Synchronization Log error

Have there been any network topology changes recently - i.e. have any Exchange servers been removed from anywhere in your entire organization?

Hi JjcampNR,

2 years ago the site was migrated from NT4, Exch 5.5 to 2003, Exch 2003 with both old servers being removed from the domain / network completely.

Do you think Exchange 2003 may somewhere below the user interface be looking for the old mail server for address book sync information?

Thanks for your response!.

Cheers,

Brendan

Has this problem only just started or has it been going for the last two years?

Have you seen my article on those errors: http://www.amset.info/exchange/oab-error.asp

Simon.

--
If your question has been answered, pleased remember to accept the answer and close the question.

Hi Sembee!,

I have gone through your document and made some changes to the public folders (offline address lists).

I will let you know shortly if the error messages have stopped being logged.

Fingers crossed.

Thanks again,

Brendan

Hi Sembee,

After making the changes listed on your website, I have waited 2 days and the message is still appearing each hour.

Any suggestions?

Thanks again,

Brendan

Do the OAB public folders have content in them? You will need to look through ESM to ensure that the content count is not 0.
Have you checked that there is an offline address book assigned to the mailbox store?

Simon.

--
If your question has been answered, pleased remember to accept the answer and close the question.

Dear Simon,

I've spent some time in ESM looking for the item you've mentioned and I cannot find it.

Can you please assist?

Thanks heaps,

Brendan

You have to change the view to System Folders.
ESM, Folders, Public Folders, Right click on the Public Folder name and choose View System Folders, then expand and look for the OAB folders.

Simon.

--
If your question has been answered, please remember to accept the answer and close the question.

Dear Sembee,

Thank you, I think I've found it.

Under public folders its named "OFFLINE ADDRESS BOOK" and if I go to its properties it maintains the following "No properties are available for this object", I have no further options.

Please let me know if I've missed it.

Thanks again,

Brendan.

Is that all you have? No sub folders below that?
It isn't the actual OAB folder you need, but its sub folders. There should be three or maybe four.

Simon.

--
If your question has been answered, please remember to accept the answer and close the question.

Hi Sembee,

I have reviewed the OAB and it appears I have two contiainers - one labelled /o=Company and EX:/o=Company

Below the /o=company, the following folders exist:
OAB version 2
OAB version 3
OAB version 4

Below the EX:/o=company, the following folders exist:
OAB version 2

I select the "content" tab.

When I select OAB version 2, I get a login prompt, when I enter the admin username and password I get error: access is denied.

When I select OAB version 3 and 4, I get a OWA login style page that says Loading... and never goes anywhere (after waiting 15 minutes)

The EX:/o= says page cannot be displayed.

Please let me know if you require any further information.

Thanks heaps,

Brendan.

Trying to access those folders in that way will never work as they aren't designed to be viewed like that.
What you need to look at is the Status tab. This will show you whether there is any content in the folders.

Simon.

--
If your question has been answered, please remember to accept the answer and close the question.

Dear Sembee,

Ok, I have looked at all the status tabs and found the following:

Both parent folders have 0 items and 0 size

container /o=company

Oab version 2 has a size of 488 with 34 items
Oab version 3a has a size of 489 with 34 items
Oab version 4 has a size of 414 with 5 items

container ex:/o=company

Oab version 2 status has the older server name with nothing further to look at or configure.

Thanks again,

Brendan

Do you have two servers then?
Are both servers listed, or just the one?

Simon.

--
If your question has been answered, please remember to accept the answer and close the question.

Hi Sembee,

We migrated from NT4 and Exchange 5.5 to Win 2003 and Exch 2003.

The old server has long been decommissioned and disconnected from the network but it appears to still be listed in the servers list.

Thanks.

You mean the list of replicas?
If it is, then you need to remove any non-existent servers from the list of replicas for all public and system folders, so that only live servers are listed.

Simon.

--
If your question has been answered, please remember to accept the answer and close the question.

Hi Simon,

I will remove the old server from the schema using ADSIEDIT and I will let you know the results after I reboot the server.

Thanks again.

Hi Simon,

I have rebooted the server and I am waiting for a sync error to appear, if nothing appears within the day I think the issue should bre resolved.

I'll keep in touch!.

Thanks,

Brendan

Hi Sembee,

Ok, after deleting the appropriate old server from the list and rebooting the server I am still getting the following message:

10:04:39 Synchronizer Version 11.0.8000
10:04:39 Synchronizing Mailbox 'John Smith'
10:04:39 Synchronizing Hierarchy
10:04:39 Synchronizing server changes in folder 'Drafts'
10:04:39 Downloading from server 'server.local'
10:04:39 Synchronizing server changes in folder 'Sent Items'
10:04:39 Downloading from server 'server.local'
10:04:39 Synchronizing local changes in folder 'Deleted Items'
10:04:39 Uploading to server 'server.local'
10:04:39           3 item(s) deleted in online folder
10:04:39 Downloading from server 'server.local'
10:04:39 Synchronizing server changes in folder 'Junk E-mail'
10:04:39 Downloading from server 'server.local'
10:04:39 Synchronizing server changes in folder 'Documents'
10:04:39 Downloading from server 'server.local'
10:04:39 Downloading from server 'server.local'
10:04:39 Done
10:04:39 Microsoft Exchange offline address book
10:04:39        0X8004010F

Please let me know if you have any other thoughts on this matter.

Thanks,

Brendan

Deleting the old server from the list would not have resolved the problem. The error message means that it cannot find something - ie there is no content. Have you checked the item count for the OAB system folders in ESM to see if they are above zero?
Have you checked that the OAB server in ESM is set to a valid Exchange server so that it can be generated correctly?

Simon.

--
Once your question has been answered, please remember to accept an answer and close the question.

Hi Simon,

Ok, got it.

All folders have items in them and I have removed and re-added the default address book to the properties of the offline address book as per your comment above.

Should i now wait some time and see if the problem is resolved now?

Please advise.

You should also ensure that there is an OAB assigned to the mailbox store as well. I have seen that cause similar problems.

Simon.

--
Once your question has been answered, please remember to accept an answer and close the question.

Hi Simon,

I can confirm that I have now removed and replaced the OAB assigned to the mailbox store.

I've checked a few other users mailboxes and the sync issue folder does not have anything in it - can this issue be user mailbox specific?

Please advise.

Thanks again for all your help,

Brendan

I would not expect it to be mailbox specific. I have seen the problem continue on the workstation and needing a new Outlook profile to fix. However normally it would be seen by all or none.

Simon.

--
Once your question has been answered, please remember to accept an answer and close the question.

Hi Simon,

I will retry creating the users outlook profile tomorrow and let you know how I go.

Thanks heaps.

Hi Simon,

Just a quick update - I will let you know shortly how things go.

Thanks.

Hi Simon,

The issue is still ocurring after re-creating the users profile.

Every 5 minutes an error is logged.

Any last thoughts?

Thanks,

Brendan

Hi Simon,

You've given me all the answers I need.

I will accept your answers as the solution.

Cheers for all your efforts.

Brendan.