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Exchange 2007 EWS Damaged, Outlook 2011 (Mac) clients cannot connect

We discovered a problem with our Exchange 20007 server (all updates installed) when our Outlook 2011 for Mac clients could not connect. OWA works, as well as other Exchange clients (Outlook 2010, 2013, iPhone, android). Apparently, Outlook 2011 relies on EWS and thus that is where the problem lies.

We've tried putting in https://ourserver/EWS/Exchange.asmx in the server setting on the client, but to no avail. When we browse to that address in a browser, we get 500 Internal Server Error. If you go to that address on the server itself though, you get an HTTP Error 500.19 - Internal Server Error, which says the requested page cannot be accessed because the related configuration data for the page is invalid.

Under the detailed error information, two lines of interest are the following:
Config Error: Configuration file is not well-formed XML
Config File: \\?\C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\ClientAccess\exchweb\EWS\web.config

That web.config file is blank. I already did a Remove-WebServicesVirtualDirectory and New-WebServicesVirtualDirectory to try to repair it, but that seemed to have no effect.

I am in a real pickle, as many of our users are Mac (Outlook 2011) users. Any help is greatly appreciated.

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

Simon Butler (Sembee)

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vertcomp

ASKER

Okay. There is a file from a previous administrator labeled web.config.BAK from five years ago, but that wont work due to the patch level issue correct?

This is a single server Exchange environment. Can I remove and reinstall the CAS role with little interruption? How would I go about doing that?

vertcomp

ASKER

Also, if I use that old web.config file, this is what I get when I got to https://localhost/EWS/Exchange.asmx on the Exchange server:

Server Error in '/EWS' Application.
Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.Exchange.Diagnostics, Version=8.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.
Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details: System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.Exchange.Diagnostics, Version=8.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.

Source Error:

An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below.

Assembly Load Trace: The following information can be helpful to determine why the assembly 'Microsoft.Exchange.Diagnostics, Version=8.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35' could not be loaded.

WRN: Assembly binding logging is turned OFF.
To enable assembly bind failure logging, set the registry value [HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion!EnableLog] (DWORD) to 1.
Note: There is some performance penalty associated with assembly bind failure logging.
To turn this feature off, remove the registry value [HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion!EnableLog].

Stack Trace:

[FileNotFoundException: Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.Exchange.Diagnostics, Version=8.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.]
Microsoft.Exchange.Services.AuthorizationModule.Init(HttpApplication context) +0
System.Web.HttpApplication.InitModulesCommon() +124
System.Web.HttpApplication.InitInternal(HttpContext context, HttpApplicationState state, MethodInfo[] handlers) +1162
System.Web.HttpApplicationFactory.GetNormalApplicationInstance(HttpContext context) +312
System.Web.HttpApplicationFactory.GetApplicationInstance(HttpContext context) +133
System.Web.HttpRuntime.ProcessRequestInternal(HttpWorkerRequest wr) +196

Version Information: Microsoft .NET Framework Version:2.0.50727.4253; ASP.NET Version:2.0.50727.4252

Simon Butler (Sembee)

The file is too old.
CAS reinstall will cause disruption. You will need downtime.
CAS is client access, so is crucial part of Exchange. It could take 15 minutes or so to remove, and then the same again to reinstall. You may also have to repatch it.

Another option would be to install Exchange 2007 Sp3 in a lab, lift the file and copy it across.

Simon.

vertcomp

ASKER

I like the second option. Are you fairly confident that simply replacing that file will resolve the issues at hand?

Simon Butler (Sembee)

The file is pretty generic. Therefore as long as you install everything in the default locations, and it is the same patch level, then it should work correctly.

Simon.