MX records question

[gman10]

Hi guys-

Hoping you can help me with this one. I currently have a school district that is in fubar condition.. Anyway, there is a domain controller (WIn 2K) and Exchange 2000 server on a different box. For one, I'd like to find out what the Exchange servers OWA address is so that I can tell my users what to type in their URL browser box and have them get to email. Where on the Exchange server will it tell me the exact syntax -such as

http://servername/exchange..

I've seen certain OWA setups where the user types in something close to this:

http://mail.servername/exchange

and other disparate issues where they type in

https://servername/exchange

.. leaving out the word (mail) when typing it in.. where can I tell them based on the Exchange server -what they need to sign on using OWA? Would I need to be concerned with MX records as well? that was the second piece to this question, thanks again..

thanks guys and hope you can point the way

g

 

[peterpark]

I'm assuming you are trying to access your OWA externally to your network, in which case, it may be nice to set up an A record in your External DNS pointing to your mail server such as webmail.yourdomain.com, so that users can type

http://webmail.yourdomain.com\exchange.

You can specify either A or MX record, so long as it is pointing to your mail server. I think the use of https:// requires you to setup SSL, ,but I'm not sure about that.

For internal access,

http://servername\exchange

should do the trick.

 

[jonastremor]

If email is currently coming into the server without issue, then your MX record is configured correctly. If you want users to be able to hit OWA internally just have them type computername/exchange in the address bar of the browser. Externally create an A record pointing to the external IP of the exchange server, you can find this out by opening a browser on the exchange box and going to a site like

http://www.ipchicken.com.

A lot of people will use mail (ie. mail.domain.com) but you can have the A record resolve anything (ie. whatever.yourdomain.com). Also, make sure your firewall is open for port 80 inbound to the exchange box.

 

[gman10]

yeah, thanks for all that guys.. although this district has 5 buildings and the administrative offices are still having a problem using OWA.. I type in

http://ipaddress-of-server/exchange

and it doesn't work... This used to work a while ago when they had a application/proxy firewall setup on an NT server but that server is now deceased... and the Exchange server is plugging into an Alcatel switch (layer 3) so I think this may have something to do with internal routing.. Furthermore, I can' ping the server from another building ie - ping 10.x.x.x, it's an internal address that can't be pinged -problem.. any ideas? if I can't ping the Exchange 2000 server that is stationed in building B from a client at building A, then forget about OWA working correct??

HELP!!

gman

 

[Heineken666]

Hi gman10,

Your problem is a routing problem. You probably need an aditional route from the other building networks to the network that host the exchange server.To access it from the internet, you need to find which external ip adress is NAT'ed to your internal ip adress. In exemple, if the MX records of your exchange server is 207.165.132.12, your OWA should answer to:

http://207.165.132.12/exchange

** You need to open the TCP port 80 on the firewall to this internal ip adress (of your exchange server)

First of all, test it locally this way:

http://internal_exchange_server_name/exchange

 

[gman10]

Hello Heineken666,

Your right about it being a routing issue certainly! I spoke to a colleague of mine tonight and he said the same thing. Pretty logical that it would be a routing issue eh? How do I actually check my MX record for my internal Exchange server.. This, I've never done before and would be a great learning experience.. How/what are the actual commands to verify my MX records? I'll give it a try and let you know what transpires..
Thanks for all your info.. great help!!

gman