False Positives](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/09/12/using-adpropertiesonly-with-exchange-virtual-directory-cmdlet-shows-false-positives/) - Previously we discussed an interesting feature of the Exchange virtual directory cmdlets where they check data stored in AD, rather than making a trip to the server and querying its IIS metabase. For the details on this, please read the original post here: Slow Response To Exchange Virtual Directory Cmdlets. In that article we were
- [Slow Response To Exchange Virtual Directory Cmdlets](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/01/21/slow-response-to-exchange-virtual-directory-cmdlets/) - Some folks in the field may have seen this before, but it’s worth bubbling up to make sure everyone is aware of it! I was sitting with one of my esteemed consulting colleagues today and he remarked that it was talking a long time to run one of his Exchange PowerShell scripts. The customer in
- [Defender for Cloud Apps Access Policy Not Applied to Desktop Applications](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2025/07/03/defender-for-cloud-apps-access-policy-not-applied-to-desktop-applications/) - In today’s hybrid work environment, securing access to cloud applications is more critical than ever. Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps offers a powerful way to enforce granular access controls using different policies. Organisations want to ensure that only authorised and compliant devices can access sensitive cloud resources. Requiring device compliance can be achieved with Intune
- [How To Install AD FS 2016 For Office 365 – Part 2](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/05/10/how-to-install-ad-fs-2016-for-office-365-part-2/) - This is the second in a series of three posts which will walk you through installing, configuring and connecting AD FS 2016 to Office 365. In part one we installed the AD FS server on our corporate network, and tested that it was working. In this second post we need to make the AD FS
- [How To Install AD FS 2016 For Office 365](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/04/28/how-to-install-ad-fs-2016-for-office-365/) - This is a step by step guide to installing and configuring Windows Server 2016 Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) for use with Office 365. If you still wish to deploy the previous version of AD FS (Windows Server 2012 R2 AD FS), then please start with this post. For those with a keen eye,
- [IIS SMTP Virtual Server Component No Longer Supported](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/12/08/iis-smtp-virtual-server-component-no-longer-supported/) - Please consider this a quick PSA (Public Service Announcement) as it is still common that I run into environments with the IIS SMTP service still running and processing mail. While the component has had a long and interesting life, it is now unsupported as it is tied to the support lifecycle of Windows Server 2003.
- [How To Maximize Exchange Administrator Productivity With PowerShell–Part 1](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2011/10/31/how-to-maximize-exchange-administrator-productivity-with-powershell-part-1/) - As a Microsoft Exchange Server focused Premier Field Engineer I spend a considerable amount of my time with customers at their work place and also when they attend training courses and workshops that I deliver. Naturally people want to talk and learn about the cool new features in Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2010, which is
- [How To Maximize Exchange Administrator Productivity With PowerShell–Part 2](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2011/12/20/how-to-maximize-exchange-administrator-productivity-with-powershell-part-2/) - In part one of this series we looked at some of the basic aspects of the PowerShell environment. Let’s now look at the underlying mechanics on Exchange 2007 and 2010 servers. We will need to address some aspects separately due to the different mechanisms that are used between Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2010. For part
- [Unable Connect Exchange Remote PowerShell Using Windows 10 Anniversary Update](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/08/25/unable-connect-exchange-remote-powershell-using-windows-10-anniversary-update/) - After updating Windows 10 you may be unable to connect to a remote PowerShell session. This is an issue for versions of Exchange 2010 onwards as we use remote PowerShell for administration. The same applies for Exchange Online in Office 365. Note that directly loading the Exchange PSSnapin is not supported apart from a limited
- [Exchange Management Shell Pipeline Not Executed Because a Pipeline Is Already Executing](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/10/20/exchange-management-shell-pipeline-not-executed-because-a-pipeline-is-already-executing/) - When running operations in the Exchange Management Shell, you may run into the situation where the commands do not complete and the error “Pipeline not executed because a pipeline is already executing” is reported. An example of this is shown below. This is an Exchange 2010 SP3 RU15 lab server. In this case a PowerShell
- [Directly Loading Exchange 2010 or 2013 SnapIn Is Not Supported](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/01/28/directly-loading-exchange-2010-or-2013-snapin-is-not-supported/) - It is always interesting to see how certain constructs are carried over from previous versions of Exchange without being re-evaluated. The case in point here, is how access is provided to Exchange 2010/2013 PowerShell. Exchange 2010 introduced mail admins to remote PowerShell. At this time we should all be using remote PowerShell for Exchange 2010
- [Exchange 2019 CU15 Released (2025 H1)](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2025/02/10/exchange-2019-cu15-released-2025-h1/) - Exchange 2019 CU15 has been released to the Microsoft Volume Licensing Center and the public Microsoft Download site! 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
- [Exchange 2019 CU12 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/04/20/exchange-2019-cu12-released/) - Exchange 2019 CU12 has been released to the Microsoft Volume Licensing Center and the public Microsoft Download site! 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
- [Exchange Healthcheck Script– Unable to Connect to Remote Server](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2024/02/09/exchange-healthcheck-script-unable-to-connect-to-server/) - Below is a repro of a customer situation where the Exchange Healthcheck script was unable to connect to a remote Exchange server. The Healthcheck script would run locally with no issues, and reported a clean bill of health. The ability to run the health verification checks against multiple severs is an important aspect of the
- [Quick Tip–Verify VHDs Mounted In Hyper-V VMs](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2024/02/06/quick-tip-verify-vhds-mounted-in-hyper-v-vms/) - If you want to easily view all of the VHD or VHDX files that have been configured on Hyper-V VMs, the below PowerShell command makes this easy. Since I may use a temporary VHDX as a mechanism to copy files into VMs, it sometimes get left mounted and this makes it easy to see which
- [Quick Tip–Verify Which Hyper-V VMs Have ISO Mounted](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2025/04/06/quick-tip-verify-which-hyper-v-vms-have-iso-mounted/) - It’s very common that we mount ISO files when needed, then forget to remove them after the fact. This is generally a non issue until you want to move the mounted ISO file as Hyper-V may have a lock on the file. Yes we could open up the properties of each VM in the console,
- [Updating Hyper-V Integration Components (IC)](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/06/17/updating-hyper-v-integration-components-ic/) - One of my favourite features in Windows 8 is client side Hyper-V. This allows me to run multiple virtual machines on my Lenovo W530 laptop without having to remote to other machines when I am on site with customers. As you can imagine I have a plethora of VMs for a variety of situations, and
- [Quick Tip - Query Block Mode](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/04/08/__trashed-10/) - 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
- [Quick Tip–Adding Same ISO DVD Image To All Hyper-V Lab VMs](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/08/18/quick-tip-adding-same-iso-dvd-image-to-all-hyper-v-lab-vms/) - When building out a lab, you might need to attach the same ISO to multiple VMs. In this case I was installing multiple Exchange 2016 severs, and wanted to easily add the same ISO file to each of the VMs. This was on my Windows 10 laptop which makes quick work of the task since
- [Hyper-V VM Import–Know Before You Go](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/03/27/hyper-v-vm-import-know-before-you-go/) - Importing VMs from one host to another can run into issues due differences in the configuration of the hosts. A common issue is that a virtual switch does not exist on the new Hyper-V host. While it is possible to attempt the import, and then deal with the fallout afterwards, wouldn't it be great to
- [Hyper-V Could Not Initialize - Could Not Create or Access Saved State File](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/01/15/hyper-v-could-not-initialize-could-not-create-or-access-saved-state-file/) - As part of my relaxing holiday, I spent a fair bit of time upgrading the hardware in my lab and installing Windows Server 2012 R2 onto all of my Hyper-V hosts. I then went through and pruned out some old test VMs and made sure the ones I had left were still relevant. After I
- [Registry Editor Favourites - Who Knew?](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/05/21/registry-editor-favourites-who-knew/) - When I was in Seattle for some internal training in January, one of the chaps delivering a demo used a feature that I wish I’d known about previously. When he was demonstrating some of the update mechanics for Office Pro Plus he immediately skipped to the correct portion of the registry by using a shortcut
- [Copilot for Security Workshop Links](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2024/06/21/copilot-for-security-workshop-links/) - When delivering Copilot for Security engagements to customers, we frequently want to reference external articles, content and news. There is also the occasional squirrel moment due to how my brain operates. This post is a collection of the various artifacts that we typically discuss. They are all collected into one spot so that it is
- [Unable To Install or Launch Exchange HCW](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2024/02/29/unable-to-install-or-launch-exchange-hcw/) - You want to run the Exchange Hybrid Configuration Wizard (HCW) and after clicking the link to the HCW in the admin portal or manually browsing to the shortcut URL you are unable to either launch or install the HCW. Despite using Edge, the HCW application just does not install and/or launch. All you get is
- [Migrate Azure VMs To Separate Subscription](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/10/24/migrate-azure-vms-to-separate-subscription/) - Defining Azure governance so that your subscriptions, management groups is correctly built out and deployed is critical. Even with the best planning sometimes it is still necessary to move resources to a new subscription. While Learn documents how this can be done, it does not work for all scenarios. Bullet point #5 illustrates an issue
- [MTA-STS–Comments On Deploying Azure Static Web App](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2024/07/02/mta-sts-comments-on-deploying-azure-static-web-app/) - Many customers have completed or are completing the rollout of SPF, DKIM and DMARC to improve email security. Once DMARC has been moved to 100% quarantine that means that all of the issues have been identified and resolved. So what’s next? Typically this is where MTA-STS comes in. Mail Transfer Agent - Strict Transport Security
- [Exchange 2019 CU14 - Extended Protection New Setup Command Line Options](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2024/05/01/exchange-2019-cu14-extended-protection-new-setup-command-line-options/) - Exchange 2019 CU14 will enforce the use of Extended Protection (EP) by default. This is the desired security configuration as we need to harden the traffic to help prevent Attacker In the Middle (AiTM) style attacks. This is not a new thing, and the Exchange team added support for EP in the previous releases as
- [Exchange Server Extended Protection](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/08/31/exchange-server-extended-protection/) - Extended Protection uses service binding and channel binding to help prevent an authentication relay attack. In an authentication relay attack, a client that can perform NTLM authentication (for example, Windows Explorer, Microsoft Outlook, a .NET SqlClient application, etc.), connects to an attacker (for example, a malicious CIFS file server). The attacker uses the client's credentials
- [How to Fix: Log Parser – Log Row Too Long](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/07/05/how-to-fix-log-parser-log-row-too-long/) - The Microsoft Log Parser is a trusted and venerable tool to have when you are analysing log files. One issue that does come up when analysing larger Performance Monitor files is that of the default buffer setting in Log Parser. Typically you will see an error message saying “log row too Long”. When running the
- [Exchange Healthcheck Script - EWS Internal Bypass URL Set](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2023/06/30/exchange-healthcheck-script-ews-internal-bypass-url-set/) - The amazing Exchange Healthcheck script really has gotten to the point where Exchange Best Practices Analyser (ExBPA) used to be. Exchange admins should heavily use the Healthcheck script. This should be done before and after maintenance tasks such as installing CUs and security updates. There is a handy dandy shortcut URL to download the script:
- [Joys of Server 2012 R2 TLS Defaults in June 2022](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/06/30/joys-of-server-2012-r2-tls-defaults-in-june-2022/) - Windows Server 2012 R2 was a great platform and was very widly adopted. Unlike it’s less popular step-sister, Server 2012. At least the R2 product had a start button, rather than the start pixel…. However, it really does show its age when viewed under a modern security lens. Unsurprisingly, things have changed from a security perspective
- [How To Use Nslookup To Check DMARC Record](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/05/16/how-to-use-nslookup-to-check-dmarc-record/) - How To Use Nslookup To Check DMARC Record
- [How To Use Nslookup To Check DMARC External Domain Validation (EDV) Record](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2024/07/15/how-to-use-nslookup-to-check-dmarc-external-domain-validation-edv-record/) - Previously we looked at how to use nslookup to retrieve the main Domain Based Message Reporting And Conformance (DMARC) DNS record. One of the often overlooked and behind the scenes aspect of DMARC is that a 3rd party DMARC provider has to actually grant permission for DMARC reports to be sent to them for a
- [Enable DMARC For OnMicrosoft.com Domains](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2024/01/08/enable-dmarc-for-onmicrosoft-com-domains/) - It is possible to add a Domain Based Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance (DMARC) record for your onmicrosoft.com domain in M365. Is that a good thing? Well, your viewpoint may depend on your experiences with this domain. If you actually use the onmicrosoft.com domain to send email, then yes! Adding the DMARC record enables the
- [Exchange 2013 Tips & Tweaks](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/03/31/exchange-2013-tips-tweaks/) - Just like the Exchange 2010 version of this post, the intent of this blog post is to be a throwdown of common issues that can arise when deploying Exchange 2013. Issues are not listed in order of significance/priority. Think of this more as a smorgasbord… Exchange 2013 Servicing Changes Be aware that Exchange 2013 is
- [Exchange 2010 Tweaks](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/11/20/exchange-2010-tweaks/) - Kris Waters, one of my great colleagues from the US, originally posted a really neat list of items which can mitigate issues found in a lot of large scale Exchange deployments. Please take the time to review her post here. There are a lot of valuable pointers in her blog, so definitely check it out!
- [Using PowerCfg To Set Server Power Plan From Command Line](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2023/10/06/using-powercfg-to-set-server-power-plan-from-command-line/) - Being able to automate and set Power Plan options via the command is useful for both automation and tasks on Server Core. We can use powercfg.exe to control power plans - also called power schemes - to use the available sleep states, to control the power states of individual devices, and to analyze the system for common energy-efficiency and battery-life
- [Stale DNS Server Blocking Captive Portal Or Simply Inaccessible](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2023/07/09/stale-dns-server-blocking-captive-portal-or-simply-inaccessible/) - It’s always DNS. That’s the typical mantra when troubleshooting AD issues. But what about a fully updated Windows 10/11 machine totally ignoring the DNS server it was told to use via DHCP? Yes, that unfortunately was a recent problem. On the machine it appeared to have the public Google DNS server (8.8.8.8) stuck. Regardless of
- [Exchange Message Tracking Log Examples](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/04/17/exchange-message-tracking-log-examples/) - The below post was promoted from the draft bin due to a recent customer engagements. Exchange admins have grown very used to the message tracking UI tools that have shipped with the previous Exchange builds. This is completely understandable since they are required to investigate and resolve numerous issues. There may be a question of
- [Tenant Hydration - Still A Thing](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2024/07/05/tenant-hydration-still-a-thing/) - Almost 10 years ago I ran into a customer deployment where they were unable to run some of the Exchange PowerShell commands. Funnily enough, this bubbled up the other week. As a recap, tenants are created in a dehydrated state to minimise resouce consumption. That means they can not be customised things like Role Based
- [How to View Copilot for Security Prompt Processing Location And Cross Region Details](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2024/07/10/how-to-view-copilot-for-security-prompt-processing-location-and-cross-region-details/) - Data processing and handling considerations must be reviewed as part of deploying any cloud product. With Copilot for Security there are two aspects that need to be fully understood. One is where the tenant’s data is stored. Secondly is where the AI prompts are processed. It may be the case that these are different locations.
- [Copilot for Security - Global Admin Required to Enable Microsoft 365 Service Data Access](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2024/07/09/copilot-for-security-global-admin-required-to-enable-microsoft-365-service-data-access/) - Copilot for Security has multiple integration points which can be accessed via either: Standalone experience Copilot for Security, accessed through https://securitycopilot.microsoft.com, is considered the standalone experience. Embedded experience Accessing Copilot for Security embedded experiences in other Microsoft security products is considered an embedded experience. For the current list of embedded experiences please review: Microsoft Copilot for Security experiences | Microsoft
- [Change DAG to DHCP](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2011/10/23/change-dag-to-dhcp/) - One of the great changes to Exchange 2010 SP1 was that a DAG static IP address can be set using the Exchange Managemetn Console. Prior to this in RTM, the Exchange Management Shell had to be used to set a static IP. An example of this would be: In the SP1 EMC to revert
- [Unable to Setup Copilot for Security - Can't get account information](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2024/06/06/unable-to-setup-copilot-for-security-cant-get-account-information/) - Starting a setup of Copilot for Security in a demo tenant led to an interesting issue where the expected bootstrap process was not launched. As an eligible administrator, when you navigate to https://securitycopilot.microsoft.com you will either access the previously deployed Copilot for Security (CfS) instance or be prompted to create it. This assumes that you
- [Copilot for Security Setup - Using Azure Portal](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2024/05/23/copilot-for-security-setup-using-azure-portal/) - In a previous post the recommended Copilot for Security setup process was covered. While that is the generally the recommended method, there will be scenarios where the second option will be required. This could be applicable at intial setup and also post-deployment. For example, if the Security Compute Units (SCU) were to be recreated in
- [Copilot for Security Setup–Recommend Option Using Standalone Experience](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2024/05/21/copilot-for-security-setup-recommend-option-using-standalone-experience/) - Copilot for Security became Generally Available on the 1st of April 2024 and now everyone is able to spin up an instance of the AI that is designed from the ground up to be used for security tasks! There are two ways that an administrator can provision and setup Copilot for Security ( CfS ):
- [How to Get Newer Version of PowerShellGet - Install, Don't Upgrade](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2023/05/06/how-to-get-newer-version-of-powershellget-install-dont-upgrade/) - Current versions of Windows come with a version of PowerShellGet pre-installed. The PowerShellGet and PackageManagement modules originally were released in Windows PowerShell 5.0 which itself was part of the Windows Management Framework (WMF) 5.0 RTM. This was back in early 2016. The PowerShellGet module is also integrated with the PackageManagement module as a provider. The 1.0.0.1 version of
- [QuickTip - Removing IE11 Via Command Line](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/03/26/quicktip-removing-ie11-via-command-line/) - Now that multiple services have stopped supporting IE11 coupled with the end of support for legacy Edge, it is imperative that we transition to an updated browser on all of our devices. IE11 is already unsupported for multiple Microsoft services, and the list will grow over time. For example Microsoft Teams support ceased on the
- [Exchange Attribute Retention After Mailbox Removal](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/09/14/exchange-attribute-retention-after-mailbox-removal/) - One of my colleagues was wondering what Exchange would do when a user’s mailbox was removed and then re-connected. Would the Exchange custom attributes persist when the mailbox was re-connected? Test Mailbox This is our test subject, Mr. Audonet, whose mailbox is held in an Exchange 2010 SP3 RU10 based environment with Windows Server 2012
- [April 2024 Exchange Server Hotfix Updates - HU](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2024/04/30/april-2024-exchange-server-hotfix-updates-hu/) - Want some updates to go with your updates? That’s pretty much what you are getting with the April 2024 Exchange updates. We can split the features which are part of the April 2024 release into two main areas: Fixing the multiple things that broke with the March 2023 Security Update (SU) Adding net new features
- [Exchange 2019 CU14 Released (2024 H1)](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2024/02/13/exchange-2019-cu14-released-2024-h1/) - Exchange 2019 CU14 has been released to the Microsoft Volume Licensing Center and the public Microsoft Download site! 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
- [A Tale of Two Certificates–SHA1 Certificate Created During Exchange 2016 Installation](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/11/23/a-tale-of-two-certificates-sha1-certificate-created-during-exchange-2016-installation/) - The security space is constantly evolving, and while a lot of the recent work has been on moving to TLS 1.2, a previous focus in the industry was to stop issuing SHA1 certificates and transition to SHA2 based certificates. As a result, many will run security scans to review the presence of installed certificates and
- [Upgrade to Azure Standard Load Balancer](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2024/04/05/upgrade-to-azure-standard-load-balancer/) - On September 30, 2025, the Azure Basic Load Balancer will be retired. For more information, see the official announcement. If you are currently using Basic Load Balancer, make sure to upgrade to Standard Load Balancer prior to the retirement date. You can use the guidance to upgrade, please ensure that all of the steps are
- [Exchange 2016 – CU23 Now Required](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2024/02/13/exchange-2016-cu23-now-required/) - With the release of Exchange 2019 CU14 today, a separate announcement was added to the release post to highlight that only CU23 is supported for Exchange 2016. Exchange Server 2016 is supported until the end of its support in 2025, however in order to receive support and to obtain Security Updates (SUs) you must be
- [Implementing Exchange DownloadDomain Security](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/07/20/implementing-exchange-downloaddomain-security/) - In the field, I’m seeing multiple customers that are struggling to implement the DownloadDomain feature. It does require a little prep work and it is not as simple as just running a single command in Exchange to flip the setting on. In order to mitigate and issue with OWA, it is necessary to create an
- [Exchange RBAC Tips N Tricks - PowerShell](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/02/18/exchange-rbac-tips-n-tricks-powershell/) - Most of the time when working with RBAC in Exchange we are not using large scripts to create and manage roles. Generally we use one-liners to configure RBAC. So I thought it would be useful to post some of the ones that I find myself frequently using. As always please add a comment, or hit
- [Exchange Online Transport Rule Audit](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/09/27/exchange-online-transport-rule-audit/) - This is a topic that still comes up when doing email investigations. After there has been an issue, we want to perform analysis to determine what may have happened any potentially why certain security controls did not act the way we expected. With email one example would be around the audit information collected when an
- [Exchange Unexpected InternalNLBBypass URL - RecoverServer](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2023/07/05/exchange-unexpected-internalnlbbypass-url-recoverserver/) - Reviewing the output of an environement's CAS Namespaces showed that there was an unexpecte URL present for the version of Exchagne that was installed. With Exchange 2013 onwards InternalNLBBypassURL is not something that we need to set. That was an Exchange 2007 and 2010 thing. In the environment below note that there are couple of
- [How To Generate File Hash Using Certutil](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2023/12/21/how-to-generate-file-hash-using-certutil/) - Windows has the ability to easily generate a hash for a given file using the Certutil.exe utility. Administrators may have previously used to this tool when they need to generate TLS certificates or to perform other tasks against AD Certificate Services. As an example of the former, this was a common task for AD FS
- [Updated Guidance On Exchange Server Extended Protection](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/10/31/updated-guidance-on-exchange-server-extended-protection/) - Extended Protection (EP) was added to Windows back in 2009 as a new security feature. This feature enhances the protection and handling of credentials when authenticating network connections using Integrated Windows Authentication (IWA). The update itself does not directly provide protection against specific attacks such as credential forwarding, but allows applications to opt-in to Extended Protection
- [Assigning Exchange 2016 and 2013 Certificate To Multiple Servers At The Same Time](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/05/09/assigning-exchange-2016-and-2013-certificate-to-multiple-servers-at-the-same-time/) - In Exchange 2010, the Exchange Management Console allowed us to import certificates to multiple servers and to then assign the certificate to multiple servers simultaneously. In the Exchange 2013 and Exchange 2016 EAC, the option to enable the certificate for Exchange services is per server. As you can seen in the Exchange 2016 example below,
- [Exchange 2019 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/10/22/exchange-2019-released/) - Exchange 2019 has been released and is now available from the Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center. This is the latest version of the Exchange Server on-premises product with the most up to date feature set. There are some significant changes, see the details below. OS Support Exchange 2019 requires Windows Server 2019. Older versions of
- [End of Exchange 2019 Mainstream Support](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2024/01/09/end-of-exchange-2019-mainstream-support/) - Today marks the end of Exchange 2019’s mainstream support. This will likely resurface the discussion about what do we do with on-premises Exchange, where is the next version and do we even still need Exchange Server if all mailboxes are in Exchange Online? While there is a solution to removing the last Exchange Server from
- [Quick Tip - Easily Allow JIT to Azure VMs In A Resource Group](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2023/06/21/quick-tip-easily-allow-jit-to-azure-vms-in-a-resource-group/) - Controlling connections to Azure VMs using the just in time (JIT) policy of Microsoft Defender for Cloud (MDC) certainly improves the overall security of the Azure resource. However, then having to enable JIT on a given VM runs into issues pretty quickly. Azure Portal Too Permissive Who thought it was a great idea to have
- [Remote PowerShell - PSSession WhoAmI](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/09/19/remote-powershell-pssession-whoami/) - For those who worked with NT and Novell Netware many, many moons ago they became familiar with a handy function– who am I. Windows folks may also recall it when working with the Client and Gateway Services for Netware, and whoami.exe was also added to the NT Resource Kit. Remember the days of all the
- [Awareness – Is Your Federation Trust Metadata Updated?](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/09/22/awareness-is-your-federation-trust-metadata-updated/) - Imagine the scenario -- all is working well with your Office 365 hybrid solution until you come into the office tomorrow morning and you get calls saying on-premises users are unable to see the free/busy information for mailboxes in Office 365. While this sounds like a bad dream, this reality could come true tomorrow morning,
- [Creating RBAC Role To Delegate Editing Contacts](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/11/21/creating-rbac-role-to-delegate-editing-contacts/) - Previously we discussed how to customise Exchange 2010 RBAC to delegate creating mail enabled contacts. The intent of that original post was to allow for the for creation of simple mail enabled contacts that would facilitate sharing the SMTP address of a person outside the Exchange organisation. Marc commented on that post as the provided
- [Exchange 2019 CU13 Released  (2023 H1)](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2023/05/03/exchange-2019-cu13-released-2023-h1/) - Exchange 2019 CU13 has been released to the Microsoft Volume Licensing Center and the public Microsoft Download site! 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
- [Unexpected Exchange AD Object Values](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/03/29/unexpected-exchange-ad-object-values/) - Imagine this scenario; you have deployed an Exchange 2013 or Exchange 2016 Cumulative update successfully in your environment and you think that all is fine. However you then receive an unpleasant surprise when you go to verify the details of the Exchange Schema and Exchange AD object versions. You can review the process to review
- [Disabling IPv6 And Exchange – Going All The Way](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/10/29/disabling-ipv6-and-exchange-going-all-the-way/) - When we are performing the Exchange Risk Assessment, one of things PFE love to check is how servers have been configured for IPv6. There have been numerous occasions where we have found servers whose admin has said that they have disabled IPv6, but when you look at the server it is not really disabled. When
- [Exchange 2013 Hits RTM](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/10/12/exchange-2013-hits-rtm/) - 11-10-2012 is an interesting number as this is the date when the Exchange product group signed off on the build to release Exchange 2013 to Manufacturing. If you are in the UK, yes I know the month and year are the “wrong” way around That aside, the other
- [Check If AD FS WSTrust Endpoint Enabled](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/11/14/check-if-ad-fs-wstrust-endpoint-enabled/) - Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) uses endpoints to provide access to features. There are a series of different endpoints which each serve a different purpose from password reset, publishing federation metadata or multiple web services protocols. It is important to ensure that only the required features are actually enabled, and also if those features
- [Configure On-Premises Exchange For EOP Spam Thresholds](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2023/01/23/configure-on-premises-exchange-for-eop-spam-thresholds/) - A common issue when deploying Exchange Online Protection (EOP) and Microsoft Defender for Office 365 (MDO) with on-premises Exchange is making Exchange aware of the EOP spam filtering. This is because EOP uses slightly different logic to stamp the spam results etc. into the message. Exchange Server needs to be aware of this so that
- [Review Azure AD Connect Synchronisation Scope](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/01/23/review-azure-ad-connect-synchronisation-scope/) - As part of your regular security and operations review, it is important to check and verify the configuration of Azure AD Connect. Ensuring the OS and Azure AD Connect are up to date is one aspect. In this post we want to look at the scope of objects which connect is synchronising. This is valuable
- [Out of SSPR Scope User Experience](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2023/02/27/out-of-sspr-scope-user-experience/) - Azure AD Self Service Password Reset (SSPR) has the ability to restrict which group of users are able to perform SSPR tasks. It is a slightly limited administrator control as only a single group can be selected. Azure AD administrator roles are able to perform SSPR even if they are not in scope of the
- [Migrate Safe Links Block Settings to TABL](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/07/20/migrate-safe-links-block-settings-to-tabl/) - Note that there have been changes to Safe Links policy for Microsoft Defender for Office 365 (MDO). Previously you could add URLs to the Safe Links policy to control how MDO would process the URLs. As part of this change the URL blocking is moving to the Tenant Allow Block List (TABL). Below is a
- [Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Blog Compiled links](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/02/18/microsoft-defender-for-office-365-blog-compiled-links/) - Below are a series of links to the main Microsoft Defender for Office 365 blog. Shortcuts added here as this is one of my shared bookmarks. Note that some links have KQL queries and IOCs related to that specific attack. From cookie theft to BEC: Attackers use AiTM phishing sites as entry point to further
- [Kerberos Issues November 2022](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/12/08/kerberos-issues-november-2022/) - The November 8, 2022 and later Windows updates address a security bypass and elevation of privilege vulnerability with Authentication Negotiation by using weak RC4-HMAC negotiation. This update will set AES as the default encryption type for session keys on accounts that are not marked with a default encryption type already. To help secure your environment,
- [Low Exchange Disk Space Monitors](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/11/16/low-disk-space-monitors/) - Exchange 2013 introduced us to the concept of Managed Availability. This reduced the reliance on external entities such as System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) or other 3rd party monitoring tools. Exchange became self aware, started to monitor itself and even perform certain recovery actions. As an administrator we can review output of some of these
- [Remediate Exchange Security CVE-2022-21978](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/08/12/remediate-exchange-security-cve-2022-21978/) - The May 2022 security update for Exchange Server 2013, 2016 and 2019 resolved CVE-2022-21978. A common issue is that admins are only doing part of the work to address this CVE. Yes they are installing the update, but are not reading the rest of the documentation which states that an additional command must be run.
