Question

The SSL certificate server name is incorrect

Asked by: Plucka

Get this error

The SSL certificate server name is incorrect
ID no: c103b404
Exchange System Manager.

I have tried the solution posted by Microsoft, doesn't help me.

I'm using Exchange 2003 on 2003 SBS with a real certificate.

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Asked On
2006-07-27 at 17:27:17ID21934835
Tags

ssl

,

certificate

,

name

,

server

,

incorrect

Topic

Exchange Email Server

Participating Experts
7
Points
500
Comments
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Answers

 

by: SembeePosted on 2006-07-28 at 03:50:50ID: 17199842

A little more information is required as my crystal ball only wants to give me last week's Spanish lottery results (still).

What are you doing when you get this message?
Are you accessing OWA? Something else?

Simon.

 

by: PluckaPosted on 2006-07-28 at 05:20:41ID: 17200335

Sorry,

From System Manager I go

Servers,
SERVERNAME,
First Storage Group,
Public Folder Store (SERVERNAME)
Public Folders

Then I right click on a public folder and click properties I get this error.

I'ts funny as it was working and since a recent reboot it no longer is. Its a new server install and had the default certificate. I remove it and installed a real one.

I think this is the problem. Not sure what to do about it, removing Require SSL from Public & ExchAdmin didn't help.

 

by: SembeePosted on 2006-07-28 at 06:32:49ID: 17201011

In those circumstances I am not surprised that you are getting SSL errors. Your SSL certificate will be in the name of host.domain.com but the access to the public folders will be on the servername only.

Make sure that you haven't got require SSL on any of the Exchange virtual directories to begin with

/exchange
/exchweb
/exadmin
/public

After changing it, drop in to a command prompt and type

iisreset

Wait for that to complete, then check ESM again.

Simon.

 

by: PluckaPosted on 2006-07-28 at 16:07:21ID: 17205258

Can I change it to make everything use the real cert rather than remove the SSL requirement.

 

by: PluckaPosted on 2006-07-28 at 16:10:41ID: 17205274

I tried what you suggested.

It still gets the same error.

 

by: SembeePosted on 2006-07-30 at 15:26:17ID: 17212154

Public folder management isn't compatible with the require SSL option, unless your certificate exactly matches the same name as the server. As I don't recommend that the certificate does match the name of the server, that does put you in an awkward position.

If you only want your users to access OWA with SSL, then simply block port 80 on the firewall. If the users complain about having to type https:// , then give them a link on your public web that links to OWA.

You have now removed the require SSL option and carried out the iisreset?

Simon.

 

by: PluckaPosted on 2006-07-30 at 16:25:10ID: 17212300

Yes,

I have removed this and it still doesn't work. Very strange.

 

by: SembeePosted on 2006-08-01 at 10:25:26ID: 17226020

I can only suggest that you restart the Exchange services and all IIS related services. If that still fails to clear it then you could try removing the SSL certificate totally. See if the problem has been removed then. If it hasn't, then it would appear that IIS has become corrupted.
If the problem has been cleared, install the SSL certificate, but don't make any other changes and see what happens then.

Simon.

 

by: PluckaPosted on 2006-08-01 at 15:40:42ID: 17228974

I'll try a server reboot, that's the only thing I haven't done.

 

by: PluckaPosted on 2006-08-01 at 16:36:11ID: 17229275

Rebooted, didn't fix it.

Removed SSL and reinstalled it, all good.

Thanks.

 

by: baselinesysPosted on 2008-01-08 at 16:32:14ID: 20614449

In SBS and single exchange server environments, I've found this to be the solution:

Add an entry to the host file, pointing the SSL FQDN to the internal IP of the SBS or exchange server: C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\host.ini

Don't even need to restart DNS or IIS.

 

by: SembeePosted on 2008-01-08 at 17:28:19ID: 20614764

Hosts files are a horrible nasty work around that should be avoided at all costs. They don't really fix anything, name resolution should only be done by DNS, nothing else. They are a pain to manage and usually forgotten about. While you may have found that it was a "solution", it is not something I would even consider deploying wide-scale.

Simon.

 

by: stagetechPosted on 2008-02-29 at 08:44:52ID: 21014960

good quick fix for something that needs doing now now and then delete it again!

 

by: IanR-ansPosted on 2009-04-07 at 15:32:06ID: 24092606

baselinesys : thanks very useful tip.

Please note anyone else out there working at 23:30 on a down server, this problem can occur because of a corrupt hosts file. (or in our case edited by a moron from Navision)

 

by: CHIEFTNPosted on 2009-12-10 at 12:44:37ID: 26022552

host files rock-lol  just create a primary DNS zone for the FQDN for the SSL cert and create a host record that points to the local (internal) ip addy of your exchange box and you're all set :)

 

by: ralfalpertPosted on 2010-10-19 at 22:24:34ID: 33945027

The answer given by Chieftn may be dangerous if you have external servers (i.e. www.domain.com) hosting your web. They may not be accessible after you have followed his advise without also adding these hosts to your internal DNS server.

However, I have tried a few time the solution and it always worked as it forces the exchange manger NOT to use https: to manage these pubic folders. No need to remove certificate. Hope someone finds this usefull.

http://blog.roachy.net/2008/05/06/the-ssl-certificate-server-name-is-incorrect-id-no-c103b404/

 

by: PaulCutcliffePosted on 2010-12-08 at 10:13:49ID: 34303538

I just used the HOSTS file 'solution' or workaround, & whilst I agree that HOSTS file entries are definitely not the way to go for general name resolution, I think it's a perfectly acceptable workaround in this case, as it's only on the server that the issue manifests itself - all internal clients can happily use OWA, for example, using the FQDN via external DNS, but clearly the server itself is upset by the disparity between its host name & the FQDN, so I happen to think a HOSTS file entry is fine in this case.

Just my humble opinion, not that anyone asked for it! :-)

 

by: ralfalpertPosted on 2011-07-28 at 20:18:39ID: 36274358

Just noticed the above link is no longer. Was able to retrieve a cached copy from Google. Here it is:

The SSL certificate server name is incorrect. ID no: c103b404
May 6, 2008 by Paul Morgan-Roach 42 Comments

This error occurs when trying to view Public Folders in the Exchange System manager when he SSL certificate name differs between the FQDN and the local server name.  The Exchange System Manager will not allow you to view the public folders as it believes the folder name to be incorrect.
 
This can be resolved using a front-end, back-end scenario, but what if you are stuck with a single Exchange server (ie. SBS) in your environment?
 
On following a few blogs and sites, the solution seems to be to remove SSL requirement for that particular folder in the IIS Manager.  This didn’t work for me though – and I found a lot of people out there with unresoved issues on Experts Exchange etc.
 
The end solution was to use the ADSIEdit utility to manually stop the Exchange System Manager from using SSL.
 
The steps are as follows:
 
1) Install the ADSIEdit Utility (one of the Windows Server 2003 Support tools) from your SBS2003 CD (CD2) using suptools.msi
 
2) Run a Microsoft Management console (Start->Run->MMC)
 
3) Open the ADSIedit.msc (browse to the Support Tools folder)
 
4) Browse through to
 
Configuration > Services >  Microsoft Exchange > Domain Name > Administrative Groups >     First Administrative Group > Servers > Servername > Protocols > HTTP > 1 > Exadmin
 
5) Right click msExchSecureBindings, and click Properties
 
6) Highlight :443: and click Remove
 
7) Click OK
 
Restart the Exchange System Attendant and the IIS Admin service
 


Exchange system manager will now no longer try to use SSL when connecting to the service

Thanks to Paul

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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