OWA keeps stopping. Is very unstable.

[Valier]

In Exchange 5.5 on W2K server we experience that OWA works just fine until "someone" does something "special", like typing the wrong password or user.

Maybe also when you log on with Outlook 2003 installed, but that is not confirmed.

After that OWA doesn´t work at all.
The login pages opens up, and you can enter your name and stuff, but the mailbox never opens.

I´ve read several posts about this and I thought I found the solution with the KB 818709 fix, but that doesn´t work all the way.

Everything starts working again when I reboot the server.
I am not able to stop and restart the "

http://www service"

or the "IIS service".

My users don´t like my rebooting the server too often, and I don´t like to get to office during weekends or at night just because someone needs to access their mailbox.

So; what to do?

Mike

 

[yoshie]

We have the exact same proble as you Mike. The supposed fix .. does not seem to work and it seems to happen after a remote user tries to access OWA using a computer with Outlook 2003 installed.

 

[Valier]

Does that mean that if the user havs OL 2003 installed it affects OWA, even though he enters through the browser, not via OL 2003?
Is the fact that OL 2003 is installed the crucial point?

Today, before anything crashes OWA, it logs in, opens up my OWA window, but it is totally empty. I see the folders to the left and everything seems fine, but the right window is blank. Och det gillar jag inte. Me no like.

Mike.

 

[yoshie]

Hi Mike,
I havent experienced what you just discribed, and I too would't like it at all. OL2003 is the issue as far as I can tell.

From the hot fix summery

This problem occurs when you try to access a user account that was previously accessed by a client computer that is running Microsoft Office Outlook 2003.

Outlook 2003 adds a fourth entry to the PR_FREEBUSY_ENTRYIDS property. PR_FREEBUSY_ENTRYIDS is a multi-valued MAPI property that is stored on the Inbox folder. CDO expects three entries. The unexpected fourth entry causes heap corruption that causes OWA or the third-party program to stop responding.

So it looks like MS have some more work to do ... or are just guiding us all to upgrade our exchange servers with these compatibility issues >.<

 

[Valier]

Aha!

So that means that if I uninstall all OL 2003 clients in our local network the problem will be gone?

I understand it as the key is not that OL 2003 is installed on the computer that tries to access OWA through the net,
but the the crucial point is if the mailbox was previously accessed byt OL 2003 client? Which would mean on the local network. Right?

 

[Valier]

Not Heureka, but this I can try to live with for now:

I found the "IISRESET" command in a posting somewhere.
This fellow is powerful enough to stop, reset and restart the

http://WWW and

IIS services.

If the OWA hangs, it will be up again after this command has been run.

I put "IISRESET /RESTART" in a scheduled activity to be run every morning and night.
(That is in fact two scheduled activities) During daytime, I can perform the reset myself if necessary.

This way the OWA won´t be down more than maximum a few "serious working hours".

This is not the best workaround I´ve seen, but I believe it is OK till I find the proper solution.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

Mike

 

[Dyadmin]

I thought there was a patch out there to the ex 5.5 information store that allows for communication with 2003 clients. This problem happens to crash OWA and prevent people from logging on... let me find the kb article....


Try 818709 on technet and see if that helps you.

 

[yoshie]

The outlook client can access the local 5.5 exchange server with out a problem (we have a mix of 2000, XP and 2003) however when a 2003 user trys to access via

http://yourexchangeserver/exchange

this is when OWA stalls and hangs because of the 4th key outlook 2003.

The fix from microsoft

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=818709

does not seem to fix the problem, and a reboot is requiered.