- [Outlook Unable To Connect To Exchange –Default Gateway Not Found](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/03/27/outlook-unable-to-connect-to-exchange-default-gateway-not-found/) - When doing some recent customer work for Exchange 2013, I ran into an annoying issue in one of my labs. Outlook 2013 refused to connect to Exchange 2013. A witch hunt then ensued to ensure that all of my Outlook Anywhere, Autodiscover and authentication settings were correct. Well it turns out that they were, and
- [Unresolved RID 526 and 527 After ADPrep](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/11/18/unresolved-rid-526-and-527-after-adprep/) - After preparing AD and installing the first Windows Server 2019 DC into an existing AD environment, it was noted that there were unresolved SIDs listed at the root of the domain. This was corelated to the AD 2019 upgrade as permissions had been audited and cleaned up prior due to previous issues in the environment.
- [Managed Availability Resources](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/11/08/managed-availability-resources/) - The Managed Availability (MA) feature provides a very capable automated monitoring and management framework. Managed Availability allows Exchange to self diagnose and to self correct issues without having to escalate to a human. The requirement for this feature was born out of necessity for Exchange Online. MA was one of the things released with Exchange
- [WordPress Linux Web App Poor Performance](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/11/03/wordpress-linux-web-app-poor-performance/) - Having to host, upgrade and manage WordPress is not really my main job. The various posts over the years will provide a small clue that other things take up most of my time and are my day job. Life was certainly easier when TechNet was still around as a dedicated team ran the MSDN and
- [Unable to Reply to Old Emails Due to legacyExchangeDN](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/06/03/unable-to-reply-to-old-emails-due-to-legacyexchangedn/) - This is one of those ye olde issues that keep coming back up in Exchange. Have you every removed a mailbox, re-created it with the exact same SMTP address and then some people complain that they cannot send to the mailbox? This can happen in a few circumstances. For example if the Exchange administrator has
- [Stages of AD Changes When Installing and Uninstalling Exchange](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/04/03/stages-of-ad-changes-when-installing-and-uninstalling-exchange/) - 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 And Advanced Azure AD Connect Topics](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/06/02/new-and-advanced-azure-ad-connect-topics/) - There have been some recent feature additions to Azure AD Connect. If we look at the Azure AD Connection Version History after a brief hiatus, there are newer versions as of March 2021. At the time of witing, the latest version is 1.6.4.0 and was released on the 31st May 2021. There are multiple new
- [Exchange 2010 Decommission Checklist](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/08/02/exchange-2010-decommission-checklist/) - The time approaches. Exchange 2010 has almost transitioned out of its extended support lifecycle phase, and multiple organisations are completing the final components of their Exchange 2010 migration. The last act is to uninstall Exchange 2010 once all of the resources have been moved to a newer version of Exchange. There are a few things
- [DNS or SRV Record For DNS Based Exchange Autodiscover](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/04/18/dns-or-srv-record-for-dns-based-exchange-autodiscover/) - For users and devices that need to use DNS to locate their Exchange Autodiscover endpoint, should I use a SRV record? The above is a fairly common question, and it almost warrants the consultant’s answer. It depends... Multi Site Exchange 2010 CAS Namespaces As discussed by Ross Smith IV in his introduction to Exchange 2013
- [How To Check Exchange Autodiscover SRV Record Using Nslookup](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/10/02/how-to-check-exchange-autodiscover-srv-record-using-nslookup/) - Generally the Exchange external Autodiscover DNS entity is configured as a regular A record. Sometimes a service record (SRV) is used instead. Since I have the habit of forgetting the syntax of quickly querying for the SRV record, this is one of those shared bookmark posts! Nslookup is the tool of choice here! Its documentation
- [Remote Desktop Connection Manager Download (RDCMan) 2.90](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/01/27/remote-desktop-connection-manager-download-rdcman-2-90/) - Welcome to 2022 and a new release of Remote Desktop Connection Manager (RDCMan) version 2.90! The Sysinternals blog lists the following changes to RDCMan which are well worth reviewing from a security standpoint. Receives support for Restricted Admin (/restrictedAdmin from mstsc) and Remote Credential Guard (/remoteGuard from mstsc) and bug fixes. Below you can see
- [Updating to RDCMan 2.8](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/07/20/updating-to-rdcman-2-8/) - Now that we have a new version of Remote Desktop Connection Manager (RDCMan), I wanted to list out some of my initial thoughts and upgrade experience as I did encounter a couple of minor bumps. Please add a comment if you are running into issues as well please. Like many other administrators, I heavily used
- [Unable To Add Server to DAG Enabled Computer Object With The Given Name Already Exists](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/11/27/unable-to-add-server-to-dag-enabled-computer-object-with-the-given-name-already-exists/) - As we saw previously, Windows Server 2012 introduced some changes with regards to creating a Database Availability Group (DAG). For example, you may have encountered this issue Add-DatabaseAvailabilityGroupServer – You Must Provide A Value For This Property. The issue below is another example where the pre-work to create the underlying DAG computer network object (CNO)
- [How to Use NsLookup To Check DKIM Record](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/10/03/how-to-use-nslookup-to-check-dkim-record/) - There are a multitude of online tools that help diagnose issues with various mail services, but understanding what these tools actually check is valuable. One example is around manually checking published DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) records. DKIM is described in RFC 4871. As an interesting piece of history DKIM went through a previous iteration "Domain-Based
- [AD FS Extranet Smart Account Lockout Protection](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/10/27/ad-fs-extranet-smart-account-lockout-protection/) - Windows Server 2012 R2 AD FS added the Extranet Account Lockout protection feature. The intent of Extranet Account Lockout protection is to add an additional feature to password authentication which traverses Web Application Proxy (WAP). Note that the feature is not available for authentication directly targeting AD FS. The reason for this is that the
- [Upgrade to Azure AD Connect 2.0](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/07/03/upgrade-to-azure-ad-connect-2-0/) - When delivering Office 365 Security Optimisation Assessments (SOA) to customers, one of the control items is the version of Azure AD Connect deployed along with some related configuration elements. In many cases, Azure AD Connect is not updated to a build that resolves both security and feature issues. Why is Azure AD Connect not current?
- [Add Domain to Azure, What Is Its EXO Status?](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/10/26/add-domain-to-azure-what-is-its-exo-status/) - A recent discussion revolved around adding domains to Azure, and how that would manifest iteslf in Office 365 and Azure. This was a customer where one set of admins was focused on Azure and others on Office 365 and they did not interact much. Lab Starting Configuration You will note that initially there are three domains
- [Exchange 2019 Setup Screenshots  - Commandline Install](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/04/26/exchange-2019-setup-screenshots-commandline-install/) - This is a reference post for Exchange 2019 screenshots of the command line installation process. You will note similarities to the Exchange 2016 installation. Update 30-9-2021 Newer versions of Exchange 2019 have slightly modified the prerequisites and also the original command line options that are shown below. Please see the Exchange 2019 CU11 setup changes
- [Exchange 2016 Installation Screenshots](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/10/02/exchange-2016-installation-screenshots/) - Now that Exchange 2016 has been released, let’s take a look at the Exchange 2016 installation process. We will see that there are some similarities compared to Exchange 2013 along with some differences. Exchange 2016 can be downloaded from here. Planning And Preparation As with every project proper, planning and preparation is required. Deploying Exchange
- [RSS Feed For Recently Updated Exchange Articles](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/11/13/rss-feed-for-recently-updated-exchange-articles/) - This could be a handy dandy addition to your RSS feed so you can keep track of the updated articles relating to Exchange. The RSS feed contains a list of the recent KBs for a given version of Exchange, this is the Exchange 2010 feed for example: Exchange 2007 feed can
- [How To Automate NetMon Captures](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/01/27/how-to-automate-netmon-captures/) - When troubleshooting various Exchange issues it can be very beneficial to get a network capture to look at the actual packets going over the wire. For example when looking at Outlook connectivity issues we can enable Outlook client logging and RPC Client Access Logging on the Exchange Server. Both are both great troubleshooting tools and
- [Exchange RBAC Primer](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/02/12/exchange-rbac-primer/) - After publishing some recent articles on RBAC, there was some feedback that a primer on RBAC would also be welcomed. So here it is! What is RBAC? It is not Really Boring Access Control. RBAC = Role Based Access Control. As a concept it is not new, however Exchange 2010 was the first time that
- [Exchange 2010 Tip Of The Day – 51 To 75](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/02/28/exchange-2010-tip-of-the-day-51-to-75/) - Here are the Exchange 2010 tips of the day from number 51 to 75. For the related articles in this series please see: Tips 1 - 25 Tips 26 – 50 Tips 76 - 101 Tip of the day #51: Want to determine whether a server is running Exchange Server 2010 Standard Edition or Exchange
- [Exchange 2010 Tip Of The Day – 76 To 101](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/03/03/exchange-2010-tip-of-the-day-76-to-101/) - For the final gripping chapter, here are tips #76 to 101 for your PowerShell pleasure! For the related articles in this series please see: Tips 1 – 25 Tips 26 - 50 Tips 51 – 75 Tip of the day #76: Exchange 2010 uses management role groups and management role assignment policies to manage permissions.
- [Windows Hyper-V 2012 & 8.1 Hyper-V Did Not Find Virtual Machine to Import](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/10/22/windows-hyper-v-2012-8-1-hyper-v-did-not-find-virtual-machine-to-import/) - Back in May 2013, we discussed an issue which caused the Hyper-V Did Not Find Virtual Machines To Import error. Well, as mentioned in that blog post there are a few reasons for this error message being displayed and it does depend on the versions of Hyper-V in use. There were some comments posted (thanks
- [End Of Exchange 2010 SP2 Support](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/04/09/end-of-exchange-2010-sp2-support/) - Time files and we are now at the end of the Exchange 2010 SP2 support lifecycle. And as previously discussed Windows XP and Office 2003 left extended support yesterday. It seems like only yesterday when Exchange 2010 SP2 was released in November 2011. The support lifecycle marker is the Exchange 2010 Service Pack. Exchange 2010
- [Previously Working Now Unable To See Exchange On-Premises Free/Busy - Redux](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/07/18/previously-working-now-unable-to-see-exchange-on-premises-free-busy-redux/) - When deploying Exchange hybrid, one of the aspects that can prove to be the most challenging is Exchange Online mailboxes trying to view calendar information for on-premises mailboxes. This is because there are multiple potential issues which can be caused due to management of Exchange on-premises, firewall rules and reverse proxy configuration issues. What was
- [Exchange 2010 Public Folder Migration](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/02/25/exchange-2010-public-folder-migration/) - For so many years organisations have postponed the inevitable. They have refused to clean up Exchange public folders, and content from 1996 is still present. Those Outlook forms that someone wrote in 1999 are still present. Stale Offline Address Book (OAB) folders and OWAScratchPad folders hang on for dear life. None of these are needed,
- [Exchange 2019 Point of No Return](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/07/12/exchange-2019-point-of-no-return/) - When designing an upgrade strategy from an older version of Exchange to a newer one, a question that needs to be addressed is do we need to introduce a version of Exchange that may not currently be present? This may be when upgrading from Exchange 2013 to Exchange 2019. If that organisation currently does not
- [SSL Labs Scan Portal.Azure.com–June 2022](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/06/12/ssl-labs-scan-portal-azure-com-june-2022/) - This is a snapshot of portal.azure.com using SSLLabs.com to scan the TLS configuration. The image below is a point in time snapshot of the configuration. The summary screen is repeated here so it can be used as the feature image for the post.
- [SSL Labs Scan Outlook.Office365.com–June 2022](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/06/12/ssl-labs-scan-outlook-office365-com-june-2022/) - This post is a scan of Outlook.office365.com taken with the SSLLabs.com scan tool which analyses the TLS configuration of the server. Deprecating support for 3DES Since October 31, 2018, Office 365 no longer supports the use of 3DES cipher suites for communication to Office 365. More specifically, Office 365 no longer supports the
- [TechEd 2012 Twitter & Streaming Feeds](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/06/07/teched-2012-twitter-streaming-feeds/) - TechEd 2012 North America is almost here, and Twitter will be a great resource to stay atop of all of the great news and announcements. You can find a list of TechEd Twitter hashtags and also see the official hashtag ttp://www.hashtags.org/msTechEd Official TechEd 2012 Twitter account: @TechEd_NA Related hashtag: #msTechEd Official Windows Azure Twitter account:
- [Update Rollup 6 for Exchange Server 2010 SP1 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2011/11/01/update-rollup-6-for-exchange-server-2010-sp1-released/) - This update contains a number of customer reported and internally found issues since the release of SP1 RU5. In particular we would like to specifically call out the following fixes which are included in this release: 2627769 Some time zones in OWA are not synchronized with Windows in an Exchange Server 2010 environment 2528854 The
- [Exchange 2007 SP3 RU6 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/01/26/exchange-2007-sp3-ru6-released/) - Exchange sustained engineering has released Exchange 2007 SP3 RU6 to the Microsoft download centre as update 2608656. The description of the update can be located here and the update is located here. I’ll leave you you to peruse the changes, but there are a couple in particular worth highlighting 2545080 Users in a source forest
- [Exchange 2010 SP2 RU5v2 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/12/11/exchange-2010-sp2-ru5v2-released/) - The Exchange 2010 SP2 RU5 update was removed from the download centre last month. The V2 of this update is now available and resolves issues with the Get-DatabaseAvailabilityGroup cmdlets. With the v1 of the update installed this error may have been observed: WARNING: An unexpected error has occurred and a Watson dump is being generated:
- [Creating PowerShell Profile For Integrated Scripting Environment – ISE](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/01/29/creating-powershell-profile-for-integrated-scripting-environment-ise/) - In this post we will look at some of the mechanics behind creating a profile file which will customise the start-up behaviour of the Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE). This will also serve as a precursor to additional posts on tweaking ISE for Exchange purposes. The catalyst for writing this was twofold. Firstly, an administrator was
- [Exchange 2013 Workshop Links – January 2016](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/01/25/exchange-2013-workshop-links-january-2016/) - This is link throw down for items that we discussed in a Exchange 2013 workshop which I delivered in Ottawa, Canada’s capital. The weather was pretty warm, the adjacent picture of parliament was on a bright Saturday morning when the temperature was a crisp –15 Celsius. For those who want to convert to Fahrenheit, I’ll
- [Exchange 2010 SP3 RU12 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/12/15/exchange-2010-sp3-ru12-released/) - The Exchange team today announced the availability of Update Rollup 12 for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 3. RU12 is the latest rollup of customer fixes available for Exchange Server 2010. The release contains fixes for customer reported issues and previously released security bulletins. This is build 14.03.0279.002 of Exchange 2010, and KB3096066 has the
- [Exchange 2010 SP3 RU13 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/03/15/exchange-2010-sp3-ru13-released/) - The Exchange team today announced the availability of Update Rollup 13 for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 3. RU13 is the latest rollup of customer fixes available for Exchange Server 2010. The release contains fixes for customer reported issues and previously released security bulletins. This is build 14.03.0294.000 of Exchange 2010, and KB3141339 has the
- [Exchange 2010 SP3 RU15 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/09/13/exchange-2010-sp3-ru15-released/) - Patch Tuesday this week heralded the arrival of Rollup Update Rollup 15 (RU15) for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 3. RU15 is the latest rollup of customer fixes available for Exchange Server 2010. The release contains security fixes to address the issues in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS16-108, in addition to the previous fixes in RU14
- [Exchange 2010 SP3 RU16 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/12/13/exchange-2010-sp3-ru16-released/) - Today heralded the arrival of Rollup Update Rollup 16 (RU16) for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 3. RU16 is the latest rollup of customer fixes available for Exchange Server 2010. All updates are delivered via a RU for Exchange 2010 and 2007. Exchange 2013 and 2016 have a different release model, where security updates are
- [Exchange 2010 SP3 RU19 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/12/19/exchange-2010-sp3-ru19-released/) - The Exchange team today announced the availability of Update Rollup 19 for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 3. RU19 is the latest rollup of customer fixes available for Exchange Server 2010. The release contains fixes for customer reported issues and previously released security bulletins. This is build 14.03.0382.000 of Exchange 2010, and KB4035162 has the
- [Exchange 2010 SP3 RU17 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/03/23/exchange-2010-sp3-ru17-released/) - March 21st heralded the arrival of Rollup Update Rollup 17 (RU17) for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 3. RU17 is the latest rollup of customer fixes available for Exchange Server 2010. All updates are delivered via a RU for Exchange 2010 and 2007. Exchange 2013 and 2016 have a different release model, where security updates
- [Exchange 2010 SP3 RU22 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/06/19/exchange-2010-sp3-ru22-released/) - The Exchange team today announced the availability of Update Rollup 22 for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 3. RU22 is the latest rollup of customer fixes available for Exchange Server 2010. The release contains fixes for customer reported issues and previously released security bulletins. This is build 14.03.0411.000 of Exchange 2010, and KB4295699 has the
- [Exchange 2010 SP3 RU23 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/08/14/exchange-2010-sp3-ru23-released/) - Today is patch Tuesday for August 2018 and contains a security advisory bulletin for Exchange 2010. Due to the way that Exchange 2010 is serviced, security updates are released as a new update rollup (RU). Separate updates were also released for Exchange 2013 and Exchange 2016. This is build 14.03.0417.001 of Exchange 2010, and KB
- [Exchange 2010 SP3 RU24 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/09/11/exchange-2010-sp3-ru24-released/) - Today is patch Tuesday for September 2018 and contains a security advisory bulletin for Exchange 2010. Due to the way that Exchange 2010 is serviced, security updates are released as a new update rollup (RU). Separate updates were also released for Exchange 2013 and Exchange 2016. This is build 14.03.0419.00 of Exchange 2010, and KB
- [Exchange 2010 SP3 RU25 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/01/08/exchange-2010-sp3-ru25-released/) - Today is patch Tuesday for January 2019 and contains a security advisory bulletin for Exchange 2010. Due to the way that Exchange 2010 is serviced, security updates are released as a new update rollup (RU). Separate updates were also released for Exchange 2013, Exchange 2016 and Exchange 2019. This is build 14.03.0435.00 of Exchange 2010,
- [Exchange 2010 SP3 RU26 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/02/12/exchange-2010-sp3-ru26-released/) - Today is patch Tuesday for February 2019 and contains a security advisory bulletin for Exchange 2010. Due to the way that Exchange 2010 is serviced, security updates are released as a new update rollup (RU). Separate updates were also released for Exchange 2013, Exchange 2016 and Exchange 2019. This is build 14.03.0442.000 of Exchange 2010,
- [Exchange 2010 SP3 RU27 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/04/09/exchange-2010-sp3-ru27-released/) - Today is patch Tuesday for April 2019 and contains a security advisory bulletin for Exchange 2010. Due to the way that Exchange 2010 is serviced, security updates are released as a new update rollup (RU). Separate updates were also released for Exchange 2013, Exchange 2016 and Exchange 2019. This is build 14.03.0452.000 of Exchange 2010,
- [Exchange 2010 SP3 RU29 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/07/09/exchange-2010-sp3-ru29-released/) - Today is patch Tuesday for July 2019 and contains a security advisory bulletin for Exchange 2010. Due to the way that Exchange 2010 is serviced, security updates are released as a new update rollup (RU). You can visit the Microsoft Security Response Center to read the details about this and the other released security updates.
- [Save The Date - End of Exchange 2010, Windows 7 and 2008 Mainstream Support – T Minus 6 Months](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/07/24/save-the-date-end-of-exchange-2010-windows-7-and-2008-mainstream-support-t-minus-6-months/) - In a little under 6 months, multiple products will experience a support life cycle change. As indicated by the space shuttle being readied, the countdown has started and the dates are set. Make sure you are aware of what is happening on the 13th of January 2015. 2014 has already been a busy year for
- [Office 2010 SP2–You Did Upgrade, Right?](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/10/14/office-2010-sp2you-did-upgrade-right/) - Six months ago, we discussed that Office 2010 SP1 support was drawing to a close. This means that you now need to have Office 2010 SP2 deployed on all relevant machines as the end of Office 2010 SP1 support is the 14th of October 2014. The Microsoft support lifecycle site has the above details. One
- [Office 2010 SP2– Do You Need To Upgrade?](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/04/14/office-2010-sp2-do-you-need-to-upgrade/) - Now that the Windows XP, Office 2003 and Exchange 2010 SP2 support expiration date has come and gone, the world is still turning, and we are not in a state of Armageddon! * That said, focus now needs to be on Office 2010 as it is 6 months until support ends for Office 2010 SP1
- [Exchange 2013 Tip Of The Day – 76 To 93](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/04/18/exchange-2013-tip-of-the-day-76-to-93/) - The other Exchange 2013 tips of the day posts can be found here: Exchange 2013 Tip Of The Day – 1 To 25 Exchange 2013 Tip Of The Day – 26 To 50 Exchange 2013 Tip Of The Day – 51 To 75 To obtain the listing below, the following command was used: $Int =
- [Exchange 2013 Tip Of The Day – 26 To 50](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/04/04/exchange-2013-tip-of-the-day-26-to-50/) - The other Exchange 2013 tips of the day posts can be found here: Exchange 2013 Tip Of The Day – 1 To 25 Exchange 2013 Tip Of The Day – 51 To 75 Exchange 2013 Tip of The Day – 76 To 93 To obtain the listing below, the following command was used: $Int =
- [Exchange 2013 Tip Of The Day – 1 To 25](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/03/28/exchange-2013-tip-of-the-day-1-to-25/) - The Exchange Management Shell helps us discover the amazing capabilities of PowerShell. One way it does this is by displaying a tip of the day so that we are introduced to concepts and topics that inevitably will come in handy one day! The other Exchange 2013 tips of the day posts can be found here:
- [Exchange 2010 Tip Of The Day – 26 To 50](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/02/23/exchange-2010-tip-of-the-day-26-to-50/) - Leading on where the previous post left off, here are the Exchange 2010 tips of the day from number 26 to 50. For the related articles in this series please see: Tips 1 – 25 Tips 51 – 75 Tips 76 - 101 Tip of the day #26: Forget a property name? Not a problem
- [Exchange 2010 Tip Of The Day – 1 To 25](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/02/21/exchange-2010-tip-of-the-day-1-to-25/) - The Exchange Management Shell helps us discover the amazing capabilities of PowerShell. One way it does this is by displaying a tip of the day so that we are introduced to concepts and topics that inevitably will come in handy one day! Since I had not see a complete list of the Exchange 2010 ones,
- [Lync Session Recordings From TechEd 2012](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/07/26/lync-session-recordings-from-teched-2012/) - Just in case evaluating the Exchange 2013 preview was not keeping you busy, Channel 9 has recordings on Lync from TechEd 2012. Enjoy! Forget about IT - How about Lync Inside Business Applications?! Consumerization of IT has brought an irreversible shift of power from IT to the Business where IT is no longer king. Come
- [10 Ways To Keep Exchange Up](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/01/15/10-ways-to-keep-exchange-up/) - On the MSPFE TechNet blog there are a series of articles there that I wrote previously for OpsVault and will also feature some future guest blogging posts too. You may have see the MSPFE tag on Twitter, MSPFE Handle or the MSPFE blogs on TechNet and MSDN. One of these guest posts went
- [How To Install AD FS 2012 R2 For Office 365–Part 3](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/04/30/how-to-install-adfs-2012-r2-for-office-365-part-3/) - Well then, here we are in part three already! Previously we: Installed AD FS 2012 R2 For Office 365 in part 1 Installed AD FS 2012 R2 Proxy For Office 365 in Part 2 Now we want to change the Office 365 domain to be a federated domain. As discussed in part 1, this means
- [Recommendations For Exchange ActiveSync Organisation Settings](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/01/21/recommendations-for-exchange-activesync-organisation-settings/) - It has been 5 years since Exchange 2010 was released and there is still a very common item that a lot of deployments have overlooked. This is the configuration of the ActiveSync Organization settings. These settings set the global options for devices connecting into Exchange 2010 and also Exchange 2013. They are a core part
- [Delivery Failed From Office 365 Mailbox To On-Premises Exchange Mailbox](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/07/21/delivery-failed-from-office-365-mailbox-to-on-premises-exchange-mailbox/) - In an Exchange 2010 SP3 Hybrid deployment with Office 365, a client noted that they were unable to send email from their Office 365 mailbox to an on-premises mailboxes. The user in Office 365 received an undeliverable message stating that Delivery has failed to these recipients or groups and the email address wasn’t found at
- [Exchange 2010 SP3 RU14 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/06/17/exchange-2010-sp3-ru14-released/) - Patch Tuesday this week heralded the arrival of Rollup Update Rollup 14 (RU14) for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 3. RU14 is the latest rollup of customer fixes available for Exchange Server 2010. The release contains a security fix to address the issue in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS16-079, in addition to the previous fixes in
- [Lync Sessions At TechEd 2013 NA](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/06/07/lync-sessions-at-teched-2013-na/) - In addition to the Exchange sessions at TechEd NA 2013, here are the Lync sessions for your viewing pleasure! Office 365 Sessions can be found here. Monitoring Microsoft Lync Server 2013: Getting the Most out of Monitoring Service Data Designing for High Availability and Disaster Recovery in Microsoft Lync Server 2013 Migration and Coexistence with
- [Exchange 2013 Upgrade Workshop Links – April 2016](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/05/02/exchange-2013-upgrade-workshop-links-april-2016/) - Last week I was in Ottawa to review the process of upgrading to Exchange 2013. Since the focus was upgrading from Exchange 2007, that required blowing the cobwebs off some long term storage brain cells! Note that Exchange 2007 now has less than a year of extended support left, and if you have not started
- [SkipAsSource Flag Cleared In Windows 2012](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/08/27/skipassource-flag-cleared-in-windows-2012/) - For a while now I’ve been using the Netsh SkipAsSource Flag to allow multiple IPs on a server and only the primary IP registers in DNS. The previous series of articles in this series are here: Fine Grained Control When Registering Multiple IP Addresses On a Network Card Fine Grained Control When Registering Multiple IP
- [AD FS Web Application Proxy Re-Establish Proxy Trust](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/11/16/ad-fs-web-application-proxy-re-establish-proxy-trust/) - In the Tailspintoys environment the AD FS Proxy was offline for month. It was unable to contact the AD FS server on the internal network, and this allowed the short lived authentication certificate to expire. At this point the AD FS Proxy was "dead to me" as far as the AD FS server was concerned.
- [Kicking The Tires With Office 365](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/01/20/kicking-the-tires-with-office-365/) - If you are looking for a “How To” guide to assist with getting started with Office 365 then you will want to take a look at the latest Test Lab Guides that are now available to TechNet. They were published last week and are hot off the virtual press! The Test lab Guides are intended
- [New Blog Platform](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/03/09/new-blog-platform/) - As of late afternoon yesterday, this blog and a few hundred others were moved from the old TechNet blogs platform to the new one. All of the content, links and ratings should have flowed over. From what I'm seeing so far, performance is also much improved. The old layout is on the left, and the
- [How To Tweak Your TechNet Forum Signature](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/01/31/how-to-tweak-your-technet-forum-signature/) - Since I have been asked a few times about how I pimped tweaked my TechNet Forum signature I thought it would be prudent to write it up here. This was one of the main drivers for creating this blog in the first place – so I could avoid having to write the same email several
- [How To Rename DAG Network Using PowerShell](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/08/01/how-to-rename-dag-network-using-powershell/) - Quick post for a Friday! A customer had an “interesting” issue where the DAG networks were not being displayed inside the Exchange Management Console. The underlying reason is because the implemented firewalls between Exchange servers, and then restricted network traffic between Exchange and the DCs. This is not a supported situation. For details on the
- [Outlook Prompts For Domain Certificate Unexpectedly](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/06/10/outlook-prompts-for-domain-certificate-unexpectedly/) - Ran into an issue where this Outlook 2010 SP2 client, build 14.0.7113.5000, was throwing up unexpected certificate errors for the domain. This is the Tailspintoys.ca domain. User-1@tailspintoys.ca was complaining about the below certificate error: Looking at the error message, the fact that it is the domain (tailspintoys.ca), and not a FQDN is a hint. More
- [Office 365 Workshop Links – February 2015](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/02/05/office-365-workshop-links-february-2015/) - This is a link throw-down for the items that we discussed during a recent Office 365 workshop that I delivered to customers in sunny/snowy/windy/rainy St. John’s Newfoundland. Yes it was all four seasons in one week, but that seems to be par for the course! St. John's was great (as always), and it is a
- [How To Install AD FS 2012 R2 For Office 365](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/04/28/how-to-install-adfs-2012-r2-for-office-365/) - When discussing and reviewing Office 365 with customers, I wanted to have a series of posts to illustrate the steps involved when deploying Office 365. In the burgeoning drafts folder Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) was at the top, so that got finished first! The act of deploying and configuring AD FS 2012 R2
- [How To Install AD FS 2012 R2 For Office 365–Part 2](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/04/28/how-to-install-adfs-2012-r2-for-office-365part-2/) - In part one we installed the AD FS server on our corporate network, and tested that it was working. Now we need to make the AD FS infrastructure available to the Internet in a secure fashion, so that Office 365 will be able to contact the AD FS proxy to authenticate user requests. In part
- [Exchange Support For Windows Server 2016](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/05/16/exchange-support-for-windows-server-2016/) - Windows Server 2016 is available, and it is now supported to install Exchange 2016 onto this version of Windows. Initially this was not the case. Exchange 2016 CU3 added support to install Exchange 2016 onto Windows Server 2016. However, there was an issue with Windows which required based installations to be paused. The required fix
- [Exchange 2010 SP3 RU8 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/12/09/exchange-2010-sp3-ru8-released/) - The Exchange team today announced the availability of Update Rollup 8 for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 3. RU8 is the latest rollup of customer fixes available for Exchange Server 2010. The release contains fixes for customer reported issues and previously released security bulletins. In addition to addressing previous security issues, Exchange 2010 SP3 RU8
- [Exchange 2013 Network Port Reference](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/03/20/exchange-2013-network-port-reference/) - There have been a few requests for an Exchange 2013 network port reference article. Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2010 both had sections on TechNet with that title. While the port reference is good to obtain a high level understand what Exchange is doing, many deployments would then start to deploy firewalls which blocked network traffic
- [Office 365 Workshop Links–August 2016](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/08/24/office-365-workshop-links-august-2016/) - This is a link throw-down for the items discussed during a recent Office 365 workshop that I delivered to customers in a rather tropical Winnipeg last week. It has to be said that the +30 Winnipeg is much better than the –30 Winnipeg! I’m posting the links here since they will be available to all of
- [How To Disable MAPI/HTTP For A Single Mailbox](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/01/25/how-to-disable-mapihttp-for-a-single-mailbox/) - This is one of those handy little tricks to keep in a toolbox to narrow down issues when troubleshooting. It can be useful to understand if the client is connecting via Outlook Anywhere or MAPI/HTTP. To troubleshoot such issues MAPI/HTTP can be disabled on the client, and then re-tested to see if the issue continues.
