Exchange migration - issues

[pooley]

Have completed an exchnage 2003 to 2007 migration with minimal issues until the end.

 

I can receive email on the domain, internally and externally. I cannot send, messages just get stuck in queue.

 

Owa is not working, i realise that the url changed from https://domain/exchange to https://mail.domain/owa but I just get a 404 error.

 

I can telnet to the new exch2k7 server on ports 25/80/443 so its not pix/firewall issue.

 

OWA works internally if i go to https://servername(or ip)/owa (very slow to load)

 

I have uninstalled Exchange 2003 to see if that helps, but it hasn't.

 

I have updated the dns records at our domain name host. They read.

 

A records

mail.domainname.org.uk = ip address of new mailserver

mail = ip address of new mailserver

www.domainname.org.uk has been registered. = ip address of old server (it hosting our website)

www = ip address of old server

MX record points to mail.domainname.org.uk

 

MX and A records are not my strong point.......

 

Now since updating the dns I cannot get to the website as well as not being able to get to the owa page. I realise this could be an issue while the DNS settings filter through from my host.

 

Having just performed a Mail Flow test on my mailserver I get errors like

 

name = alt1.gmail-smtp-in.l.google.com

port 25 did not respond.

 

This repeats itself of ANY mailservers I try to reach externally.

 

Nslookup will show ip's of the mailservers I try to reach.

 

This exchange 2007 malarky is a steep learning curve

 

Anyone provide any pointers ?

 

cheers

 

Si

[pooley]

Check the bloody obvious first, am unable to telnet OUT on port 25, can receive but not send. Will sort that with a call to LA tomorrow and get them to sort out the PIX.

 

Now its just OWA to fix

[Dos_Box]

I'll let you in on a secret. When Server 2000 and AD hit the scene I used to say that all of it's problems were DNS related. With Exchange 2007 all of its problems are mainly certificate related.

As for solutions. Firstly check all of your Exchnage services are running. There is a very common issue with migrations that several Exchange services fail to start. You must ensure that the correct system accounts are used to start each service. Here's a couple of links:

 

 

*IMPORTANT ARTICLE READ FIRST* You Had Me At EHLO... : Exchange 2007 managed services might time out during certificate revocation checks

Exchange 2007 services cannot start automatically after you install Exchange 2007 on a global catalog server

Exchange 2007 services fail to start on boot : Deploy : Exchange Server : Microsoft TechNet Forums

 

As for connecting to OWA you NEED the correct certificates (I also need to know what OS Exchange is on as the advice for installing certs is different). If you are using differnt hostnames to resolve Exchnage then you need a Universal Communications Certificate (UCC). This is a new type of certificate that has more than one host name on. For example mine has:

 

webmail.myschool.ac.uk

myschool.ac.uk

servernetbiosname

servernebiosname.myschool.ac.uk

 

This ensures that my clients can connect externally and internally with no problems. I shall post more in the morning (time permitting), but yes, Exchange 2007 transitions are never pretty

[pooley]

Cheers Dos_Box

 

Am running Server2008 64bit, have only done a self cert on the server as yet, awaiting HT to get back to me on purchasing options for a CA cert, was thinking Wildcard cert would be best?

 

I did have an issue where after a reboot most of the exchange services did not start up, I started them manually. I will look at the work-around and see if that helps.

 

Si