FAQs / Exchange 2003 / OWA

01

It is not sufficient to simply upgrade front-end servers to Exchange 2003 for users to get the new interface.

You must upgrade back-end servers to Exchange 2003 as well

Interface matrix

Ex2000 FE + Ex2000 BE = Ex2000 OWA
Ex2003 FE + Ex2000 BE = Ex2000 OWA
Ex2000 FE + Ex2003 BE = Not supported (AG protected)
Ex2003 FE + Ex2003 BE = Ex2003 OWA

Ability to Reply and Forward to Messages and Posts in Public Folders is only enabled when the client is using a front-end server. Forms-based authentication (FBA) is functional for deployments where the FE is Exchange 2003, but the mailbox is still on Exchange 2000. However, session timeouts are handled much better if the BE are also Exchange 2003

Last Updated by Simpler-Webb on 8/7/2003 1:59:40 PM (QID #1059)
Categories: Exchange 2003/Setup/Upgrade | Exchange 2003/Migration/Interoperability | Exchange 2003/OWA |

02

In Active Directory Users and Computers (Advanced Features view) open the properties for the user object and choose Exchange Advanced | Protocol Settings | HTTP | Settings | and uncheck the 'Enable for mailbox' check box.

Last Updated by Simpler-Webb on 8/7/2003 1:59:40 PM (QID #1111)
Categories: Exchange 2000/Administration & Maintenance | Exchange 2003/OWA |

03

Beginning in Exchange 2000, messages with extended characters are encoded with UTF-8, by default. For more information see KB273615 and KB281745

Last Updated by Simpler-Webb on 8/7/2003 1:59:40 PM (QID #1116)
Categories: Exchange 2000/Administration & Maintenance | Exchange 2003/OWA |

04

After converting from Exchange 5.5 OWA to 2000 OWA, all the users had book marked the URL of mail.company.com/exchange/logon.asp, since in 5.5 OWA it automatically would pull the user from the root URL into a logon page (since it used ASP) but now the user only sees the same base URL of mail.company.com/exchange. So once the users used the book mark or in some cases the "autocomplete" feature in IE they would be pulled to a dead address.

Go into the front-end server that is hosting your OWA.

• Start up IIS admin and locate the /Exchange virtual directory
• Right click on the /Exchange directory and using the "wizard" create a new virtual directory called logon.asp. When it prompts where the content is located just put something like c:\inetpub\wwwroot
• Once the virtual root has been created, right click it, select properties then select the tab labeled "Virtual Directory"
• Select the "A redirection to a URL" and then in the "Redirect to" URL enter /exchange/

What happens is when the user hits the virtual root of /exchange/logon.asp it pulls the user back to only /exchange*

Last Updated by Simpler-Webb on 8/7/2003 1:59:40 PM (QID #1112)
Categories: Exchange 2003/OWA |

05

Outlook Web Access user credentials are now stored in a cookie. When the user logs out of Outlook Web Access, the cookie is cleared and is no longer valid for authentication. Additionally, by default the cookie is set to expire automatically after 20 minutes of user inactivity. See Logon Modifications for OWA Users for the instructions.

Last Updated by Simpler-Webb on 8/7/2003 1:59:40 PM (QID #1113)
Categories: Exchange 2003/OWA |

06

Exchange 2000 SP2 introduced the concept of OWA segmentation. This is where you can selectively enable/disable certain features in the web client. Exchange 2003 extends the segmentation options found in Exchange 2000. You can either set global (per server) segmentation via a registry parameter, or set the msExchMailboxFolderSet attribute on user objects. A bit mask determines the functionality available to the user. For a list of fields, see OWA Segmentation .

Last Updated by Simpler-Webb on 8/7/2003 1:59:40 PM (QID #1114)
Categories: Exchange 2003/OWA |

07

• Ctrl+N: New Mail (or Post, if in public folders)
• Ctrl+R: Reply to currently selected mail in view
• Ctrl+Shift+R: Reply all to currently selected mail in view
• Ctrl+Shift+F: Forward currently selected mail
• Ctrl+U: Mark currently selected message(s) as unread
• Ctrl+Q: Mark currently selected message(s) as read

Note: You need al least IE 5.0 or better for these to work.

Last Updated by Simpler-Webb on 8/7/2003 1:59:40 PM (QID #1115)
Categories: Exchange 2003/OWA |