- [Fine Grained Control When Registering Multiple IP Addresses–Part Deux](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/11/30/fine-grained-control-when-registering-multiple-ip-addresses-part-deux/) - 30-1-2013 Edit – Link to part 3 is here. In the Exchange 2007 and 2010 world there are definite scenarios where there is a need to add multiple IP addresses to a server so that we can assign specific IP addresses to different web sites. However we do not want clients resolving the Exchange server
- [DAC And Should I Enable DAC For DAG In A Single AD Site](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/12/04/dac-and-should-i-enable-dac-for-dag-in-a-single-ad-site/) - Exchange 2010 introduced the concept of Datacentre Activation Coordination (DAC). DAC is a property found on a Database Availability Group (DAG). It still remains slightly mysterious to some folks out in the field, so its certainly worth bringing it back up for discussion. Tim McMichael’s famous paper plate demo with lots of willing participants was one
- [Exchange 2013 CU10 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/09/15/exchange-2013-cu10-released/) - Exchange 2013 CU10 has been released to the Microsoft download centre! Exchange 2013 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 2013 and can be used to install a fresh server or to
- [Exchange 2010 SP3 RU11 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/09/15/exchange-2010-sp3-ru11-released/) - The Exchange team today announced the availability of Update Rollup 11 for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 3. RU11 is the latest rollup of customer fixes available for Exchange Server 2010. The release contains fixes for customer reported issues and previously released security bulletins. This is build 14.03.0266.001 of Exchange 2010, and KB3078674 has the
- [Exchange 2013 CU7 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/12/09/exchange-2013-cu7-released/) - Exchange 2013 CU7 has been released to the Microsoft download centre! Exchange 2013 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 2013 and can be used to install a fresh server or to
- [Office 2013 Click-To-Run Not Updating](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/05/28/office-2013-click-to-run-not-updating/) - When the office updates were released last patch Tuesday, there were a couple of issues of mine that were resolved. Great, I thought, let’s download and install them! After checking that my installed build of Outlook etc. was older than the released updates I downloaded the updates from the Microsoft Download Centre and then
- [Most Popular Blog Posts For 2014](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/12/24/most-popular-blog-posts-for-2014/) - Since 2014 is drawing to a close, I thought it would be interesting to see what were the 10 most popular articles on the blog. For reference purposes, the top 10 from 2013 were also included for comparison. I also wanted to wish everyone a great holiday. If you are going skiing, staying home with
- [Exchange Setup – Certificate Is Expired  - Part Deux](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/11/19/exchange-setup-certificate-is-expired-part-deux/) - Previously I managed to break one of my labs when replicating a customer situation and then had to fix it as noted in this post from 2017. This time around though I really raised my game, and instead of one certificate being expired, all of them were. Yup every cert was toast. Trying to install
- [Exchange Scripting Agent - The Power Of Script](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/06/24/exchange-scripting-agent-the-power-of-script/) - Exchange 2010 introduced a very interesting feature – the Scripting Agent. The intent for this component is to provide extensibility to the base management tools and ensure consistency for the execution of cmdlets in the environment. The feature is not enabled by default and you must manually enable it if you want to leverage the
- [PowerShell – CannotConvertArgumentNoMessage Where Object Error](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/02/16/powershell-cannotconvertargumentnomessage-where-object-error/) - This is an interesting tale from a customer who was trying to get a list of Outlook clients that were connecting to their Exchange 2010 servers. They wanted to validate the Outlook versions that were connecting, due to Exchange 2013 requirements and also that Outlook 2010 must have SP2 installed at this time. A quick
- [The Way Things Were–EOP IP Ranges October 2018](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/02/03/the-way-things-were-eop-ip-ranges-october-2018/) - When discussing network configuration for Office 365, there will be a series of issues and challenges that need to be addressed. Ideally this is all done in a proactive manner, with the final items addressed in the POC phase. One of the cornerstone issues is around how access to and from Office 365 will be
- [MDI Install Error 0x80070643 Windows Server 2019](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/02/07/mdi-install-error-0x80070643-windows-server-2019/) - Install the Microsoft Defender for Identity (MDI) sensor onto a newly built DC? Easy you say, and that should only take 5 minutes. Well, if that was the case there would be no need for this post, and as my Dad would say, there is no such thing as a 5 minute job. The below
- [Move FSMO Roles Using PowerShell](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/02/11/move-fsmo-roles-using-powershell/) - Rather than kicking it old school and using the classic tools such as AD Users & Computers (dsa.msc) to move FSMO roles, PowerShell makes it nice and easy to get this done rapidly. In this example we are moving the roles gracefully, but there is also the -Force option. State Of The Nation To
- [Microsoft Teams Source IP Address Used Connecting to On-Premises Exchange](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/02/14/microsoft-teams-source-ip-address-used-connecting-to-on-premises-exchange/) - Planning to deploy Office 365 and integrate with your on-premises Exchange infrastructure? Great! While running the Exchange Hybrid Configuration Wizard (HCW) will be one of the highlights it should be a boring and uneventful portion of the project. That will be true if all of the required planning, remediation and preparation was done. If not
- [Exchange 2016 CU23 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/04/20/exchange-2016-cu23-released/) - Exchange 2016 CU23 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
- [Defender Portal Enable Audit - Is That The Unified Audit Log?](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/05/27/defender-portal-enable-audit-is-that-the-unified-audit-log/) - This was a question from a recent customer engagement: Why is the Microsoft Defender portal asking me to turn on the Unified Audit Log when I already have that enabled? In the Defender portal https://security.microsoft.com this banner message was present: "To use this feature, turn on auditing so we can start recording user and admin activity
- [Remediate SWEET32  -- Disable TLS_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA For Windows Server 2012 R2](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/06/12/remediate-sweet32-disable-tls_rsa_with_3des_ede_cbc_sha-for-windows-server-2012-r2/) - Admins have become very aware of the need to adjust the Schannel protocol settings for TLS to enable TLS 1.2 and to disable older versions. However, the cipher suites do not always receive the same amount of attention and may be left at their default values. If you are reading this post there is a
- [Exchange 2013 SP1 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/02/25/exchange-2013-sp1-released/) - Exchange 2013 SP1 has now been released to the Microsoft Download Center! The build number for Exchange Server 2013 SP1 is 15.00.0847.032 Update 5-3-2014: If you are using custom transport agents please see Third-party transport agents cannot be loaded correctly in Exchange Server 2013 The script you need to remediate the issue is linked from
- [Patching Exchange? Don’t Overlook Outlook](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/07/18/patching-exchange-dont-overlook-outlook/) - When Microsoft performs an Exchange Risk Assessment Program (ExRAP) with a customer there are several work items related to patching. We discuss how the: Server hardware, firmware and drivers get updated Server OS gets updated Desktop OS gets updated AV gets updated Exchange Service Packs and Rollups get installed Most customers have an appreciation for
- [Back In Business](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/03/17/back-in-business/) - Well, finally we are back online! It's been a long sorry saga over the last couple of years for the MSDN and TechNet blog platforms. In some ways this is not a new phenomena for bloggers at Microsoft. Things have not always been easy. Initially the culture was not so open and allowed staff to
- [Exchange 2013 Workshop Links  -  February 2015](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/03/03/exchange-2013-workshop-links-february-2015/) - This is link throw down for items that we discussed in a recent Exchange 2013 workshop. Well, actually two workshops. Depending upon which one you attended the additional links will be slightly different. Exchange 2013 Client Connectivity in an Exchange 2013 Coexistence Environment Exchange 2013 and Exchange 2010 Coexistence with Kerberos Authentication - beware the
- [Exchange 2010 SP3 RU9 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/03/17/exchange-2010-sp3-ru9-released/) - The Exchange team today announced the availability of Update Rollup 9 for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 3. RU9 is the latest rollup of customer fixes available for Exchange Server 2010. The release contains fixes for customer reported issues and previously released security bulletins. Update 25-3-2015 Please see an emerging issue with ActiveSync after deploying
- [Troubleshooting Exchange 2010 Search](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/05/07/troubleshooting-exchange-2010-search/) - Since Exchange servers are now storing an ever increasing amount of data, it is imperative that people can quickly search and retrieve the content from their mailbox. This may have been possible without search capabilities in the past with a 20 MB mailbox quota (remember those days ?!?), but as quotas move to double gigabyte
- [Troubleshooting Exchange 2013 and 2016 Search](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/04/03/troubleshooting-exchange-2013-and-2016-search/) - Exchange 2013 and Exchange 2016 search is again a huge improvement and work area in the same vein as the search improvements in Exchange 2007 compared to Exchange 2003. Exchange Search is important for many reasons. Users running Outlook in online mode will leverage the Exchange search service, as will those on OWA. Administrators performing
- [Dude, Where’s My File Share Witness](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/07/07/dude-wheres-my-file-share-witness/) - The question of: I have just ran New-DatabaseAvailabilityGroup and I do not see a File Share Witness (FSW) folder or cluster resources. Where are all my Database Availability Group (DAG) and cluster resources…? What went wrong? This is a common scenario when an admin is building a DAG, and during the process they check to
- [Hyper-V Did Not Find Virtual Machine To Import](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/05/31/hyper-v-did-not-find-virtual-machine-to-import/) - Since I have this lovely Lenovo W530 laptop with a couple of disks and 32GB of RAM, it is great to run VMs on! As you can imagine, I have multiple different Exchange labs to reflect all the different versions and builds that are in use. Generally I have been able to import all of
- [Time To Move To SkyDrive From Mesh](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/02/08/time-to-move-to-skydrive-from-mesh/) - Just in case anyone is still procrastinating about moving over from Mesh to SkyDrive, please note that Mesh will be retired next week on Wednesday February the 13th 2013. Believe it or not, but it was back in 2008 when Mesh was released. Time certainly flies, and the capabilities and expectations people now have
- [Hyper-V Cluster Console Crash Windows Server 2012](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/02/25/hyper-v-cluster-console-crash-windows-server-2012/) - Update 1-3-2013: You may also want to reference the Hyper-V 2012 and Cluster update wiki pages as linked & discussed here. After building up a nice new Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V cluster with SCVMM 2012 SP1, it was a bit strange to get the world’s longest error when opening up the Failover Cluster MMC. The
- [Fine Grained Control When Registering Multiple IP Addresses–Part Trois](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/01/24/fine-grained-control-when-registering-multiple-ip-addressespart-trois/) - You may have seen the previous articles, part one and two, where I’d blogged about controlling DNS registration for network interfaces with multiple IP addresses. For Exchange administrators this is a a concern because sometimes we have to create multiple web sites on a Client Access Server (CAS). This is typically done so that OWA
- [Fine Grained Control When Registering Multiple IP Addresses On a Network Card](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/02/08/fine-grained-control-when-registering-multiple-ip-addresses-on-a-network-card/) - Edit: 24-1-2013: A second article using PowerShell 3.0 is here Edit: 30-1-2013: – A third article is using advanced PowerShell 3.0 is here. Edit 28-8-2013: – A similar issue with the setting being removed is present in Windows Server 2012. Article with workaround is here. The previous behaviour in Windows was to register all IP
- [Using A PAL Template To Easily Capture Performance Data](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/07/19/using-a-pal-template-to-easily-capture-performance-data/) - I recently blogged about using PAL to analyse an existing performance monitor log file. That is great if you have an existing log, but what if this is not the case? How can we easily capture the correct counters in the log file? Again PAL can come to the rescue! Let's assume that PAL is
- [Updated PAL Tool 2.3.1 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/06/26/updated-pal-tool-2-3-1-released/) - Note: The follow-up can be found here: http://blog.rmilne.ca/archive/2012/07/19/using-pal-template-to-easily-capture-performance-data.aspx Clint Huffman Tweeted that he released an updated build of the PAL (Performance Analysis of Logs) tool. This build contains both fixes and other welcome additional improvements to an ever growing list of templates which is always great to see! For those who have not yet used
- [Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Architecture Poster](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/02/11/windows-server-2012-hyper-v-architecture-poster/) - The updated version of Windows 2012’s Hyper-V Architecture component poster is now available for download which is pretty neat! As an added bonus, there are companion references for Hyper-V Replica, Hyper-V Storage, VM Mobility and Networking. The Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Hyper-V poster is available here if you want to
- [Exchange RPC Client Access Service Crash](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/09/03/exchange-rpc-client-access-service-crash/) - RPC Client Access is the main conduit for Outlook clients communicating to Exchange 2010. So when something happens to it, the impact can be classified as “not good”….. While Exchange 2010 SP3 RU2 addresses issues with RPC Client Access that may be caused by RPC Client Access threads hanging on a mailbox server that is
- [Exchange 2013 Security Update Available For MS13-061](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/08/13/exchange-2013-security-update-available-for-ms13-061/) - Update 14-8-2013: The security update for Exchange 2013 has been temporarily removed due to an issue with the search infrastructure. If you have installed it please refer to article “Update 2874216 breaks the content index in Exchange Server 2013” Update 14-8-2013: Please see an update on the Exchange team blog. Update 27-8-2013: Updated release
- [Exchange 2010 SP3 RU2 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/08/13/exchange-2010-sp3-ru2-released/) - Exchange 2010 SP3 RU2 has been released to resolve the security issues described in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS13-061. Additionally Exchange 2007, Exchange 2010 SP2 and Exchange 2013 also received updates to resolve the security issues as mentioned in the MS13-061 bulletin and other product specific fixes. Click the above image to download, or the direct
- [Exchange 2010 SP2 RU7 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/08/13/exchange-2010-sp2-ru7-released/) - It’s a busy day in the land of Exchange today, with updates also released for Exchange 2007, Exchange 2010 SP3, and Exchange 2013. Exchange 2010 SP2 RU7 is now available as update 2874216. Exchange 2010 SP2 RU7 is also released as part of Patch Tuesday to resolve the security issues that are addressed in Exchange 2007
- [Allow Users To Manage Distribution Groups Without Creating New Ones](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/08/09/allow-users-to-manage-distribution-groups-without-creating-new-ones/) - In a previous post we discussed a scenario where users were delegated the capability to create Mail Enabled Contacts in Active Directory using a custom RBAC role. As part of the solution, we enabled the MyDistributionGroups Role. While this may meet the needs of most organisations it does introduce one issue where users who are
- [Exchange Services Not Starting Due to Network Location](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/04/05/exchange-services-not-starting-due-to-network-location/) - On some recent Exchange 2010 builds I noticed that sometimes the Exchange services would fail due to a lack of connectivity with Active Directory. I noticed that the network location had changed from Domain and was listed as Public even though the server had a single connection which was on the internal corporate network. A
- [Creating RBAC Role To Delegate Contact Management](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/08/07/creating-rbac-role-to-delegate-contact-management/) - Update 21-11-2013: If you want the additional contact fields to be edited then please review this post. I had an interesting question the other week about solving a business challenge a customer had with regards to delegating the creation of contact objects in Active Directory. In their previous messaging system users were managing their own
- [Exchange 2013 RTM CU2 Updated Build Available](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/07/29/exchange-2013-rtm-cu2-updated-build-available/) - Exchange 2013 RTM CU2 was noted to have an issue with the permissions of migrated public folders. The Exchange team has released an updated version of CU2 to address this. This replaces the original download for CU2. The updated build is available from the Microsoft download centre. Knowledgebase article 2859928 contains a description of CU2.
- [Azure AD Connect Express Install Upgrade – Build 1.0.9131.0](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/02/23/azure-ad-connect-express-install-upgrade-build-1-0-9131-0/) - The directory synchronization program managers have been hard at work adding more and more documentation to the Azure repository. The content is currently being published to azure.microsoft.com. For example Introducing Azure AD Connect takes us through the identity management steps when connecting to Azure AD. Please note that this post is based on the upgrade
- [Azure AD Connect Express Install Upgrade – Build 1.1.105.0](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/03/02/azure-ad-connect-express-install-upgrade-build-1-1-105-0/) - In February 2016 a new build of the Azure AD Connect tool was released. This is build 1.1.105.0. Multiple features and enhancements were added, and some significant changes were made to Azure AD Connect. The release history of Azure AD Sync and Azure AD Connect is available on azure.microsoft.com. DirSync is grounded in the years
- [Exchange 2013 RTM CU2 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/07/09/exchange-2013-rtm-cu2-released/) - Update 12-7-2013: Please note there is an issue with Public Folder Permissions in CU2. Details here. Update 29-7-2013: Please note CU2 has been re-released to resolve the Public Folder issue. Details here. The Exchange team have announced the second instalment of love for Exchange 2013 RTM – Cumulative Update 2 (CU2) is now available on
- [Monitoring Removal of Hyper-V AVHD Files](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/07/02/monitoring-removal-of-hyper-v-avhd-files/) - Have you used Windows 2008 and Windows 2008 R2 Hyper-V; created a snapshot, deleted it and then wondered why the snapshot files are still hanging around? Like to know what to expect and the EventIDs that are associated with snapshot removal? Likely you will be familiar with .vhd files which are the disk storage files
- [Exchange on a DC](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/07/03/exchange-on-a-dc/) - “Should I install my Exchange 2010 server onto a Domain Controller?” “What issues will I see by installing Exchange onto my DC?” “Is installing Exchange on a DC supported?” “Is this DAG member supported on a DC?” These are phrases that enterprise customers do not normally say. They are more in the realm of SMB
- [Exchange 2013 Architecture Poster](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/06/11/exchange-2013-architecture-poster/) - Update: I created a Deep Zoom of the Exchange 2013 Architecture Poster so you can easily zoom in/out and scroll around. Exchange 2013 Architecture Poster Deep Zoom Were you a fan of the Exchange 2007 Architecture Poster or the Exchange 2010 Architecture Poster and it’s associated Hub Transport Architecture Poster? I know, who wasn’t The
- [Exchange 2010 SP3 RU1 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/05/30/exchange-2010-sp3-ru1-released/) - The Exchange Team released the first Update Rollup for Exchange 2010 SP3. Exchange 2010 SP3 RU1 is available for download from the download centre as update 2803727. This is build 14.03.0146.000 of Exchange 2010. Article 2803727 has the full details for this release. Probably the two biggest changes that we have been waiting on
- [Dude, Where’s My Set-DAG Command](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/05/14/dude-wheres-my-set-dag-command/) - Have you read a blog or web site that asked you to run the Set-DAG command? Were you told by someone to run the Get-DAG command? You then went to your lab Exchange server to test and validate the command only to find that it does not work. At this point it’s a case of:
- [Download Hyper-V Best Practices Analyzer (BPA)](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/05/08/download-hyper-v-best-practices-analyzer-bpa/) - This tool has been out for a while, but have seen multiple customers not leveraging it on their Hyper-V servers as it is not installed by default on Windows 2008 or Windows 2008 R2 Hyper-V hosts. It is particularly useful for ensuring that the integration components inside the VM are the correct version. Note the
- [List Of Updates for Hyper-V](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/03/30/list-of-updates-for-hyper-v/) - Previously the list of updates for Hyper-V was stored and maintained as part of the regular TechNet documentation. Customers asked to have an RSS feed that they could subscribe to and for the list to be maintained in a more rapid fashion. Thus the update list was moved from TechNet to a new location on
- [Required Hotfix For Windows 8 VM Running on Hyper-V 2008 or 2008 R2 Host](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/03/23/required-hotfix-for-windows-8-vm-running-on-hyper-v-2008-or-2008-r2-host/) - EDIT 8-2-2013: A new update KB 2744129 has superseded the original KB 2526776 Please note that this new update now applies to Hyper-V 2008 and 2008 R2 -- the original was only for R2. If you are testing out Windows 8 as a VM which is hosted on a Windows 2008 or 2008 R2
- [Exchange 2010 DAG AllowCrossSiteRPCClientAccess Reverts to False](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/05/08/exchange-2010-dag-allowcrosssiterpcclientaccess-reverts-to-false/) - Update 28-7-2013: This issue is now resolved in Exchange 2010 SP3 RU1. See end for details. When browsing a customer’s Disaster Recovery document I noticed that the Exchange admins had added a step at the end of the document when recovering the DAG back to the primary datacentre. This was to enable AllowCrossSiteRPCClientAccess in the
- [Hyper-V 2008 R2 Architecture Poster (with SP1)](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2011/12/21/hyper-v-2008-r2-architecture-poster-with-sp1/) - Link to the updated Hyper-V poster for 2008 R2 SP1 is here. Overview This poster provides a visual reference for understanding key Hyper-V technologies in Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1. It focuses on architecture, snapshots, live migration, virtual networking, storage, RemoteFX and Dynamic Memory. You can use this poster in conjunction
- [Hyper-V Encountered An Error While Loading The Virtual Machine](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/01/10/hyper-v-encountered-an-error-while-loading-the-virtual-machine/) - When I was running Windows 8 I ran into an issue importing VMs with the error “Did Not Find Virtual Machine To Import” and discussed it on the blog. The presence on the .exp file was causing the import to fail. Since I had to rebuild my corporate laptop, I hit a related the same
- [Busting The Set-AutodiscoverVirtualDirectory Myth](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/04/02/busting-the-set-autodiscovervirtualdirectory-myth/) - This is one of those long overdue posts (and yes there are certainly many more where it came from in my drafts folder) regarding some of the incorrect instructions about setting up Autodiscover which can be found on the Internet. What am I wibbling about? Well repeatedly over the last 5 years or so since
- [How To Set Mailbox Quarantine In Exchange](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/01/13/how-to-set-mailbox-quarantine-in-exchange/) - Exchange 2010 added multiple features to improve the resiliency of messaging services. Notable additions included client throttling to ensure that a single mailbox would not consume excessive resources and mailbox quarantine. Mailbox quarantine is enabled by default, and the first time a lot of admins discover the feature is when a mailbox gets quarantined and
- [Exchange 2013 Support Lifecycle Dates And Status](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/12/09/exchange-2013-support-lifecycle-dates-and-status/) - When Exchange 2013 was released it heralded a different servicing strategy compared to Exchange 2007 and 2010 Rollup Updates (RU). Exchange 2013 uses Cumulative Updates (CU) to deliver the servicing updates to customers. As previously discussed, a CU is a different animal when it comes to the update methodology. CUs are larger, cannot be uninstalled
- [Exchange 2013 RTM CU3 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/11/25/exchange-2013-rtm-cu3-released/) - Exchange 2013 RTM CU3 has now been released to the download centre. CU3 includes fixes for customer reported issues, minor product enhancements and previously released security bulletins. A complete list of customer reported issues resolved in Exchange Server 2013 CU3 can be found in Knowledge Base Article KB2892464. Note that the filename now reflects the
- [Exchange 2010 SP3 RU3 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/11/25/exchange-2010-sp3-ru3-released/) - The Exchange team today announced the availability of Update Rollup 3 for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 3. RU3 is the latest rollup of customer fixes available for Exchange Server 2010. The release contains fixes for customer reported issues and previously released security bulletins. Update: 6-2-2014 Folder views are not updated when you arrange by
- [Critical Schannel Vulnerability - MS14-066](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/11/13/critical-schannel-vulnerability-ms14-066/) - In the November 2014 security bulletin there were 14 updates released. The updates resolved security issues in IE, OLE and Schannel. It is the latter that is worth calling out for attention since this is the basis of the Microsoft implementation of SSL. Exchange makes heavy use of SSL, and is typically connected to the
- [How To Check Database White Space In Exchange](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/08/20/how-to-check-database-white-space-in-exchange/) - From time to time we need to see how our Exchange databases are doing so that they are being managed proactively. One aspect is tracking size and the utilization of each database. At the simplest level we want to ensure that the database and transaction log LUNs do not run out of disk space. That
- [End Of Exchange 2010 RTM Support](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2011/10/18/end-of-exchange-2010-rtm-support/) - The Exchange 2010 RTM (Release To Manufacturing) build has now reached the end of its support lifecycle. Customers should upgrade to SP1 to continue to receive support (amongst many other good reasons!). The Exchange 2010 lifecycle can be viewed here: Full details about the Microsoft lifecycle policy can be viewed here http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/
- [Exchange 2010 RPC Client Access](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2011/10/18/exchange-2010-rpc-client-access/) - Perhaps the most significant change between Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2010 is the move to channel Outlook connectivity through the CAS role. In Exchange 2007 Outlook would connect to the mailbox role, whilst other protocols (POP, OWA, IMAP etc.) would leverage the CAS role. In Exchange 2010 this means that we now find two new
- [Best way ever to install required OS components for Exchange 2010 SP1 install!](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2011/10/18/best-way-ever-to-install-required-os-components-for-exchange-2010-sp1-install/) - My good friend Dan wrote a great blog entry about automating the installation of the required Windows OS prerequisites for an Exchange 2010 install. You can read it here. Over and above this, Exchange 2010 SP1 adds a new setup switch /InstallWindowsComponents Exchange 2010 SP1 Setup has been improved to allow you to install the
- [Remote Desktop Connection Manager Download (RDCMan) 2.2](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2011/10/19/remote-desktop-connection-manager-download-rdcman-2-2/) - Remote Desktop Connection Manager (RDCMan) is a great tool to consolidate multiple RDP connections into a single window to prevent desktop clutter. Update 24-6-2021: RDCMan 2.8.1 is available. Please see here. Update 19-11-2014: RDCMan 2.7 is now available. Please see here. Update 29-3-2017: 2.2 is no longer available for download - please use the 2.7
- [Exchange 2010 White Papers](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2011/10/20/exchange-2010-white-papers/) - Some featured white papers on the Exchange TechNet site: Technical White Papers for Exchange Server 2010 White Paper: Understanding the Relative Costs of Client Access Server Workloads in Exchange Server 2010 http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff803560.aspx White Papers: Exchange 2010 Tested Solutions http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg513520.aspx Cheers, Rhoderick
- [Exchange & The Autodiscover Web Service](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2011/10/21/exchange-amp-the-autodiscover-web-service/) - In the Exchange 2003 world and below, those administrators looking to automate and control the behaviour of MAPI profiles on user’s desktops quickly became familiar with tools like: ORK (Office Resource Kit) .PRF Files .OPS files (from the Office Profile wizard) PROFGEN PRFPATCH ExProfRe For a refresher on such joys of .PRF files etc. take
- [Outlook & Restricting DAG Cross-Site Connections](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2011/10/21/outlook-restricting-dag-cross-site-connections/) - This post is to clarify that a previously discussed feature that was intended for Exchange 2010 SP1 is not present in the SP1 final build. Update: This feature is now live in the Exchange 2010 SP2 RU3 build of Exchange. The feature I am referring to is the allow/block cross site RPC Client Access connections.
