SuperTekBoy

Practical Help for Exchange & Office 365

Exchange 2019 Public Preview Released

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Exchange 2019 Setup Screen DLast week Microsoft announced the public preview of Exchange 2019. It is expected that Exchange 2019 will ship later this year.

You can download the preview bits using the link below. Please note, that this is preview code and you should not deploy this in production.

Exchange 2016 MiniExchange 2019 Public Preview

Server Core supported for Exchange 2019

The biggest announcement is that Exchange 2019 is the first version of Exchange to work on Windows Server Core. The benefit of Server Core is added security. Server core reduces your attack footprint and a smaller footprint means fewer things to secure and keep up to date.

It’s worth noting that from an administrative standpoint Server Core is a bit of a different animal. If you access Server Core via a console or remote session you are only going to see a command line. You will quickly notice that programs which use an MMC, such as Services or Event Viewer, are unavailable. In addition, shell programs such as Windows Explorer, or, Task Manager are also unavailable.

For Exchange, this is not much of an issue because the Exchange Admin Center and Exchange Management Shell can be run remotely from anywhere. For everything else, you will need to use Remote Server Administration Tools or remote PowerShell.  For a list of tools that are directly accessible on Server Core check out the article: What is the Server Core installation option in Windows Server?

For a great write-up on installing Exchange 2019 on Windows Server Core, check out this article from the Exchange Team.

Of course, if you prefer to have the full desktop experience you can still install Exchange 2019 on a server with a GUI. [Read more…] about Exchange 2019 Public Preview Released

Intelligent Do Not Disturb in Outlook mobile app

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Do not disturb in the Outlook mobile app is an amazing option. In fact, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently demonstrated this functionality during his keynote at Microsoft Inspire 2018.

With Outlook mobile you have two great options when it comes to setting do not disturb. You can either set do not disturb globally across all email accounts, or, you can set it individually for each email account. The former is a great solution when you need general quiet time from all your email accounts. The latter might be better when you need to dedicate time between work and personal accounts.

For example, you could set do not disturb on personal email during business hours and, do not disturb on work email during weekends. In this article, we are going to implement this very example.

Setting Do Not Disturb

Open your Outlook mobile app and select the Waffle menu.

Setting up Outlook for Android and iOS Do Not Disturb DND options

Make sure the email account you want to set the do not disturb on is active. You can verify which email account is active by the title in the menu. In the screenshot below we can see our work account gareth@supertekboy.com is active.

Select the Do not disturb ( Outlook Mobile Do Not Disturb Icon ) icon in the top right-hand corner of the menu.

Pro Tip: If you want to set a blanket do not disturb across all accounts, select the Home icon. This will select All Accounts. Then select the Do not disturb ( Outlook Mobile Do Not Disturb Icon ) icon.

[Read more…] about Intelligent Do Not Disturb in Outlook mobile app

Cumulative Update cannot find EnterpriseServiceEndpointsConfig.xml

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While applying a cumulative update I ran across the following error.

Warning:
An unexpected error has occurred and a Watson dump is being generated: Could not find a part of the path 'C:\Windows\Temp\ExchangeSetup\bin\EnterpriseServiceEndpointsConfig.xml'.

The Exchange setup log essentially repeated this same error, without any additional clues. The C:\Windows\Temp\ExchangeSetup\ folder is a staging area used by setup to unpack temporary files. These files are copied to this temporary location during the ‘Initializing Setup’ and ‘Copying Files’ steps.

When navigating to this folder it became apparent that not only was the file in question missing but the entire parent folder too. [Read more…] about Cumulative Update cannot find EnterpriseServiceEndpointsConfig.xml

Exchange Cumulative Update hangs during setup finalization

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When performing a cumulative update on Exchange 2013 I ran into an issue where the finalization step was hanging as 45%.

When I checked the Exchange Setup logs I saw the following repeated over and over.

Service  'MSExchangePOP3BE' failed to reach status 'Running'  on this server after waiting for '25000' milliseconds.
[WARNING] Service checkpoint has not progressed. Previous checkpoint='0'- Current checkpoint='0'.
Previous service status query time is '7/5/2018 1:35:37 AM'.
Current service status query time is '7/5/2018 1:36:02 AM'.
Will wait '25000' milliseconds for the service 'MSExchangePOP3BE' to reach status 'Running'.

In this instance, the Exchange setup was unable to start the POP3 backend service. Attempting to start the service manually through the Services MMC also failed. Upon checking the System Event Log the following error was reported.

The address is already in use. Binding: 0.0.0.0:9955.

MSExchange POP3 Backend 1018 - The address is already in use. Binding 9995

This error indicates something else was already listening on port 9955, which was preventing the POP3 backend service from starting (and setup from completing). [Read more…] about Exchange Cumulative Update hangs during setup finalization

Web Management Service (WMSvc) could not be started: 2147483640

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While upgrading an Exchange 2013 server to the latest cumulative update, I ran into the following error while setup was configuring prerequisites.

Service 'WMSVC' failed to reach status 'Running' on this server.

