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Muhnster

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Exchange Server 2007 - OAB creation process will not create/recreate ExchangeOAB folder...

We just jumped on Exchange 2007 from 2003!  Like most I followed a transition guide and all went well for the most part.  All mailboxes and public folders were moved over just fine and mailflow has been mint since the transition.

1. Public folders are also working well.
2. Recreated a new GAL
3. Recreated a new OAB
4. GAL is listing all users correctly and any new changes are reflected when viewing through OWA.
5. OAB folder (under CLient Setting folder) is there and empty.
6. Virtual Directory in IIS has also been recreated as part of the troubleshooting process.

Exchange 2003 server has been decommisioned and offline.

7. Every parameter listed in ADSIedit under the legacy "First Administrative Group" is empty.
8. OAB is showing in ADSIedit under the correct section and pointing to the correct generation server.
9. In EMC, the Offline Address List also shows correct
10. OAL is also selected under the CLient Settings in the mailbox database.

Running get-offlineaddresslist |FL show the OAL as Valid and Default. (GAL is also reporting the same)

11. Increased the logging level on ExchangeSA OAL and we never get any errors reported in the Event Viewer...

  The issue we are now seeing is that;


WE CANNOT GET THE "EXCHANGEOAB" folder to be created if our lives depended on it.  It simply will not create itself and when we run the Get-OfflineAddressBook | Update-OfflineAddressBook cmdlet in EMS we get the following:

Update-OfflineAddressBook : Failed to generate the content of the offline address book '\Default Offline Address Book'
 Two possible reasons for the failure are that the System Attendant Service is not running or you do not have permission to perform this operation. Error message : 'Catastrophic failure (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8000FFFF (E_UNEXPECTED))
.
At line:1 char:51
+ Get-OfflineAddressBook | Update-OfflineAddressBook <<<<
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidResult: (\Default Offline Address Book:OfflineAddressBookIdParameter) [Update-Off
   lineAddressBook], LocalizedException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : C9E529DB,Microsoft.Exchange.Management.SystemConfigurationTasks.UpdateOfflineAddressBook

Again, we have a valid and clean GlobalAddressList and everything seems to be functioning up to that ExchangeOAB folder creation issue... We tried creating the folder manually and adding the proper share and NTFS permissions on the folder and we are getting the same error when running Update-OfflineAddressBook –Identity “Default Offline Address Book”.

Anyone have any thoughts on what could be causing this folder creation issue?  I am pretty sure if we can get this done and restarting the SA and FDS, we would likely be in good shape...

Regards,

Muhnster
Avatar of Manpreet SIngh Khatra
Manpreet SIngh Khatra
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Firstly run a command
Setup.com /PrepareAD

What is the current SP and RU ? I would suggest update\upgrade to most recent if not
Did you try creating the folder manually and share it with rights to Everyone and Account your using to manage Exchange ?

- Rancy
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Muhnster

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Thanks Rancy,

I have tried recreating the folder with the default permissions but I had not added the Everyone group with full control.  I can try that and see.  I am using an Enterprise Admin account while goiung through all these steps, including those permissions listed on the folder when we tried to create it manually.  I will give t a shot if only for the sake of testing.  I did not see the Everyone group listed in prior installs that work just fine in other environments...

Also, I was afraid of running /PrepareAD again in the event it may overwrite something that may destroy my current, one-server, exchange install...  I assume I am running this from the Exchange server box itself and it will propage to my DCs as needed?

Thansk, I will keep you posted...

Muhnster
/PrepareAD simply checks for default permissions if they are removed or modified it will correct as per RFC or default :) ... wont touch your custom permissions

- Rancy
Ok, here is what I've tried so far:

1. ran setup /preparead - ran successfully, still same error message going through OAB gen process

2. Recreated folder manually.  Added default permissions as listed on MS site and even added Everyone with Full control for Share and  NTFS folder permissions. - still no go, same error message.

So I did notice however, that although the "System" account is the owner of the "Exchange" folder, that folder also has a padlock icon on it.  Also, When I share the ExchangeOAB folder, the usual share icon does not show up.  The share does show up in the Share and Storage Management MMC...  

I also noticed that everytime I share a folder, it adds the padlock icon on it!  When I remove the share, the padlock stays on there...  Not sure if i have other problems or if I have other file system issues...

Running Exchange Server 2007 SP3 (8.3.83.6), and Update Roll-up 9.

I'm really running out of options..., just so strange that everything else is working flawlessly...

Muhnster
Can you please run EXBPA and see if we get some details or issues noticed in regards to our issue

- Rancy
Hey Rancy,

When I run EXBPA, I get nothing relevant to anything security or readiness that would flag an issue like this.  One thing though is I still see the legacy First Administrative Group on the list.  Running the Healthcheck returns only one critical issue which was the server contianer missing because it was empty and deleted recently.  The issue existed before this container was deleted and the legacy Exchange server has been removed from the environment a while back as well.

I get one more warning about automaticmanagepagefile and that is it...

I ran a "Permissions Check" scan and nothing returned as issue

I ran a "Readiness Check" and again nothing came back with any issues...

anything else you can think of?

Muhnster
I just ran a get-publicfolderstatistics and I can't see any OAB folders in there...

I can see all my other public folders and I can see the Offline Address Book folder in the Public Folder Management Console under "Public System Folders"

Not sure if that means anything..

Muhnster
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Manpreet SIngh Khatra
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I have run out of what to try at this time.  All that I could possibly find online and through this service as resulted in a lot of redundant (but necessary) efforts and nothing has been resolved for months.  I had to put the issue to rest for a while to address other organizational issues.  At this time, I would like to thank all that did their best to assist with great recommendations.  Unfortunately, this issue will have to resolve by an onsite Exchange Expert.

Regards,

Muhnster