Office 365 OWA error - user unable to access mailbox

[mb2k01]

Hi All,

 

Has anyone come across an issue recently where a previously working user suddenly becomes unable to access their OWA account in Office 365, displaying the following error message:

 

X-OWA-Error: SDServerErr;Microsoft.Exchange.Clients.Owa2.Server.Core.WacDiscoveryFailureException

 

There appear to only be a couple of google listings of the error so far, with MS forums showing posts created yesterday and today!

Looks like MS may have done something at their end, but curious to see if any of you have managed to fix / get around?

 

Cheers

 

PS - I also have a service ticket open with Microsoft, so if no one solves via here, I'll be sure to post back to help others if/when they search!

 

Edit: See post #11 for a potential workaround

Edited July 2, 2014 by mb2k01

[mattpant]

Hi,

 

I've had the exact same issue today with some of my users... have you heard anything back from Microsoft or found a fix?

 

Thanks

 

Matt

[themightymrp]

My O365 admin portal shows a few services in Restore mode, so it looks like MS have got something going on. How recently did these errors start to occur and what browser are you using?

[JamTurtl3]

I seem to have the same problem. Only one user at moment that I know of!

 

The description in the admin panel does not seem to be related to the problem.

 

I have a service request in so I will see MS say and report back.

[TechBod]

I have just had the same problem, with two users showing the same symptom it is as the account tries to find the mail box?? any one found anything yet?

 

I have also tried the Mailmaster account to log in as that user and it can't find the mail box either?

Edited July 2, 2014 by TechBod

[themightymrp]

This may be unrelated but I recently had to change the URL that staff use onsite to connect to OWA. I know Microsoft changed a bunch of IP addresses in June and for some reason this affected the link we were using causing it to be very flakey/slow for users.

 

Before, the hyperlink on our VLE pointed to

www.outlook.com/owa/schoolname.sch.uk

 

I now use

https://outlook.office365.com/owa/?realm=schoolname.sch.uk

 

Could you try the alternate URL for an affected user and see if this helps?

[TechBod]

Exactly the same

[mb2k01]

To be fair to MS they have been pretty good with support - had two fairly quick emails and even a phone call from a team manager!

Apparently the issue is widespread and intermittently affecting small groups of users across lots of sites!

They've assured me that this is being worked on at a high level and they will update me (and others who've logged something) as soon as possible. Unfortunately no work around or anything in the mean time - so affected users are without mail access!

[mb2k01]

@themightymrp thanks for that - it was worth a shot! Unfortunately it doesn't get around the issue.

[themightymrp]

Ahh well, I will wait for this new bug to hit us then

[mb2k01]

Scrub the bit about there not being a workaround - I just tried something fairly obvious....

 

If you try getting the user to configure Microsoft Outlook instead of trying to access via OWA it seems to let them access via that route.

Not particularly helpful if they need to use OWA due to the device they're using, but if they're able to use Outlook it will be good enough 'till MS fix OWA!

[Guest Guest]

I've got the same problem with a single user.

 

Have opened a support call!

[mattpant]

I've also logged a call earlier with Microsoft, who were very quick to respond, emailing and phoning me.... they also said that it was an issue they are aware of effecting some users and working on a fix, let's hope they can sort it out fairly quickly!

[JamTurtl3]

The user I had problems with just managed to sign in. Is anyone else's problem solved or is it just a fluke?

[mb2k01]

The user I had problems with just managed to sign in. Is anyone else's problem solved or is it just a fluke?

 

Nope, I'm in too. Definitely not a fluke - unless its a large fluke and it's just us fixed!

[mattpant]

I've just tested with 2 users I was aware of not working and they both seem to be logging in OK now! Fingers crossed it stays this way - still not sure the real reason why only a couple of users (out of about 1000) would not log in!

[zag]

Yep same problems here, its a worldwide outage I think

[zag]

OWA or Outlook issue?

 

I've had both.

 

About 10 outlook users all asking for credentials.

 

Some webmail users not letting them logon. Others working absolutely fine.

 

EDIT: Actually most of the problems seem to be with the outlook desktop client.

Edited July 3, 2014 by zag

[mb2k01]

They aren't doing very well at the moment!

I think this all stems from a baulked update / erroneous bit of coding.

 

We are rolling back a change

details

During a recent update of the Office 365 Admin Center, we mistakenly updated the list of admin roles available to your organization. This update included two new admin roles, as well as a rename of some existing admin roles. We are in the process of rolling back those changes, and apologize for any confusion this may have created for your organization.

 

Our goal is to help improve your ability to stay informed of valuable improvements and changes we are bringing to Office 365. Please continue to check back with your Office 365 roadmap.

 

Current Status: Engineers have identified an issue in which some customers may be unable to export eDiscovery search results to a .PST file when they include items that have not been indexed by Exchange Search. Investigation determined that a code issue was introduced to the environment during an update to the environment. Engineers have developed a fix and are deploying it across the environment to remediate end-user impact.

 

Customer Impact: Affected customers may be unable to export eDiscovery search results to a .PST file when they include items that have not been indexed by Exchange Search.

 

Incident Start Time: Monday, June, 23, 2014, at 8:00 PM UTC

 

Preliminary Root Cause: Investigation determined that a coding issue was introduced to the environment with the latest update to the capacity.

 

Current Status: Engineers are currently deploying a fix to the affected environment. The deployment is 80% complete.

 

Customer Impact: Affected customers may be unable to export eDiscovery search results to a .PST file when they include items that have not been indexed by Exchange Search.

 

Incident Start Time: Monday, June, 23, 2014, at 8:00 PM UTC

 

Preliminary Root Cause: Investigation determined that a coding issue was introduced to the environment with the latest update to the capacity.

 

Next Update: Thursday, July 3, 2014 at 11:00 PM UTC

[zag]

With the outlook users do they just continually prompt for credentials and wont connect?

 

Yep thats it

 

As above, Microsoft has a "coding issue" apparently, but it doesn't say its effecting people like this.

[TechBod]

Yep all working now... at least it didn't last long.

[mb2k01]

Yep. Microsoft consider the issue I reported to them to be resolved and have just sent me the message below. (If you're still having issues yourselves I'd recommend opening a service request through the 365 portal).

Although the issue was a bit annoying I've got to say I'm very impressed with Microsoft here. Really great communication from them - the fact they actually rang us of their own accord rather than replying to a ticket impressed me!

 

I was contacting you to provide you with information that the Service Interruption Event where users were unable to login using Outlook has been resolved. A Post Incident Report will be available after 5 days under the Service Health Dashboard on the Microsoft Online Portal.

 

We at Office 365 are dedicated to supporting you. Providing timely technical support with exceptional customer service to our customers is of utmost importance to us. Your feedback about your experience will help us in improving and delivering better service in the future.

 

At this point of time as the issue is resolved we will be archiving the case, please reply back if the issue still persists and we can work towards providing a resolution at the earliest.

 

If the solution provided does not address your issue, you can reopen your service request within 14 days through the Microsoft Online Administration Center. If the issue has been closed for more than 14 days, please create a new service request and reference the old service request number so that all relevant information can be retrieved.

 

We at Microsoft Online Services want you to know that your satisfaction is our top priority.

 

If you have any feedback that you wish to share with my manager, please feel free to share it using the manager details given in my signature below.

[zag]

Some are fixed, others still have problems here

[zag]

Any more info on this one?

 

We're still having problems here

[zag]

Yep we've managed to fix it by removing their local profile and setting up again, but that is a big pain to do for 20 or so users who randomly seem to have this problem. Edited July 4, 2014 by zag