Service WMSVC failed to reach status Running on this server

When attempting to start the service manually via the Services MMC, it refused to start, resulting in the following error.

Windows could not start the Web Management Service on Local Computer. For more information, review the System Event Log. If this is a non-Microsoft service, contact the service vendor, and refer to service-specific error code -217483640.

Windows could not start the Web Management Service on Local Computer 2147483640

When reviewing the System Event Log an equally cryptic error was displayed.

The Web Management Service service terminated with the following service-specific error: Unspecified error

Web Management Service terminated with the following service-specified error unspecified error

[Read more…] about Web Management Service (WMSvc) could not be started: 2147483640

Awarded for a 3rd year as a Microsoft MVP (Thank you!)

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On July 1st I had the great pleasure of being awarded for a third year as a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP). It is truly a great honor to be awarded for another year.

Microsoft MVP Logo Vertical

I want to give a special shout-out to everyone who supports this blog. Your comments, your follows, your likes and your shares–they have all got me to this point. Thank you.

I would like to offer special thanks to my family, friends, colleagues, and employer. Thank you for your continued support and for challenging me to the best I can be.

For me, the MVP program grants two fantastic benefits.

The first is being able to interact directly with the Microsoft product groups. Not only does this allow early access to new features but it also provides a forum for feedback and feature requests. As an MVP you get to help shape Microsoft products and services.

The second benefit is being able to collaborate with MVPs from all across the globe. I have had the great pleasure of becoming friends with MVPs from many different countries and cultures. It is truly an amazing experience and its always a pleasure to catch up with them at the MVP Global Summit.

Gareth at Microsoft's Redmond Campus during the 2018 Global MVP Summit
Gareth at Microsoft’s Redmond Campus during the 2018 Global MVP Summit

[Read more…] about Awarded for a 3rd year as a Microsoft MVP (Thank you!)

Exchange June 2018 Updates

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Exchange 2016 CU10 SetupToday was a big day for Exchange updates. Not only did we get Cumulative Update 10 for Exchange 2016, but we also got Cumulative Update 21 for Exchange 2013. Exchange 2010 also receives a critical update in rollup 22.

As always, test these updates in a lab first! I recommend checking out this 7-part guide on configuring Exchange in your lab. It doesn’t take much to get one going.

The updates are as follows:

Exchange 2016 MiniExchange 2016 Cumulative Update 10 | KB4099852 | UM Language Pack

Exchange 2013 Cumulative Update 9Exchange 2013 Cumulative Update 21 | KB4099855 | UM Language Pack

Exchange 2010 MiniExchange 2010 SP3 Rollup 22 | KB4295699

Exchange 2013 enters extended support

In case you missed it Exchange 2013 entered into extended support on April 10th. Cumulative Update 21 is the last planned update for Exchange 2013 and no further product development is expected. Any cumulative update after 21 is at Microsoft’s discretion. However, security and timezone updates will continue to be available until April 11th, 2023, delivered primarily through the Windows Update Catalog.

As a reminder, Exchange 2010 has less than 18 months of extended support remaining. After January 10th 2020, no further technical support or updates will be available. This includes security, bug and time zone updates. If you are still on 2010, I would recommend planning a migration to Exchange 2016 or Office 365 as soon as possible.

So, what’s new in these Cumulative Updates?

One prerequisite change is the need to install Visual C++ 2013. This is required for a third party software component–that manages WebReady document viewing and data loss prevention–which ships in these updates. Visual C++ 2012 was the previous requirement for older cumulative updates. However, Visual C++ 2012 was installed automatically by the Unified Communication Management Agent (another Exchange prerequisite), so it never required administrator intervention. This means Visual C++ 2013 will also be a requirement for new server installations.

Exchange 2010 received a significant update in this release, which is the ability to leverage Windows 2016 domain controllers and global catalog servers. While 2016 DCs could exist in an Exchange 2010 environment, Exchange 2010 would simply not use them. With this update, 2010 will now leverage 2016 domain controllers and allow for the domain and forest functional levels to be raised to Windows Server 2016. This will allow you to eliminate all older domain controllers.

These updates contain a lot of security and bug fixes. Aside from the May 8th security update each cumulative update includes time zone updates and a dozen bug fixes. Check the appropriate KB article above for a list of issues each update resolves. [Read more…] about Exchange June 2018 Updates

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When migrating mailboxes between Exchange versions using the Exchange Admin Center you may receive the error:

Nullable object must have a value.

This error will appear when you navigate to the Recipient > Migration tab and click View Details on a migration batch. In the screenshot below we are examining a migration batch named “Test Migration to Exchange 2016” which contains two users. We are attempting to move these two users from Exchange 2013 to Exchange 2016.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Nullable object must have a value

From this screenshot, you will notice the Status column reports both users as successfully migrated. However, the Data Migrated and Migration Rate attributes in the right-hand pane are missing values. For an executed migration batch these attributes should contain metrics. [Read more…] about ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Nullable object must have a value (when migrating mailboxes)