How Anonymous Relay works in Exchange 2013

How Anonymous Relay works in Exchange 2013

• http://www.shudnow.net/2013/06/04/how-anonymous-relay-works-in-exchange-2013/

Summary of commands:

$server = "LAB-EX2013"
$ReceiveConnector = "MyRelay"

New-ReceiveConnector -Name $ReceiveConnector -Usage 'Custom' -Bindings '0.0.0.0:25' -RemoteIPRanges '10.10.10.7' -Server $server -TransportRole FrontendTransport

Get-ReceiveConnector $ReceiveConnector | Add-ADPermission -User “NT AUTHORITY\ANONYMOUS LOGON” -ExtendedRights “Ms-Exch-SMTP-Accept-Any-Recipient”

Get-RecieveConnector $ReceiveConnector | select Tarp*,Conn*,Max*

Get-ReceiveConnector -Identity $ReceiveConnector | Set-ReceiveConnector -TarpitInterval 00:00:00 -ConnectionTimeout 00:30:00 -ConnectionInactivityTimeout 00:20:00 -MaxAcknowledgementDelay 00:00:00 -MaxInboundConnection 10000 -MaxInboundConnectionPercentagePerSource 100 -MaxInboundConnectionPerSource unlimited

Also see:

• Incorrectly Adding New Receive Connector Breaks Exchange 2013 Transport
  https://exchangemaster.wordpress.com/2014/01/24/incorrectly-adding-new-receive-connector-breaks-exchange-2013-transport/
• How to Add Remote IP Addresses to Existing Receive Connectors
  http://exchangeserverpro.com/how-to-add-remote-ip-addresses-to-existing-receive-connectors/
  
• 
  

Installing Exchange 2013 CU's in a MultiSite,MultiServer environment

Installing Exchange 2013 CU's in a MultiSite,MultiServer environment.

I recently attempted to install Exchange 2013 CU7 in an environment with 4 Exchange servers spread across 2 Sites.  The servers were at Exchange 2013 SP1 (CU5?).

It did not start out well until I found this set of instructions from Paul Cunningham.
http://exchangeserverpro.com/exchange-2013-installing-cumulative-updates/

In summary, perform the following:

1. Choose a server in the site that contains the AD FSMO Roles.
   (This may only apply to Exch2013 SP1, since there is a bug that CU7 fixes, in which you cannot launch ECP on a server that is in a remote site to the user's Mailbox.  I suspect this also applies to the FSMO role of PDC.
   The install initially failed the pre-requisite check with a bunch of nonsensical errors saying that the user ID was not a member of the required groups, etc.)
   
2. Perform the following to prepare the Exchange Server for upgrade:
   $server = "ThisServer"
   Set-ServerComponentState $server -Component Hubtransport -state draining -Requester maintenance
   Set-ServerComponentState $server -Component ServerWideOffLine -state inactive -Requester maintenance
   Suspend-ClusterNode -name $server
   Set-MailboxServer $server -DatabaseCopyActivationDisabledAndMoveNow $true
   Get-MailboxServer $server | select databasec*
   Set-MailboxServer $server -DatabaseCopyAutoActivationPolicy blocked
   Set-ServerComponentState $server -Component ServerWideOffLine -state inactive -Requester maintenance
   
3. Install the Cumulative update
   
4. Perform the following to return the Exchange Server to service:
   Set-ServerComponentState $server -Component ServerWideOffLine -state active -Requester maintenance
   Resume-ClusterNode -name $server
   Set-MailboxServer $server -DatabaseCopyAutoActivationPolicy unrestricted
   Set-MailboxServer $server -DatabaseCopyActivationDisabledAndMoveNow $false
   Set-ServerComponentState $server -Component Hubtransport -state active -Requester maintenance

How to recreate missing Arbitration User Accounts

Recreate and enable missing arbitration user accounts and mailboxes in Exchange Serve

These are a couple of article explaining the process of recreating and enable missing arbitration users and mailboxes.
It addresses the issue of lost or deleted system mailboxes and how to get them back.

•  How to recreate missing arbitration user accounts in 2010
  http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/5317.recreate-and-enable-missing-arbitration-user-accounts-and-mailboxes-in-exchange-server-2010.aspx
  
• How to recreate System Mailbox , FederatedEmail & DiscoverySearchMailbox in Exchange 2010
  http://careexchange.in/how-to-recreate-system-mailbox-federatedemail-discoverysearchmailbox-in-exchange-2010/
  
• 
  

Ask PFE Most Popular Posts of 2014

The Most Popular Posts of 2014
http://blogs.technet.com/b/askpfeplat/archive/2014/12/22/the-most-popular-posts-of-2014.aspx

Blog root
http://blogs.technet.com/b/askpfeplat/

Exchange 2013 CU6, flawed update

The following are some links referencing the issue and some fixes for the flawed CU6 update for Exchange 2013.

• Released: Cumulative Update 6 for Exchange Server 2013The Exchange Team, 26 Aug, 2014
  http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2014/08/26/released-cumulative-update-6-for-exchange-server-2013.aspx
• Microsoft Releases Flawed Cumulative Update 6 for Exchange 2013Redmond Magazine, by Kurt Mackie 09/02/2014
  http://redmondmag.com/articles/2014/09/02/cu-6-for-exchange-2013.aspx
• Exchange 2013 CU6 hybrid and co-existence bugs cause administrators to despairWindowsITPro, Aug 30, 2014 by Tony Redmond
  http://windowsitpro.com/blog/exchange-2013-cu6-hybrid-and-co-existence-bugs
• Don't Deploy Exchange 2013 CU6 If You're a Hybrid Customer Friday, August 29, 2014 by Jeff Guillet 
  http://www.expta.com/2014/08/dont-deploy-exchange-2013-cu6-if-youre.html
• Issues with Exchange 2013 Cumulative Update 6 (CU6)Exchange World, 10 Sep 2014 by nawaral
  http://blogs.technet.com/b/nawar/archive/2014/09/10/issues-with-exchange-2013-cumulative-update-6-cu6.aspx
• ASP.NET problems with 2013 CU6 installhttp://exchangedae.blogspot.fi/2014/09/aspnet-problems-with-2013-cu6-install.html#more

Exchange: Beware of Disk with 4-kilobyte Sector Size

Beware of Disk with 4-Kilobyte Sector Size!

Microsoft reference:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee832792(v=exchg.141).aspx

Support requires that all copies of a database reside on the same physical disk type. For example, it is not a supported configuration to host one copy of a given database on a 512-byte sector disk and another copy of that same database on a 512e disk. Also be aware that 4-kilobyte (KB) sector disks are not supported for any version of Microsoft Exchange and 512e disks are not supported for any version of Exchange prior to Exchange Server 2010 SP1.

Hyper-V gothcha:
http://jeffreypersson.wordpress.com/2014/04/17/microsoft-exchange-server-2010-dag-on-vhdx/

"Continuous replication - block mode has been terminated. Error: the log file sector size does not match the current volume's sector size (-546)"

Turns out that the issue is that the VHDX files are the default settings of 4096 PhysicalSectorSize.

But it is not supported on Exchange DAG database volumes! 4KB sector disks are not supported on Exchange Server as a whole!

This also counts for Exchange 2013!

IBM SAN gotcha:

http://windowsitpro.com/blog/how-flawed-firmware-can-really-give-your-dag-some-replication-headaches

Exchange 2013 Database Portability

Good blog article and How-to example of troubleshooting and repairing an Exchange 2013 issue with Databases:

http://atechnicalmeander.wordpress.com/2014/11/18/a-lesson-on-eseutil-and-database-portability-exch-2013/