- [Exchange 2007 Component Architecture Poster](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2011/10/22/exchange-2007-component-architecture-poster/) - These are oldies but goodies. Posting links as requested. Update: I Created a Deep Zoom of the posters so that it is easy to scroll around in a browser or mobile device. Click the toggle button at the bottom right hand corner to enter full screen mode. Exchange 2007 Component Poster Deep Zoom Exchange 2007
- [Exchange 2007 & 2010 Least Cost Routing](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2011/10/21/exchange-2007-2010-least-cost-routing/) - Exchange 2007 & 2010 use a different message routing design than Exchange 2003. This is an important aspect to understand when transitioning from Exchange 2003 upwards due to the change in behaviour. TechNet has articles that discuses these concepts : Exchange 2010 http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998825.aspx Exchange 2007 http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998825(EXCHG.80).aspx Exchange 2003 http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998800(EXCHG.65).aspx Exchange 2007 and 2010 base their
- [SCOM Slow PowerShell Expansion](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2011/11/17/scom-slow-powershell-expansion/) - Ran into an issue with SCOM, where the SCOM PowerShell console would freeze for extended periods of time. Solution was found here: Slow tab expansion in Ops Mgr PowerShell V2 console The fix is to tweak the TabExpansion function in V2 so that it doesn’t try to autocomplete child objects if using the Ops
- [Exchange 2010 SP2 – What You Need To Know](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2011/12/15/exchange-2010-sp2-what-you-need-to-know/) - Last week the Exchange team released SP2 for Exchange 2010 over on the Exchange team blog as described in the previous post which announced the upcoming release. I wanted to use this blog entry to provide links to all the relevant content for SP2 and to raise awareness of some specific issues so that they
- [Exchange EMC May Not Close – Update](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2011/12/15/exchange-emc-may-not-close-update/) - After installing Internet Explorer 9 onto an Exchange server, you may have experienced that the Exchange Management Console (EMC) will not close. The following error is observed: You must close all dialog boxes before you can close Exchange Management Console This did not affect everyone, and you may have been blissfully unaware of this The
- [Exchange 2010 Cross Forest Mailbox Moves](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2011/12/20/exchange-2010-cross-forest-mailbox-moves/) - Was discussing cross forest mailbox move operations with a customer last week to review the details around network requirements for remote move requests. This is as opposed to a local move request which is used within the same Exchange Organisation. Relevant TechNet documentation: Create a Remote Move Request That has Exchange 2010 in Both Forests
- [Hyper-V Connectivity Issue](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2011/12/21/hyper-v-connectivity-issue/) - Update: Newer firmware has been released since this was originally posted. Ran into an interesting issue last week with a HP DL 585 Hyper-V host which had intermittent network connectivity over one of its defined virtual networks. In the system event log the following warning was logged: To resolve the issue, HP has released an
- [Exchange 2010 Component Posters](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2011/12/21/exchange-2010-component-posters/) - These are oldies but goodies. Posting links as requested. Exchange 2010 Component Poster Download Downloadable from here. HUB Transport Components Poster Download Downloadable from here. HUB Transport Extensibility Poster Download Downloadable from here. As a bonus, the Exchange 2007 Component Poster can also be downloaded. Cheers, Rhoderick
- [“Slow” File Copy Issues](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/01/24/slow-file-copy-issues/) - A recent performance issue case revolved around slow disk access times, and the impact that this had on Hyper-V and Windows in general. The customer had identified that one of their SAN units was dramatically out performing another one, even though the slower unit should have been orders of magnitude faster – well, at
- [Custom Certificate Template Cannot be Issued](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/01/26/custom-certificate-template-cannot-be-issued/) - At an engagement yesterday, I ran into an interesting issue where a custom certificate template that was created was unavailable from the Certificate Services Web Enrolment page. One quick peek into the KB revealed a match for the issue. You cannot have a Version 2 custom template of Type Minimum Windows 2008 Supported CA to
- [Windows Service Log On As Inventory](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/02/28/windows-service-log-on-as-inventory/) - At a recent engagement a customer wanted to quickly scan through multiple servers to easily determine which services were set to log on as non-standard accounts, i.e. ones like network service, and local service were OK, but which ones were using an Active Directory logon for example? They also wanted to search specific portions of
- [Exchange 2010 Recommend DAG Update](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/02/29/exchange-2010-recommend-dag-update/) - While working with a customer to resolve networking issues with their DAG last week I enquired if they had installed the recommended update for their DAG. They were not aware of the Exchange product group’s recommendation so I thought I’d bubble this back up again: The post is on the Exchange team blog site and
- [Office 365 Tech Centre](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/03/01/office-365-tech-centre/) - If you are planning to test or on-board with Office 365, have you seen the Tech Centre over on TechNet? Some great content is located there, and is well worth a read. Cheers, Rhoderick
- [Windows Server “8” Beta](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/03/02/windows-server-8-beta/) - Now that the Windows Server “8” beta has been released publically there is going to be a lot of excitement over the release’s new features. This shouldn’t be a surprise unless you have been in a decompression chamber or living under a rock this week . Certainly over a million were not, and downloaded Win8
- [Hyper-V Windows Server “8” Architecture Poster](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/03/23/hyper-v-windows-server-8-architecture-poster/) - I’d previously blogged about the Windows 2008 R2 Hyper-V architecture poster. It certainly is a neat way to see the underlying concepts laid out, especially when printed on A2 sized paper! Following this trend the poster guy, has created a poster for Windows Server “8”, and this is now available for download from TechNet. Enjoy!
- [Exchange 2007–Service Pack 3 Is Required](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/03/26/exchange-2007-service-pack-3-is-required/) - After seeing several posts in the TechNet Exchange forums, where people are posting an overview of their environment as part of the problem statement, it is clear that multiple customers are not maintaining the correct service pack level on their Exchange servers. I previously blogged about this for Exchange 2010, and this time lets focus
- [VMLimited - More Out-dated IT Plans Sold From The Back Of A Van](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/04/13/vmlimited-more-out-dated-it-plans-sold-from-the-back-of-a-van/) - The polyester packing virtualization sales guy from the past is back! You may have seen Tad in his inaugural video over at VM-Limited. Now the second instalment of his genius is live. I wish that I could get it on VHS, Betamax or maybe even VHS 2000 (points for those who remember that format!). That
- [SkyDrive Updated Quota And Clients](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/04/23/skydrive-updated-quota-and-clients/) - The SkyDrive team have just released the updated SkyDrive and the associated clients for various mobile devices. I just finished downloading and installing the Windows Phone 7.5 client from the Marketplace. The settings showed me that I had a total of 7GB of storage space. What happened to the 25GB
- [Free E-Book–Introducing Windows Server 2012](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/06/06/free-e-bookintroducing-windows-server-2012/) - Introducing Windows Server 2012, by Mitch Tulloch, is now ready for your free download! This is one of the first books on Windows Server 2012 and provides a high level overview of the next generation of Windows! You can download it here: PDF Introducing Windows Server 2012 PDF ebook EPUB Introducing Windows Server 2012 EPUB
- [Lenovo Windows 8 Drivers (Beta)](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/06/07/lenovo-windows-8-drivers-beta/) - Are you evaluating Windows 8? Are you running it on a Lenovo machine? Looking for drivers? Here is a neat page on the Lenovo support site where Windows 8 beta drivers can be downloaded. http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloads/detail.page?LegacyDocID=WIN8-BETA Note that the drivers are provided for testing purposes, as mentioned in the site’s disclaimer: The Windows 8
- [Updated Exchange 2010 SCOM Management Pack – June 2012](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/06/19/updated-exchange-2010-scom-management-pack-june-2012/) - An updated System Centre Operations Manager (SCOM) Management Pack (MP) for Exchange 2010 has been released to the Microsoft download center. This is build 14.03.0038.004 of the MP. Edit 3-9-2012 Updated MP build 14.03.0038.004 released EDIT 9-8-2012 - Updated MP build 14.03.0038.003 is currently unavailable due to an issue. EDIT 8-8-2012 - Updated MP build
- [Ready For The Next Episode?](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/07/16/ready-for-the-next-episode/) - Hold up! The Exchange product group today announced the availability of the next version of Exchange. This was previously referred to as E15, but we can now call it Exchange 2013. The bits can be downloaded from TechNet here: While you are at it, the Office 2013 preview can be found here: Cheers, Rhoderick
- [Maximize Exchange Administrator Productivity With PowerShell-Part 3](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/07/19/maximize-exchange-administrator-productivity-with-powershell-part-3/) - In the previous articles in this series we looked at the basic aspects of PowerShell and then the underlying mechanisms that are used to connect both Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2010 management tools to Exchange. These articles can be found as follows: How To Maximize Exchange Administrator Productivity With PowerShell - Part 1 How To
- [Exchange Server 2013 Forums Available on TechNet](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/07/23/exchange-server-2013-forums-available-on-technet/) - Update: Since Exchange 2013 has now been released the preview forums has been retired, and the RTM forums can now be found here. Since the Exchange 2013 Preview is now available it is a great chance to see how the next version of Exchange is shaping up! If you are running to issues then head on
- [The New Exchange](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/07/23/the-new-exchange/) - To make a change from the way that a Monday typically starts, Rajesh Jha (Corporate Vice President, Exchange) posted a great overview on Exchange 2013’s features. This is published on the Exchange team blog. Here are some of the great benefits you get with the next release of Exchange: Reduced costs by optimizing for
- [Solving Additional Issues With Exchange OAB Download](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/08/10/solving-additional-issues-with-exchange-oab-download/) - Frank Plawetzki posted a great article on issues that can affect how clients retrieve their Offline Address Book (OAB). This has also been the source of some recent work for myself, though with slightly different root causes. The issues that I have encountered were due to: Invalid SSL Certificate OAB web.config file Incorrect process followed
- [Facebook Language Settings - Avast!](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/08/27/facebook-language-settings-avast/) - Here I was just trying to update my Facebook profile to use English UK, and what do I see? Entries for not only English Pirate, but also English (upside down)….. One can only surmise that the (upside down) is meant for our Antipodean chums! Now for the pirate theme, I guess I have to go
- [Outlook Fails To Download OAB](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/08/10/outlook-fails-to-download-oab/) - This is an article written by Frank Plawetzki, a Senior PFE from Deutschland, and originally published on Opsvault. Throughout the last weeks I have seen two different issues that prevented Outlook clients from downloading the OAB (Offline Address Book). One affected public-folder based OAB distribution and the other affected web-based distribution. I
- [Important Upcoming Certificate Changes](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/09/03/important-upcoming-certificate-changes/) - Please be aware that there is a pending change for the minimum key length for certificates with RSA keys. The private keys used in these certificates can be derived and could allow an attacker to duplicate the certificates and use them fraudulently to spoof content, perform phishing attacks, or perform man-in-the-middle attacks. The
- [Re-Release Of Exchange 2010 SCOM Management Pack](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/09/03/re-release-of-exchange-2010-scom-management-pack/) - Since the System Centre Operations Manager (SCOM) Management Pack (MP) for Exchange 2010 has been re-released to the Microsoft download center, I thought that it would be worth bubbling this up. The previous post can be found here on the blog. This is build 14.03.0038.004 of the MP, and is dated August 31st 2012. The
- [System Center 2012 SP1 Beta Available](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/09/10/system-center-2012-sp1-beta-available/) - The beta release for System Center 2012 SP1 is now available for you to download and test in your lab environments. This is an interesting release as it is adding support for Windows Server 2012. In the case of SCVMM 2012 SP1, it means that it can only be installed on the RTM version of
- [Upcoming Changes to Forefront Products](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/09/12/upcoming-changes-to-forefront-products/) - If you leverage products from the Forefront family, then you will want to read about changes announced today on the Server & Cloud blog. Today, as a result of our effort to better align security and protection solutions with the workloads and applications they protect, Microsoft is announcing changes to the roadmaps of some of
- [Exchange 2013 Video Sessions From TechEd Australia 2012](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/09/18/exchange-2013-video-sessions-from-teched-australia-2012/) - If you are looking to see the first public presentations on Exchange 2013, then look no further! Channel 9 has recordings from last week’s TechEd Australia. You can find these great sessions on Exchange 2013: Exchange Server 2013 High Availability and Site Resilience - EXL315 Exchange Server 2013 Architecture Deep Dive
- [Return of The MEC](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/09/24/return-of-the-mec/) - This week I am fortunate to be at MEC along with thousands of other people who are passionate about Exchange, and are looking to get the latest information on Exchange Server 2013. The event is at the Gaylord Palm Hotel in Orlando, and I have to say it is a
- [Exchange 2013 RTM Help Files Now Available](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/10/23/exchange-2013-rtm-help-files-now-available/) - Looking for some interesting bedtime reading? Want to pick through the new and exciting features in Exchange server 2013? Well then this should be something you want to scoot off and download – The Exchange 2013 RTM build of the standalone help file. Note that there are two downloads, one for hybrid configurations and the
- [Exchange 2013 RTM Now Available On TechNet](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/10/24/exchange-2013-rtm-now-available-on-technet/) - If it wasn’t enough to be spoiled with the Exchange 2013 RTM help files being made available yesterday, now you can hit up TechNet and download the actual product. How neat is that? If you are reading this, why are you still here?? Go get downloading now…… Cheers, Rhoderick
- [Lenovo Windows 8 Drivers](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/10/31/lenovo-windows-8-drivers/) - I’d previously mentioned the availability of Lenovo’s Windows 8 beta drivers. There is now an updated ThinkVantage System Update tool which supports Windows 8 which is neat. Updated my W510, so let’s see what new features this brings . Cheers, Rhoderick
- [Downloadable Now - Exchange 2013 Evaluation Edition](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/11/02/downloadable-now-exchange-2013-evaluation-edition/) - The evaluation build of Exchange 2013 is now available on the TechNet Evaluation Centre. That’s a lot of Exchange 2013 loving in the last week -- enjoy! Cheers, Rhoderick
- [Exchange 2010 SP2 RU5 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/11/14/exchange-2010-sp2-ru5-released/) - Update 17-11-2012: 2010 SP2 RU5 is currently not available due to an issue with the update. Update 11-12-2012 2010 SP2 RU5v2 is now available. Details are here. Exchange sustained engineering has released Exchange 2010 SP2 RU5 to the Microsoft Download Center. The list of fixes is at the bottom of the post, though one
- [How To Read Exchange Autodiscover Response In Outlook](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/11/10/how-to-read-exchange-autodiscover-response-in-outlook/) - Demystifying Outlook Auto-Configuration – Part One Exchange administrators will inevitably run into issues with the interaction between the Outlook client and Exchange server. So how can we identify the configuration data that is sent to Outlook from the Exchange server, and troubleshoot? This article will describe how to analyse the data returned to Outlook to
- [9 Free Microsoft Virtual Academy Courses](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/11/20/9-free-microsoft-virtual-academy-courses/) - Looking to ramp up on Windows 2012? Look no further then! Prepare for Windows Server 2012 with 9 free courses from @MSVirtualAcademy. You can also follow the #MVA tag to be part of conversation around this offering. Cheers, Rhoderick
- [Forefront Update Page](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/11/23/forefront-update-page/) - One issue that is often encountered on Exchange engagements is that of maintaining the update level of other applications in the environment. This can relate to backup software, management software in addition to just the Exchange server’s service pack and rollup version. To assist with keeping the Forefront products at the latest patch level, there
- [End Of Exchange 2010 SP1 Support](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/01/04/end-of-exchange-2010-sp1-support/) - The end of Exchange 2010 SP1 support is almost upon us! Is it really that long since Exchange 2010 SP1 was released Please review the lifecycle chart here for full details. So at this point please ensure that you are on SP2, and when SP3 ships later on this year come back and check when
- [Exchange 2010 PowerShell 3.0 and WSUS](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2012/12/18/exchange-2010-powershell-3-0-and-wsus/) - Last Tuesday was December’s Patch Tuesday, it also featured the re-release of Exchange 2010 SP2 RU5 as the V2 of the update. As a result Exchange administrators have been busy updating servers and installing patches. If you read no further, remember only this – do not install Windows Management Framework 3.0 onto Exchange 2010 SP2
- [Client Throttling Event ID 2915 – What It Really Means](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/02/11/client-throttling-event-id-2915-what-it-really-means/) - Here I was truffling through the TechNet forums, and saw this thread. I thought I’d share a little bit more detail around it, as the error text that is added to the event log entry is a little confusing. While Exchange 2007 did have some throttling mechanisms, it was Exchange 2010 that really introduced a
- [Exchange 2007 SP3 RU10 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/02/12/exchange-2007-sp3-ru10-released/) - Exchange sustained engineering has released Exchange 2007 SP3 RU10 to the Microsoft download centre as update 2788321. For the astute of you out there, you will notice that this is on the second Tuesday of February which makes it Patch Tuesday. It also happens to be Shrove Tuesday as well by happy coincidence so I’m
- [Exchange 2010 SP2 RU6 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/02/12/exchange-2010-sp2-ru6-released/) - It’s a busy day in the land of Exchange today, with updates for both Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2010. Exchange 2010 SP2 RU6 is now available as update 2746164. Exchange 2010 SP2 RU6 is also released as part of Patch Tuesday to resolve the security issues that are addressed in Exchange 2007 SP3 RU10.
- [Exchange 2010 SP3 What You Need To Know](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/02/12/exchange-2010-sp3-what-you-need-to-know/) - OK – so its not just a busy day in the land of Exchange updates, it's a crazy busy day! Not only do we have Exchange 2007 SP3 RU10, Exchange 2010 SP2 RU6 now Exchange 2010 SP3 is released to the download centre. Just like Exchange 2010 SP2 which had four main features Hybrid Configuration
- [List Of Updates For Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/03/01/list-of-updates-for-windows-server-2012-hyper-v/) - One of the best things about Microsoft products is the thriving community that drives a lot of articles outside of TechNet. For example there is a Wiki article that describes the Hyper-V updates for Windows 2008 and also for Windows 2008 R2. The community has also started to publish the Windows Server
- [Exchange 2010 SP2 RU6 and SP3 Unable To Delete Messages](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/03/18/exchange-2010-sp2-ru6-and-sp3-unable-to-delete-messages/) - Edit 30-5-2013: Exchange 2010 SP3 RU1 has been released to address this issue. Details and download are here. Quick heads up on an issue from Exchange 2010 SP2 RU6 and that is also in Exchange 2010 SP3. After installing either of these updates, users may report that they are unable to delete certain items when
- [Exchange 2013 Jetstress Now Available](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/03/19/exchange-2013-jetstress-now-available/) - Reading and writing data to disk is one of the core performance aspects of the Exchange mailbox role. Exchange uses the Jet Blue Extensible Storage Engine (ESE), do not confuse this with an Access database else you will invoke the mighty wrath of the squeaky lobster! ESE is responsible for the physical structure of the
- [Kicking It Old School - Outlook 2003 Partying with Exchange 2010](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/03/26/kicking-it-old-school-outlook-2003-partying-with-exchange-2010/) - Edit 23-5-2013: Added Headers as getting too long Edit 23-5-2013: Added reference for 940012 Edit 24-7-2013: Added reference for 2557323 While Outlook 2007, 2010 and now 2013 offer many, many, many * improvements over the older Outlook 2003 client there are still many, many, many * large enterprises that use Outlook 2003. At this point
- [Exchange 2013 CU1 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/04/02/exchange-2013-cu1-released/) - After a small delay the Exchange team have announced the eagerly awaited release of Exchange 2013 Cumulative Update 1! Knowledge base article 2816900 contains a description of CU1. This update will allow on premise installations to co-exist with Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2010. CU1 marks a change in how updates are going to be released
- [Exchange Support – Save The Date 8th April 2014](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/04/08/exchange-support-save-the-date-8th-april-2014/) - Well it’s a year from today until a raft of products reach the end of their extended support window. As they say in the boy scouts, better be prepared! Please make sure that the 8th of April 2014 is in your calendar. Outlook 2003 will transition out of extended support on 8th of April 2014
- [Exchange 2013 SCOM Management Pack Download](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/05/22/exchange-2013-scom-management-pack-download/) - The Exchange 2013 System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) Management Pack is available from the download centre. The Exchange 2013 Management Pack is designed to work with the new features in Exchange 2013, namely Managed Availability. Previous versions of the management pack supported SCOM 2007 R2. However the newer versions of the management pack updated the
- [Exchange Sessions At TechEd 2013 NA](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/06/06/exchange-sessions-at-teched-2013-na/) - Didn’t manage to make it to TechEd this year? No worries, possum! Channel 9 has recordings of the sessions for your viewing pleasure! Update: O365 sessions can be found here Update: Lync Sessions can be found here Understanding Compliance in Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint, and Office Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 Managed Availability Microsoft Exchange Server 2013
- [O365 Sessions At TechEd 2013 NA](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/06/06/o365-sessions-at-teched-2013-na/) - In addition to the Exchange sessions at TechEd NA 2013, here are the O365 sessions for your viewing pleasure! Update: Lync Sessions can be found here A Look Inside Microsoft Office 365 Choosing the Right Cloud Service Microsoft Office 365 Deployment Overview of Microsoft Office 365 Identity Management Microsoft Office 365 Pro Plus Adoption and
- [PowerShell Resources For The Exchange Administrator](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/07/28/powershell-resources-for-the-exchange-administrator/) - A long time ago, in a continent far, far away from where I currently live there was a younger, fitter and better looking version of me. One of the few woes that this chap had, was that on a Friday afternoon he would be struggling to delete enough files off a server to allow that
- [Exchange And Hyper-V Replica Support](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/07/29/exchange-and-hyper-v-replica-support/) - After seeing several posts and some folks discussing whether or not Exchange supports the Hyper-V Replica feature I thought it would be prudent to address the following: Does Exchange Support Hyper-V Replica? Does Hyper-V Support Exchange? How Do I use Exchange and Hyper-V Replica? What Is Hyper-V Replica For some background reading on Hyper-V and
- [Install Desktop Experience On Windows Server 2012](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/07/11/install-desktop-experience-on-windows-server-2012/) - While working with one of my consulting colleagues recently on some Windows Server 2012 installations. There was an application requirement to install Media Player onto a couple of the servers. This met with some muttering and cursing from the nearby fabric covered box as the option to install the Desktop Experience feature is not as
- [Exchange 2007 SP3 RU11 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/08/13/exchange-2007-sp3-ru11-released/) - Exchange sustained engineering has released Exchange 2007 SP3 RU11 to the Microsoft download centre as update 2873746. Just like with Exchange 2007 SP3 RU10, which was released on Patch Tuesday, SP3 RU11 is the same. And to increase the déjà vu, the security vulnerabilities are again related to the same 3rd party components.
- [Offline Defrag And DAG Databases, Oh My!](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/08/23/offline-defrag-and-dag-databases-oh-my/) - Even though some of the very old KBs, which now refer to unsupported products, state that taking databases offline to run periodic offline defragmentation with ESEUTIL is not recommended some folks in the field still want to do this. Previously when there was only a single copy of a database, running offline defragmentation would cause
- [Exchange Autodiscover & Lync](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/09/11/exchange-autodiscover-lync/) - Via this blog we have discussed the fundamentals of Exchange Autodiscover, and also issues around the Set-AutodiscoverVirtualDirectory cmdlet. At this point the message should be out there with regards to how Outlook functions internally and externally to locate Autodiscover and the difference that having the workstation domain joined makes. Lync on the other hand is
- [Exchange Support For Windows Server 2012 R2](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/09/17/exchange-support-for-windows-server-2012-r2/) - Previously Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 were released to the TechNet subscriber download centre. Prior to Windows Server 2012 R2 being tested and validated by the Exchange Product Group, we had asked to pause deployments of 2012 R2 DCs into environments where Exchange was installed. Exchange 2013 Service Pack 1, Exchange 2010 SP3
- [Save The Date - End of Exchange 2003 Support–T Minus 6 Months](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/10/07/save-the-date-end-of-exchange-2003-support-t-minus-6-months/) - As mentioned 6 months ago, Exchange 2003 is rapidly approaching the end of its extended product lifecycle. The ship is getting ready to launch, and hopefully this should not surprise anyone. Exchange 2003 certainly has had a good run over the last 10 years since it was released back in back in October 2003.
- [Quick Tip - Sending Multiple Test Emails Using PowerShell (AKA Mailstorm)](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/09/30/quick-tip-sending-multiple-test-emails-using-powershell-aka-mailstorm/) - Mailstorm.exe was a utility to send multiple test emails to validate and test Exchange in the 5.5 timeframe, and was used on some of the Microsoft Official Curriculum (MOC) courses. The utility is no longer used since relied upon a local Outlook install, and my fuzzy brain recalls issues with moving to "current" versions of
- [Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V Architecture Poster](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/10/22/windows-server-2012-r2-hyper-v-architecture-poster/) - A picture says a thousand words. This is one of the reasons that the various architecture posters are so popular as they provide an easy way to visualise the Hyper-V stack. Updated posters are now available for Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V. In addition to the architecture poster, there are other smaller bite sized posters
- [How To Check Exchange Rollup Version](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/10/29/how-to-check-exchange-rollup-version/) - Back with the first few releases of Exchange, product updates were made available via service packs. This continued into the Exchange 2000 and Exchange 2003 days. It seems like an eternity ago, and dinosaurs were still roaming the Earth, when Exchange 2003 SP2 was released in October of 2005 as a whopping 109 MB download.
