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Outlook 2003 fails to connect to Exchange 2003

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Outlook 2003 fails to connect to Exchange 2003 - 2.Mar.2005 6:08:00 PM

damber

Posts: 5
Joined: 2.Mar.2005
From: United Kingdom
Status: offline

After reading quite a few posts on this forum with regards to the issue of connecting Outlook 2003 client to the Exchange 2003 server, I thought it worth providing you with as much detail as I have on the issue I have experienced. It appears remarkably similar to the others - though none of them have been answered, so maybe one of the Exchange Guru's on this site can help us mere mortals figure out this issue.

1) I have installed a fresh copy of Windows 2000 advanced server and updated with all the latest patches / SP's etc. And installed a fresh copy of Exchange 2003 as the first Exchage 2003 server in the domain (I previously had 2000 and then moved to 2003, though after a bit of a disaster with some security software with Exch2003 and SP1, I had to remove all traces (all - including Active Directory and Registry) )
2) After adding SP1 to the install I configured a basic setup for the single server and enabled SMTP for a single domain. Then started all the services (and ensured the event log did not report any issues), including POP3, HTTP(OWA), SMTP, IMAP.
3) I have tested POP3, HTTP(OWA),SMTP, IMAP all succesfully - using Outlook as the client and IE6 browser for OWA
4) I can connect to the server for remote admin, and ping etc as you would expect. The DNS resolution is fine for FQDN, Hostname and IP Address via rDNS.
5) What I cannot do is access Exchange directly via the Outlook client using (I believe) MAPI. Which does not have a specific setting in the Exchange Manager to configure (that I'm aware of)
6) I tried to set up a new profile in Outlook by selecting Exchange Server as the type and then entering the server name (also tried the IP address here, and FQDN) and the username of a mailbox that works via OWA.
7) I get the following error message: "The Action could not be completed. The operation failed". Then when it automatically opens the popup window to confirm the details, it gives me this error: "The Name could not be resolved. The operation Failed".
8) Out of curiosity I deselected the "Use Cached Exchange Mode" to see if this was used during Setup or not. It is (in exactly what capacity I'm not sure). I then got a new message before the one above is shown, this stated: "Outlook could not logon. Check to make sure you are connected to the network and are using the proper server and mailbox name. The operation could not be performed because the connection to the server is offline"
9) I have checked the Event Log for any related errors on both the server and the client machine - I couldn't find any. I also temporarily disabled any firewalls, just in case.

It seems very much that the Outlook client just cannot access the Exchange Service (MAPI I assume). Which would indicate (as many other access methods work ok) that the server is not listening correctly for these requests. Or if the client is trying to get information from Active Directory then maybe it hasn't found what it needs ? Either way, I have ensured that all the services with Exchange are running without errors, still without joy.
Please can someone either:
1) let us know what this problem is, and how to resolve it, or if this is not possible..
2) tell us how the process works - i.e. what ports/protocols are used in this initial connection/query to the server and what services should be running to facilitate it.

I hope that one of the experts here can shed some light on this fairly common issue, which to date doesn't seem to have been given an answer.

Thanks in advance.
Damian

Post #: 1

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RE: Outlook 2003 fails to connect to Exchange 2003 - 2.Mar.2005 7:05:00 PM

tkslma

Posts: 39
Joined: 1.Mar.2005
From: Jacksonville, FL
Status: offline

I could be way off but this is what comes to mind when i read you post.

Check the key below in the registry and confirm that you have 4 entries shown below.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Rpc\ClientProtocols

They should be as follows:
ncacn_np Rpcrt4.dll
ncacn_ip_tcp Rpcrt4.dll
ncadg_ip_udp Rpcrt4.dll
ncacn_http Rpcrt4.dll

If they are not there you need to add them. KB article 830914 tells how to do this. I find the best way to do this is to find a PC that has the keys and do an export/import.

(in reply to damber)

Post #: 2

RE: Outlook 2003 fails to connect to Exchange 2003 - 2.Mar.2005 7:58:00 PM

damber

Posts: 5
Joined: 2.Mar.2005
From: United Kingdom
Status: offline

Thanks for the response, but these values are present on both the client and server, with a couple extra on the server.

Any other ideas ?

(in reply to damber)

Post #: 3

RE: Outlook 2003 fails to connect to Exchange 2003 - 2.Mar.2005 8:04:00 PM

tkslma

Posts: 39
Joined: 1.Mar.2005
From: Jacksonville, FL
Status: offline

Have you tried this on another machine with another account?

(in reply to damber)

Post #: 4

RE: Outlook 2003 fails to connect to Exchange 2003 - 2.Mar.2005 8:10:00 PM

tkslma

Posts: 39
Joined: 1.Mar.2005
From: Jacksonville, FL
Status: offline

Another question I have is, Is the Exchange server also your GC server? If not are you able to hit the GC from the client?

(in reply to damber)

Post #: 5

RE: Outlook 2003 fails to connect to Exchange 2003 - 2.Mar.2005 8:12:00 PM

BeTaCam

Posts: 420
Joined: 24.Feb.2003
From: India
Status: offline

QUICK CHECKS.

Client side.

- Primary DNS = AD integrated DNS
- Ping on netbios needs to be have a response

DNS Server

- Verify that the record is present and has a reverse look up also.

Exchange Server

- Primary DNS points to AD integrated DNS
- DS Access = Automatic or manual.

Profile.

Name : Provide Display name
Server : Provide Netbios name of server
Check Name

- Add an entry in the host file and repeate exercise again.

- Do turn off the XP Firewall if you have enabled it.

Hth

/Bc

(in reply to damber)

Post #: 6

RE: Outlook 2003 fails to connect to Exchange 2003 - 28.Sep.2005 1:55:50 PM

mobeustrip

Posts: 1
Joined: 28.Sep.2005
Status: offline

I solved this problem in my Outlook 2003 client by unchecking/de-selecting to File > Work Offline. I was then able to connect to my Exchange server and resolve the name.

(in reply to damber)

Post #: 7