Error:The operation couldn't be performed because object 'Server\Autodiscover(Default Web Site)' couldn't be found

February seems to be full of troubleshooting month. Today I got another call regrading their OOF reply not working.

Upon Checking, I found that the autodiscover internal URL was empty when i run the command get-AutodiscoverVirtualDirectory

When I try to reset with command Set-AutodiscoverVirtualDirectory -Identity <server_name> -InternalURL "https://test.doman.com/Autodiscover/Autodiscover.xml, there is an error : 
  
  The operation couldn't be performed because object

  '<Exchange_Server>\Autodiscover' couldn't be found on 'ad.example.com'.

Although I set the preferred AD to another server, the same error still appear.

After quite some time I finally found a way to reset the Autodiscover virtual directory by running:

Get-ActiveSyncVirtualDirectory -Server <server_name> | Set-AutodiscoverVirtualDirectory -InternalURL https://test.doman.com/Autodiscover/Autodiscover.xml

Not sure what really happened but using this method seems able to reset the virtual directory.

OWA Redirect Did Not Work After Replacing New Certificate

Yesterday one of my customer ran into some issue after replacing a new certificate for Exchange.

My customer's  public certificate is going to expired soon, they had requested us to replace it with a private certificate instead. Everything works fine after replacing the certificate, and I’ve verified with the them before I leave.

After few hours somehow I was told that OWA redirect is not working anymore and user cannot login into OWA. Please read the similar symptom here:

This error actually only happen if the Exchange server has redirect from HTTP to HTTPS features implemented. The redirect will eventually create infinite loop although you run “iisreset” and all the authentication method(owa,active_sync,outlook_anywhere,ecp and etc) will not work unless you manually configure them.

Troubleshooting Steps:

1. check the Exchange virtual directory using EMS, type Get- WebServicesVirtualDirectory and to make sure the URL is correct

2. goto IIS manager -> default website ->HTTP redirect -> make sure the box is check “redirect request to this destination” and insert the the url ending with /owa.

3. check the box “Only redirect requests to this content in  this directory” (not subsidiaries), with status code (found 302)

4. On the default website, click SSL settings and uncheck "Require SSL" .

5. Remove the enforced redirect for following directories:

• aspnet_client
• Autodiscover
• ecp
• EWS
• Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync
• OAB
• PowerShell
• Rpc

5. run iisreset in CMD

Everything working back to normal after steps above is done.

Lotus Notes to Microsoft Exchange Migration Project

Recently I was assigned with Migration from Notes to Exchange 2010 project. Well I’ve been waiting for this project so long because I think I could gain some very valuable experience in my career.

Unfortunately this project turns out to be no migration at all because the customer did not want to buy the migration tools from Quest software. In a nutshell, this is a simple new Exchange implementation project.Since high availability (HA) isn’t my customer’s requirement, I deploy all 3 server roles (CAS,HUB,Mailbox) in a single VM running on top of ESXi5.

We set a cut-off date that all mails will be routed to Exchange server instead of Lotus Domino, and all users starts using outlook on the same time.

Everything was running quite smooth since there is not much of real migration involve.