Cannot view some public folders in OWAm but works in Outlook client

[jasonaedwards]

I am upgrading from Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2000. I have migrated the public folders from our Exchange 5.5 box to our Exchange 2000 machine. We have a native mode Windows 2000 domain. Our permissions in the public folders in 5.5 were setup using distribution groups. When migrating the public folders over, it created universal distribution groups, as expected. Using Outlook 2000 or 2002, I am able to access all of the public folders that a test user should be able to based on the groups to which he is a member. However, when I try to do the same through Outlook Web Access, I cannot see the folders. I can only see them if I assign the user explicit permissions to the folder, or if I setup a default permission such as reviewer for all users.

One thing I have noticed is that in Internet Services Manager (and the M drive), when I look at the public directory, I can only see public folders where I have setup a "default" permission to allow the folder to be visible. I find this very odd, considering you would think the ISM should be able to see all public folders that exist on the Exchange Server, and would not require me to setup a default permission.

So it appears the problem somehow centers around IIS and the fact that it is NOT allowing me to use universal distribution groups to assign permissions to public folders, considering it works fine when access the public folders through the Outlook client.

Thanks for the help

Jason