- [Free Microsoft Virtual Academy Courses For Server 2012 R2](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/11/25/free-microsoft-virtual-academy-courses-for-server-2012-r2/) - As announced on the Windows Server blog last month, the team has released Windows Server 2012 R2 for General Availability. Download the Windows Server 2012 R2 evaluation or use our free Windows Server 2012 R2 Virtual Labs to test the product online without installation. Then, learn directly from Microsoft's product experts with a series of
- [How To Import Windows 2008 R2 VM To Windows 2012 or 8.1 Using Boot To VHD](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/12/02/how-to-import-windows-2008-r2-vm-to-windows-2012-or-8-1-using-boot-to-vhd/) - One of the popular topics lately has revolved around the Hyper-V Did Not Find Virtual Machines To Import error. This issue can arise when we try and import a VM into Windows Server 2012 R2 or 8.1 which was originally exported from Windows Server 2008 or 2008 R2. Such exported VMs from 2008 or 2008
- [Exchange Security Update Available For MS13-105](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/12/10/exchange-security-update-available-for-ms13-105/) - To address the security issues present in bulletin MS13-105 all supported versions of Exchange 2007, 2010 and 2013 are receiving updates to allow customers to address the security vulnerabilities. Depending upon the version of Exchange the delivery method will vary. Exchange 2007 and 2010 provides updates and security fixes via Rollup Updates (RUs). Exchange 2013
- [6 Mistakes To Avoid With Exchange 2013 CU Command Line Installations](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/12/05/6-mistakes-to-avoid-with-exchange-2013-cu-command-line-installations/) - The syntax to install Exchange Cumulative Updates (CU) via the command line is pretty straight forward. However there are some common themes that still pop up in the TechNet forums, cases and customers that I speak with. So I wanted to discuss some of the issues that can and will arise. There are a range
- [Welcome To 2014](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/01/08/welcome-to-2014/) - Happy New year to everyone! We are all eagerly waiting to see what new and exciting changes are present in the world of messaging this coming year. Exchange 2013 CU4/SP1 is coming soon and so is the Microsoft Exchange Conference (MEC) in Austin, Texas. 2014 certainly promises to be an interesting year! In terms of
- [How To Add Or Remove Cmdlet Parameter From RBAC Management Role](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2013/12/16/how-to-add-or-remove-cmdlet-parameter-from-rbac-management-role/) - In the previous posts on RBAC we have looked at customising various roles to ensure that the role contained the minimum amount of cmdlets. RBAC provides even more granularity, and we can add or remove specific parameters from a cmdlet. Since some folks asked for examples on this topic here are a couple of quick
- [Exchange and AntiVirus Exclusions – A Critical Conversation](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/02/04/exchange-and-antivirus-exclusions-a-critical-conversation/) - Scanning Exchange databases with file system antivirus is a recipe for disaster. This really should not come as a surprise for admins running Exchange services within the enterprise, since this has been the field requirement for a long time. The documentation provided by Microsoft is very clear in what exclusions are required for file system
- [Exchange Upgrades–The Point Of No Return](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/02/06/exchange-upgrades-the-point-of-no-return/) - When designing an upgrade strategy from an older version of Exchange to a newer one, a question that needs to be addressed is do we need to introduce a version of Exchange that may not currently be present? This may be when upgrading from Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2010. If that organisation does not have
- [Exchange 2010 SP3 RU5 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/02/25/exchange-2010-sp3-ru5-released/) - The Exchange team today announced the availability of Update Rollup 5 for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 3. RU5 is the latest rollup of customer fixes available for Exchange Server 2010. The release contains fixes for customer reported issues and previously released security bulletins. The astute reader will note that I did not post about
- [Exchange 2007 And 2013 Outlook Anywhere Co-Existence](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/03/19/exchange-2007-and-2013-outlook-anywhere-co-existence/) - Since we are still in the early stages of the year, and Exchange 2013 SP1 is now available, we will see lots of migrations to Exchange 2013. Exchange 2013 can be deployed into an existing Exchange organisation where Exchange 2007 SP3 RU10 + and/or Exchange 2010 SP3 exists. Let's look at an issue that can
- [MEC 2014 - 2 Weeks And Counting](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/03/20/mec-2014-2-weeks-and-counting/) - Wow, time has certainly flown and its now only two weeks until MEC 2014 happens down in sunny Austin, Texas! My MEC Profile is here. Currently looking at all the sessions and planning that out! I’m really pumped and am looking forward to meeting a load of virtual friends from a wide range of countries
- [Exchange PowerShell Filtering Examples](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/03/24/exchange-powershell-filtering-examples/) - When writing Exchange PowerShell scripts it is very useful to target specific machines to either query or set their properties. Thus the ability to generate a query that effectively targets the correct machines is a very good thing to have! The reason I'm posting this is that I see a lot of people manually specify
- [MEC 2014 – The Aftermath](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/04/07/mec-2014-the-aftermath/) - MEC 2014 has now come and gone, and it's been both an exciting and tiring week! There was always so much going on that it was a constant battle to decide what to go and see next. But that is a great dilemma to face. I will be spending a lot of time in the
- [Exchange 2013 Tip Of The Day – 51 To 75](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/04/11/exchange-2013-tip-of-the-day-51-to-75/) - The other Exchange 2013 tips of the day posts can be found here: Exchange 2013 Tip Of The Day – 1 To 25 Exchange 2013 Tip Of The Day – 26 To 50 Exchange 2013 Tip of The Day – 76 To 93 To obtain the listing below, the following command was used: $Int
- [DirSync Error 87 - The parameter Is Incorrect](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/04/12/dirsync-error-87-the-parameter-is-incorrect/) - DirSync in one of my O365 test labs started to complain that there were some issues with objects synching to Windows Azure Active Directory (WAAD). EventID 0 was logging into the application event log, and stated: “The Management Agent 'Active Directory Connector' reported errors on execution”. This is a an Exchange 2010 SP3 RU 7
- [Exchange 2013 SP1 Architecture Poster](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/04/22/exchange-2013-sp1-architecture-poster/) - In the smelly MEC 2014 man purse, there was a shiny Exchange 2103 SP1 architecture poster. The MEC attendees were the first ones to get the update to the older Exchange 2013 RTM poster, which is now published for everyone! I created a deep zoom of the poster so that it is easy to scroll
- [MEC 2014 Content Available](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/05/02/mec-2014-content-available/) - MEC 2014 session recordings and slides are now available for everyone’s enjoyment! As always Ross Smith, Scott Schnoll and Brian Day deliver some great content that you must check out! If you are in the throes of deploying Exchange 2013 SP1 right now, then please do look at Brian Day’s session. You will not regret
- [Exchange 2010 SP3 RU6 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/05/27/exchange-2010-sp3-ru6-released/) - The Exchange team today announced the availability of Update Rollup 6 for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 3. RU6 is the latest rollup of customer fixes available for Exchange Server 2010. The release contains fixes for customer reported issues and previously released security bulletins. For example, the security issue that was addressed in Exchange 2010
- [Enabling AD FS 2012 R2 Extranet Lockout Protection](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/05/05/enabling-adfs-2012-r2-extranet-lockout-protection/) - Security is an integral aspect of running modern IT operations. There is a clear understanding that we need to protect our IT assets, company data and personal identifiable information. So when we discuss a migration to Office 365, security is an inevitable topic. One aspect that we need to discuss is around account lockout, and
- [Exchange 2013 CU5 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/05/27/exchange-2013-cu5-released/) - Exchange 2013 CU5 has been released to the Microsoft download centre! Exchange 2013 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 2013 and can be used to install a fresh server or to
- [How To Hide Server Manager At Logon](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/05/30/how-to-hide-server-manager-at-logon/) - Since some of my test machines are a touch low on resources, having to wait for the server manager process to finish loading can be a little bit painful. On those machines a very pertinent question is: How can I disable Server Manager from auto starting? There are group policy and local policy options to
- [How To Disable Remote Desktop Printer Mapping](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/06/02/how-to-disable-remote-desktop-printer-mapping/) - After doing Exchange Risk Assessment (ExRAP) and Exchange Risk Assessment As A Service for almost four years, one thing continues to irritate my OCD personality! When I look at the event logs on an Exchange server, the logs should be a sea of blue. That is there should be no errors as that indicates something
- [PowerShell Pipeline Perversion](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/06/27/powershell-pipeline-perversion/) - Every so often I see folks run into issues with scripts/one-liners that they obtained from a blog or crafted themselves. One common issue is when they think the command is perfect and then when they go to dump the output to a file, the content is mince. ** Imagine your surprise when you open up
- [Exchange and AntiVirus Exclusions – Still A Critical Conversation](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/06/30/exchange-and-antivirus-exclusions-still-a-critical-conversation/) - In a previous post we saw the Microsoft requirements for the exclusions that must be added to file system AV on Exchange servers. In a recent CritSit, basically an uber urgent support request where the customer is down or as good as down, I also got to examine some of the other causes for file
- [How To Request Certificate Without Using IIS or Exchange](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/06/17/how-to-request-certificate-without-using-iis-or-exchange/) - The blog post on how to integrate Office 365 with Windows 2012 R2 AD FS raised an interesting question from a reader (Hi Eric!) on how should he request a certificate for the AD FS instance since there is no longer an IIS dependency. This means that there is no longer an IIS console to
- [Outlook 2013 Distorted Display Issues](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/07/08/outlook-2013-distorted-display-issues/) - After a recent video driver update, my corporate Outlook client started to do some strange things. Within Office 2013, the screen output would be distorted. Menu bars were not painted properly until I mouse-over them again, or moved Office programs around. Other times the display would look corrupted and the navigation tree would not be
- [PFE Canada Is Hiring For Exchange And Office 365!](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/07/17/pfe-canada-is-hiring-for-exchange-and-office-365/) - Want to grow and expand your technical, customer and soft skills? Do you dream of working with the product groups at Microsoft to influence future product updates? Want to have fun while delivering true mission critical support to top tier Microsoft customers? Then you are in luck! Microsoft Canada GBS is looking for
- [AD FS 2012 R2 - An Error Occurs When BadPwdCount Not Set](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/07/16/adfs-2012-r2-an-error-occurs-when-badpwdcount-not-set/) - AD FS 2012 R2 provides an interesting feature called Extranet Lockout Protection, where the intent is to protect AD accounts from malicious lockout from external access attempts. Previous versions of AD FS had no native mechanism to protect AD from such hammering attempts. For details on the feature please review this post. One issue that
- [Retrieving Packets Received Discarded Perfmon Counter From Multiple Servers](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/07/18/retrieving-packets-received-discarded-perfmon-counter-from-multiple-servers/) - Whilst working on a customer’s Exchange 2010 DAG issue, I wrote a quick script to quickly grab some performance monitor counters from all of their Exchange servers. The issue that we were investigating was related to discarded packets when the VM was running on a certain hypervisor host. The customer had moved their Exchange VMs
- [VMware Issues With Exchange DAG](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/07/21/vmware-issues-with-exchange-dag/) - When resolving issues with on-premises Exchange sometimes the issue may be directly within Exchange, other times the root cause may lie outside Exchange. Depending upon the exact nature of the case we may have to investigate network switches, load balancers or storage. When Exchange is virtualized then the hypervisor and it’s configuration also may require
- [Quick Tip - Event Viewer Filtering](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/08/06/quick-tip-event-viewer-filtering/) - I was recently reminded of a simple yet effective Event Viewer filtering tip. If you have thousands of event entries that are pollution/flooding the log it becomes very difficult to see the actual real issues. For example this tip has proved very useful when the application event log is full of these types of noise:
- [PowerShell Input Output Escapades](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/08/13/powershell-input-output-escapades/) - After using various types, architectures and generations of computers over the years there is always the habit of “you go to what you know!” In other words once you figure out a solution to an issue, you then use that repeatedly in the future as you know the process/steps involved. This adroitly describes me when
- [Back To The Real World](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/08/18/back-to-the-real-world/) - You may have noticed that I’ve been a bit quiet on the blog, TechNet forums and also replying to comments. I took some time off to go back to Europe for a few weeks travelling around Malta and Scotland. Will get back to normal soon, just have to slash through my inbox and get that
- [Exchange 2010 SP3 RU7 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/08/26/exchange-2010-sp3-ru7-released/) - The Exchange team today announced the availability of Update Rollup 7 for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 3. RU7 is the latest rollup of customer fixes available for Exchange Server 2010. The release contains fixes for customer reported issues and previously released security bulletins. For example, the security issue that was addressed in Exchange 2010
- [Exchange 2013 CU6 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/08/26/exchange-2013-cu6-released/) - Exchange 2013 CU6 has been released to the Microsoft download centre! Exchange 2013 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 2013 and can be used to install a fresh server or to
- [Hyper-V Did Not Find Virtual Machines to Import - Error 32784](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/08/29/hyper-v-did-not-find-virtual-machines-to-import-error-32784/) - When importing a VM into Windows Server 2012 that was exported from Windows 2012 R2 you will be unable to import the VM. If you import the VM using PowerShell’s Import-VM cmdlet the error message is not very descriptive – “The operation cannot be performed because the object is not in a valid state”. You
- [Sharing the Registry Editor Favourites Love](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/09/05/sharing-the-registry-editor-favourites-love/) - In the previous post on the topic of the Registry Editor’s favourites menu, Andrew Higginbotham was kind enough to point out that there was also an easy way to export the favourites from one machine and import to another. Since its always good to show how to arrive at a solution, let’s breakdown the process
- [Set AdminSessionADSettings ViewEntireForest To True By Default](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/09/08/set-adminsessionadsettings-viewentireforest-to-true-by-default/) - In Exchange 2010 the Set-AdServerSettings cmdlet is used to manage the AD environment in the current Exchange Management Shell (EMS) session. In Exchange 2007 there was a variable called AdminSessionADSettings for the same purpose. Exchange admins normally use the Set-AdServerSettings cmdlet to change a session’s view scope, so that they can see objects in multiple domains.
- [Importing Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V VM Into Server 2012](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/09/02/importing-server-2012-r2-hyper-v-vm-into-server-2012/) - A virtual machine from Windows Server 2012 R2 cannot be directly imported into Windows Server 2012. This is discussed in this previous post along with the import error 32784 . There will be times when we want to take a 2012 R2 VM and import it into 2012, this happened to me recently when setting
- [Awareness – Litigation Hold Or In-Place Hold Folder Deletions Not Preserved in Exchange 2013 OWA](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/09/09/awareness-litigation-hold-or-in-place-hold-folder-deletions-not-preserved-in-exchange-2013-owa/) - Please be aware of an emerging issue in Exchange 2013 and Exchange Online. In a delegate scenario it is possible that OWA can be used to delete a folder from the other user’s mailbox and not appear in the Deleted Items section of the recoverable items folder. This is covered in KB 2996477 -- Folder
- [How To Run Manual DirSync / Azure Active Directory Sync Updates](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/10/01/how-to-run-manual-dirsync-azure-active-directory-sync-updates/) - Depending upon the version of the sync solution that you are using to replicate directory data from on-premises Active Directory to Office 365 there are different commands that you will need to use. We can see a listing of the DirSync versions on the TechNet wiki. And for AAD Sync, the version listings are on
- [Windows 10 Preview - VMs Missing In Hyper-V Manager](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/10/16/windows-10-preview-vms-missing-in-hyper-v-manager/) - After updating my Windows 8.1 machine to the Windows 10 preview, some of my VMs were no longer visible in the Hyper-V Manager. Prior to powering on some VMs, all of them were visible. After powering on, some VMs disappeared in the Hyper-V Manager console. In the screen shot below, there should be 10 VMs
- [Windows 10 Hyper-V Error 0x80070780  – File Cannot Be Accessed By The System](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/10/20/windows-10-hyper-v-error-0x80070780-file-cannot-be-accessed-by-the-system/) - Last week after showing a client some of new features in Windows 10, they went off and upgraded a laptop to the preview from Windows 8.1. Initially all seemed to go well. That is until they tried to start up VMs on their SSD drive. At that point Mr Sad & Grumpy came to visit.
- [Doh! Windows Update Has Navigation Tabs](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/10/24/doh-windows-update-has-navigation-tabs/) - Windows Update is a very important feature in the newer builds of the OS. If we think back to the NT 3.5/4.0 days the process to obtain updates was very different. Just to obtain a hotfix you needed to call in, provide credit card details and then obtain the update. How times have changed! And
- [Upgrading DirSync To Azure Active Directory Sync (AAD Sync)](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/11/07/upgrading-dirsync-to-azure-active-directory-sync-aad-sync/) - Update -- Note that DirSync, Azure AD Sync are no longer supported. The below is for legacy reference only. Installing and maintaining the directory synchronisation tool is a required step in your hybrid environment. The documentation to Install the AADSync Service is available on TechNet. The installer will check and verify the current version of
- [Windows 10 Poor Graphics Performance](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/11/05/windows-10-poor-graphics-performance/) - Since there will be a good few folks running Windows 10 who subscribe to the RSS feed, I though it would worthwhile sharing a recent issue I had with my Windows 10 laptop. This is a Lenovo W530 with ample CPU, SSD and video card performance. It should run like a beast, but recently the
- [Retrieving Cluster Error 1135 From Servers](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/11/19/retrieving-cluster-error-1135-from-servers/) - In some of the recent posts you will have noted that there have been some issues with VMware, and also network cards dropping packets in packets received discarded. One symptom of this is that nodes will be removed from the cluster and EventID 1135 is logged into the System log. EventID 1135 states that the
- [Remote Desktop Connection Manager Download (RDCMan) 2.7](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/11/19/remote-desktop-connection-manager-download-rdcman-2-7/) - Update 24-6-2021: RDCMan 2.8.1 is available. Please see here. The venerable Remote Desktop Connection Manager (RDCMan) 2.2 was starting to show its age. After a slight hiatus, RDCMan 2.7 is now available. Please say thank you to Julian Burger for the early Christmas present. Remote Desktop Connection Manager (RDCMan) is a great tool to consolidate multiple RDP
- [Microsoft Certified Master – 5 Years On](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/11/24/microsoft-certified-master-5-years-on/) - Time flies. It’s now been 5 years since I completed the Exchange 2007 Microsoft Certified Master course in not so sunny Redmond. That was MCM rotation 4, which was the last Exchange 2007 rotation. If memory serves me correctly we started on the Monday the 2nd of November 2009 and finished on Saturday the 21st.
- [Exchange ServerName Points To Wrong Or Decommissioned Server](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/12/04/exchange-servername-points-to-wrong-or-decommissioned-server/) - This post was promoted from the draft bin to production after a customer visit a couple of weeks ago. When onsite we were looking at how the environment was configured. The admins had written a series of scripts to determine the environment state which was excellent to see! One thing that they had assumed though
- [Office 365 Workshop Links – December 2014](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/12/05/office-365-workshop-links-december-2014/) - This is a link throw-down for the items that we discussed during a recent Office 365 workshop that I delivered to customers in sunny Calgary. I’m posting the links here since they will be available to all of the attendees, and thought that others may also find them useful/interesting. Service Descriptions Exchange Online Service
- [Outlook December 2014 Updates](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/12/14/outlook-december-2014-updates/) - The below is an excerpt from the December 2014 Office and Outlook updates. This was the first release of an Outlook 2010 build which supported MAPI/HTTP. However there were some serious issues, and the documentation states that the January 2015 build is the first release that should actually be used. Description of the Office updates:
- [Windows Update Fail – 0xC80003F3](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/12/12/windows-update-fail-0xc80003f3/) - This is the case of one of those bizarre and very annoying issues to tack down. The server in question is one of my lab servers where an automated build was used to create it. It is a Windows 2008 R2 SP1 based server which has TMG 2010 SP2 installed as a reverse proxy. Said
- [PowerShell Script To Get Exchange 2010 Active CAS Connections](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/12/17/powershell-script-to-get-exchange-2010-active-cas-connections/) - Purpose of this script is to report on particular performance monitor counters for Outlook RPC Client Access, OWA and Exchange ActiveSync on multiple servers. This was required as during the course of the year there have been a few issues where the third party load balancer device was not really doing equitable load balancing. In
- [Save The Date - End Of Forefront Protection 2010 For Exchange -- T Minus 12 Months](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/12/31/save-the-date-end-of-forefront-protection-2010-for-exchange-t-minus-12-months/) - Since the Forefront brand of products have been retired, yes I miss TMG, please be aware of the extended support date for Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange. This product is slated to exit extended support on the 31st of December 2015: On a semi-related aspect, Exchange 2010 will transition into its extended support phase on
- [Using Out-GridView With Exchange 2010 PowerShell](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2014/12/17/using-outgridview-with-exchange-2010-powershell/) - Using Out-GridView with Exchange 2010 will result in an error. This happens running the commands directly in the Exchange Management Shell or using the Out-GridVew as part of a script. Some examples: The below is the typical error received: Out-GridView : To use the Out-GridView cmdlet, install the Windows PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment feature from
- [Impact Of Changing ActiveSync DefaultAccessLevel](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/01/26/impact-of-changing-activesync-defaultaccesslevel/) - The default settings in Exchange 2010 and 2013 allow any user to synchronise any device. Depending upon your organisation's viewpoint this default may not be optimal. Ideally this should have been changed when Exchange 2010 or 2013 was first deployed. Doing so would have ensured that the appropriate device rules were created and that unwanted
- [Azure Active Directory Synchronization Services (AAD Sync) – Beware the Synchronize Now Check Box](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/02/11/azure-active-directory-synchronization-services-aad-sync-beware-the-synchronize-now-check-box/) - After upgrading my labs to Azure Active Directory Synchronization Services (AAD Sync), the install completed successfully and I was able to use the new process to manually initiate a full sync cycle. Excellent! Since all went swimmingly, I was a little bit surprised a day later to find that newly created objects were not being
- [Remove Multiple Management Role Entries In Office 365](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/02/05/remove-multiple-management-role-entries-in-office-365/) - Exchange Online in Office 365 has a very similar RBAC implementation to the on-premises installations of Exchange. After previously bumping to an issue with Exchange Online (EXO), and then twice again in the last fortnight this bubbled to the top of the publishing pile. In this environment, a custom Management Role was created called Level1-HelpDesk.
- [Using Exchange PowerShell Remoting With Integrated Scripting Environment–ISE](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/02/02/using-exchange-powershell-remoting-with-integrated-scripting-environmentise/) - One item that is very prevalent is people directly loading the Exchange PowerShell snapin into the Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE). This is not supported from the Exchange point of view, as Exchange requires that Remote PowerShell be used with Exchange 2010 and 2013. Let’s look at how this should be done. Choosing The Correct
- [Quick Tip: What Restarts Has Managed Availability Issued](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/02/14/quick-tip-what-restarts-has-managed-availability-issued/) - Exchange 2013 introduced the Managed Availability feature to provide a very capable automated monitoring and management framework. Managed Availability allows Exchange to self diagnose and to self correct issues without having to escalate to a carbon life based unit for every issue. Whilst Managed Availability may still have to page humans, the frequency is certainly
- [PowerShell Quotes – To Expand Or Not Expand, That Is The Question](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/02/13/powershell-quotes-to-expand-or-not-expand-that-is-the-question/) - Abraham Lincoln made the famous quote that it is impossible to verify the accuracy of information on the Internet. Well, OK he didn't but it was a semi-funny intro on the subject of quotes….. There are two different types quotes that we can use in PowerShell.: Single quotes --> ‘ Double quotes –> “ This
- [Exchange ActiveSync Script To Grandfather Existing Devices](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/02/25/exchange-activesync-script-to-grandfather-existing-devices/) - As mentioned in the previous posts in this services, the configuration of Exchange ActiveSync was something that is commonly overlooked by many a consultant. Exchange ActiveSync allows any user to synchronise any device by default. If this is what your organisation wants to do, then you are good to go. If not, then changes must
- [Retrieving Packets Received Discarded Perfmon Counter From Multiple Servers–Updated February 2015](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/02/18/retrieving-packets-received-discarded-perfmon-counter-from-multiple-serversupdated-february-2015/) - On the Retrieving Packets Received Discarded Perfmon Counter From Multiple Servers post, Tim commented that he had found the script very useful when troubleshooting discarded packets on Exchange 2013 DAG servers. Using PowerShell it is very easy to extend the search to discover which other servers are impacted by the packets received discarded issue. Since
- [Office 365 Command You Tried To Run Isn’t Currently Allowed Due To DeHydration](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/02/27/office-365-command-you-tried-to-run-isnt-currently-allowed-due-to-dehydration/) - One of the customers I was working with last week encountered an error whilst attempting an operation in Exchange Online PowerShell. This surprised them, as they were logged on as an account in the Organization Management RBAC Role group. They received an error running the following cmdlet: This reported failure was due to an error
- [How To Get Azure VM IP Addresses Using PowerShell](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/03/13/how-to-get-azure-vm-ip-addresses-using-powershell/) - Curious as to what IPs are used by your Azure VMs? This may seem a simple question, but it was not until last year that Azure allowed you to set static IPs on VMs. Prior to this it was a first come first served basis. The net result was that you powered VMs on in
- [Which Azure Disk Is Not Attached](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/03/02/which-azure-disk-is-not-attached/) - Over time a typical Azure subscription will create, delete and manage multiple virtual machines. When removing an Azure VM there is the option to retain the disk. In a large environment with lots of disks and VMs, how can we easily see what disks are not currently in use? Azure Portal The portal can
- [Update 015-027 Revised (3002657)](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/03/17/update-015-027-revised-3002657/) - In the March 2015 security bulletin, update 15-027 was released. This is to address a vulnerability in the Netlogon component of windows that could allow spoofing. The security bulleting for 015-027 is available in the Security TechCenter. KB 3002657 provides details of the update. Please be aware that the update has been revised, and version
- [How To Check Exchange Schema And Object Values In AD](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/03/17/how-to-check-exchange-schema-and-object-values-in-ad/) - This content was extracted from a separate upcoming Exchange 2013 schema post to maintain focus on viewing the Exchange schema attributes. Exchange 2013 admins should assume that a Cumulative Update (CU) will have AD schema updates. The release notes and release blog post will discuss this in detail for each CU. This is very similar
- [Exchange 2010 Search Recommendations](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/04/02/exchange-2010-search-recommendations/) - This article is intended to cover some of the best practices related to Exchange 2010 search. Whilst the search service has been continuously improved over the lifecycle of Exchange 2010 there are multiple items can need to be addressed. If these items are not addressed, then there is a very good chance that you will
- [Windows Phone Upgraded](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/04/01/windows-phone-upgraded/) - Feeling pretty pumped over here as I’ve just deployed the latest and greatest build onto my Windows Phone. In honour of all things retro, the phone team have gone a little old school and have tweaked the interface a smidgeon. The interface has been, well let’s just say “streamlined”. Update 1-4-2015: Yes this was an
- [Exchange 2013 CU8 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/03/17/exchange-2013-cu8-released/) - Exchange 2013 CU8 has been released to the Microsoft download centre! Exchange 2013 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 2013 and can be used to install a fresh server or to
- [Viewing Exchange 2013 Public Folders In OWA](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/04/10/viewing-exchange-2013-public-folders-in-owa/) - The Exchange team have been working very hard to develop the feature set of modern public folders. Exchange 2013 CU8 added multiple scale increases. In addition, CU8 also added a feature to allow viewing modern public folders in Exchange 2013 OWA. Calendar and Contact Modern Public Folders favourites added in Outlook are now accessible in
- [Exchange 2013 Performance Health Check Script](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/04/06/exchange-2013-performance-health-check-script/) - One of the recent additions to the TechNet script gallery was this nifty little contribution from Marc Nivens. This script reports on OS, system, and hardware information in addition to the Exchange 2013 sizing recommendations on TechNet. It can be ran remotely, against a single server or a group of servers. It takes some of
- [Unable To Run Downloaded PowerShell Script](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/04/03/unable-to-run-downloaded-powershell-script/) - After finding a killer PowerShell script on the interwebs, you download it and then the excitement dies when you get a lovely PSSecurityException error like the example below: File C:ScriptsScript.ps1 cannot be loaded. The file C:ScriptsScript.ps1 is not digitally signed.You cannot run this script on the current system. For more information about running scripts and
- [Import-Exchange Certificate Ignores Path Provided](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/04/17/import-exchange-certificate-ignores-path-provided/) - On an Exchange 2007 SP3 RU15 server, experienced an issue where the path statement on the Import-ExchangeCertificate cmdlet seemed to ignore what it was told to do…. The below PowerShell commands were used: $Creds = Get-Credential Import-ExchangeCertificate -Path .cert.pfx -Password $Creds.Password Which generated an error stating “Import-ExchangeCertificate : The import file name .cert.pfx was not
- [End Of Exchange 2013 RTM Support](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/04/14/end-of-exchange-2013-rtm-support/) - We are now at the end of the Exchange 2013 RTM support lifecycle phase. Yes, it really has been two years since Exchange 2013 was released….. At this time Exchange 2013 RTM, CU1, CU2 and CU3 are no longer supported. Customers should be on a recent Exchange 2013 build. Exchange 2013 CU4 is also known
- [Using PowerShell To Filter Multiple Different Values](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/04/13/using-powershell-to-filter-multiple-different-values/) - This post is to answer one of the many interesting questions that seem to pop up doing Exchange work! This is for one of my favourite customers in Winnipeg. Next time, let’s arrange the work for summertime so we can go golfing Tyler, eh? For some added nostalgia, let’s use Exchange 2007 as the example
- [How To Create Public Folder Calendar In Exchange 2013](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/04/24/how-to-create-public-folder-calendar-in-exchange-2013/) - This is in response to a engagement where the admins were puzzled that they could not create a public folder calendar in Exchange 2013. That is something that we should be able to do. Why were they not able to do so? To creating the public folder calendar, we need to use Outlook. This is
- [AD FS 2012 R2 Web Application Proxy - Re-Establish Proxy Trust](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/04/20/adfs-2012-r2-web-application-proxy-re-establish-proxy-trust/) - In the Tailspintoys environment, the administrator (moi) was a bit slack. They let the AD FS 2012 R2 proxy get into a bad state. The AD FS Proxy was not contacting the AD FS server on the internal network, and this allowed the short lived authentication certificate to expire. At this point the AD FS
- [Office 365 Autodiscover Lookup Process](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/04/29/office-365-autodiscover-lookup-process/) - Update 12-1-2022 Please see this post which covers the newer Outlook client logic. Content below will be left as-is for a historical perspective. This is a post for reference purposes. The intent is to look at how Outlook will locate the correct Autodiscover endpoint in a hybrid environment. This Exchange 2010 SP3 lab has a
- [Enable Remote Archive With Exchange Hybrid](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/04/30/enable-remote-archive-with-exchange-hybrid/) - Deploying an Exchange Hybrid solution offers many opportunities to extend messaging services into the cloud. This is one of the biggest strengths of the Microsoft offering. We can provide on-premises, cloud only and hybrid solutions. One capability is cloud based archives. This allows either: On-premises mailbox with an archive in Office 365 Office 365 mailbox
- [Office 365 Error - Cannot Start Microsoft Outlook–Quick Check](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/05/01/office-365-error-cannot-start-microsoft-outlookquick-check/) - Upon launching Outlook and trying to connect to an Office 365 mailbox you may be greeted with an error message which states that “Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook window. The set of folders cannot be opened”. The error then continues to state that ”Microsoft Exchange is not available. Either there are network
- [Microsoft Ignite 2015 Sessions Now Available](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/05/11/microsoft-ignite-2015-sessions-now-available/) - The session recordings from last weeks Microsoft Ignite conference are available for download. The recorded videos and slides (where applicable) are to be found on the Ignite page. Some recommended Exchange sessions are below and a tool to assist with downloading multiple sessions is noted at the end. Recommended Sessions The list below are
- [Managing Directory Synchronisation – Notes From The Field](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/05/14/managing-directory-synchronisation-notes-from-the-field/) - When deploying an Office 365 solution, directory synchronisation is a critical component. This is the tool that will synchronise the on-premises directory data to Windows Azure Active Directory (WAAD). As you can imagine if the synchronisation stops then chances are that you will run into some issues…. Note that this post is intended to cover
- [Allow Users To Manage Distribution Groups Without Creating New Ones–Exchange 2013 Redux](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/05/27/allow-users-to-manage-distribution-groups-without-creating-new-onesexchange-2013-redux/) - In a previous Exchange 2010 post we discussed a scenario where users were delegated the capability to create Mail Enabled Contacts in Active Directory using a custom Role Based Access Control (RBAC) role. As part of the solution, we enabled the MyDistributionGroups Role. While this may meet the needs of most organisations, it does introduce
- [MIS–Blast From The Past](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/06/01/misblast-from-the-past/) - And now for some off topic humour… Am I the only one who thought of Mobile Information Server (MIS) when looking at today’s Bing wallpaper? This was from the time when we actually got CDs as installation media. Things have certainly moved on… From the Microsoft archives, here is our old
- [Azure Active Directory Module–Newer Version Available Notifications](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/06/11/azure-active-directory-modulenewer-version-available-notifications/) - When connecting to Azure Active directory with the MSOnline PowerShell module, it will check the currently installed version. This allows the service to let you know that a newer version may be available. If the locally installed module is out-dated, you will get a message like the below: WARNING: There is a newer version of
- [Exchange 2010 SP3 RU10 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/06/16/exchange-2010-sp3-ru10-released/) - The Exchange team today announced the availability of Update Rollup 10 for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 3. RU10 is the latest rollup of customer fixes available for Exchange Server 2010. The release contains fixes for customer reported issues and previously released security bulletins. This is build 14.03.0248.002 of Exchange 2010, and KB3049853 has the
- [Quick Tip: Is There A Shortcut URL To Download Azure AD PowerShell?](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/06/19/quick-tip-is-there-a-shortcut-url-to-download-azure-ad-powershell/) - Yes Virginia there is! * For those wondering what the download page is for the Azure Active Directory PowerShell module, using your favourite search engine is one choice. Another is to memorise the below handy shortcut URL: https://aka.ms/aadposh Which is take you directly to the manage Azure AD using PowerShell documentation/download. Cheers, Rhoderick * –
- [Exchange 2013 CU9 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/06/16/exchange-2013-cu9-released/) - Exchange 2013 CU9 has been released to the Microsoft download centre! Exchange 2013 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 2013 and can be used to install a fresh server or to
- [Exchange 2013 CU9 MessageCopyForSentAsEnabled Missing](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/06/22/exchange-2013-cu9-messagecopyforsentasenabled-missing/) - After upgrading an Exchange 2013 CU8 lab to CU9, the Set-Mailbox cmdlet did not present the expected options to configure sent items for shared mailboxes. The MessageCopyForSentAsEnabled and MessageCopyForSendOnBehalfEnabled parameters as discussed on the EHLO blog were missing. This was a little puzzling as this was an expected feature of Exchange 2013 CU9. None of
- [Case Of the Disappearing GUI](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/06/24/case-of-the-disappearing-gui/) - What is the difference between knowledge and wisdom? Is it as Miles Kington said, “Knowledge is knowing the tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting it in your fruit salad”. Or is knowledge learning by your experience, and wisdom is learning through other people’s experiences? Let’s make this post use the second option, and
- [PSA – AAD Connect Released Also AAD Connect Health Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/06/25/psa-aad-connect-released-also-aad-connect-health-released/) - Azure Active Directory Connect (AAD Connect) was released today along with Azure Active Directory Connect Health (AAD Connect health). AAD Connect continues to drive the investments that are made to assist with on-boarding to Microsoft Azure and Office. The intent is that AAD Connect will replace DirSync and AAD Sync, and add multiple new capabilities.
