Exchange 2013 OWA login issue

[dayzd]

Hi all

 

I've had an Exchange 2013 server on site since March and it's only just got round to spitting out is second issue (which I'm quite surprised about!).

 

 

When using OWA, sometimes it does not login.

 

Valid credentials are entered into the OWA login page, but when pressing 'sign in' the page simply reloads. Further attempts do not work until after at least 5 or more failed attempts, a red 'the username or password you entered is incorrect. please try again' message is displayed, after which the next login attempt invariably works.

 

 

This hasn't been tested much, as it doesn't always happen, but I've seen it happen with Chrome and IE8, both on internal computers. I don't know if this happens remotely - no-one has told me it has, at least.

 

The Exchange 2013 server in question is not on the fastest storage... Is that likely to play a part in this?

 

Thanks in advance for any help/advice!

[FN-GM]

Exchange 2014? Must have missed that version

 

What build number of exchange are you on?

[dayzd]

Exchange 2014? Must have missed that version

Ha! Oops! If that's a moderator-editable field, I meant 2013! ;-)

 

What build number of exchange are you on?

15.0 Build 847.32, which appears to be SP1. You'd have thought it'd have been updated to CU7 when it was set up... Looks like that large installation fee wasn't great value for money...

[FN-GM]

In that case I would upgrade first of all and see if that fixes it. It might be a bug.

 

Do you publish the OWA via Forefront or anything like that?

[3s-gtech]

CU8 has been out for a good while now, might as well skip CU7. Exchange shouldn't need super-fast storage, but it likes RAM. Ours is on 15k disks for the OS, 15k for logs and 7.2k for the mailboxes. What is the host OS?

[free780]

Ages ago I had a similar issue with websites where the PC wasn't configured with BST.

[dayzd]

To update, I've managed to update the server to CU7 (as that's what Windows Update had waiting), and the problem still persists.

 

I'm new to Exchange 2013 - can someone point me in the direction of some log files I can check through?

[dayzd]

What is the host OS?

 

2012 R2

[3s-gtech]

Exchange can be a beast to diagnose. I would look at some simple things that have come up before diving deeper:

 

Make sure the time on the server is synced to the DCs (ours crept off and went totally haywire)

Make sure that your IIS authentication settings match the default/recommended setup (IIS settings can be fiddly with OWA) so that clients are auth'ing properly

Check your DNS settings (any fault with an AD integrated service, start here!)

Stick CU8 on, might as well if it's not in commission yet and will save you downtime later

Refer back to the company that installed it - the install should have come with some warranty/support period.

[FN-GM]

Are you using anything to publish the OWA or is 443 pointing directly to your server?

[dayzd]

Are you using anything to publish the OWA or is 443 pointing directly to your server?

Directly at the server. We have no fancy gateways here...!

 

Well, I got CU8 installed at the weekend, which appeared to go fine. Until Tuesday, when I tried to use EAC which promptly 404'd.

In trying to fix it, I ended up 404'ing OWA, too.

After sleeping on it (goodness knows how I got away with it not working overnight!) I finally got it sorted - lots of authentication method checking, redirect checking and SSL tweaking got me there.

 

So now OWA and EAC now work again I just need to wait and see if the people that complained about the initial login problem stop asking about it...!

 

 

Thanks for your suggestions, all. I'll bear them in mind next time it does something weird!