MS Exchange Server

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ch@rge

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I'm looking for some advice on a problem that has me slightly puzzled...

We're running an exchange server with the name (SERVER02.domain.co.za) - SERVER02 is taken from the NetBIOS name. All has been running well until we wanted to use Outlook Anywhere. Now people can't connect to the exchange server externally as SERVER02.domain.co.za doesn't resolve.

By manually changing the settings in Microsoft Outlook and setting the address to www.domain.co.za Outlook Anywhere works fine externally. Once the user reconnects using the internal network, the name automatically changes back to SERVER02.domain.co.za and the problem is repeated.

Is there anyway to change the server address, so that www.domain.co.za works both internally and externally?
I suspect that the alternative is to create a DNS entry, with our DNS hostmaster, so that SERVER02.domain.co.za resolves externally - However, I'd prefer not to do this.

I've looked on the net, through various forums and some sites say that changing the name is not recommended.

Has anybody had a similar problem? Or able to help me further on this?
Thanks in advance :)
 
Sounds like a DNS issue, or missing pointer in DNS maybe.

What happens if you ping SERVER02.domain.co.za from externally? Does it resolve the correct external IP? Maybe you just need to register a DNS entry for server02 with your ISP to point to your external firewall ip?
and then was exchange setup correctly with the server names/aliases?

Not sure why you need to add www for it to work, but you can try adding a new host A record on your internal DNS server:
Name: www
IP: internal IP of exchange server.
so now if you ping www.domain.co.za from internal it should resolve your internal exchange IP.... ping it from externally and it resolves external IP.
But having www is not really the correct way...
 
Sorry to hijack the thread but while we're on the subject, what is the benefit of using Outlook Anywhere?
 
Oh, and what's your CN (common name) on your exchange certificate?
 
DrJohnZoidberg said:
Sorry to hijack the thread but while we're on the subject, what is the benefit of using Outlook Anywhere?
Click to expand...

So that you can get your mails where ever you are in the world, just need a internet connection, not just on your internal LAN (So no VPN needed)
 
grim said:
Which version of Exchange and how are you configuring the Outlook Anywhere?
Click to expand...
Currently using Exchange 2007. Outlook Anywhere is configured by enabling the feature on Exchange Management Console - Server Configuration - Client access. The external host name is set to www.domain.co.za. On the client side, Outlook Anywhere is enabled in the MS Outlook account settings.

ShawnStar said:
Sounds like a DNS issue, or missing pointer in DNS maybe.

What happens if you ping SERVER02.domain.co.za from externally? Does it resolve the correct external IP? Maybe you just need to register a DNS entry for server02 with your ISP to point to your external firewall ip?
and then was exchange setup correctly with the server names/aliases?

Not sure why you need to add www for it to work, but you can try adding a new host A record on your internal DNS server:
Name: www
IP: internal IP of exchange server.
so now if you ping www.domain.co.za from internal it should resolve your internal exchange IP.... ping it from externally and it resolves external IP.
But having www is not really the correct way...
Click to expand...
Pinging SERVER02.domain.co.za does not resolve, although mail.domain.co.za resolves to the local server (external IP address). Now may also be a good time to say that we also have a Web Server on the same server and so OWA also works by typing in www.domain.co.za/owa.

Do you know of a way (from the server side) that Outlook can be configured to always connect to the exchange server by using www.domain.co.za instead of using SERVER02.domain.co.za?
ShawnStar said:
Oh, and what's your CN (common name) on your exchange certificate?
Click to expand...
Currently using two certificates - One self generated (The CN is www.domain.co.za - Used for Services I,P & S), the CA certificate is a wildcard certificate (*.domain.co.za - Used for services W & S)

Again, thanks for the assistance so far - I do appreciate any/all help :D
 
The server name in outlook should always be server.internaldomain.com

Under the Outlook Anywhere that is where it should state www.domain.com

You should also have split dns setup for autodiscover.externaldomain.com and www.externaldomain.com which points to the local ip of the Exchange server
 
Last edited:
DrJohnZoidberg said:
Why is that different to owa though?
Click to expand...

You need to log into your OWA site through a web browser, with Outlook anywhere no need, just use your Outlook client like you do at the office, now how is that the same as OWA?
 
ShawnStar said:
You need to log into your OWA site through a web browser, with Outlook anywhere no need, just use your Outlook client like you do at the office, now how is that the same as OWA?
Click to expand...

Yep, sorry I got confused there. We're using IMAP for external access which is probably better for us as it accessible for about any mail client.
 
TheGuy said:
The server name in outlook should always be server.internaldomain.com

Under the Outlook Anywhere that is where it should state www.domain.com

You should also have split dns setup for autodiscover.externaldomain.com and www.externaldomain.com which points to the local ip of the Exchange server
Click to expand...
Would these DNS entries be setup locally, or externally (IE with Telkom) - Would this resolve the matter of the name automatically changing on Outlook from server.domain.com to www.domain.com (Currently I have to manually set this everytime...

Please excuse my lack of knowledge, I generally don't do much setups on an exchange and this issue has been suddenly thrust upon me!
 
Quick question, is your internal and external domain name the same? (No issues if it is, just wondering)
 
ch@rge said:
Would these DNS entries be setup locally, or externally (IE with Telkom) - Would this resolve the matter of the name automatically changing on Outlook from server.domain.com to www.domain.com (Currently I have to manually set this everytime...

Please excuse my lack of knowledge, I generally don't do much setups on an exchange and this issue has been suddenly thrust upon me!
Click to expand...

They need to be setup on both sides. SO externally if you ping www.domain or autodiscover.domain it would point to your enternal IP address that is natted on port 443 to your exchange server.

Then internally if you ping the same address it would resolve to the internal IP address of your exchange ie 192.168.x.x

So you are saying that when you open outlook it keeps changing it from server.domain to www.domain automatically?

This part:Exchange.jpg

Also is it a SBS 2008 server or full Exchange server?
 
Thanks all for the advice. I've managed (at this point) to resolve the issue by adding an external DNS entry for SERVER02.domain.co.za and this has fixed the issue - Now clients work seamlessly when moving off site.

Thanks again for the help - I wouldn't have resolved the issue so quickly
(P.S. It took two days for Telkom hostmaster to actually add the DNS entry)
 
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