- [Exchange 2016 Preview Now Available](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/07/22/exchange-2016-preview-now-available/) - The Exchange 2016 preview is now available for download! Note that the downloaded file is Exchange2016-x64-preview.exe and the build of Exchange is 15.0.1.0225.017. At this time there are already some resources available to you – see below for details. Exchange 2016 TechNet Documentation TechNet has some pre-release documentation available. If you have feedback, we'd
- [How To Set Static IP On Azure VM](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/07/27/how-to-set-static-ip-on-azure-vm/) - Azure now offers the capability to configure static IPs onto IAAS VMs. Static IP assignment in Azure VMs is not the same as configuring a typical static IP for a server in your on-premises network. When you statically assign an IP address to the Azure VM, it is not entered into the VMs machine’s TCP/IP
- [AzureVM Static IP Does Not Persist](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/07/31/azurevm-static-ip-does-not-persist/) - It is possible to configure a “static” IP on your Azure IAAS VMs. This is something that we looked at in a previous post. One thing worth pointing out is that there is a little wrinkle with the current implementation, and you may run into unexpected results. Static IP assignment in Azure VMs is not
- [Add-DatabaseAvailabilityGroupServer - You Must Provide A Value For This Property](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/07/29/add-databaseavailabilitygroupserver-you-must-provide-a-value-for-this-property/) - When creating a new Database Availability Group, there was a bit of rude shock when the installation failed. This customer had deployed multiple Exchange 2010 DAGs over the lifespan of the product, yet their latest build ran into an issue. They were able to create the DAG, but when adding the first mailbox server to
- [Windows 10 Laptop Not Charging After Enabling Airplane Mode](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/08/27/windows-10-laptop-not-charging-after-enabling-airplane-mode/) - One of my colleagues emailed with an issue on their laptop. After travelling to the customer location, his power supply had “died” as it was not charging the machine. This was a Lenovo W541 with the new rectangular power connector, which meant there were no spares readily available. Later that day when I arrived at
- [Install Desktop Experience - Windows Server 2012 R2](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/08/24/install-desktop-experience-windows-server-2012-r2/) - This is an updated version of the original Windows Server 2012 post. The genesis of which was an application requirement to install Media Player onto a couple of servers. This met with some muttering and cursing from my colleague in the nearby fabric covered box, as the option to install the Desktop Experience feature is
- [TechNet Gallery Resources](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/08/21/technet-gallery-resources/) - There are numerous outstanding scripts, tools and resources located in the TechNet Gallery. In addition to MVPs and community members adding scripts, Microsoft also adds official contributions. For example, this is where you are downloading the Exchange 2013 Server Role Requirements Calculator and Exchange 2010 Server Role Requirements Calculator. Since adding PowerShell scripts to this
- [Office 365 Mailbox Migration - Target Mailbox Doesn‎'t Have An SMTP Proxy Matching](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/08/20/office-365-mailbox-migration-target-mailbox-doesnt-have-an-smtp-proxy-matching/) - When migrating mailboxes from on-premises Exchange to Office 365, we can run into the error where the migration fails with an error stating that the target mailbox doesn’t have an SMTP proxy matching the Microsoft Online Routing Domain. This can happen due to a number of causes. For example the mailbox is managed by an
- [Second Century Of Blog Posts](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/09/04/second-century-of-blog-posts/) - After looking at some of the blog statistics I wanted to take brief moment and say thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read the posts over the last four years. Time has certainly flown since I first posted this quick note on Exchange 2010 RPC Client Access back in October 2011. And
- [Office 2013–SP1 Now Required](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/09/03/office-2013sp1-now-required/) - In the last several customer engagements, there has been a trend to not install updates for Office 2013. Some admins thought that there was no service pack available, and others thought that the RTM build of Office 2013 was still in support. Unfortunately neither are correct viewpoints. This means that you now need to
- [How To Use Nslookup To Check DNS TXT Record](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/09/11/how-to-use-nslookup-to-check-dns-txt-record/) - Being able to retrieve DNS TXT records is very useful in multiple scenarios. In this post we will look at checking the TXT domain verification record for Office 365 and also for the Sender protection Framework . In addition to a MX record, we also have the option to prove domain ownership to Office 365
- [Issues Verifying Office 365 Domains](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/09/11/issues-verifying-office-365-domains/) - Just like buses, issues seem to come along in batches. In the last few customer engagements there have been a few issues with adding custom DNS domains into Office 365. Should this not be straight forward you say? Yes it should, but when we add in some deployment complexity and some interesting customer activities it
- [Exchange 2016 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/10/01/exchange-2016-released/) - It’s the first of October, and this new month brings us a new version of Exchange. Exchange 2016 is now available from the Microsoft download centre. This is build 15.01.0225.042 of Exchange 2016, and Exchange2016-x64.exe is the downloaded file. Product Guide You can access the Product Guide to review the new capabilities of Exchange
- [PFE Blogs Windows 10 Universal App](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/09/21/pfe-blogs-windows-10-universal-app/) - Windows 10 ushers in a new age of application development, the Universal Application. This will allow developers to write applications that will function across multiple devices for example your Xbox, Windows Phone and PC. Tony Eversole, a Senior PFE in the US, has written a PFE Blogs Universal Application. This app will allow you to
- [Restart Exchange 2010 CAS And Authentication Prompts](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/10/22/restart-exchange-2010-cas-and-authentication-prompts/) - There are multiple causes for Outlook clients to receive authentication prompts. This can be caused by impaired AD performance where the DCs are negatively impacted and cannot respond quickly. This can be caused by semaphore timeouts, due to NTLM bottlenecks. In Exchange 2010 the CAS Array uses NTLM by default, and the recommendation is to
- [How To Easily Add Public Folder Replicas To Exchange 2010](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/11/27/how-to-easily-add-public-folder-replicas-to-exchange-2010/) - Exchange 2007 onwards contain a treasure trove of built in scripts to help administer the system. These scripts are listed in TechNet and are found under the Exchange installation path in the scripts folder. Yes – somewhat unsurprisingly. In this post let’s take a look at the scripts that can help with administering public folders,
- [Exchange 2013 CU11 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/12/15/exchange-2013-cu11-released/) - Exchange 2013 CU11 has been released to the Microsoft download centre! Exchange 2013 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 2013 and can be used to install a fresh server or to
- [Heidy The Skype Squirrel](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/12/15/heidy-the-skype-squirrel/) - This is one of those silly but intriguing things that is worth sharing. When delivering some internal training over Skype I noticed that some of the emoticons have names I did not expect. Skype for Business introduced some really nice emoticons. The below image is from the 2016 version of the client, showing the emoticons
- [Most Popular Blog Posts For 2015](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2015/12/31/most-popular-blog-posts-for-2015/) - The year 2015 is almost done, and 2016 is upon us! As in previous years, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at what content was active, and compare that to previous years. The RDCMan posts remain popular, with the 2.7 version replacing the older 2.2 post. Windows 2012 R2 ADFS installation
- [Support Corner Webcast: Office 365 Support & Recovery Assistant (SaRA)](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/01/26/support-corner-webcast-office-365-support-recovery-assistant-sara/) - Amir Hague will be delivering a webcast to introduce the Support & Recovery Assistant tool – SaRA. Amir is a very well known and respected program manager within Microsoft, who is heavily focused on Office 365 and Exchange issues. What: This webcast introduces SaRAwhich is an automated tool that can be run by Office
- [Controlling Exchange 2013/2016 Proxying To Exchange 2010](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/01/23/controlling-exchange-2013-2016-proxying-to-exchange-2010/) - Exchange 2013 streamlined the connectivity between servers with the “every server is an island” design philosophy. The intent was to remove the strict version dependency hooks which existed in the previous versions of Exchange. For example, the Exchange 2007 HUB Store Driver can only communicate with the Exchange 2007 Mailbox role. Conversely, the Exchange 2010
- [Friday Morning Rant – Premise and Tenents](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/02/26/friday-morning-rant-premise-and-tenents/) - Since it’s Friday, let’s have a non-technical post. You will likely have realized that I have some OCD and language issues. This can come through in various forms, it may be how someone insists on saying “anyways” rather than anyway, or the latest internal Microspeak babble. Raymond Chen has a dedicated tag to track the
- [Running The New Exchange 2010 Office 365 2010 Hybrid Wizard](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/02/17/running-the-new-exchange-2010-office-365-2010-hybrid-wizard/) - The Office 365 HCW has been updated and now supports Exchange 2010. Previously only Exchange 2013 and 2016 were the only versions supported by the initial release of the Office 365 HCW. For details on the updated support position please see this post on the Exchange Team Blog. This means that the HCW built into
- [Create Exchange Email Address Policy With Underscore](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/03/04/create-exchange-email-address-policy-with-underscore/) - When onsite with a customer last week they were curious as to how they could create an Exchange Email Address Policy (EAP) with an underscore in it. This was because the option to use an underscore is not present within the Exchange graphical tools. For the record, I’m personally not a fan of using special
- [Exchange Services Not Starting on Windows Server 2012 Due to Network Location Profile](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/03/11/exchange-services-not-starting-on-windows-server-2012-due-to-network-location-profile/) - Some of my lab servers run in Microsoft Azure with no redundancy. This is because they are only a lab, and I want to minimise the monthly billing costs for these environments. When the servers are restarted due to patching or maintenance activities, there can be a little fallout. In the case below, some Exchange
- [Remote Desktop Connection Manager Distorted Display](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/03/09/remote-desktop-connection-manager-distorted-display/) - Remote Desktop Connection Manager (RDCMan) is a very popular remote administration tool with Microsoft admins. RDCMan allows us to minimise the number of open windows on the local machine, when connecting to multiple remote systems. At the time of writing, the latest version is 2.7 which can be downloaded here. On my Windows 10 1511
- [Updating Windows Server 2012 R2 AD FS SSL and Service Certificates](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/03/21/updating-windows-server-2012-r2-adfs-ssl-and-service-certificates/) - The below content is superseded -- for information on updating your certificates please see: Token signing and decryption SSL certificate Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) heavily leverages X.509 certificates to allow the solution to function securely. As with all of the other certificates that you deploy within your enterprise, there must be a
- [Exchange 2013 CU12 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/03/15/exchange-2013-cu12-released/) - Exchange 2013 CU12 has been released to the Microsoft download centre! Exchange 2013 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 2013 and can be used to install a fresh server or to
- [Exchange 2016 CU1 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/03/16/exchange-2016-cu1-released/) - Exchange 2016 CU1 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
- [Exchange Autodiscover – How Delegate Mailboxes Are Returned](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/04/08/exchange-autodiscover-how-delegate-mailboxes-are-returned/) - Back with Exchange 2010 SP1 a feature was added so that mailbox which were delegated Full Mailbox access to other mailboxes would automatically have the additional mailbox made accessible in Outlook. As an example Debora was granted Full Mailbox access to the mailbox called Postmaster. With no additional configuration, in Debora’s Outlook client (2007 and
- [Exchange 2010 Hybrid Configuration Wizard](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/04/06/exchange-2010-hybrid-configuration-wizard/) - Update - The below HCW is no longer supported. Please use the new HCW which has added multiple features as is required. To download the Office 365 Hybrid Configuration wizard go to https://aka.ms/HybridWizard. The below screenshots are to illustrate the Exchange 2010 HCW which was included in the Exchange install. As noted above, this
- [Save The Date - End of Exchange 2007 Extended Support](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/04/11/save-the-date-end-of-exchange-2007-extended-support/) - Exchange 2007 is now twelve months out from the end of its support lifecycle. If you still have Exchange 2007 deployed, and have not completed the migration to a newer version of Exchange then it is time to accelerate that migration project. I feel a little bittersweet about this. Yes, the new Exchange versions offer
- [Active Directory Replication Status Tool Expired](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/04/21/active-directory-replication-status-tool-expired/) - Update 25-4-2016 - The tool has been updated and should be functional. The feedback pages referenced at the bottom are now closed. Back in 2012 the Active Directory Replication Status Tool (ADREPLSTATUS) was released. The below is from one of my old labs. It was a useful tool to have in environments which had no
- [Renewing Exchange 2010 Certificate Using Exchange Management Console](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/05/05/renewing-exchange-2010-certificate-using-exchange-management-console/) - Renewing certificates breaks down into the following main sections Create Certificate Signing Request Send Certificate Signing Request to the Certification Authourity to be signed Complete Certificate Signing Request Install certificate on additional servers Bind Services to newly completed certificate As always, ensure that the names you have specified on the CAS namespace design are
- [Windows 10 Poor Graphics Performance - Part Deux](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/05/11/windows-10-poor-graphics-performance-part-deux/) - Things were running great with my new machine a Lenovo W541 until recently. When browsing email in Outlook it would take several seconds to collapse/expand folders and when selecting an email to read it took several seconds to render the view. Highly frustrating. As noted in a previous post and a semi-related one related to
- [Azure AD Module - This assembly is built by a runtime newer than the currently loaded runtime and cannot be loaded](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/05/18/azure-ad-module-this-assembly-is-built-by-a-runtime-newer-than-the-currently-loaded-runtime-and-cannot-be-loaded/) - When attempting to run the Windows Azure Active Directory Module on a Windows 7 or 2008 R2 machine, things did not go swimmingly. In fact they did not work at all. The error message of “This assembly is built by a runtime newer than the currently loaded runtime and cannot be loaded” was reported.
- [PowerShell Tail Command](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/06/03/powershell-tail-command/) - In a recent customer conversation, they were excited that PowerShell 5.0 would contain the option to tail a log file. While they were excited to get that feature, they were less excited to hear that PowerShell 3.0 had already added the –Tail parameter to the Get-Content cmdlet. Previously there have been other solutions to get this
- [Script To Remove Windows Update Server Values From Registry](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/06/12/script-to-remove-windows-update-server-values-from-registry/) - In some of the lab environments provided to me, the base Windows image has pre-set WSUS updates servers. When I then move the lab VMs to a different network, the original WSUS servers are no longer available, and I typically point to Microsoft Update or a different WSUS server. In the case of pointing to
- [Script To Automate Exchange Health Manager Service For Monitoring Mailbox Reset](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/06/16/script-to-automate-exchange-health-manager-service-for-monitoring-mailbox-reset/) - This is a quick tactical script to help Exchange administrators when resetting Exchange Monitoring mailboxes. Exchange 2013 introduced managed availability which is responsible for evaluating the health of Exchange 2013 and 2016 Exchange servers. Yes it does also probe downlevel servers, but let’s not get bogged down in that in this post. In order to
- [Busting The Exchange InternalNLBBypassURL Myth](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/06/29/busting-the-exchange-internalnlbbypassurl-myth/) - In several recent engagements, there has been some interesting discussions about how to configure the CAS namespaces for the Exchange Web Services virtual directory. Specifically this was around the configuration of the InternalNLBBypassUrl in Exchange 2013 and 2016. Since this was set on Exchange 2007/2010 servers, there seems to be a desire to change it
- [Exchange 2013 CU13 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/06/21/exchange-2013-cu13-released/) - Exchange 2013 CU13 has been released to the Microsoft download centre! Exchange 2013 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 2013 and can be used to install a fresh server or to
- [Exchange 2016 CU2 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/06/21/exchange-2016-cu2-released/) - Exchange 2016 CU2 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
- [Slow Exchange Server Boot In Azure VM](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/07/07/slow-exchange-server-boot-in-azure-vm/) - One of the great uses of Azure is to host VMs which can address a number of business requirements. While we can install Exchange 2013 on an Azure VM, this is generally not the most cost effect way to have mailboxes running in a cloud. Office 365 is the recommended option to leverage cloud mailboxes
- [Script To Start Exchange Services](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/07/04/script-to-start-exchange-services/) - Running scripts to start and stop services has been a task long associated with Exchange. For those who pre-date Exchange 2000, do you remember the fun issues with the increased WaitToKillServiceTimeout value? By default in ye olde days HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlWaitToKillServiceTimeout was 20,000 ms (20 secs). Installing Exchange increased that to 600,000 ms (10 minutes). To quickly
- [Network Monitor Filter Examples](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/08/11/network-monitor-filter-examples/) - The below is an assortment of Network Monitor (NetMon) filters that I used on a frequent basis. With each of the filters, there is a quick explanation of why they are used. The filters can be used as regular display filters, or as a colour filter. The retransmission one is especially useful to have set
- [Exchange Self Signed SHA2 Certificates](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/07/20/exchange-self-signed-sha2-certificates/) - In recent builds, Exchange has been updated to support the newer SHA2 certificates. Exchange 2010 SP3 RU13 and Exchange 2013 CU 12 updated the SMIME control’s certificate to SHA2. Additionally, Exchange 2013 CU13 and Exchange 2016 CU2 added support for generating the self signed certificates as SHA2 certs. The below is for reference to save
- [Office 365 Exchange Hybrid Deployments Busting The Autodiscover Myth](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/07/14/office-365-exchange-hybrid-deployments-busting-the-autodiscover-myth/) - When configuring an Exchange Online hybrid deployment, there are many things to consider. Asides from the various networking, certificate and client discussions there is also a requirement to ensure that Autodiscover is functioning correctly. In addition to having Autodiscover correctly published to the Internet an additional wrinkle commonly pops up, which takes people down the
- [Outlook Unexpectedly Changed Mail to Keep Offline Settings](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/08/01/outlook-unexpectedly-changed-mail-to-keep-offline-settings/) - The below was noted when dealing with a customer issue where the VIP was complaining that Outlook had "unexpectedly" changed the amount of data which they had chosen to keep offline. They had a laptop system with a very small SSD, which filled up due to the increased OST size. Large OST issues happened frequently
- [Blocking Outlook Versions Connecting To Exchange 2010](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/09/07/blocking-outlook-versions-connecting-to-exchange-2010/) - In a recent customer engagement the senior messaging architect wanted to restrict the versions of Outlook connecting to the Exchange servers. This was due to the fact that there were some old and unsupported versions of Exchange and some incentive had to be applied to those business groups to ensure that all the stragglers were
- [When To Move Arbitration Mailboxes](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/09/15/when-to-move-arbitration-mailboxes/) - The concept of arbitration mailboxes is not really new, they were first introduced in Exchange 2010. Arbitration mailboxes are used for several special tasks within Exchange and for the most part will tick away quite happily with minimal administrator intervention. System mailboxes have existed for much longer in Exchange, and again perform special tasks which
- [Exchange 2013 CU14 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/09/20/exchange-2013-cu14-released/) - Exchange 2013 CU14 has been released to the Microsoft download centre! Exchange 2013 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 2013 and can be used to install a fresh server or to
- [Exchange 2016 CU3 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/09/20/exchange-2016-cu3-released/) - Exchange 2016 CU3 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
- [Save The Date - End of Office 2007 Extended Support](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/10/10/save-the-date-end-of-office-2007-extended-support/) - Please be aware and plan for the upcoming end of extended support Office 2007. For those who were working in IT back in 2006 when Office 2007 was released, do you remember the catchy title that was used? L.O.V.E. - Launch of Office Vista and Exchange. Office 2007 brought us Outlook 2007 which was a
- [PowerShell Friday Fun](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/10/21/powershell-friday-fun/) - How many days do you have where the below describes the standard routine? I have also been known to reference this when delivering Microsoft workshops in the preamble to break time.... Cheers, Rhoderick
- [Exchange 2010 OAB Recommended Configuration](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/10/06/exchange-2010-oab-recommended-configuration/) - The Exchange 2010 OAB needs some love and attention after it has been created with the default settings. While things may not be broken, they are less than ideal. The Exchange OAB was last really overhauled with Exchange 2003 SP2 and Outlook 2003 SP2. This was the move to the fourth generation of OAB and
- [Enable-RemoteMailbox – Is It A Chicken Or An Egg](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/10/27/enable-remotemailbox-is-it-a-chicken-or-an-egg/) - This post is to answer a recent customer question regarding if there is a requirement to perform a directory sync cycle after creating a new remote mailbox enabled AD user object before it could have an Office 365 mailbox created. They believed that the on-premises Exchange tools were directly reaching out to Exchange Online and
- [Reminder - Signup For Moving Tenant To Canadian Datacenter Region](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/10/26/reminder-signup-for-moving-tenant-to-canadian-datacenter-region/) - The below is a quick note for Canadian customers. We are now almost at the end of the window to signup for the GoLocal move where Microsoft will move your North American tenant to the Canadian datacenter region. Note that the message states core customer data is what will be moved. The below message should be
- [Web Application Proxy Service Not Starting Due to Malformed Configuration File](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/11/02/web-application-proxy-service-not-starting-due-to-malformed-configuration-file/) - The below Web Application Proxy (WAP) server had an unexpected issue. When the machine came back up, it had lost the configuration to allow it to communicate to the AD FS farm. This is not specifically an VM/Hyper-V/Azure issue, it is more of a WAP issue. Fixing the issue is straight forward, though let’s take
- [Create Azure RM VM Using Existing VHD](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/11/04/create-azure-rm-vm-using-existing-vhd/) - TailspinToys Canada have been busy upgrading their on-premises, Azure and Office 365 infrastructure. Previously Azure resources were moved from classic (Azure Service Manager) to the new Azure Resource Manager (Azure RM). The VMs, storage accounts and VHDs were migrated. One of the migration blockers was that multiple availability sets were previously present in one of the cloud
- [Migrating IaaS Resources to Azure Resource Manager](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/12/01/migrating-iaas-resources-to-azure-resource-manager/) - Like many other customers, the Tailspintoys Canada organization are leveraging Azure as part of their IT solution, and have done so for years. Because of this they have Azure resources in the old Azure model, and wish to transition to the new deployment methodology. In short they need to move from Azure Service Manager to
- [How To Get Azure RM VM IP Addresses Using PowerShell](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/11/15/how-to-get-azure-rm-vm-ip-addresses-using-powershell/) - This is a follow-up to the initial post on the topic which was based on the original Azure Service Manager (Azure SM) model. Azure Resource Manager (Azure RM) changes the deployment methodology. Take a look at Azure Resource Manager vs. classic deployment: Understand deployment models and the state of your resources for more details. We
- [Quick Tip: Is There A Shortcut URL To Download Online Sign In Assistant](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/11/16/quick-tip-is-there-a-shortcut-url-to-download-online-sign-in-assistant/) - For those wondering what the download page is for the Microsoft Online Services Sign In Assistant, using your favourite search engine in your favourite browser is one choice. Alternatively you can use the handy dandy shortcut URL: https://aka.ms/SIA This will take you to the latest version of the Sign In Assistant download page.
- [Load Balancing AD FS Services In Azure RM](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/12/07/load-balancing-ad-fs-services-in-azure-rm/) - As mentioned in this blog's previous posts on deploying AD FS, one option is to deploy all or part of the AD FS solution in Azure. This is very valuable if there is insufficient capacity on-premises or if you only have a single datacentre and wish to increase resiliency. Deploying the AD FS solution or
- [New Netstat Options](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/12/05/new-netstat-options/) - New? Well some options are not that new really. Others are however! Sometimes it is the little things in life that can help immensely. Take our venerable friend, netstat! Even though it has been around for many moons folks often get into the habit of using only certain options, switches or parameters. For reference purposes,
- [Change AD FS 2012 R2 Service Account Password](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/12/06/change-ad-fs-2012-r2-service-account-password/) - One of the added features in AD FS 2012 R2 was the ability to leverage group managed service accounts (gMSA) which obviated the requirement to manually change the password associated with the service account. See Getting Started with Group Managed Service Accounts for some background on gMSA. You may also see the term sMSA which
- [Azure RM VM Connect Button Greyed Out](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/12/09/azure-rm-vm-connect-button-greyed-out/) - The below is a repro of a customer issue where they were unable to RDP to an Azure RM VM from the Internet. Previously this was not something they had setup as connecting to VMs was provided by a site to site VPN. There was no requirement to provide RDP access from the Internet, until
- [Exchange 2016 CU4 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/12/13/exchange-2016-cu4-released/) - Exchange 2016 CU4 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
- [Most Popular Blog Posts For 2016](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/12/31/most-popular-blog-posts-for-2016/) - 2016 is done, and that is a wrap! As in previous years, it’s always fun to take a look back and see what content was popular and compare trends to prior years….. There is an increased requirement and demand for both Azure and Office 365 content. The steps to run a manual DirSync/AAD Sync/ AAD
- [Exchange 2013 CU15 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2016/12/14/exchange-2013-cu15-released/) - Exchange 2013 CU15 has been released to the Microsoft download centre! Exchange 2013 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 2013 and can be used to install a fresh server or to
- [Testing AD FS Signon Page - An Error Occurred](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/02/08/testing-ad-fs-signon-page-an-error-occurred/) - There are many causes for receiving errors when signing onto AD FS. However some are more genuine than others. This is a quick tip to check that you are on the right track before diving into the details and potentially spending time troubleshooting when in fact nothing is wrong. Just lately, for some reason I’m
- [Load Balancing WAP In Azure RM](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/02/10/load-balancing-wap-in-azure-rm/) - In the previous post Load Balancing Azure AD FS Services we looked at using Azure RM to deploy and load balance AD FS services. This is the follow-up post to deploy the Web Application Proxy (WAP) servers and its associated load balancer into the DMZ. In this post we will focus upon the highlighted area
- [Reminder - Upcoming Change in Office 365 EOP Connectors](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/01/27/reminder-upcoming-change-in-office-365-eop-connectors/) - There is an upcoming planned change in Office 365 to restrict relaying email messages in certain scenarios. This change has been scheduled many, many months in advance. This post is just a reminder to raise awareness and to hopefully ensure that everyone who needs to update their Exchange Online Protection (EOP) connectors has done
- [External RDP Access To Azure RM VM](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/02/01/external-rdp-access-to-azure-rm-vm/) - Depending upon how your organisation has deployed Azure there may or may not be a need to have RDP access to Azure VMs from the Internet. In cases where there is a site to site VPN (S2S) the S2S VPN will typically be used to access VMs. Traffic will be routed from the corporate network
- [Unable To Run Test-ActiveSyncConnectivity - Error Code 1](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/02/28/unable-to-run-test-activesyncconnectivity-error-code-1/) - The below is an error which an Exchange administrator brought up on an Exchange 2010 engagement. They were trying to use the Test-ActiveSyncConnectivity cmdlet to validate the Exchange infrastructure. However, the cmdlet was not working as expected. In the below image you can see that it starts to perform the test, and then errors out.
- [The Case of: Outlook Destroying Desktops](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/02/13/the-case-of-outlook-destroying-desktops/) - As the name of the post implies, something was terribly wrong with Outlook. Or so it appeared. This was a visit to a customer with poor user experience running Outlook 2016 on Windows 7. The level of impact was clear long before I even stepped on site. Management were under the impression that Outlook was crippling
- [Exchange 2013 CU16 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/03/23/exchange-2013-cu16-released/) - Exchange 2013 CU16 has been released to the Microsoft download centre! Exchange 2013 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 2013 and can be used to install a fresh server or to
- [Exchange 2016 CU5 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/03/23/exchange-2016-cu5-released/) - Exchange 2016 CU5 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
- [Exchange 2013 CU16 and Exchange 2016 CU5 .NET Framework Requirement](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/03/27/exchange-2013-cu16-and-exchange-2016-cu5-net-framework-requirement/) - As mentioned in the release posts for Exchange 2013 CU16 and Exchange 2016 CU5, both of these Exchange versions now require .NET framework 4.6.2 on all supported OS platforms. This post focusses on Windows 2012 and 2012 R2 installations, see note below about Windows 2016. Update 25-1-2018 Since the older versions of Exchange 2013 and
- [Decomissioning Exchange 2007 - Public Folder Migration](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/04/04/decomissioning-exchange-2007-public-folder-migration/) - The end of support date for Exchange 2007 is fast approaching. At this time all of your migration projects to transition to a newer version should be done. Note that Exchange 2007 will exit out of extended support on the 11th of April 2017. The Office 2007 suite has a slightly later end of extended
- [How To Enable AAD Connect Sync Cycle](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/04/06/how-to-enable-aad-connect-sync-cycle/) - When installing Azure Active Directory Connect (AAD Connect), it is sometimes required that the initial synchronisation is not initiated until additional configuration has been performed. This may mean that rules have to be edited, or that certain filtering options are to be applied. AAD Connect will inform you that synchronisation will not occur until you
- [Blog Code Examples Not Running Due to Smart Quotes](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/03/31/blog-code-examples-not-running-due-to-smart-quotes/) - During an excellent trip to see a local customer *, it was noted that some of the script examples on the blog were not working as expected. The post we were looking at was the Check Exchange 2013 Schema and Object Information in AD. When the sample commands were copied, the Exchange administrator was not
- [End of Exchange 2007 Support](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/04/11/end-of-exchange-2007-support/) - Today’s the day to say goodbye to our old friend, Exchange 2007. At this point you should have completed the project to move all mailboxes and resources from Exchange 2007 to a supported version of Exchange, and uninstall the Exchange 2007 servers. Thanks to Exchange 2007 I went to MCM, and discovered just how badly Greg
- [Transport Rule To Force On-Premises Terminology In a Not So Subtle Way](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/04/07/transport-rule-to-force-on-premises-terminology-in-a-not-so-subtle-way/) - There are many memes doing the rounds inside Microsoft which are sent out when someone uses the term on-premise rather than on-premises. Note the extra"S" in the latter. This is not new, and the last rant on this subject was a year ago Friday Morning Rant – Premise and Tenents. For another bit of
- [Quick Tip Windows 10 - Unable To Stop Device Notification](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/04/14/quick-tip-windows-10-unable-to-stop-device-notification/) - This is one of those little things that make life much, much easier. Imagine the scenario; you go to eject a USB disk drive or USB flash and Windows tells you that it is still in use. How to track down which application is using the drive? Eject, Eject, Eject In the below example, the
- [Exchange Setup - Certificate Is Expired](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/04/18/exchange-setup-certificate-is-expired/) - The below is one of my Exchange 2013 lab servers which ran into an error when upgrading to Exchange 2013 CU13. This was because I had deliberately broken Outlook Anywhere in order to replicate a customer situation where they had let the Outlook Anywhere certificate expire. When running the CU upgrade process, setup failed when
- [End of DirSync and AAD Sync Support](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/04/13/end-of-dirsync-and-aad-sync-support/) - Today marks the end of support for the legacy synchronisation tools which are used to connect on-premises Active Directory to Office 365 and Azure AD. Specifically Windows Azure Active Directory Sync (DirSync) and Azure AD Sync are the tools which are transitioning out of support at this time. Note also that version 1.0 of Azure
- [Unable To Access OWA or Office 365 Portal On Servers](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/04/21/unable-to-access-owa-or-office-365-portal-on-servers/) - Being unable to open OWA or the Office 365 portal is a common issue in test labs. In these environments there may be a desire to use the browser installed on a lab server to quickly access the Office 365 portal or to test email by using OWA. This is typically met with the below
- [AAD Connect Express Installation Screenshots–March 2017](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/04/20/aad-connect-express-installation-screenshots-march-2017/) - This is a reference post to illustrate the installation experience when installing Azure Active Directory Connect (AAD Connect). AAD Connect is often referred by its older name of DirSync as it rolls off the tongue slightly easier. This post was written in March 2017, and installs AAD Connect version 1.1.443.0 which was the latest version
- [Exchange 2016 Upgrades–The Point Of No Return](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/04/24/exchange-2016-upgrades-the-point-of-no-return/) - When designing an upgrade strategy from an older version of Exchange to a newer one, a question that needs to be addressed is do we need to introduce a version of Exchange that may not currently be present? This may be when upgrading from Exchange 2010 to Exchange 2016. If that organisation currently does not
- [Exchange 2016 RecoverServer](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/04/26/exchange-2016-recoverserver/) - There have been many great improvements to the Exchange Server installation process in recent years. Exchange 2010 gave us the ability to perform incremental deployment, where all mailbox servers start off as a regular mailbox server and then we can add it to a Database Availability Group (DAG). Exchange 2007 introduced the ability to run
- [Office 365 Workshop Links – May 2017](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/05/05/office-365-workshop-links-may-2017/) - This is a link throw-down for the items discussed during a recent Office 365 workshop that I delivered to customers in beautiful Montreal last week. I’m posting the links here since they will be available to all of the attendees, and thought that others may also find them useful/interesting. PowerShell Tips And Tricks Start with
- [Third Century of Blog Posts](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/05/19/third-century-of-blog-posts/) - When you have fun time flies, and that has certainly happened with blogging here. There are now over three hundred posts on the blog dating back to October 2011. The two hundred mark was in September 2015. Than you for all the support and feedback over the years – it is very much appreciated! As
- [How To Install AD FS 2016 For Office 365 – Part 3](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/05/14/how-to-install-ad-fs-2016-for-office-365-part-3/) - Here we are in part three already! Previously we completed the below two phases in the AD FS deployment. How To Install AD FS 2016 For Office 365 How To Install AD FS 2016 For Office 365 – Part 2 This post assumes that the domain was previously added as a standard domain, also called
- [Unable to RDP to Azure VM From Hotel WiFi](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/05/12/unable-to-rdp-to-azure-vm-from-hotel-wifi/) - This is one of those silly little things that comes along every so often just to mess with your head, and to cause some issues. Of course it has to happen at a time when you really want to connect to the remote machine and do some work. This week I was at a training
- [How to Enable IdpInitiatedSignon Page In AD FS 2016](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/06/20/how-to-enable-idpinitiatedsignon-page-in-ad-fs-2016/) - One of the deployment validation and testing tools which was also present in earlier AD FS releases is the /IdpInitiatedSignon.htm page. This page is available by default in the AD FS 2012 R2 and earlier versions. Though it should be noted this page is disabled by default in AD FS 2016. From the system you
- [PSRemoting for Office 365 AD FS Configuration](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/05/26/psremoting-for-office-365-ad-fs-configuration/) - When configuring AD FS for Office 365, one of the final steps is to link Azure AD with the on-premises AD FS deployment. This should occur only after AD FS and WAP servers have been fully deployed, verified and tested. When linking the AD FS infrastructure with Office 365, we must use the Azure AD
- [I Am Zorg – CASArray Destroyer](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/05/23/i-am-zorg-casarray-destroyer/) - This is an interesting tale, and is something I have never seen done before in all my time working with Exchange. The client had managed to tweak the configuration of Exchange and modify the CAS configuration so significantly that Exchange was absolutely confused. Specifically, the CAS Array was modified so much that Autodiscover was no
- [Exchange 2013 CU17 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/06/27/exchange-2013-cu17-released/) - Exchange 2013 CU17 has been released to the Microsoft download centre! Exchange 2013 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 2013 and can be used to install a fresh server or to
- [Exchange 2016 CU6 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/06/27/exchange-2016-cu6-released/) - Exchange 2016 CU6 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
- [WAP 2016 Published Application Not Working - HTTP Error 503](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/07/19/wap-2016-published-application-not-working-http-error-503/) - Imagine the situation. You just finished deploying AD FS 2016 and Web Application Proxy (WAP) servers in a highly available environment with the AD FS namespace load balanced internally and externally. There are multiple AD FS servers and WAP servers. This is an interesting deployment project and all is going well. After verifying that
- [Script To Check Exchange NTFS Cluster Size](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/07/21/script-to-check-exchange-ntfs-cluster-size/) - An issue came to light when onsite recently with a customer. The design specifications from the Exchange team were not being correctly implemented. In this environment there is a separate Windows team who are responsible for managing the underlying server OS and hardware. They are to follow the prescribed process and steps laid down by
- [Automating Enable-Remote Mailbox](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/07/27/automating-enable-remote-mailbox/) - While operating in an Exchange hybrid model, users expect to see a consistent GAL no matter if they or other people to be contacted are on-premises or in Exchange Online. In order for the Exchange on-premises servers to be able to build up a complete GAL there needs to be at least some mailbox information
- [July 2017 Exchange Security Updates–Have You Updated?](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/07/25/july-2017-exchange-security-updates-have-you-updated/) - Patch Tuesday this month featured updates to address security issues in Exchange 2010, 2013 and 2016. Two weeks ago today, July 11th heralded the arrival of Rollup Update Rollup 18 (RU18) for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 3 along with updates for Exchange 2013 and 2016. Exchange 2010 SP3 RU18 is the latest rollup
- [Exchange 2016 CU7 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/09/19/exchange-2016-cu7-released/) - Exchange 2016 CU7 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
- [Exchange 2013 CU18 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/09/19/exchange-2013-cu18-released/) - Exchange 2013 CU18 has been released to the Microsoft download centre! Exchange 2013 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 2013 and can be used to install a fresh server or to
- [How To Compare Exchange Schema Changes](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/10/03/how-to-compare-exchange-schema-changes/) - In the initial versions of Exchange, there was no Active Directory. In this land before time, Windows NT directory services was available and Primary Domain Controllers and Backup Domain Controllers ruled the roost. Exchange 4.0 to 5.5 maintained a separate directory in Exchange over and above the Windows NT directory. This all changed with the
- [End of Outlook 2007 Support](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/10/10/end-of-outlook-2007-support/) - Earlier this year we said goodbye to our friend, Exchange 2007. Now that it is October the 10th, Outlook 2007 is also exiting out of extended support. Customers who use Office 365 will have noted that there is a change to the supported client connectivity methods. Outlook Anywhere is being replaced with MAPI/HTTP. Outlook 2007
- [Exchange 2016 CU7 AD Forest Function Level Requirements](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/10/05/exchange-2016-cu7-ad-forest-function-level-requirements/) - In September 2016, just over a year ago from the time of writing, Exchange 2016 CU3 added support for Windows 2016. Exchange 2016 CU3 added support for installing Exchange 2016 onto Windows Server 2016 and also to have Windows 2016 Domain Controllers (DCs) in the environment. There is a nuance with the latter. In order
- [Office 365 Pilot Group Mail Flow Issues](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/10/09/office-365-pilot-group-mail-flow-issues/) - When initially deploying and configuring Office 365, one of the initial questions is to select the on-premises objects which will be replicated to Azure Active Directory. It is strongly recommended that all of the required directory and user hygiene is fully completed prior to the installation of Azure AD Connect. It is easier and simpler
- [Install DFSRDIAG On Windows 2012 R2 and Windows 2016](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/11/24/install-dfsrdiag-on-windows-2012-r2-and-windows-2016/) - Working on multiple versions of Exchange means having multiple different labs. Each lab will have different versions of Exchange, different update levels and also different Active Directory site layouts. They are all required to test and validate different configurations. These VMs are not always running. As a result, DFS sometimes needs attention if the environment
- [Reminder–End of Office 365 Outlook Anywhere Support October 31st 2017](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/10/25/reminder-end-of-office-365-outlook-anywhere-support-october-31st-2017/) - The end of Outlook Anywhere support in Office 365 is almost upon us. In a weeks time support for Outlook Anywhere (OA) will be removed in Office 365. Note that this does not impact on-premises deployments. This change is in Office 365. The replacement client connectivity protocol is MAPI/HTTP. MAPI/HTTP is not a new protocol,
- [Still Running DirSync and AAD Sync–Really Time To Update](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/12/05/still-running-dirsync-and-aad-sync-really-time-to-update/) - This post is for those customers who continue to run outdated and legacy versions of the synchronisation tools to connect on-premises Active Directory to Azure Active Directory. It was noted back in April this year that legacy versions of the synchronisation tools should be updated to a supported version of Azure AD Connect. Preferably the
- [Office 365 Workshop Links – December 2017](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/12/19/office-365-workshop-links-december-2017/) - This is a link fest for the items discussed during a recent Office 365 workshop delivered in an unusually tropical Calgary last week. Calgary +12 in December is always a win!! Posting the links here since they will be available to all of the attendees, and thought that others may also find them useful/interesting. PowerShell
- [Update WAP Published Application Certificate](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/12/11/update-wap-published-application-certificate/) - A base Web Application Proxy (WAP) provides AD FS proxy capability in addition to also publishing on-premises web applications to the Internet. This can be used to publish services such as Exchange OWA and Autodiscover. Publish Applications using AD FS Preauthentication can used in certain situations to pre-authenticate the incoming request before it is passed
- [Exchange 2013 CU19 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/12/19/exchange-2013-cu19-released/) - Exchange 2013 CU19 has been released to the Microsoft download centre! Exchange 2013 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 2013 and can be used to install a fresh server or to
- [Exchange 2016 CU8 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/12/19/exchange-2016-cu8-released/) - Exchange 2016 CU8 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
- [Most Popular Blog Posts For 2017](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2017/12/31/most-popular-blog-posts-for-2017/) - Well, EHLO to the year 2018! Just like last year, let’s take a peek at the top 10 most popular blog posts based on hit count. As previously noted, there is more of a demand for Office 365 and Exchange Online content. The steps to run a manual sync cycle was the most popular post.
- [Unable To Ping Windows Server](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/01/26/unable-to-ping-windows-server/) - You have just deployed a shiny new Windows 2012 R2 member server, and joined it to the domain. After the server has restarted you try and ping it from one of the other domain machines, but ping is dropped. You check the Network Location Awareness, as you have been burnt by that before, but that
- [Save The Date – End of Exchange 2010 Support–T Minus 2 Years](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/01/14/save-the-date-end-of-exchange-2010-support-t-minus-2-years/) - Update 16-9-2019 Please note that Exchange 2010 support has been extended to the 13th of October 2020. This does not mean that migration plans can be paused. Also review the aspects of the support for the underlying OS. January 2020 is going to be a very important month. There are multiple large and important products
- [Quick Tip–Easily Accessing Certificate MMC](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/02/02/quick-tip-easily-accessing-certificate-mmc/) - Having to manually open a blank MMC and add in the certificate MMC every time will quickly bore you. I used to then save it onto my desktop as shown below so I would only have to do this once per server. It could also be copied to other servers. The chosen name goes back
- [Exchange 2016 Prerequisites AS-HTTP-Activation Missing](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/03/13/exchange-2016-prerequisites-as-http-activation-missing/) - The below was an exercise in paying attention to detail for one of my customers. They were in the middle of an Exchange 2010 to 2016 migration and were attempting to install the first Exchange 2016 server into the organisation. Windows Server 2016 was being used as the OS for these new servers. However it
- [Quick Tip–How To Easily Open Additional Instance or Elevate Applications](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/03/16/quicktip-how-to-easily-open-additional-instance-or-elevate-applications/) - This tip is for all the folks out there who want a quick and easy way to open an additional instance of an application which they are running or to elevate an application. The below tips were captured from a Windows 10 build 1709 machine. The below should work for most applications – if you
- [Quick Tip - Download .NET Framework 4.5 Offline Installer](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/03/23/quick-tip-download-net-framework-4-5-offline-installer/) - This post will attempt to resolve some download frustration if your are looking for an older version of the .NET Framework. This is an issue with Exchange 2010 as the initial .NET framework for that platform has not been updated, whereas .NET Framework support in Exchange 2013 and 2016 now leverage newer versions of .NET
- [Exchange 2013 CU20 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/03/20/exchange-2013-cu20-released/) - Exchange 2013 CU20 has been released to the Microsoft download centre! Exchange 2013 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 2013 and can be used to install a fresh server or to
- [Exchange 2016 CU9 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/03/20/exchange-2016-cu9-released/) - Exchange 2016 CU9 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
- [Transport Rule Changes For Next Exchange Cumulative Updates](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/04/01/transport-rule-changes-for-next-exchange-cumulative-updates/) - Microsoft has provided rich support for Exchange on-premises to integrate with Exchange Online for several years. This coexistence is one of the major strengths of the Microsoft cloud solution as it allows customers to perform Digital Transformation at their own pace. It is not expected that an organisation will transition all of their on-premises mailboxes
- [March 2018 Exchange Security Updates–Have You Updated?](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/03/28/march-2018-exchange-security-updates-have-you-updated/) - Patch Tuesday this month featured updates to address security issues in Exchange 2010, 2013 and 2016. Tuesday the 13th heralded the arrival of Rollup Update Rollup 20 (RU20) for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 3 along with updates for Exchange 2013 and 2016. Exchange 2010 SP3 RU20 is the latest rollup of customer fixes currently
- [Outlook 2013 Autodiscover](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/04/09/outlook-2013-autodiscover/) - Many, many moons ago, we looked at the functionality of Autodiscover for on-premises Exchange. At the time of writing that post the focus was on Exchange 2010 and Outlook 2010. Things change... In this post we can look at the modifications introduced in Outlook 2013, and we will also need to review the changes in
- [Exchange 2010 Default Connector Configuration](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/04/03/exchange-2010-default-connector-configuration/) - This post is to provide a quick reference to the Exchange 2010 Hub Transport default send and receive connector configuration. There will be a separate one for Exchange 2013 and 2016. When installing the Exchange 2010 Hub Transport role, two receive connectors are created on each server. They are called: Client Default In
- [End of Exchange 2013 and Office 2013 Mainstream Support](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/04/10/end-of-exchange-2013-and-office-2013-mainstream-support/) - Time marches on. Exchange 2013 and Outlook 2013 have now exited out of mainstream support and will be serviced as per their extended support life cycle policy. Several years Ready For The Next Episode? and The New Exchange were the first posts here on Exchange 2013. The latter has an image of how the Exchange
- [Exchange Null Path Statement](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/05/30/exchange-null-path-statement/) - Update 16-11-2020 - Issue still persists. Currently see the same behaviour on an Exchange 2016 CU18 server and a fresh Exchange 2013 Cu23 build. Travelling to see different customers from one side of Canada to the other is always interesting. This post is written whilst in Vancouver and is from a reported customer issue waaaaay
- [Easy Way To Retrieve Certificate Thumbprint Using PowerShell](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/05/14/easy-way-to-retrieve-certificate-thumbprint-using-powershell/) - Since many certificate operations involve knowing the certificate’s thumbprint, it is always useful to to have an easy way to get this information. In some of the online documentation it mentions you can copy the thumbprint out of the Certificate MMC snap-in and then manually delete the spaces between the data. No thanks. However, if
- [Exchange 2013 CU21 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/06/19/exchange-2013-cu21-released/) - Exchange 2013 CU21 has been released to the Microsoft download centre! Exchange 2013 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 2013 and can be used to install a fresh server or to
- [Exchange 2016 CU10 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/06/19/exchange-2016-cu10-released/) - Exchange 2016 CU10 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
- [Exchange 2010 Support For Windows Server 2016 Domain Controllers](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/06/21/exchange-2010-support-for-windows-server-2016-domain-controllers/) - Previously Exchange 2010 was not supported with Windows Server 2016 Domain Controllers. The support position was discussed in the Exchange Support For Windows Server 2016 post back in 2016. This was a challenge for organisations who still had Exchange 2010 deployed yet wanted to move forward with AD DS upgrades so that they could take
- [Connect to AD FS 2016 WID Using SQL Server Management Studio](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/07/12/connect-to-ad-fs-2016-wid-using-sql-server-management-studio/) - As part of troubleshooting a recent Windows Server 2016 AD FS issue, I wanted to take a look at the database using SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). In order to successfully connect there are a couple of gotchas to note as the database used was the Windows Internal Database (WID). This is the default AD
- [QuickTip - Windows Emoji Keyboard Shortcut](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/07/17/quicktip-windows-emoji-keyboard-shortcut/) - Since today is World Emoji Day, the below tip is rather relevant! Did you know that Windows now has a keyboard shortcut built in to allow to access emojis? Windows key and period / full stop * or Windows key and colon This will function across multiple applications and is not limited to Skype
- [Exchange Visual C++ Runtime Reminder](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/07/03/exchange-visual-c-runtime-reminder/) - After seeing multiple comments on this topic internally and on the TechNet forums, it is worth reiterating the requirements for the Visual C++ Runtime. Exchange requires the installation of the Visual C++ Runtime if it was not already installed. Note that there is a different requirement for the Exchange Edge role. Edge requires Visual C++
- [Mail Not Flowing From Office 365 To On-Premises Exchange Server](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/07/24/mail-not-flowing-from-office-365-to-on-premises-exchange-server/) - This is a repro of a customer reported issue where they were having issues sending email from Office 365 to on-premises Exchange servers. Apparently this had been working previously with no issues, then mailflow started to have problems. Some email was flowing from Office 365, but some was delayed or not delivered at all. There
- [Get-AdfsProperties Error ADMIN0120](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/07/20/get-adfsproperties-error-admin0120/) - The below is an issue which caused this week’s customer a little stress. They wanted to review the current AD FS configuration, but were not able to successfully run the Get-AdfsPropeties cmdlet. The Get-AdfsProperties cmdlet would generate the error below. For make most glorious benefit of search engines: Get-AdfsProperties : ADMIN0120: The client is not
- [QuickTip–Delay Functionality In Windows Snipping Tool](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/07/27/quicktip-delay-functionality-in-windows-snipping-tool/) - In current versions of Windows the venerable snipping tool (snippingtool.exe) has been updated with improved functionality. Windows 7 Snipping Tool This is the Snipping Tool from a Windows 7 lab machine: Clicking on Options we see: Windows 10 Snipping Tool The below were taken from my Windows 10 build 1803 machine. Note that there
- [Exchange 2016 CU11 Released (Updated C++ Runtime Notes)](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/10/16/exchange-2016-cu11-released-updated-c-runtime-notes/) - Exchange 2016 CU11 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
- [Script to Clear Credman](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/01/11/script-to-clear-credman/) - With my customer facing role, there are lot of demonstrations to enterprise customers. Manually reverting machines back to the initial starting point for the next demo can be time consuming and error prone. One example of this is clearing out the contents on Window's Credential Manager. There is no option to do a block select
- [Most Popular Blog Posts For 2018](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2018/12/31/most-popular-blog-posts-for-2018/) - Hello to 2019! Just like last year, let’s take a peek at the top 10 most popular blog posts based on hit count. As previously noted, there is more of a demand for Office 365 and Exchange Online content. The steps to run a manual sync cycle was the most popular post. Remaining current on
- [Save The Date – End of Exchange 2010 Support–T Minus 1 Year](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/01/14/save-the-date-end-of-exchange-2010-support-t-minus-1-year/) - January 2020 is going to be a very important month. There are multiple large and important products which will exit out of their extended support lifecycle phase. The list includes Exchange 2010. We reviewed this a year ago, to provide additional warning and notification as many customers still run Exchange 2010 on-premises. For those who
- [Checking Exchange SMTP Logs To Determine Usage](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/01/25/checking-exchange-smtp-logs-to-determine-usage/) - This week I was fortunate to return to one of my favourite customers, to help with Exchange 2010 migration activities. As we all know, Exchange 2010 will exit out of extended support on the 14th of January 2020. Fortunately they are progressing very well with moving all mailboxes off Exchange 2010, and one of the
- [Exchange 2013 CU22 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/02/12/exchange-2013-cu22-released/) - Exchange 2013 CU22 has been released to the Microsoft download centre! Exchange 2013 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 2013 and can be used to install a fresh server or to
- [Exchange 2016 CU12 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/02/12/exchange-2016-cu12-released/) - Exchange 2016 CU12 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
- [Exchange 2019 CU1 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/02/12/exchange-2019-cu1-released/) - Exchange 2019 CU1 has been released to the Microsoft download centre! 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
- [Exchange 2019 CU1 Now On Visual Studio Downloads](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/03/06/exchange-2019-cu1-now-on-visual-studio-downloads/) - Exchange 2019 CU1 was recently released as part of the February 2019 patch Tuesday updates. This was originally discussed here on the blog. Exchange 2019 is intended for large enterprise customers, and as such is distributed through the Volume License Centre. Exchange 2019 CU1 is now available for evaluation on the Visual Studio download centre.
- [Installing Exchange 2010 on Windows Server 2012 R2](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/02/27/installing-exchange-2010-on-windows-server-2012-r2/) - Installing Exchange 2010 onto Windows Server 2012 R2 is a request that frequently heard on the TechNet Exchange forums. You may have seen posts from me in the past saying that this was not supported, and at the time that was the correct statement. There has been a change though! Exchange 2010 SP3 RU26 added
- [Cmdlet Extension Agent Blocks New Exchange Server Install](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/03/01/cmdlet-extension-agent-blocks-new-exchange-server-install/) - One of the edge features in Exchange is the Cmdlet Extension Agent. You can find some documentation online for this component along with some previous blog posts on this site. What can sometimes take people by surprise is that Exchange setup checks to see if the Cmdlet Extension Agent is enabled during setup. If it
- [Quick Tip - Get Unique Instances In PowerShell](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/04/07/quick-tip-get-unique-instances-in-powershell/) - To remove duplicates using PowerShell is exceedingly straightfroward. However, I have a habit of forgetting the cmdlet so parking this here for future reference. For example, we can use the Get-Unique cmdlet or Select-Object -Unique parameter. Get-Unique As a simple example: The Get-Unique cmdlet compares each item in a sorted list to the
- [Exchange Not Using New Domain Controller](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/03/20/exchange-not-using-new-domain-controller/) - Many enterprises are moving forward with their digital transformation plans, and as part of this and server updates Domain Controllers are being updated to newer versions. The Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 end of support in January 2020 is also a business driver. DC upgrades can happen independently of the Exchange team.
- [Incorrect or Misleading Exchange Attribute Date](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/03/20/incorrect-or-misleading-exchange-attribute-date/) - When looking at the details of objects in Exchange Management Shell, it is often useful to know when an object was created or modified. In a recent Office 365 engagement, the customer was convinced that one of the other administrators had made an unauthorised change to their environment as there was an apparent recent change
- [Exchange 2013 CU22 Shows Incorrect Name In Add/Remove Programs](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/03/25/exchange-2013-cu22-shows-incorrect-name-in-add-remove-programs/) - After installing Exchange 2013 CU22, you might notice that there is a cosmetic issue with how the update is listed in Add/Remove programs. In the screenshot below, note that Exchange 2013 Cumulative Update 20 is listed, but the version number is not the CU20 version number. For reference the versions of the relevant CUs are
- [End of TMG 2010 Support - T Minus 1 Year](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/04/14/end-of-tmg-2010-support-t-minus-1-year/) - At this point we are now one year away from the end of Threat Management Gateway (TMG) 2010 support. Many of Exchange administrators and architects will need to look at alternative solutions for publishing and securing Exchange, though this should have previously instigated. TMG 2010 will exit out of extended support on the 14th of
- [So Long and Thanks For All the Fish {Possibly}](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/06/05/so-long-and-thanks-for-all-the-fish-possibly/) - Earlier on this year you may have noticed a "not found" error page when visiting some of the older TechNet or MSDN blogs. If you were lucky, you would have received the graphic shown below. If not, then you would have had a nice and cryptic result code... This was due to the blog team
- [Exchange 2010 SP3 RU28 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/06/11/exchange-2010-sp3-ru28-released/) - Today is patch Tuesday for June 2019 and contains a security advisory bulletin for Exchange 2010. Due to the way that Exchange 2010 is serviced, security updates are released as a new update rollup (RU). Separate updates were also released for Exchange 2013, Exchange 2016 and Exchange 2019. This is build 14.03.0461.001 of Exchange 2010,
- [Exchange 2013 CU23 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/06/18/exchange-2013-cu23-released/) - Exchange 2013 CU23 has been released to the Microsoft download centre! Exchange 2013 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 2013 and can be used to install a fresh server or to
- [Exchange 2016 CU13 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/06/18/exchange-2016-cu13-released/) - Exchange 2016 CU13 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
- [Windows 10 FlushDNS](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/09/06/windows-10-flushdns/) - One issue when cutting over services or performing datacentre disaster recovery operations consists of three little letters - DNS. DNS records have a time to live (TTL) and depending on the zone file configuration, it could be several hours or even measured in days. So if a record was changed, this means that in normal
- [Exchange 2019 CU2 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/06/18/exchange-2019-cu2-released/) - Exchange 2019 CU2 has been released to the Microsoft download centre! 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
- [Exchange 2016 CU14](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/09/17/exchange-2016-cu14/) - Exchange 2016 CU14 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
- [End of Outlook 2010 Support - T Minus 1 Year](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/10/13/end-of-outlook-2010-support-t-minus-1-year/) - For awareness, Office 2010 has one year remaining of its extended support lifecycle. Office 2010 SP2 has been required since October 2014. All Office 2010 installs must be running SP2 in order to receive security updates since that time. On the 13th of October 2020, Office 2010 will exit out of extended support. Please plan
- [Exchange 2019 CU3 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/09/17/exchange-2019-cu3-released/) - Exchange 2019 CU3 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
- [Office 365 Welcome Pages - Circa 2019](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/10/17/office-365-welcome-pages-circa-2019/) - The below is the current Office 365 logon page as of 2019. For reference, the below shows the page load time and amount of data transferred. Once signed in, the Office 365 admin portal is shown below. Cheers, Rhoderick
- [Outlook 2016 Autodiscover Implementation](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/12/09/outlook-2016-autodiscover-implementation/) - It’s time that we revisited the implementation of Autodiscover in current builds of Outlook, as there have been some changes that are worth noting. The latest public article which discusses Outlook and Autodiscover is: Outlook 2016 implementation of Autodiscover. You can take a look at the previous posts on the blog which feature the #Autodiscover
- [Exchange 2010 Uninstall Screenshots](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/11/17/exchange-2010-uninstall-screenshots/) - We are now almost at the end of the Exchange 2010 support life cycle. While it has certainly been a blast, it is now time to move on to bigger and better things with the new versions of Exchange and Exchange Online. This post is a quick recap of the expected process to run the
- [Exchange 2019 CU4 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/12/17/exchange-2019-cu4-released/) - Exchange 2019 CU4 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
- [Exchange 2016 CU16 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/03/17/exchange-2016-cu16-released/) - Exchange 2016 CU16 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
- [Exchange 2016 CU15 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/12/17/exchange-2016-cu15-released/) - Exchange 2016 CU15 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
- [Exchange 2010 SP3 RU30 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/02/11/exchange-2010-sp3-ru30-released/) - Today is patch Tuesday for February 2020 and contains a security advisory bulletin for Exchange 2010. Due to the way that Exchange 2010 is serviced, security updates are released as a new update rollup (RU). You can visit the Microsoft Security Response Center to read the details about this and the other released security updates.
- [Most Popular Blog Posts For 2019](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2019/12/31/most-popular-blog-posts-for-2019/) - Hello to 2020! Just like last year, let's take a peek at the top 10 most popular blog posts based on hit count. As previously noted, there is more of a demand for Office 365 and Exchange Online content. The steps to run a manual sync cycle was the most popular post. Remaining current on
- [Exchange CAS Namespace Planning](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/04/02/exchange-cas-namespace-planning/) - CAS Namespace planning is frequently an issue with Exchange deployments. Why? For the simple reason that it is either totally skipped or glossed over. Any Exchange design worth its salt must have careful attention applied to the CAS role. While it is possible to drop in the HUB role, and it works well in the
- [Exchange 2019 CU5 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/03/17/exchange-2019-cu5-released/) - Exchange 2019 CU5 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
- [Expediting NET Framework Install For Exchange](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/04/06/expediting-updating-net-framework-for-exchange/) - Managing and maintaining an Exchange server requires multiple actions. Not only do the Exchange CU and security updates need to be installed along with the Windows OS updates, it is also required to update and maintain the .NET Framework. This is not a new requirement, and has been a required task for many years now.
- ["Unexpected" Exchange Certificate](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/04/08/unexpected-exchange-certificate/) - When reviewing a customer’s Exchange server to appraise the current state of their certificates, they saw an "unexpected" certificate on the Exchange server. The below is an Exchange 2010 SP3 RU24 server with a repro of the issue. There was nothing wrong, but the reason for seeing the additional certificate was not readily apparent
- [RDCMan Download Removed](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/04/07/rdcman-download-removed/) - Update 26-4-2021: RDCMan is now available again! Rejoice and be thankful - see this post for more details please. I'll leave the post below for historical context. A perennial favourite subject on the blog has been the topic of Remote Desktop Connection Manager (RDCMan). This was an internal Microsoft tool which was made available to
- [Office 365 Welcome Pages - Circa 2015](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/04/24/office-365-welcome-pages-circa-2015/) - The below are some of the older Office 365 welcome pages, thought it might be fun to make the screenshots available for reference. They are from an old blog post that never made its way out of the draft folder. So it was repurposed for this post. I used to call this one the California Highway
- [How To Set NSLookup to Use TCP](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/04/20/how-to-set-nslookup-to-use-tcp/) - One of the great things at Microsoft is the interaction with very smart colleagues. A question was posed regarding DNS. Most admins will know that DNS uses port 53, but is that TCP or UDP? The answer is Consultant’s answer #1 "It depends"… From a client resolver perspective this old TechNet documents: During DNS resolution,
- [Exchange 2007 Outlook Anywhere White Paper](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/05/12/exchange-2007-outlook-anywhere-white-paper/) - This is one of those older documents, that for many reasons I seem to keep coming back to over the years. Even as we transition away from classic Outlook Anywhere to MAPI/HTTP, knowing some of the features/limitations of Outlook Anywhere and why MAPI/HTTP is a better replacement is something that will be around for a
- [Remove-HybridConfiguration Cmdlet](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/07/15/remove-hybridconfiguration-cmdlet/) - For various reasons, the aforementioned Remove-HybridConfiguration cmdlet has been something that has been something I've had to review recently. This cmdlet is not present in Exchange 2010, it is only available in newer versions of Exchange. For example if we try to find this cmdlet on an Exchange 2010 server, it is not present. Only
- [Exchange 2016 CU17 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/06/16/exchange-2016-cu17-released/) - Exchange 2016 CU17 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
- [Exchange 2019 CU6 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/06/16/exchange-2019-cu6-released/) - Exchange 2019 CU6 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
- [Unable To Access WAP AD FS Proxy Instance Externally](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/05/25/unable-to-access-wap-ad-fs-proxy-instance-externally/) - When deploying AD FS and Web Application Proxy it is common to run into some networking issues. Normally this is due to firewall rules not being set correctly. However we need to be aware of the default behaviour of WAP and factor that into our deployment. When WAP is installed, it will write additional firewall
- [Unable to Edit WAP Published Application in Mixed Mode Farm](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/07/24/unable-to-edit-wap-published-application-in-mixed-mode-farm/) - During the upgrade process it is expected that there will be multiple versions of AD FS and WAP servers operating in a farm at a given time. This is actually a good option as it allows us to easily upgrade from AD FS 2012 R2 to a newer version such as 2016 or 2019. We
- [Beware the Exchange Hybrid Configuration Wizard Doppelganger](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/07/27/beware-the-exchange-hybrid-configuration-wizard-doppelganger/) - Perhaps the best thing to come to Exchange over the last 10 years was the Hybrid Configuration Wizard (HCW). While many take this feature for granted, if you had to manually deploy Exchange 2010 SP1 hybrid to Exchange Online you will shudder at the mention of the Service domain. But let’s not dredge up those
- [Local Endpoint Used For Cross-Premises Free Busy Lookup](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/07/29/local-endpoint-used-for-cross-premises-free-busy-lookup/) - When troubleshooting cross-premises calendar availability issues, it can be useful to know the name of the local on-premises endpoint which is used. By knowing the path and URL, you can then search the IIS logs for the path. This will accelerate finding the correct entry(ies) and assist with troubleshooting. The full listing of Hybrid deployment
- [September 2020 Security Updates For Exchange 2016 and 2019](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/09/08/september-2020-security-updates-for-exchange-2016-and-2019/) - Today is patch Tuesday for September 2020, and amongst the updates released today are security fixes for Exchange 2016 and Exchange 2019. More specifically, the fix is only available for the versions of Exchange 2016 and 2019 that are open for servicing. This means that only the latest CUs can be serviced, and if you
- [Exchange 2016 CU18 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/09/15/exchange-2016-cu18-released/) - Exchange 2016 CU18 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
- [Exchange 2019 CU7 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/09/15/exchange-2019-cu7-released/) - Exchange 2019 CU7 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
- [Unable to Remove Exchange 2010 Public Folder Database](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/09/30/unable-to-remove-exchange-2010-public-folder-database/) - One of the last rites of removing Exchange 2010 will be to remove the its legacy public folder database after the content has been moved to either shared mailboxes or to modern public folders. Maybe you just decide to delete those Christmas party pictures from 1999 as an alternative to carrying the legacy content forward...
- [QuickTip - Which Managed Availability Components Are Unhealthy?](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/09/28/quicktip-which-managed-availability-components-are-unhealthy/) - Exchange 2013 introduced the Managed Availability feature, so Exchange can self monitor and perform recovery actions upon itself. While this has greatly helped Exchange become more self-healing, one of the downsides is that there is no real UI for Managed Availability. The only UI is the Managed Availability Event Logs. All of the configuration inside
- [End of Exchange 2016 Mainstream Support](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/10/13/end-of-exchange-2016-mainstream-support/) - October the 13th 2020 is not only the end of support for Office 2010 and Exchange 2010, it also signals that Exchange 2016 will transition into extended support. Exchange 2016 will continued to be supported as per the lifecycle support policy. The below excerpt from the Microsoft lifecycle page illustrates when Exchange 2016 will exit
- [Exchange Setup Fails Due To Missing Scripting Agent Configuration File](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/10/19/exchange-setup-fails-due-to-missing-scripting-agent-configuration-file/) - One of the key operational aspects to maintaining a sound environment is to document and understand how it is configured. This becomes more and more important with added complexity and also as time goes by. As the solution is in production for an increasing amount of time, the implementing staff may transition out of role
- [Exchange 2016 CAS Namespace Cutover Authentication Failure](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/10/10/exchange-2016-cas-namespace-cutover-authentication-failure/) - You have prepped for months, and tonight is the night! It is the night of CAS namespace cutover to move the HTTPS namespaces from Exchange 2010 so that the point to Exchange 2013 or 2016. DNS TTL was decremented. Servers are all fully updated as are the Outlook clients and we are good to go.
- [End of Exchange 2010 Support](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/10/14/end-of-exchange-2010-support/) - Exchange 2010 has proven to be a solid and innovative product over the last decade. From consolidating three different flavours of continuous replication, adding RPC Client Access and the Exchange Hybrid Configuration Wizard in Service Pack 2 we have a lot to be thankful for. However it is time so say goodbye to this old
- [Exchange HCW Detects "Wrong" Version](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/11/02/exchange-hcw-detects-wrong-version/) - When running Exchange setup or the Exchange Hybrid Configuration Wizard (HCW), I always recommend looking at the version information that is shown on screen. This is part of the gross error check to make sure that the correct version is being used. This habit is one of the recommendations made in the Mistakes to Avoid
- [Microsoft Teams High CPU - Using Hardware Acceleration with the Microsoft Teams Client To Lower CPU Load](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/11/09/microsoft-teams-high-cpu-using-hardware-acceleration-with-the-microsoft-teams-client-to-lower-cpu-load/) - One of the benefits of Windows as a service is that we receive constant updates, security enhancements and additions to the OS. One of the new features in the 2004 build was the introduction of hardware accelerated GPU scheduling. For details on this new feature and some background on how the Windows Display Driver Model
- [Unable To Install PowerShell Modules – Unable To Download From URI Error](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/11/10/unable-to-install-powershell-modules-unable-to-download-from-uri-error/) - When you try to install a PowerShell module or connect to the PowerShell Repository you may get the below error messages: WARNING: Unable to download from URI 'https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=627338&clcid=0x409' to ''. WARNING: Unable to download the list of available providers. Check your internet connection. For make most glorious benefit engine of search: PackageManagement\Install-PackageProvider : No match
- [Exchange Managed Availability Broken With TLS 1.2 Changes](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/12/03/exchange-managed-availability-broken-with-tls-1-2-changes/) - In most enterprise customers there is a segregation of duties between multiple teams. This could be networking and desktop. Or Windows Server platform and messaging. It was the split in these roles, and especially a dearth of communication which led to this tale of woe with TLS 1.2 and Exchange. The reasons for moving to
- [Exchange Managed Availability Error – OutlookRpcSelfTestProbe](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/11/30/exchange-managed-availability-error-outlookrpcselftestprobe/) - This case illustrates the "fun" with Managed Availability a particular customer had after making changes to their servers. The servers were built back in 2014, and as such the default self signed certificates had expired and were previously replaced. This is because the Exchange self signed certificates have a 5 year validity period. It was
- [Exchange 2013 OnPremisesSmtpClientSubmission – Unhealthy After Disabling TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/12/07/exchange-2013-onpremisessmtpclientsubmission-unhealthy-after-disabling-tls-1-0-and-tls-1-1/) - After going through the steps to disable TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1, it was noted that Managed Availability was not happy with one particular component in Exchange 2013. This was the OnPremisesSmtpClientSubmission probe and the monitor which was associated to it. The below is a reproduction of the customer environment. For reference, you can review
- [Exchange December 2020 Security Updates](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/12/08/exchange-december-2020-security-updates/) - Please be aware that Exchange 2013, Exchange 2016 and Exchange 2019 security updates were released as part of the December 2020 patch Tuesday release. The overall rating is critical, and the update resolves multiple issues. Details for these, and previously released updates can be found in the Security Update Guide. Also note that Exchange 2010
- [Exchange 2010 SP3 RU31 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/12/14/exchange-2010-sp3-ru31-released/) - Today is patch Tuesday for December 2020 and contains a security advisory bulletin for Exchange 2010. Due to the way that Exchange 2010 is serviced, security updates are released as a new update rollup (RU). You can visit the Microsoft Security Response Center to read the details about this and the other released security updates.
- [Exchange 2016 CU19 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/12/15/exchange-2016-cu19-released/) - Exchange 2016 CU19 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
- [Exchange 2019 CU8 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/12/15/exchange-2019-cu8-released/) - Exchange 2019 CU8 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
- [Most Popular Blog Posts For 2020](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2020/12/31/most-popular-blog-posts-for-2020/) - Well, good bye to 2020. That was some year to put it mildly… Again, we see that on-premises content has been reduced and the overall focus is Office 365 and Hybrid. AD FS certificates keep on expiring and so do WAP, thus those articles remain popular as ever. Most Popular 2020 Posts How
- [Defender For Identity Sensor Service Fails To Start on AD FS - Sequence Contains No Elements](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/02/17/defender-for-identity-sensor-service-fails-to-start-on-ad-fs-sequence-contains-no-elements/) - After installing Defender for Identity sensor onto AD FS, you may experience an issue where the service does not enter the running state. In the Microsoft Defender for Identity portal the sensor is reported as "Not Configured" Lab Starting Reference Point Since the AD FS sensor is new (January 2021), you initially installed sensors onto
- [Out of Band Critical Exchange Security Updates–March 2021](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/03/02/out-of-band-critical-exchange-security-updates-march-2021/) - Security updates were released today for Exchange 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019. Attacks were detected which leveraged these vulnerabilities, so an out of band set of updates was released This a remote code execution on TCP 443 and is already being exploited as a 0-Day attacks against on-premises Exchange servers. Microsoft strongly recommends installing this
- [Exchange 2010 SP3 RU32 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/03/02/exchange-2010-sp3-ru32-released/) - Today is an out of band security release for Exchange. Due to the way that Exchange 2010 is serviced, security updates are released as a new update rollup (RU). You can visit the Microsoft Security Response Center to read the details about this and the other released security updates. Note – The image does not
- [Install March 2021 Security Update–Exchange 2013 Net Framework 4.7.2](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/03/09/install-march-2021-security-update-exchange-2013-net-framework-4-7-2/) - You will have seen the multiple posts and communications around the Hafnium Exchange security issue. One of the most disconcerting issues has been the number of Exchange installs that have not been patched in several years. Once the storm has abated, I'll put down some thoughts and talk through some of the most problematic issues,
- [Collected Links For Hafnium – March 2021 Exchange Security Issue](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/03/08/collected-links-for-hafnium-march-2021-exchange-security-issue/) - The below are a series of links, tips and some very brief thoughts on Hafnium. I will purposefully not include the content of the other locations as it is changing so rapidly, and there is no way to ensure that it would be updated here in a timely fashion. If you read nothing
- [Exchange 2016 CU20 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/03/16/exchange-2016-cu20-released/) - 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
- [Intermittent Azure DNS Resolution Issues With With New Domain Controller](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/04/06/intermittent-azure-dns-resolution-issues-with-with-new-domain-controller/) - The default option for DNS resolution on an Azure virtual network is to use the Azure DNS service. This is perfectly fine for regular Internet requests, if you need the capability to register internal DNS records for Active Directory then you will typically need to run your own DNS service. This is the case here
- [Exchange 2019 CU9 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/03/16/exchange-2019-cu9-released/) - 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
- [Exchange & TCP/IP Port Range](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/04/12/exchange-rpc-port-range/) - 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
- [Exchange Setup Fails   - Error  3221685616](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/04/09/exchange-setup-fails-error-3221685616/) - 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
- [Microsoft Defender for Identity–Replaced Domain Controller](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/04/19/microsoft-defender-for-identity-replaced-domain-controller/) - The below environment was migrated from one hosting provider to another. Unfortunately one DC did not survive, and it was removed from the domain. This was done by using dsa.msc as it can now clean up the AD metadata rather than using NTDSUtil. That was a welcome change in Windows Server 2008. A replacement server
- [Can You Fix This?  Exchange 2013 Setup  -  Server-Gui-Mgmt-Infra Isn't Installed](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/04/14/can-you-fix-this-exchange-2013-setup-server-gui-mgmt-infra-isnt-installed/) - 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
- [April 2021 Exchange Security Updates](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/04/13/april-2021-exchange-security-updates/) - 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
- [Should I Overwrite The Default Exchange SMTP Certificate?](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/04/26/should-i-overwrite-the-default-exchange-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
- [Faulting Module Name NTdll.dll](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/04/23/faulting-module-name-ntdll-dll/) - One of my hosted lab environments ran into series of issues, and after unplanned maintenance there were multiple problems to resolve. The below error with a faulting ntdll.dll module was something I recall seeing many years ago with a Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) deployment where the MOM agent simply would not start. On every single
- [Azure Firewall Rule Not Working  –  Orange Triangle](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/04/26/azure-firewall-rule-rdp-not-working-orange-triangle/) - The below is from a customer situation where an Azure Network Security Group (NSG) firewall rule entry was not working as they expected. This was was created to allow RDP connectivity for some of their test servers. However they were not able to connect to the server, and were being blocked by the NSG. Ideally
- [Exchange Managed Availability State Unknown](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/04/30/exchange-managed-availability-state-unknown/) - The below is one of the cases where the "Zen of Exchange Management" is what fixes the issue. I've been know to say that sometimes you just need to wait for Exchange to do what it needs to do. To pass the time, feel free to adopt a meditation pose and emit calm and peaceful
- [Unable to Run Exchange Setup–Pending Reboot From a Previous Installation](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/05/03/unable-to-run-exchange-setup-pending-reboot-from-a-previous-installation/) - When installing Exchange updates, I place the server into maintenance mode and restart it prior to installing the actual Exchange update. This is due to have being burned many times by other teams or third party tools that conveniently "overlooked" the fact that their setup required the machine to restart. It also provides an opportunity
- [Exchange 2016 CU20 PrepareAD Required](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/04/28/exchange-2016-cu20-preparead-required/) - This is a quick heads up for those who may be deploying Exchange 2016 in the near future. If you are currently on Exchange 2016 CU19 there are no AD schema changes required, but there are AD changes. The former is performed by /PrepareSchema, and the latter by /PrepareAD. You can take a look at
- [TenantOrganizationConfig Required When Preparing Active Directory](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/05/10/tenantorganizationconfig-required-when-preparing-active-directory/) - When running /PrepareSchema in an Exchange organisation with an existing Exchange Hybrid deployment you may run into an error which states: "A hybrid deployment with Office 365 has been detected. Please ensure that you are running setup with the /TenantOrganizationConfig switch" This is shown below: A similar issue will occur if you specify only /PrepareAD
- [Create Azure Az VM Using Existing UnManaged VHD](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/05/07/create-azure-az-vm-using-existing-unmanaged-vhd/) - The days change, but sometimes the issues stay the same. This is a redux of an existing post where there was an issue back in 2016 when I was not able to easily re-create a VM in a different Availability Set. As you can see in Create Azure RM VM Using Existing VHD – 250
- [Does Exchange Setup Automatically Run PrepareSchema?](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/05/13/does-exchange-setup-automatically-run-prepareschema/) - The question "Does Exchange setup automatically run /PrepareSchema?" was something that came up many times in the recent Hafnium remediation activities. This was due to many customers not updating Exchange for multiple years, and being extremely behind on updates. In order to get Exchange updated, it was necessary to perform multiple steps in the upgrade
- [Exchange Online App-Only Authentication Error AADSTS70011 Invalid Scope](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/05/17/exchange-online-app-only-authentication-error-aadsts70011-invalid-scope/) - As more people are starting to use the Exchange Online V2 module (yay!), there are some new and different issues appearing. In this case, the command to connect to the tenant was failing when App-Only authentication was used. A certificate was installed onto the machine where PowerShell was running. The command used is shown followed
- [Remote Desktop Connection Manager Download (RDCMan) 2.81](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/06/24/remote-desktop-connection-manager-download-rdcman-2-81/) - Finally we have good news for all fans of the Remote Desktop Connection Manager (RDCMan) tool! It has risen from the ashes, and is now part of Sysinternals. Over the years RDCMan built up a strong user base as it was a simple but powerful utility to manage connections to multiple machines. Sure, if
- [Exchange 2016 CU21 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/06/29/exchange-2016-cu21-released/) - Exchange 2016 CU21 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
- [Exchange 2019 CU10 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/06/29/exchange-2019-cu10-released/) - Exchange 2019 CU10 has been released to the Microsoft Volume Licensing Center and the public Microsoft Download site! 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
- [Is Exchange Fully Updated?  If Not, Go Update Now](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/09/22/is-exchange-fully-updated-if-not-go-update-now/) - The Exchange team just posted that the September 2021 updates are going to be slightly delayed. The priority will always be to ship quality updates rather than force it out to meet a specific day. You can look at the announcement, and Nino's additional comments here: Delay of September 2021 Cumulative Update for Exchange Server
- [Unable to Prepare Schema For Exchange Server 2019–Forest Functional Level](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/09/16/unable-to-prepare-schema-for-exchange-server-2019-forest-functional-level/) - Imagine that you have spent weeks planning for your upgrade to Exchange 2019. There are no unsupported down-level versions of Exchange, only Exchange 2016 is present. Those pesky public folders were also taken out behind the farmer's shed never to return. That only taken 15 or so years, but hey life is a journey...
- [Exchange 2016 CU22 and Exchange 2019 CU11 Setup Changes](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/09/30/exchange-2016-cu22-and-exchange-2019-cu11-setup-changes/) - With the release of this month's Exchange updates, there are changes to not only the installation prerequisites but also the installation parameters. These changes break down into two main areas. What you must ensure is installed prior to installing this or a subsequent CU, and secondly that the command line options have been updated along
- [Exchange 2016 CU22 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/09/28/exchange-2016-cu22-released/) - Exchange 2016 CU22 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
- [Exchange 2019 CU11 Released](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/09/28/exchange-2019-cu11-released/) - Exchange 2019 CU11 has been released to the Microsoft Volume Licensing Center and the public Microsoft Download site! 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
- [Does Manually Running Azure AD Connect Change Schedule?](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/11/19/does-manually-running-azure-ad-connect-change-schedule/) - Despite the current versions of Azure AD Connect running the main synchronisation task every 30 minutes, there are still times when we want to force the task. As a result of this, a question was floated if that changed the existing schedule. If the next scheduled instance is in 10 minutes, and we run a
- [Unable To Renew Exchange Certificate - Friendly Name Is Too Long](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/11/09/unable-to-renew-exchange-certificate-friendly-name-is-too-long/) - Your Exchange certificate is about to expire, so you initiate a standard process to renew it. It's only a 5 minute job as that's how long it took last time, right? Well, no. All is fine until you try to renew the existing certificate. The easiest way to initiate the renewal is by using the
- [Sign-In Error 5000811 --  Unable to verify token signature. The signing key Identifier Does Not Match Any Valid Registered Keys](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/11/29/sign-in-error-5000811-unable-to-verify-token-signature-the-signing-key-identifier-does-not-match-any-valid-registered-keys/) - The error message "Sorry, that didn’t work. Please go back to office.com and try again” is probably one of the most vague that I've seen. It's up there with "please contact your administrator", which is fine unless you are the administrator... The below is a repro of a case where all users were unable to
- [Why Is The Exchange Security Update Not Installed?](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2021/11/22/why-is-the-exchange-security-update-not-installed/) - The issue of "Why is the Exchange Security Update not installed?" has popped up frequently over the last few months due to the number of security releases for on-premises Exchange. Due to Hafnium, security teams have increased the monitoring of Exchange to make sure that it is fully patched. In some of these cases, the
- [Change Certificate Friendly Name To Unique Value](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/01/06/change-certificate-friendly-name-to-unique-value/) - Imagine that you have two certificates installed, but for whatever reason the same friendly name was used for both of them. You can certainly identity each of them by comparing the valid from/valid to dates or the thumbprint. That adds just a little extra overhead that you may not want to deal with. As an
- [Office 365 Autodiscover Lookup Process–Revisited](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/01/12/office-365-autodiscover-lookup-process-revisited/) - Previously we looked at the Office 2010 client and how it used Autodiscover to detect Exchange Online (EXO) mailbox settings. Outlook 2010 is no longer supported, so it is worth updating these notes for a current build of Outlook. As with the previous post, this is intended as a point in time reference as I
- [How To Request Certificate Without Using IIS or Exchange–Updated 2022](https://blog.rmilne.ca/2022/02/01/how-to-request-certificate-without-using-iis-or-exchange-updated-2022/) - Back in the year 2014 the post How To Request Certificate Without Using IIS or Exchange was released to help create TLS certificates. One of the main use cases was Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) as in 2014 it was pretty much a requirement for enterprise migration to Office 365. Password Hash Sync (PHS)

## Pages

- [About](https://blog.rmilne.ca/about/) - About
- [Contact](https://blog.rmilne.ca/contact/) - Contact

## Categories

- [Messaging](https://blog.rmilne.ca/category/messaging/) - Items related to messaging services with a focus on Exchange Online (EXO) and Exchange server (on-premises)
- [Security](https://blog.rmilne.ca/category/security/) - Security related items and thoughts
- [Virtualization](https://blog.rmilne.ca/category/virtualization/) - Items related to virtualization, with a focus on Microsoft Hyper-V
- [ProTips](https://blog.rmilne.ca/category/protips/) - Category for various tips and tricks

## Tags

- [Exchange](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/exchange/) - All things Exchange
- [Exchange 2010](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/exchange-2010/) - Items specifically related to Exchange 2010
- [Exchange 2010 SP1](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/exchange-2010-sp1/) - Items specifically related to Exchange 2010 SP1
- [Exchange 2010 RTM](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/exchange-2010-rtm/) - Items specifically related to Exchange 2010 RTM
- [Supportability Dates](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/supportability-dates/) - Support lifecycle and related dates
- [Exchange Workshop](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/exchange-workshop/) - Posts Related to Exchange Workshops
- [Tips N Tricks](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/tips-n-tricks/) - Various Tips and Tricks
- [Autodiscover](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/autodiscover/) - Autodiscover Web Service
- [CAS](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/cas/) - Exchange Client Access Services. The thinking person’s Exchange role…
- [Exchange 2007](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/exchange-2007/) - Items specifically related to Exchange 2007
- [Exchange 2013](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/exchange-2013/) - Items specifically related to Exchange 2013
- [Transport](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/transport/) - Exchange Transport Services
- [PowerShell](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/powershell/) - Items related to PowerShell
- [SCOM](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/scom/) - System Center Operations Manager
- [Exchange 2010 SP2](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/exchange-2010-sp2/) - Items specifically related to Exchange 2010 SP2
- [Hyper-V](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/hyper-v/) - Microsoft Hypervisor related things – codename Viridian
- [Windows Phone](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/windows-phone/) - Windows Phone related things
- [Performance](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/performance/) - Items related to performance issues
- [Windows](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/windows/) - Items related to Windows in general
- [Certificates](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/certificates/) - TLS certificates and associated fun operations
- [Exchange 2010 SP3](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/exchange-2010-sp3/) - Items specifically related to Exchange 2010 SP3
- [Office 365](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/office-365/) - Items related to Office 365
- [Windows 8](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/windows-8/) - Items related specifically to Windows 8
- [Windows Server 2012](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/windows-server-2012/) - Items related specifically to Windows Server 2012
- [Windows Server 2008 R2](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/windows-server-2008-r2/) - Items related specifically to Windows Server 2008 R2
- [TechEd](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/teched/) - Microsoft TechEd Conference and related items
- [Management Pack](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/management-pack/) - SCOM Management Pack for Exchange
- [PAL](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/pal/) - PAL — Performance Analyser of Logs
- [ExRAP](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/exrap/) - Exchange Risk Assessment Program
- [LogParser](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/logparser/) - The wonderful Log Parser tool.
- [Lync](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/lync/) - Microsoft Lync Server
- [OAB](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/oab/) - Offline Address Book in Exchange
- [Humour](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/humour/) - Silly things…
- [Security](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/security/) - Security related things
- [SCVMM](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/scvmm/) - System Center Virtual Machine Manager
- [TMG](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/tmg/) - Microsoft Threat Management Gateway
- [Blog](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/blog/) - General comments on running this blog
- [Exchange 2003](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/exchange-2003/) - Items specifically related to Exchange 2003
- [ForeFront](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/forefront/) - Microsoft ForeFront related products
- [WSUS](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/wsus/) - Windows Server Update Services
- [Outlook](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/outlook/) - Items related to the Outlook client
- [Azure](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/azure/) - Azure
- [RBAC](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/rbac/) - Role Based Access Control
- [Lync 2010](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/lync-2010/) - Microsoft Lync 2010 Server
- [Exchange 2013 SP1](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/exchange-2013-sp1/) - Items specifically related to Exchange 2013 SP1
- [Exchange 2016](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/exchange-2016/) - Items specifically related to Exchange 2016
- [Windows 8.1](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/windows-8-1/) - Items related specifically to Windows 8.1
- [Windows Server 2012 R2](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/windows-server-2012-r2/) - Items related specifically to Windows Server 2012 R2
- [MEC](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/mec/) - Microsoft Exchange Conference
- [AD FS](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/adfs/) - Active Directory Federation Services
- [Exchange 2019](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/exchange-2019/) - Items specifically related to Exchange 2019
- [Exchange Online](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/exchange-online/) - EXO – Exchange Online
- [Windows 10](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/windows-10/) - Items related specifically to Windows 10
- [Windows Server 2016](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/windows-server-2016/) - Items related specifically to Windows Server 2016
- [Workshop](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/workshop/) - Items related to workshop deliveries
- [Windows 7](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/windows-7/) - Items related specifically to Windows 7
- [UAG](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/uag/) - Microsoft (Forefront) Unified Access Gateway
- [Networking](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/networking/) - Network related items
- [Activesync](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/activesync/) - ActiveSync
- [AAD Sync](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/aad-sync/) - Azure AD Sync
- [Dirsync](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/dirsync/) - Directory Synchronisation – AKA Azure AD Connect
- [Exchange 2013 RTM](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/exchange-2013-rtm/) - Items specifically related to Exchange 2013 RTM
- [Exchange Search](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/exchange-search/) - Exchange Search Services
- [April 1st](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/april-1st/) - April First – Humour
- [ignite](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/ignite/) - Microsoft Ignite conference content & related things
- [AAD Connect](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/aad-connect/) - Azure AD Connect
- [Load Balancing](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/load-balancing/) - Load balancers and related things
- [Tools](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/tools/) - Various tools and utilities
- [DNS](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/dns/) - Domain Name Services
- [Public Folders](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/public-folders/) - Exchange Public Folders
- [skype](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/skype/) - Microsoft Skype
- [RDCMan](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/rdcman/) - Remote Desktop Connection Manager
- [VMware](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/vmware/) - VMWare and related items
- [Windows Server 2019](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/windows-server-2019/) - Items related specifically to Windows Server 2019
- [Teams](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/teams/) - Microsoft Teams
- [Managed Availability](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/managed-availability/) - Items related to managed availability in Exchange 2013 onwards
- [Active Directory](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/active-directory/) - AD DS – Active Directory Domain Services
- [Defender For Identity](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/defender-for-identity/) - MDI – Microsoft Defender For Identity
- [Windows Server 2003](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/windows-server-2003/) - Items related specifically to Windows Server 2003
- [Defender for Office 365](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/defender-for-office-365/) - MDO – Microsoft Defender for Office 365
- [DMARC](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/dmarc/) - DMARC – Domain Based Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance
- [Sender Authentication](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/sender-authentication/) - Sender Authentication – SPF, DKIM, DMARC etc. related things
- [DKIM](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/dkim/) - DKIM – Domain Keys Identified Mail
- [TLS](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/tls/) - Transport Layer Security
- [Windows 11](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/windows-11/)
- [Defender for Endpoint](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/defender-for-endpoint/)
- [Entra ID](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/entra-id/)
- [Azure AD](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/azure-ad/)
- [Windows Server 2025](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/windows-server-2025/)
- [MFA](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/mfa/)
- [Exchagne 2019](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/exchagne-2019/)
- [Copilot for Security](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/copilot-for-security/)
- [Exchange SE](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/exchange-se/)
- [Entra](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/entra/)
- [Entra Connect](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/entra-connect/)
- [Windows Server](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/windows-server/)
- [Conditional Access](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/conditional-access/)
- [Exchange Server SE](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/exchange-server-se/)
- [SSPR](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/sspr/)
- [EOP](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/eop/)
- [Exchange Server](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/exchange-server/)
- [Windows Server 2022](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/windows-server-2022/)
- [SPF](https://blog.rmilne.ca/tag/spf/)